The miner and trader’s own sourced copper production fell 4% to 705,200 metric tons, while its own sourced cobalt output fell 18% to 26,500 tons.

Glencore left its overall 2024 outlook for copper, a metal needed for energy transition applications, unchanged at between 950,000 and 1.01 million tons.

Its trading division, whose profit hit a record $6.4 billion in 2022, includes coal, oil, liquefied natural gas and related products, as well as metals.

Glencore expects its full-year marketing earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in the $3 billion-$3.5 billion range, around the top-end of the firm’s long-term forecast range of $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion.

The miner has kept its coal business after concluding the purchase of Teck Resources’ coking coal assets and securing backing from a majority of its investors who see lucrative earnings from the fossil fuel.

CEO Gary Nagle in August said the company could acquire more steelmaking coal.

It is one of the largest producers and exporters of thermal coal, with an expected output of between 98 million and 106 million tons this year. It produced 73.1 million tons so far, 7% lower than year-ago levels.

Its 2024 steelmaking coal production should increase to 19 million-21 million tons post-acquisition, from 7 million-9 million tons.

(Reporting by Clara Denina; Editing by Jason Neely and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Ukrainian military analysts said this week that Russian troops had moved to within about 7.5 km (4.6 miles) of Pokrovsk, overwhelming Ukraine’s stretched defences with vastly superior numbers and equipment.

Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces repelled 31 Russian attacks in the Pokrovsk sector, the military said.

The mine lies 10 km (6.2 miles) west of the town, a strategic supply hub, in the opposite direction to the advancing Russian forces.

The industry source, who asked not to be named, did not say at what point the mine’s owner, metallurgical group Metinvest, might be forced to halt operations and evacuate staff.

Earlier, Metinvest said it was prioritizing workers’ safety and was helping to evacuate the families of employees from the frontline area.

Ukraine’s steelmakers’ union said this month the potential closure of the Pokrovsk mine, the only domestic source of coking coal essential for steelmaking, could cause steel production to slump to 2 million-3 million metric tons next year from the 7.5 million expected in 2024.

Producers hope to find alternative sources of coking coal from elsewhere in Ukraine should the Pokrovsk mine be seized by Russian troops, but imports would inevitably be needed – hiking their costs.

(By Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Helen Popper)

Australia is the world’s biggest supplier of seaborne iron ore, accounting for around half of global supply. But the Pilbara grades dug up from the country’s west are generally regarded as too low to be turned into steel without using coal.

That means as steel makers decarbonize, they are turning elsewhere for iron ore, which could hit Australia’s top export earner, Otranto said at the IMARC conference in Sydney.

“The message is, take the opportunity,” he said on the sidelines of the conference. “We have an abundance of solar and wind… so the logical next step is to get into downstream industries.”

Competition is growing from new green steel projects – made without the use of fossil fuels – in the Middle East, while Guinea’s giant Simandou iron ore mine is set to start up next year, he said.

“That’s a high grade deposit going straight into the steel mills in China,” he said of Simandou.

“Let’s not sit here with our head in the sand thinking it’s not going to happen again.”

Australia had the opportunity to help build Indonesia’s nickel industry but did not anticipate China’s speed and technical innovation, and its domestic industry suffered as a result.

“The Chinese … built the biggest nickel industry the world has ever seen and … took out an entire market sector in four years,” he said, referring to the transformation of Indonesia’s nickel industry into the world’s dominant supplier, driven by Chinese stainless steel giant Tsingshan.

That flood of supply has hammered nickel producers around the globe, including in New Caledonia and Australia.

Otranto said a similar scenario could play out in Australia’s iron ore industry which, along with the Australian government, was underplaying the threat to the sector and that government and industry need to collaborate to lower power costs in particular.

“We have to bring in Chinese manufacturing of solar panels and wind turbines, because they’re doing it better than anyone else,” he said. Automating robots for installation would cut labour costs to help make green iron production economic, he said.

The world needs Australia’s iron ore to sustain steel production so answers must be found.

“We cannot lose the opportunity to place the 600 to 700 million tons of iron ore that Australia ships out,” he said. “So we have to work unbelievably hard, even harder than we’re doing now.”

The world’s fourth largest iron ore miner, Fortescue will use green hydrogen from solar farms at its Christmas Creek operations to start producing 2,000 tons per year of green iron using hydrogen next year.

On Monday, Brazilian miner Vale, the world’s second biggest iron ore producer, said it had partnered with China’s Jinnan Steel Group to build an iron ore beneficiation plant in Oman to make high quality pellet.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Sonali Paul and Lincoln Feast)

The total stock market valuation of the world’s biggest mining companies is up a fairly modest 8% year to end-September and despite the good run is still $240 billion below the peak hit in the second quarter of 2022. And judging by the performance of the top tier in the final quarter (BHP down 8% QTD, Rio Tinto –5%, Vale –3%, Glencore –5%, Newmont –9%, Zijin –5%, Freeport –7%) the gap won’t be closing anytime soon.

In contrast, Nvidia — the maker of chips highly prized for artificial intelligence (AI) computing — is up nearly 200% so far this year (and 2,600% over five). When comparing the graphics card maker’s stock valuation to the mining industry’s collective worth, it’s difficult not to wonder if something is not awry with how global investors appraise the industrial economy.  

Should Nvidia (or Microsoft or Apple for that matter) be worth more than twice the top 50 miners? Outside the top 50 the average market cap quickly shrinks to the low teens so Nvidia is in fact worth more than the entire listed mining industry. 

Even when extending the top 50 into metals and energy –  steel, aluminium and electricity companies often operate their own mines – Nvidia can still throw shade. BHP does not even crack the top 100 most valuable companies in the world and is worth less than Booking.com, and Temu and Zara’s owners, none of which can exactly be called the building blocks of the global economy. 

Nvidia briefly surpassed Apple on Friday to become the world’s most valuable company. Its market capitalization is approximately $3.5 trillion, just below Apple’s, which remains the highest-valued firm globally.

Australia’s biggest independent coal miner, which acquired two metallurgical mines from BHP last year for $4.1 billion, said a shortfall in global coal production with long-term output constraints and higher sea-borne demand from India is expected to lift prices.

“There have been some ongoing question marks about coal demand given the global focus on other sources of energy, but for the time being at least the numbers from Whitehaven today provided some near-term comfort to investors,” said Tim Waterer, market analyst at KCM Trade.

Shares of Whitehaven rose as much as 7.8% to A$6.92 by 2332 GMT and were on track for their best session since mid-August, while the benchmark stock index was up about 0.5%.

Total managed run-of-mine (ROM) production was 9.7 million metric tons for the three-month period ended September, beating a Visible Alpha consensus of 9.1 million tons and higher than 5.3 million tons a year ago.

The biggest contributing segment was Queensland coal mines, which Whitehaven bought from BHP and had said it would increase its exposure to markets in India and Southeast Asia.

In its second quarter of output, the Queensland mines reported ROM production of 5.3 million tons, up 11% from the June quarter.

“In Queensland, we are seeing productivity gains and cost improvements,” said CEO Paul Flynn.

Meanwhile, ROM production declined 18% at the coal miner’s New South Wales operations, and both output and sales are expected to be weighted more heavily towards the second half of the year.

Coal prices realized rose marginally to an average A$238 ($157.89) per ton, compared with A$224 a year earlier.

($1 = 1.5074 Australian dollars)

(By Sneha Kumar; Editing by Alan Barona, Rashmi Aich and Subhranshu Sahu)

Tykac’s Sev.en Group has taken advantage of cheap valuations to buy up coal power stations and mines in the US, Australia and Vietnam, as well as gas-fired plants in the UK. After building his fortune in the Czech Republic, Tykac is using the expansion to shield his wealth from European Union efforts to lead the world in giving up fossil fuels.

It’s also a bet that delays and snags in the transition to renewable energy will keep coal in the mix for years to come, at least outside Europe.

Having amassed foreign assets worth an estimated €3 billion ($3.3 billion) in the past five years, Sev.en is preparing for more and bigger deals, according to Alan Svoboda, chief executive officer of the group’s international business.

“We have much more in the pipeline than in the past, and we’re hoping to grow even faster than we have so far,” he said in an interview at the Prague headquarters of Sev.en Global Investments AS. “We look at hundreds of opportunities every year and submit dozens of binding bids.”

The Vales Point power station outside Sydney is one such example. The Czech company bought the coal-fired facility, which has a license to operate until 2029, two years ago. Yet looming electricity shortages might prompt Australian authorities to extend its lifespan until 2033, according to Svoboda. If that were to happen, it could boost profits, even if it requires additional investment.

“The entire energy sector can’t change overnight, as some people hoped,” the CEO said. “The Australians have realized that it is not totally safe to force a speedy decommissioning of coal plants, and that it is better to let market forces determine when their operation will no longer make business sense.”

As institutional shareholders, lenders and insurers flee environmentally harmful industries in droves, it remains unclear whether the company’s push into coal will pay off. Revenue at Sev.en Global Investments, which now accounts for over 70% of Tykac’s empire, jumped 23% last year to €1.85 billion. Still, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 53% to €432 million as energy prices slid from the record levels notched in 2022.

Including his original Czech company, Sev.en Ceska Energie AS, Tykac now has about 6,000 employees worldwide and a net worth of around $3 billion, according to estimates from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Tykac, who declined to personally comment for this article, started out in business after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, when then-Czechoslovakia ditched communism. His first company was a computer manufacturer, and he later began investing in other local businesses and banks.

After 2006, Tykac transitioned into coal mines and power and heating plants around the Czech Republic. His Pocerady station, near the country’s northern border with Germany, is one of the country’s biggest polluters and has been a frequent target of environmental activists since it went online in the 1970s. It accounts for almost 6% of the country’s entire electricity production.

Unlike many peers, Tykac is not trying to greenwash his image. Sev.en Global Investment’s website describes its business model as focused on risky, high-return projects. It quotes Tykac as saying that his investments are “crucial for our economies” even as others might avoid them for ethical reasons.

“Sufficiency of reliable, safe and affordable electricity,” it reads, “is one of the basic conditions for the existence of today’s civilization.”

Svoboda joined Sev.en in 2018 to take care of its overseas expansion. The 52-year-old former executive at Czech utility CEZ AS says the EU effort to phase out coal is posing “elevated regulatory risk” to companies such as Sev.en.

“We are largely losing interest in Europe, except for the UK,” Svoboda said. “We are drawn to America and Australia.”

While the focus remains on developed nations with stable political systems, Tykac’s empire is also expanding into communist-ruled Vietnam, where it has agreed to buy 70% of a coal plant from American and Chinese investors. The 1.2 gigawatt facility outside Hanoi comes with a supply contract that hedges the owner against swings in exchange rates and coal prices until 2055.

Sev.en is hoping that the investment could be followed by expansion into places like India, Indonesia and Malaysia, according to Svoboda. Many countries in the region aren’t planning to ditch coal anytime soon, and their governments are often willing to compensate foreign owners with long-term guarantees.

“We thought it was time to try something new,” said Svoboda. “We would like to replicate our investment in Vietnam in other places across South-East Asia.”

It does remain easier to secure funding for green projects, which is one reason why the group is also seeking to diversify into industries such as electricity storage and mining minerals, including those used in batteries. In Australia, it is about to start producing potassium-sulfate fertilizer made via an environmentally friendly process.

Over the past 18 months, Sev.en has opened offices in New York, London and Sydney in an effort to expand its global footprint. “We’ve been looking at bigger and bigger transactions,” said Svoboda, adding that the “sweet spot” for acquisitions is currently between €500 million and €1 billion.

Despite the rising appetite, Sev.en remains selective, according to Svoboda.

“Rather than having a broad portfolio of many smaller items,” he said, “our goal is to own a limited number of crown jewels that we go all-in on.”

(By Krystof Chamonikolas)

Since its demerger from Anglo American in 2021, South Africa’s Thungela has pursued a strategy 100% hitched to coal, even while some investors shun the black stuff as a liability in a world under pressure to decarbonize.

“No new mines are being built as a result of either no capital or no licences,” July Ndlovu told Reuters in a virtual interview from Australia, where he said the Ensham mine Thungela acquired a year ago has seen output rise rapidly by a third to reach close to a 4 million tonnes target it had by 2026.

“If you’ve got long life, competitive assets which are low cost, those assets are going to be very valuable,” he said, adding that he currently had no new acquisitions planned.

After a coal rush to offset gas supply interruptions in the wake of Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion, rich nations have continued to sharply cut consumption in order to meet 2015 Paris Agreement pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

That, plus economic troubles in top consumer China, has weighed on prices. Yet they remain much higher than they were for more than a decade before the eight months leading up to the Ukraine war. Asian demand remains strong, Ndlovu said, which was “offsetting the decline in demand in the other regions”.

“I think in the short to medium term, certainly up to 2030 … we’re going to see flat to marginal growth … driven primarily by Asia,” he said.

South Africa’s coal shipments have been dampened by logistical problems at state-owned ports and rail company Transnet, devastating earnings of coal producers like Thungela, Exxaro Resources and Glencore, although those logistical problems have since eased.

Climate scientists say the world must swiftly abandon the world’s most carbon-intensive fuel – cancelling the building of new power stations and retiring existing plants early – to stand a chance of limiting warming to well below an average 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050.

“I think they are both unrealistic and premature. I’ve not seen a scenario which is zero coal,” Ndlovu said, adding that if there ever was: “We’ll be the ones delivering the last tonne.”

($1 = 17.6725 rand)

(By Tim Cocks; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

BHP walked away from a $49 billion bid to acquire Anglo in May after it was rebuffed three times. With a six-month block on another approach set to expire at the end of November, a deal is again under scrutiny.

Anglo was able to convince investors during BHP’s approach that it had a better plan to grow value, focused on shedding underperforming platinum, diamonds and coal to focus on copper, a metal key for the energy transition.

If that succeeds, the higher value that comes with copper assets may help keep Anglo safe, one portfolio manager at a Cape Town fund manager said.

But the longer it takes to achieve a transformation, the more likely it is that investors will be tempted by another bid.

Investors with shares in both companies told Reuters that even though they expect BHP CEO Mike Henry to renew his pursuit for the London-listed miner, the timing and even the rationale for such an approach could be shaped by whether Anglo can grow beyond the grasp of cash-rich rivals.

Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad is rushing to sell coking coal mines in Australia and nickel assets in Brazil while spinning off platinum mines in South Africa. The company is also weighing whether to sell or separately list its De Beers diamonds unit.

Anglo’s world-class copper assets in Latin America are the prize for rivals seeking increased exposure to copper.

But its copper mines are still dogged by operational issues. On Thursday, it said copper output declined 13% in the third quarter, though the company remains on course to meet this year’s output guidance of 730,000 tons to 790,000 tons.

Anglo declined to comment. BHP did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Choosing the moment

Anglo’s shares rose as much as 4.3% in London on Monday amid a broad uptick in mining stocks, but have shed most of the premium they added in the wake of BHP’s approach.

If Anglo’s valuation takes time to catch up with its restructuring, it could present a golden opportunity for BHP.

According to a source at a top investor in both companies, a restructured Anglo creates more value for BHP, which is still wary of the risks associated with absorbing South African assets.

“If I was BHP, I would say let Anglo do most of the heavy lifting, the restructuring it promised it will do by end 2025,” the source told Reuters.

Any potential new bid should come when some of the restructuring is expected to completed by June or July next year, they added.

BHP may have to wait until Anglo spins off its platinum business by mid-2025 to make the deal less complex, UBS Group analysts said. “We expect Anglo to re-rate as the group simplifies,” UBS said. “If not, we see potential for another takeover approach.”

Christiaan Bothma, an investment analyst at Johannesburg-based money manager Sanlam Private Wealth, which has shares in both companies, told Reuters it would “make sense” for BHP to wait for Anglo to do the asset separation for them.

But he added: “The counter argument to this would be if they wait (too) long, Anglo’s valuation premium may be too high or iron ore prices too low (BHP’s primary currency).”

(By Felix Njini; Editing by Veronica Brown, Pratima Desai and Jan Harvey)

Copper prices remained elevated in the quarter, supported by optimism about Chinese demand following a series of stimulus measures from Beijing. Long-term demand view for the red metal continues to be bullish on the back of its critical role in the energy transition.

Teck said copper prices rose by about 11.7% from a year earlier and averaged around $4.21 per pound.

The Quebrada Blanca (QB) mine in Chile reported record production during the quarter as operations continued to ramp up. This helped Teck achieve a jump of around 60% in copper output to 115,000 metric tons.

However, the company cut its full-year copper production forecast for the second time in a row, citing labour issues and mining delays at the Highland Valley Copper mine in Canada.

It also reduced the upper end of its 2024 annual copper production guidance for QB. Teck now expects full-year copper production of 420,000 to 455,000 tons, compared with the previous guidance of 435,000 to 500,000 tons.

Teck revamped its operations this year by selling 77% interest in the steelmaking coal unit to Swiss miner Glencore Plc. The deal, one of the largest in the industry, was completed in July.

The deal was part of Teck’s transition into a pure-play energy transition metals company.

“We have returned more than $1.3 billion to shareholders so far this year, while also reducing debt and ramping-up copper production,” CEO Jonathan Price said in a statement

The company reported an adjusted profit of C$0.60 ($0.4340) per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of C$0.37 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 1.3824 Canadian dollars)

(By Mrinalika Roy and Surbhi Misra; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Janane Vengatraman)

The projects, led by small-and medium-businesses in communities with de-commissioned coal facilities, were selected by DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) to address critical energy supply chain vulnerabilities.

Five of the projects will be in, or adjacent to, disadvantaged communities, the DOE said, adding that every project will include a community benefits plan developed to maximize economic, health and environmental impacts.

The projects aim to strengthen US national security by building supply chains for existing and emerging technologies built by American workers with American materials. The projects will leverage over $500 million in private sector investment into small- and medium-manufacturers and create over 1,900 good-paying, high quality jobs, the DOE said.
 
“The transition to America’s clean energy future is being shaped by communities filled with the valuable talent and experience that comes from powering our country for decades,” US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in the statement.

“By leveraging the know-how and skillset of the former coal workforce, we are…helping advance forward-facing technologies and revitalize communities across the nation.”
 
White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said the initiative is leading “an unprecedented expansion of American energy production, a manufacturing renaissance and the essential work of rebuilding our middle class.”

Zaidi said former coal communities are mounting a clean energy comeback by harnessing the urgent climate challenge.

The global market for clean energy and carbon reduction technologies is anticipated to reach a minimum of $23 trillion by 2030.  As demand grows for clean energy technology, the projects will help prepare the manufacturing industry for what lies ahead, the DOE noted.

The 14 projects selected for negotiation of award focus on manufacturing products and materials that address multiple needs in the domestic clean energy supply chain. The selections will address five key supply chains – grid components, batteries, low-carbon materials, clean power generation and energy efficiency products.

The lead organizations and proposed project locations are:

Anthro Energy – Louisville, KY

A $24.9 million selection to retrofit a facility to enable the domestic production of advanced electrolyte for use in Lithium-ion battery (LIB) cells in electric vehicles (EV), defense applications, and consumer electronics. The project will create an estimated 115 permanent  jobs.

CleanFiber – Chehalis, WA and Ennis, TX

CleanFiber’s locations in Washington and Texas are selected to receive $10 million each to establish two separate 60,000 square-foot production facilities produce an advanced form of cellulose insulation from recycled cardboard.  The facilities, once operational, will produce enough advanced insulation to weatherize more than 20,000 homes a year and support 80 full time employees.

TS Conductor – Erie, MI

A $28.2 million selection to establish US-based manufacturing of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) conductors and other advanced conductors that enable a secure and resilient clean grid. The new factory will create 425 construction jobs and 162 operating jobs with wages above the local prevailing rate.

Furno Materials Inc – Chicago, IL

A $20 million selection to construct a new circular, low carbon cement production facility. The facility will use recycled industrial waste materials as feedstock to make low-carbon Ordinary Portland Cement, reducing carbon intensity by 47%, and creating 80 total jobs with above average wages and benefits.

Hempitecture Inc – Rogersville, TN

An $8.42 million selection to create an industrial fiber hemp processing and manufacturing facility produce high performing products, with a 60-80% reduced carbon intensity, for the building materials, packaging, and automotive industry. When completed, the facility will create 25 full time jobs 15% above prevailing hourly rate.

Infinitum – Rockdale, TX

A $34 million selection to establish a manufacturing facility to produce heavy copper, high-powered printed circuit board (HP-PCB) stators, the key component of Infinitum’s high-efficiency axil-flux motors. The Rockdale facility is expected to create 170 operating jobs and 125 construction jobs.

MetOx International – Southeast, US

An $80 million selection to establish Project Arch, an advanced superconductor manufacturing facility, critical to expanding grid capacity to enable accelerated deployment of renewable energy, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, hyperscale AI data centers, and large manufacturing loads. Project Arch will create 230 jobs, supporting economic revitalization in a coal community to be determined in the Southeast.

Moment Energy Inc – Taylor, TX

A $20.3 million selection to establish the first UL1974 Certified manufacturing facility in the US to repurpose EV batteries to produce safe, reliable, and affordable battery energy storage systems. The project will create 50 construction jobs and a total of 200 new jobs within their facility, which will produce an annual output of 1 GWh once fully operational.

Mainspring Energy Inc – Coraopolis, PA

An $87 million selection to establish a state- of-the-art manufacturing facility near Pittsburgh to produce 1,000 linear generators that can run on any gaseous fuel, and change fuels without any hardware changes. The project will create 291 construction-related jobs, at least 80% of which will seek to be unionized. The facility will create 600 operations positions, offering above-average pay, benefits, and growth opportunities.

RG Resource Technologies Inc – Lansing, MI

A $5 million selection to retrofit a manufacturing facility in Lansing to produce 120,000 units/yr production of their solar photovoltaic + thermal capture (PVT) system. Through this project, RG Resource Technologies plans to hire 160 workers in new full-time positions, with a goal that 64 of those positions will be filled from workers living in disadvantaged communities.

Sparkz Inc – Bridgeport, WV

A $9.8 million selection to create a first-of-its-kind battery-grade iron phosphate (FePO4) plant in the United States. As part of this project, Sparkz will be creating and retaining 75 high quality jobs, and has signed a neutrality agreement with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Labor Union and will work with UMWA on providing training to coal workers.

Terra CO2 Holdings – Magna, UT

A $52.6 million selection to establish a new manufacturing facility to produce an innovative high-performing Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM), a 70% lower emission and cost-effective replacement for traditional Ordinary Portland Cement. This project will create 61 new jobs with wages and benefits above the 75th percentile compared to national wages, and will train and upskill up to 144 people from underrepresented populations.

Urban Mining Industries – Indiantown, FL and Baltimore, MD

A $37 million selection to develop manufacturing plants that will convert recycled glass, most of which would have otherwise gone to landfill, into a ground glass pozzolan, which is used to replace up to 50% of carbon-intensive cement in concrete mixes, which can drastically reduce embodied emissions while increasing resistance to road salts and increasing reflective properties. The project will create 20 new skilled jobs.

Learn more about the projects selected here.
 

The decree allows Colombia’s environment ministry to declare areas as natural resource reserve zones for a five-year period, which can be renewed.

“All mining is at risk of being paralyzed,” Juan Camilo Narino, head of the Colombian Mining Association, said at a press conference. “No one is going to invest with this much uncertainty.”

One of the first regions which could be put under the scheme is the Santurban high altitude wetland in the department of Santander, Narino said, where firms are interested in gold exploration activities and where artisanal miners are already present.

Environment Minister Susana Muhamad does not want to completely halt mining, Narino said, but is looking to minimize the risks to flora, fauna and water sources.

Colombia is an important producer and exporter of thermal coal and gold, and is looking to boost exploration efforts for metals like copper.

The South American nation’s mining sector is an important generator of foreign currency, taxes and royalties.

Last year, the sector paid the state 17 billion pesos ($3.99 billion) in taxes and royalties, Narino said.

He warned of a drop in foreign investment and lower output by miners this year as a result of the government measure.

“The sector just needs clarity,” he said, adding the legal uncertainty was compounded by insecurity caused by illegal armed groups and frequent protests by local communities who oppose mining projects or who are looking for a share of investments.

(By Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Alistair Bell)

The company has proposed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources a five-year spending plan that includes capital expenditures, production costs, and operating expense, it told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, confirming news reports.

Semirara’s expansion plan comes as the Philippines continues to rely on coal for its power needs even as it has mapped out plans to boost the share of renewables in its energy mix. Nations around the world are advancing the phaseout of coal-fired power capacity while banks have pledged to stop funding coal projects to curb the impact of climate change.

Semirara has mining operations in the province of Antique in central Philippines. Its coal revenue fell by 20% to 23.9 billion pesos in the first half as prices fell. The company exports coal to China, South Korea and Brunei.

(By Cliff Venzon)

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners had a combined market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, up just under $76 billion from end-June, largely on the back of gold and royalty stocks.

The total stock market valuation of the world’s biggest mining companies is up a fairly modest 8% year to end-September and despite the good run is still $240 billion below the peak hit in the second quarter of 2022.  

Ranks, value of gold stocks swell

The value of precious metals and royalty companies climbed by a combined $42 billion, or 16% during the quarter and gold counters dominate the best performing ranks. 

Were it not for the limited tradability of stock in Russia’s Polyus, which lost some ground over the last three months despite gold’s stellar performance, bullion’s effect on the Top 50 would have been even more pronounced. 

Canada’s Alamos Gold joins the top 50 for the first time with a more than 31% jump in value, lifting it six places to number 48 with a valuation of $8.2 billion at the end of the quarter while the second quarter’s newcomer Pan American Silver (following its absorption of Yamana Gold) hangs on at no 50.

Alamos Gold last month raised its production guidance by over 20% for 2025-2026 with the inclusion of the Magino mine and its integration with its Island Gold operation in Ontario. The Toronto- based miner has long term ambitions to grow its production base to 900,000 ounces per year.

Uzbekistan is readying an IPO for Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combinat – the world’s fourth largest gold mining company and significant uranium producer in 2025. NMMC debuted a $1 billion bond offering last week, marking the first global debt market issuance from a gold mining company since June 2023.

Navoi should easily join the ranks of gold producers in the top 50 thanks to ownership of the world’s largest gold mine, Muruntau, and annual production of 2.9 million ounces at grades and per ounce extraction costs the envy of the sector.  

The Muruntau open pit mine southwest of the Kyzylkum desert, originally developed during the Soviet era as a source of uranium, has estimated reserves of around 130 million ounces of gold. 

Goldilocks copper

Copper specialists, and those with fat gold credits, have gained a combined 36% year to date as the copper price continues to flirt with the $10,000 a tonne level, but momentum slowed dramatically during Q3 with the group contributing only $7.2 billion in added market worth during the quarter. 

Amman Mineral’s fierce rally also came to an abrupt halt during the quarter with the counter losing 18% over the three months and coming close to falling out of the top 10.

Investors who bought Amman, owner of the world’s third largest mine worldwide in terms of copper equivalent, at the IPO price in Jakarta a year ago, are still enjoying 400% gains since then, however. 

Southern Copper’s position as the world’s third most valuable mining stock seems entrenched after a double digit percentage gain in Q3 compared to a much more sedate performance by Freeport-McMoRan, which now has to gain a full $20 billion in market cap to haul in its Mexico City-based rival.

Light on lithium 

Rio Tinto’s vote of confidence in the long term future of the lithium sector (and its own ability to make M&A work) dominated the news at the start of the December-quarter but it’s worth noting that Arcadium’s more than 90% surge since the all-cash offer was first announced is not enough for the stock to enter the rankings.

Three lithium counters exited the rankings this year, Australia’s Pilbara Minerals and Mineral Resources and China’s Tianqi Lithium as the deep slump in prices for the battery metal continues to take its toll.  

Last quarter’s no 50, Ganfeng Lithium jumps six places after being swept up in the stimulus-induced rally on Chinese stock markets at the end of the quarter, while Tianqi’s performance so far in October should see it reenter the Top 50 in due course. 

Ganfeng was barely holding on at position 50 at end-June and with gold price momentum continuing and two gold mining companies waiting in the winds – Yintai and Alamos – only three lithium counters in the top 50 may be a reality for some time to come. 

After peaking in the second quarter of 2022 with a combined value of nearly $120 billion, the remaining lithium stocks’ market value has now shrunk to $34 billion.  

Iron ore ground down

Despite a modest improvement during the quarter, the mining industry’s traditional big 5 – BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Vale and Anglo American – remain in the red for 2024, losing $24 billion since the start of the year. 

The big 5 diversifieds now make up 29% of the total index, down from a height of 38% at the end of 2022.  

Iron ore’s less than rosy outlook – the late boost China’s recent stimulus package notwithstanding – saw Fortescue once again feature on the biggest losers list and Cleveland Cliffs exit the ranking with the US iron ore miner’s 37% decline this year exacerbated by its inability to capitalize on the blocking of the Nippon-US Steel tie up. 

Iron ore’s representation in the top 50 have diminished in the last couple of years – Brazil’s CSN Mineração dropped out during Q1 this year while Anglo-controlled and separately-listed Kumba Iron Ore has lost touch with the top tier after a 40% fall year to date.

Click on image for full size table.

NOTES:

Source: MINING.COM, stock exchange data, company reports. Share data from primary-listed exchange at close Oct 4, 2024 close of trading converted to US$ where applicable. Percentage change based on US$ market cap difference, not share price change in local currency.  

As with any ranking, criteria for inclusion are contentious. We decided to exclude unlisted and state-owned enterprises at the outset due to a lack of information. That, of course, excludes giants like Chile’s Codelco, Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining (the gold and uranium giant may list later this year), Eurochem, a major potash firm, and a number of entities in China and developing countries around the world.

Another central criterion was the depth of involvement in the industry before an enterprise can rightfully be called a mining company.

For instance, should smelter companies or commodity traders that own minority stakes in mining assets be included, especially if these investments have no operational component or warrant a seat on the board?

This is a common structure in Asia and excluding these types of companies removed well-known names like Japan’s Marubeni and Mitsui, Korea Zinc and Chile’s Copec. 

Levels of operational or strategic involvement and size of shareholding were other central considerations. Do streaming and royalty companies that receive metals from mining operations without shareholding qualify or are they just specialised financing vehicles? We included Franco Nevada, Royal Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals on the basis of their deep involvement in the industry.

Vertically integrated concerns like Alcoa and energy companies such as Shenhua Energy or Bayan Resources where power, ports and railways make up a large portion of revenues pose a problem. The revenue mix also tends to change alongside volatile coal prices. Same goes for battery makers like China’s CATL which is increasingly moving upstream, but where mining will continue to represent a small portion of its valuation.  

Another consideration is diversified companies such as Anglo American with separately listed majority-owned subsidiaries. We’ve included Angloplat in the ranking but excluded Kumba Iron Ore in which Anglo has a 70% stake to avoid double counting. Similarly we excluded Hindustan Zinc which is listed separately but majority owned by Vedanta.

Many steelmakers own and often operate iron ore and other metal mines, but in the interest of balance and diversity we excluded the steel industry, and with that many companies that have substantial mining assets including giants like ArcelorMittal, Magnitogorsk, Ternium, Baosteel and many others.

Head office refers to operational headquarters wherever applicable, for example BHP and Rio Tinto are shown as Melbourne, Australia, but Antofagasta is the exception that proves the rule. We consider the company’s HQ to be in London, where it has been listed since the late 1800s.

Please let us know of any errors, omissions, deletions or additions to the ranking or suggest a different methodology.

After losing out on a copper mine in Botswana last year, chief executive officer Nombasa Tsengwa is prioritizing manganese in the company’s latest bid to diversify its business. South Africa is the world’s largest exporter of mid- to high-grade manganese ores, which are mainly used in steelmaking.

While Exxaro doesn’t currently own manganese mines, it’s told other players that it’s interested in acquiring projects, according to the CEO. South32 Ltd., Anglo American Plc and African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. are among the shareholders in manganese mining joint ventures, which are found primarily in Northern Cape province.

“We believe that the manganese industry requires a South African champion,” Tsengwa said. Exxaro is aiming to buy “a very good asset or two,” as well as undertake exploration, she said.

The steel industry accounts for 93% of manganese demand and will remain the dominant consumer of the metal, according to Tanisha Schultz, a Cape Town-based senior research analyst at Project Blue, which provides market intelligence on critical minerals. Batteries – including those used in electric vehicles – will triple their share of consumption to more than 7% by 2040, she said.

Exxaro, founded in 2006 on coal, zinc and titanium assets split from a unit of Anglo American, has previously diversified into clean power projects, including wind farms.

Like many other mining companies, Exxaro is also keen to add copper to its portfolio in anticipation of spiking demand driven by EVs, artificial intelligence and renewable energy. The firm reached a shortlist to acquire the Khoemacau copper mine in Botswana, before China’s MMG Ltd. came out on top last November, agreeing to pay $1.9 billion.

Exxaro remains interested in operating copper mines, “but with partners,” Tsengwa said. “They’re not affordable on their own.”

The firm would also like to develop a copper exploration program, according to the CEO, who highlighted Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.

Exxaro remains one of the top suppliers of coal to South Africa’s state-owned power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.

The company sold almost 41 million tons of coal last year, of which about 13% was exported. It could ship up to 10 million tons a year to overseas markets, but that’s hampered by the poor performance of state-owned rail and freight operator Transnet SOC Ltd, Tsengwa said.

(By William Clowes)

Tata Trusts said Noel Tata, 67, will be its new chairman after the death this week of Ratan Tata, one of India’s best-known corporate titans. The decision followed “many old-timers” in the group wanting him to lead the venture, said one Tata executive.

The parent company, Tata Sons, oversees 30 firms across consumer goods, hotels, automobiles and airlines and has become a global juggernaut over the years, with brands such as Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea in its stable.

It owns Tata Consultancy Services, Taj Hotels and Air India, and counts Starbucks and Airbus as partners in India.

Tata Trusts has a 66% ownership of Tata Sons, giving it power over big investment, philanthropic and strategic decisions by the conglomerate, company executives say.

Noel Tata, who is half-French, was already among the many trustees of the philanthropic arm, and also vice chairman of Tata Steel and chairman of Tata’s popular retail fashion brand Trent.

“Noel is well versed with how Tata businesses are run. In retail, many people thought how will Tata compete with the big retailers. Noel has shown it,” said Sanjay Singh, a former Tata Sons executive who retired in 2019.

“He has kept a low profile so the outer world doesn’t know him well, but he is quintessential Tata.”

The trust earns dividends from Tata Sons but has no direct say over its operations. However, it appoints a third of the directors to Tata Sons who have veto power over board decisions.

The chairman of Tata Trusts “is powerful enough to decide board and key personnel” appointments at Tata Sons, a second senior company executive said.

While Tata Sons is not compelled to seek advice or guidance from the philanthropic arm, it’s an “unsaid understanding” that there is consultation between leadership on both sides, the first executive added.

Noel’s journey

The Tata group was set up in 1868 by Ratan’s great grandfather, Jamsetji Tata.

A few years later, Jamsetji started charity work that has since expanded to sectors such as healthcare and sports, through many of the trusts in the philanthropic arm.

Ratan Tata started working at the family firm in 1962 and became the chairman of Tata Sons in 1991, taking the group to new heights while gaining a reputation as an extremely shy, soft-spoken executive with sharp business acumen.

Noel Tata is a graduate of Sussex University who has been associated with the group for more than 40 years. He serves on the board of various Tata companies.

As a previous managing director of Tata International, Noel grew the turnover of the trading arm to more than $3 billion from $500 million, a Tata Group website said.

The Tatas belong to the tiny Parsi community, which has included some of India’s biggest business names, top nuclear scientists, world-class musicians and senior military officers.

Parsis follow the Zoroastrian faith, an ancient pre-Islamic religion of Iran. Some of its tenets, such as charity and doing good to others, have long been woven into the Tata heritage and business ethos.

Much of the dividend paid out by Tata Sons gets funneled into charitable trusts involved in philanthropic work.

Although the trusts’ influence over the group is not often on display, the starkest such example was in 2016, when Ratan Tata had a falling out with Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry that led to the latter’s ouster.

Mistry, another Parsi billionaire whose family owns a stake of about 18% in Tata Sons, died in a car accident in 2022.

One of his former advisers told Reuters this week that the Tata Trusts “without a doubt” exert unparalleled power over Tata Sons’ functions, adding that they “work behind a veil.”

Noel is an Irish citizen married to Mistry’s sister.

(By Aditya Kalra, Aditi Shah, Krishn Kaushik and Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Frances Kerry)

The attack took place in the mineral-rich Duki district of Balochistan, a region that borders both Afghanistan and Iran.

The attackers stormed the miners’ accommodations late Thursday night, rounded up the workers, and opened fire, police official Hamayun Khan Nasir said, according to The Express Tribune. They also fired rockets and grenades, damaging mining equipment before fleeing the scene. 

The assault has sparked widespread condemnation, with authorities launching a manhunt for the perpetrators.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the deadliest in weeks. 

The violence comes just days before a major security summit in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, and as the country hosts a Saudi delegation interested in mining investments.

It also coincides with the signing of $2 billion worth of agreements between Saudi and Pakistani businessmen for investments in various sectors, including mining.

Balochistan, rich in oil and minerals, has long been a hotbed of separatists. These groups accuse the federal government of exploiting the province’s resources without benefiting local communities. 

Several of their attacks have been directed at migrant workers, many of whom are employed by smaller, privately run mines.

The development follows Sydney-based Whitehaven’s $3.2 billion purchase of coking-coal operations from BHP Group Ltd., which has added production of raw materials needed for steelmaking to its portfolio of mines largely supplying fuel for power stations.

Acquisitions have created the necessary level of diversification to improve Whitehaven’s access to insurers, according to a spokesperson for the company. That means the SPV project, first announced two years ago, has effectively been put on ice.

Access to insurance is emerging as a key indicator for judging the level of corporate anxiety tied to climate change. Zurich Insurance Group AG walked away from a number of commodities exposures earlier this year, including new metallurgical coal mines after deeming them to be too risky.

As some insurers retreat, the fossil-fuel industry has turned to in-house so-called captive insurance SPVs, with BHP, the world’s biggest mining company by market value, as well as Glencore Plc and Shell Plc, among those to create such vehicles. The global market for captive insurance rose to a record last year, surpassing $200 billion in premiums, according to broker WTW. Companies using captive insurance transfer premiums to an SPV and reinvest any surplus cash. If a coverage need arises, they then tap the SPV.

Whitehaven, which declined to identify the external insurance firms it’s using, says the original need for an SPV is no longer as urgent because metallurgical coal now accounts for a far larger chunk of its total business. Most banks and asset managers treat that commodity as a more acceptable risk than thermal coal, which is used to generate heat and electricity.

That’s largely because of the role that metallurgical coal plays in the production of steel, which is an essential component in the clean-energy transition. Of 60 global banks analyzed by French nonprofit Reclaim Finance, just nine have adopted metallurgical coal policies, compared with 47 for thermal coal. Some of the banks have even begun to backtrack on their metallurgical coal commitments, according to Reclaim Finance.

Whitehaven previously generated almost all of its revenue from thermal coal, though the share fell to 41% in the second quarter, following the addition of BHP’s Blackwater and Daunia mines in Australia. Metallurgical sales are likely to continue to account for a rising share of the total, Whitehaven said in a July filing.

Advocates for climate action insist it’s wrong to treat metallurgical coal as a less environmentally harmful material. Met coal — also called coking coal — can be up to three times more polluting than thermal coal, according to Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy. However, global exports of thermal coal are far higher, at about 1.1 billion tons in 2023, compared with 348 million tons for metallurgical coal, according to data compiled by Australia’s government.

“Coal is coal, and it is a major source of carbon emissions, whatever the end use,” said Cynthia Rocamora, an industry campaigner at French climate nonprofit Reclaim Finance.

In the insurance sector, 46 firms have committed to end or restrict services for coal, according to Insure our Future, a coalition of nonprofits. Zurich is the first to have added restrictions on metallurgical coal mining.

But even Zurich qualifies its restrictions. The company said in an email that steel remains essential for the net zero transition. An immediate phaseout of metallurgical coal isn’t feasible due to technological and economic constraints.

Zurich’s current position restricts underwriting for new metallurgical coal projects because existing mines are expected to meet demand until scalable alternatives are available, the company said.

Whitehaven will continue to explore alternative sources of insurance to make sure it isn’t paying more than it needs to, the company’s spokesperson said. It hasn’t ruled out creating an in-house SPV at a future date, the person said.

(By Natasha White)

China Energy Investment Corp. said it will spend 170 billion yuan ($24 billion) to build an integrated plant in the northwestern region of Xinjiang that will turn coal into oil products. As is expected of all such projects, the facility will be powered by renewable energy — although its inputs and outputs will be anything but clean. The first phase is slated to come online in 2027.

The facility in Hami city is just the latest in a series of coal-to-oil developments greenlit in recent years in the mining hubs of Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. Hami alone has indicated it will approve 300 billion yuan’s worth of such projects in its five-year plan through 2025, which could consume 152 million tons of coal by the end of the decade.

For all of its rapid deployment of clean energy, China remains by far the world’s largest coal producer and continues to push output to record levels, which hit 4.7 billion tons last year. But the fuel’s main usage in generating electricity has reached a turning point, after being surpassed for the first time by solar and wind installations. Moreover, President Xi Jinping has said consumption needs to start falling from 2026 to meet the nation’s climate goals, which has led coal miners to seek other avenues for their product.

One problem is that China’s petrochemicals industry is in a funk, the victim of its own breakneck expansion just as consumption has faltered due to a weak economy. Coal-to-oil profits slumped 53% last year, according to the China Petroleum and Chemical Industrial Federation.

Another is that healthy margins rely on a wide spread between the price of coal, which China has been successful in suppressing, and the price of oil, which has suffered as Chinese imports have slowed. Beijing’s wider efforts to decarbonize the economy continue to weigh heavily on oil processing generally, and Chinese consumption of products like diesel and gasoline may already have peaked.

The Hami facility, which will be capable of yielding 4 million tons of oil products a year for processing into materials like polyester, is more likely to prosper because CEIC’s scale allows it to mine coal particularly cheaply. It’s liquefaction technology has also been touted as state of the art.

But the timing nevertheless represents a risk. China’s coal-to-oil capacity rose 24% to 11 million tons in 2023 compared to 2019. That means the new plant will account for a significant chunk of Chinese output at a time when its customers aren’t in great shape and pressure is mounting on industry to reduce rather than add to national carbon emissions.

Column: China’s coal use and output are rising, even as renewables surge

The Just Energy Transition Partnership, a unit in the presidency, will unveil a platform to nurture projects later this month to help speed up progress, according to Joanne Yawitch, head of its project management unit.

Yawitch, who spoke at a seminar in eMalahleni, a city at the heart of South Africa’s coal belt in the eastern Mpumalanga province, said the JETP Funding Platform will focus on finding projects and sourcing startup capital and credit enhancement. The pact, agreed in 2021, is seen as a global prototype for how coal-dependent developing nations can switch to cleaner energy.

“There is a very limited project pipeline, it’s not a Mpumalanga problem, its a national problem,” Yawitch said on Wednesday. Through the platform “we can really ensure that there is a much greater flow of this funding,” she said.

The JETP — a partnership between South Africa and Germany, France, the US, UK, European Union, Netherlands and Denmark — is being emulated by Vietnam and Indonesia. It’s meant to boost renewable-energy production, accelerate the development of other green industries and cushion affected workers and communities from the impact of closing coal-fired power plants. South Africa currently relies on coal for about four-fifths of its electricity.

Aside from loans to South Africa’s National Treasury from France and Germany, little of the funding has been disbursed to date.

Denmark is looking for projects to invest in, Elsebeth Søndergaard Krone, Denmark’s ambassador to South Africa, said in an interview. It has earmarked $165 million in concessional loans and grants to help fund projects, she said.

“It could be waste to energy or waste-water handling. It could be a hydro project, it could be investing in the grid if that’s feasible, depending on which models South Africa will use,” she said.

Wind potential

The country is also using its expertise to update a map of the potential for wind power across Mpumalanga, according to Stine Leth Rasmussen, the deputy director-general of the Danish Energy Agency. The results are expected in early 2026.

While Mpumalanga doesn’t have the best wind and solar power potential in South Africa it has strong grid connections to Gauteng, South Africa’s industrial heartland. Solar and wind power potential in South Africa is the strongest in the Northern and Eastern Cape provinces but the largely rural regions have relatively weak grid connections that need further investment.

At the event in eMalahleni, ambassadors and other representatives from Denmark, France, Germany and the UK detailed a series of projects that they are backing, ranging from re-skilling programs for workers to boosting fruit and nut farming and providing solar power for poor communities.

Political infighting

Political infighting, labor-union opposition and delays to planned closures of coal-fired power plants have all helped slow implementation.

Representatives from the National Union of Mineworkers and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, the biggest labor groups in the mining and the power-generation industries, expressed concern about energy transition at the event.

They said they hadn’t been consulted about the pact, that workers and communities were confused and they feared that any money spent would flow back to consultants and companies from the investment partner nations.

“Its a difficult conversation,” David Martinon, France’s ambassador to South Africa, said of the energy transition. “It’s a long and complex process.”

(By Antony Sguazzin)

The company was awarded £252 million ($325m) after an international tribunal unanimously held that the Polish government had breached its obligations under the treaties in relation to the Jan Karski coking coal project.

The Australian company, formerly Prairie Mining, launched international arbitration proceedings against Poland in 2020, arguing that Warsaw breached bilateral treaties by blocking Prairie’s investment in two coal mines — Jan Karski and Dębieńsko.

Polish media reported at the time that the company could seek as much as 10 billion zlotys ($2.64 billion) in compensation.

Regarding the Dębieńsko project, the tribunal did not uphold the claim under the treaties.

The projects contain coking coal as well as thermal coal. Thermal coal, used for power, is struggling to attract investment because of concerns about the environment, while coking coal, used in steelmaking, is still viewed as a strategic mineral.

The company was represented by international disputes firm Lalive and co-represented by US-based firm Boies Schiller Flexner. The claim was brought under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Rules. The awards are final and binding.

“The tribunal’s unanimous decision relating to GreenX’s Jan Karski project provides further confidence to the mining industry and international investors more generally in the protection granted to them by the bilateral and multilateral investment treaty system,” Lalive partner Marc Veit said in a news release.

“It highlights that there is successful recourse against resource nationalism no matter where it takes place, even in a developed European economy,” Veit said.  

GreenX Metals is also advancing the Arctic Rift copper project in Greenland.

The New Jersey-based university had initially implemented the restrictions in 2022, as part of a broader effort by educational institutions across the US to dissociate from oil, gas, and coal. The policy included divesting from 90 companies with assets in those sectors in its endowment. 

According to Princeton, some faculty members have argued the directive limited their ability to secure funding for research on pressing environmental issues.

In an update published last week, three senior university officials stated the rules had “adversely and inequitably affected scholars whose research programs are addressing pressing environmental problems.” They pointed out that researchers lost access not only to external funding, but also collaborative partnerships focused on combating climate change, despite these efforts aligning with the university’s values.

Under the revised policy, Princeton’s endowment will continue to divest from fossil fuel companies, but faculty members will now be allowed to accept research funding from these companies for projects specifically aimed at mitigating the environmental impact of carbon emissions.

The measure aims to continue protecting academic freedom to publish results, Provost Jennifer Rexford, Dean of the Faculty Gene Jarrett ’97, and Dean for Research Peter Schiffer, said in their statement.

Students reacted negatively to the news. An editorial published in the university newspaper, The Daily Princentonian, qualified the decision as “a betrayal” of the University’s mission and academic integrity, as well as “a disservice” to its students and the global community.

“How can an institution that prides itself on shaping the future be so willing to sell it off to the very companies that are burning that future to the ground?,” the article reads. “Research funded by fossil fuel interests is more likely to support the industry and often serves to entrench fossil fuel reliance rather than advance solutions that run counter to their financial interests.”

Since the initial implementation of the policy to January this year, Princeton had cut funding ties with 29 companies and identified a list of 2,371 fossil fuel groups for potential dissociation. While Princeton had no direct links with most of these business, the number marked a significant increase from the original list of 90.

The university will no longer update such list, which had included mining giants such as BHP, as well as oil and energy titans ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil. Princeton noted it will continue to disclose all external research funders and the amounts contributed each year.

According to its latest report, research sponsorships in 2023 included nearly $3.4 million from BP, $848,000 from ExxonMobil, $120,000 from Shell and slightly over $100,000 from Syncrude.

A congressional investigation by Democrats, published in April, identified several instances of oil companies collaborating with universities to advance their business strategies.

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners had a combined market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, up just under $76 billion from end-June, largely on the back of gold and royalty stocks.

The total stock market valuation of the world’s biggest mining companies is up a fairly modest 8% year to end-September and despite the good run is still $240 billion below the peak hit in the second quarter of 2022.  

Ranks, value of gold stocks swell

The value of precious metals and royalty companies climbed by a combined $42 billion or 16% during the quarter and gold counters dominate the best performing ranks. 

Were it not for the limited tradability of stock in Russia’s Polyus, which lost some ground over the three months despite gold’s stellar performance, bullion’s effect on the Top 50 would have been even more pronounced. 

Canada’s Alamos Gold joins the top 50 for the first time with a  more than 31% jump in value lifting it six places to number 48 with a valuation of $8.2 billion at the end of the quarter while the second quarter’s newcomer Pan American Silver (following its absorption of Yamana Gold) hangs on at no 50.

Alamos Gold last month raised its production guidance by over 20% for 2025-2026 with the inclusion of the Magino mine and its integration with its Island Gold operation in Ontario. The Toronto based miner has long term ambitions to grow its production base to 900,000 ounces per year.

Uzbekistan is readying an IPO for Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combinat – the world’s fourth largest gold mining company and significant uranium producer in 2025. NMMC debuted a $1 billion bond offering last week, marking the first global debt market issuance from a gold mining company since June 2023.

Navoi should easily join the ranks of gold producers in the top 50 thanks to ownership of the world’s largest gold mine, Muruntau, and annual production of 2.9 million ounces at grades and per ounce extraction costs the envy of the sector.  

The Muruntau open pit mine southwest of the Kyzylkum desert, originally developed during the Soviet era as a source of uranium, has estimated reserves of around 130 million ounces of gold. 

Goldilocks copper

Copper specialists, and those with fat gold credits, have gained a combined 36% year to date as the copper price continues to flirt with the $10,000 a tonne level but momentum slowed dramatically during Q3 with the group contributing only $7.2 billion in added market worth during the quarter. 

Amman Mineral’s fierce rally also came to an abrupt halt during the quarter with the counter losing 18% over the three months and coming close to falling out of the top 10.

Investors who bought Amman, owner of the world’s third largest mine worldwide in terms of copper equivalent, at the IPO price in Jakarta a year ago, are still enjoying 400% gains since then however. 

Southern Copper’s position as the world’s third most valuable mining stock seems entrenched after a double digit percentage gain in Q3 compared to a much more sedate performance by Freeport-McMoRan which now has to gain a full $20 billion in market cap to haul in its Mexico City-based rival.

Light on lithium 

Rio Tinto’s vote of confidence in the long term future of the lithium sector (and its own ability to make M&A work) dominated the news at the start of the December-quarter but it’s worth noting that Arcadium’s more than 90% surge since the all-cash offer was first announced are not enough for the stock to enter the rankings.

Three lithium counters exited the rankings this year, Australia’s  Pilbara Minerals and Mineral Resources and China’s Tianqi Lithium as the deep slump in prices for the battery metal continues to take its toll.  

Last quarter’s no 50, Ganfeng Lithium jumps six places after being swept up in the stimulus-induced rally on Chinese stock markets at the end of the quarter while Tianqi’s performance so far in October should see it reenter the Top 50 in due course. 

Ganfeng was barely holding on at position 50 at end-June and with gold price momentum continuing and two gold mining companies waiting in the winds – Yintai and Alamos – only three lithium counters in the top 50 may be a reality for some time to come. 

After peaking in the second quarter of 2022 with a combined value of nearly $120 billion, the remaining lithium stocks’ market value has now shrunk to $34 billion.  

Iron ore ground down

Despite a modest improvement during the quarter, the mining industry’s traditional big 5 – BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Vale and Anglo American – remain in the red for 2024, losing $24 billion since the start of the year. 

The big 5 diversifieds now make up 29% of the total index, down from a height of 38% at the end of 2022.  

Iron ore’s less than rosy outlook – the late boost China’s recent stimulus package notwithstanding – saw Fortescue once again feature on the biggest losers list and Cleveland Cliffs exit the ranking with the US iron ore miner’s 37% decline this year exacerbated by its inability to capitalize on the blocking of the Nippon-US Steel tie up. 

Iron ore’s representation in the top 50 have diminished in the last couple of years – Brazil’s CSN Mineração dropped out during Q1 this year while Anglo-controlled and separately-listed Kumba Iron Ore has lost touch with the top tier after a 40% fall year to date.

Click on image for full size table.

NOTES:

Source: MINING.COM, stock exchange data, company reports. Share data from primary-listed exchange at close Oct 4, 2024 close of trading converted to US$ where applicable. Percentage change based on US$ market cap difference, not share price change in local currency.  

As with any ranking, criteria for inclusion are contentious. We decided to exclude unlisted and state-owned enterprises at the outset due to a lack of information. That, of course, excludes giants like Chile’s Codelco, Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining (the gold and uranium giant may list later this year), Eurochem, a major potash firm, and a number of entities in China and developing countries around the world.

Another central criterion was the depth of involvement in the industry before an enterprise can rightfully be called a mining company.

For instance, should smelter companies or commodity traders that own minority stakes in mining assets be included, especially if these investments have no operational component or warrant a seat on the board?

This is a common structure in Asia and excluding these types of companies removed well-known names like Japan’s Marubeni and Mitsui, Korea Zinc and Chile’s Copec. 

Levels of operational or strategic involvement and size of shareholding were other central considerations. Do streaming and royalty companies that receive metals from mining operations without shareholding qualify or are they just specialised financing vehicles? We included Franco Nevada, Royal Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals on the basis of their deep involvement in the industry.

Vertically integrated concerns like Alcoa and energy companies such as Shenhua Energy or Bayan Resources where power, ports and railways make up a large portion of revenues pose a problem. The revenue mix also tends to change alongside volatile coal prices. Same goes for battery makers like China’s CATL which is increasingly moving upstream, but where mining will continue to represent a small portion of its valuation.  

Another consideration is diversified companies such as Anglo American with separately listed majority-owned subsidiaries. We’ve included Angloplat in the ranking but excluded Kumba Iron Ore in which Anglo has a 70% stake to avoid double counting. Similarly we excluded Hindustan Zinc which is listed separately but majority owned by Vedanta.

Many steelmakers own and often operate iron ore and other metal mines, but in the interest of balance and diversity we excluded the steel industry, and with that many companies that have substantial mining assets including giants like ArcelorMittal, Magnitogorsk, Ternium, Baosteel and many others.

Head office refers to operational headquarters wherever applicable, for example BHP and Rio Tinto are shown as Melbourne, Australia, but Antofagasta is the exception that proves the rule. We consider the company’s HQ to be in London, where it has been listed since the late 1800s.

Please let us know of any errors, omissions, deletions or additions to the ranking or suggest a different methodology.

If there are no extraordinary events, the company’s board maintains its coal production goal for 2024 at 12.45 million tonnes, said Rozmus during a press conference on Monday.

He added that the level of coal production in 2025 will be “much higher” than 12 million or 13 million tonnes.

In response to a question about JSW’s restructuring costs, group CEO Ryszard Janta said intensive work and analyses were underway across the company’s operations.

“Just returning to the level of extraction of 14 or 15 million tonnes per year is not enough,” said Janta. He added that the group was “also looking at labour costs”.

(By Anna Banacka, Mateusz Rabiega and Tymon Miller; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Inner Mongolia, which leads China in coal production this year, already has 88 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity, with another 170 gigawatts in the pipeline. That’s a combined total that would dwarf the power fleet of Germany.

With the right policy tweaks and infrastructure build-out, the region could feed China’s coastal megacities with cheap, carbon-free electricity, researchers from WaterRock Energy Economics and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said in a report.

“If done correctly, the expansion of large-scale clean energy bases in Inner Mongolia can increase wind and solar generation to meet local power consumption growth and increase the share of renewable exports,” analysts including Liutong Zhang at WaterRock said in the report.

Long-distance power lines have helped connect the region’s coal and renewable power plants to Beijing, as well as Shandong and other densely populated coastal provinces. But the lines are underutilized and still carry mostly coal power, creating an opportunity for more wind and solar expansion to feed them.

Inner Mongolia’s clean energy exports to coastal areas are already cheaper than existing electricity rates and coal plants, the researchers said. Increased power market liberalization and inter-provincial electricity trading could help drive further expansion, they said.

The autonomous region is home to four planned mega-bases expected to comprise eight gigawatts of solar, four gigawatts of wind and four gigawatts of coal power. These should be developed in conjunction with long-distance power lines to make sure the infrastructure is properly utilized, the researchers said.

The government should also re-think the plan to include coal in the projects, the researchers argue. They’re designed to help stabilize the intermittent flows of wind and solar, but cheap batteries, improved transmission technology and existing underutilized power plants in the region can play that role at a reduced cost, they said.

Column: Miners, investors see scope in energy transition but struggle with choices

Big diversified miners including Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Glencore, pressured by a slowdown in global economic growth and falling commodity prices, are watching rival copper producers gradually grow beyond their reach, with shares benefiting from the metal’s robust outlook.

While shares of Rio, BHP and Glencore have slumped between 10% and 15% this year, the valuations of pure play copper producers including Freeport-McMoRan, Ivanhoe Mines and Teck Resources have risen, even as benchmark copper prices retreated after hitting a record high above $11,000 a metric ton in May this year.

“Engaging in large copper deals makes the boards (of directors) nervous when fluctuations in other commodities, like iron ore and coal, are likely to persist,” a banker, who has worked on several mining transactions, told Reuters.

“And since copper companies have performed better, diversified miners find it challenging to pay massive premiums when their share prices have dropped more in comparison,” the banker added.

BHP, Rio Tinto and Glencore trade at multiples of five to six times earnings, whereas Teck, Freeport, and Ivanhoe are at nearly double that, the banker said.

Copper, used in power and construction, is set to benefit from burgeoning demand from the electric vehicle sector and new applications such as data centres for artificial intelligence.

The long-term outlook for the metal isn’t always factored in by investors in the bigger miners when they offer higher premiums to try and seal a deal, said Richard Blunt, a partner at law firm Baker McKenzie.

“Investors only want to know what’s going to happen to the value of their company over the next three to six months, and that’s a major problem,” Blunt said.

In the past three years, thanks to higher commodity prices most miners have paid record dividends, which – although popular – are seen as eroding the industry’s ability to generate production growth via exploration, mine development, or consolidation.

Costly history

Investors have good reason to keep a wary eye on management’s dealmaking ambitions as most miners have a corporate history littered with failed and sometimes costly acquisitions.

Rio Tinto’s $38 billion deal for Alcan in 2007 commanded a 65% premium, and subsequent writedown, while BHP’s $12 billion deal for US onshore shale oil and gas assets in 2011 sold back for $10 billion in 2018.

Some management teams have tried to return to M&A, but with no or only partial success.

“There’s the pure financial aspect, which is the resistance of existing shareholders to significant premia,” said Michel Van Hoey, senior partner at McKinsey & Company.

“If you look historically, 10 years ago, we have gone through a significant wave where some companies probably overpaid for their transactions. Now, executives have become a bit more conservative,” he added.

Glencore eventually settled for 77% of Teck’s steelmaking coal assets after its $23 billion bid for all of the Canadian miner was spurned, while BHP was forced to walk away from Anglo American even after revising its initial bid two times to entice the smaller rival.

Both BHP and Glencore initially made all-share proposals for their target companies.

“In past cycles, companies such as Rio Tinto engaged in substantial cash acquisitions at peak times, only to see prices crash, leaving them looking imprudent,” a mining investor said.

“Today, the trend has shifted towards stock-based deals to mitigate risks, but that is more expensive, especially at a time when commodity prices are coming down.”

(By Clara Denina and Felix Njini; Editing by Veronica Brown and Kirsten Donovan)

The London-listed miner could finalize the sale of the Australian mines before the end of the year, Wanblad said at the FT mining summit in London. The process to sell the coking coal assets has passed the first round of auction, he added.

“So in the middle of November, we should be getting final binding offers,” Wanblad said. “Then we will start negotiating a SPA (sales and purchase agreement). Now, with any luck we should be able to conclude that process just before the end of the year.”

Anglo’s mines for the steel-making ingredient include Grosvenor, where a fire ignited on June 29, and Moranbah North as well as three smaller mines all in Queensland state.

While the Grosvenor mine remains shut, the CEO said the latest assessment shows that the damage from the fire has been “limited and the ore bodies seem to be very much intact”.

While the fire would affect the value potential buyers attach to the asset because of the cost of capital to restart operations, the loss to Anglo would be “reasonable”, said Wanblad.

Analysts value Anglo’s steelmaking coal business at around $4.5 billion.

The Grosvenor mine produced 2.8 million metric tons of metallurgical coal in 2023, making up 17% of Anglo’s coal output, according to its annual report. The company is the world’s third-largest exporter of metallurgical coal.

The CEO added that he would use proceeds from the sale of the coal assets to cut the company’s debt.

Anglo is selling coal assets as well as nickel mines in Brazil to trim the business after fending off a takeover bid from bigger rival BHP earlier this year. The miner is also divesting its platinum business in South Africa and weighing whether to sell or demerge its diamonds business.

Between five and seven potential buyers including Glencore are expected to participate in the second-round auction for the coal assets, a source told Reuters. Glencore declined to comment.

(By Felix Njini and Clara Denina; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

A donor and a South African official involved in the plan, neither of whom were willing to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said about $1.9 billion had been spent, half of it on policy-based loans to the government.

Of the rest, about $488 million had gone towards electricity, a breakdown seen by Reuters showed. The remaining quarter was for projects to revive the coal belt province, Mpumalanga, a planned green hydrogen hub and skills training, among other things.

Britain, France, Germany, the European Union and United States initially pledged $8.5 billion at COP26 climate talks in 2021. That figure – all but a fraction of it in the form of concessional loans – grew last year, as Denmark, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland joined the initiative.

Owing to its complexity, the number of donors involved and South Africa’s internal politics, the climate program has been moving more slowly than planned, and South Africa has told donors it will not meet its 2030 emissions-reduction targets.

Environment Minister Dion George was quoted in the national press this month as saying that German officials had told him South Africa was moving away from fossil fuels too slowly.

A spokesperson for the German embassy declined to comment.

Easy win?

Africa’s most industrialized nation, where 80% of the power is generated from coal, is seen as an easy win for donor-assisted green energy programs, with its well-developed infrastructure and abundant sun and wind.

But politicians are nervous about winding down a 160-year-old coal business that directly employs 90,000 people and supports whole communities, even while it poisons their air and water.

“It’s about …the mine workers, the coal truckers…the entire ecosystem (around coal) whose material interests are threatened,” said Joanne Yawitch, head of the Just Energy Transition at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s climate commission.

Yawitch said the focus was on new skills and economic opportunities for coal-belt residents, especially its most vulnerable: informal workers, youths and women.

“With South Africa’s levels of poverty and unemployment…if we don’t take care of the needs of that community…(the) transition…will just be resisted all the way.”

Burning coal has rendered South Africa one of the world’s most carbon intensive economies, central bank data shows. South Africa is in the top 15 greenhouse gas emitters, ahead of France and Britain.

The policy loans have funded reforms such as a law enacted last month to bring private companies and competition into a power sector long dominated by state monopoly Eskom, the donor source said.

Grants are only $676 million of the total, and Ramaphosa has complained that they make up too small a portion.

(By Tim Cocks; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Coronado Finance Pty Ltd. raised $400 million on Tuesday with the sale of a five-year note that can be called after two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The junk-rated bond was sold at a yield of 9.25%, which compares with an average of about 6.7% for debt securities with similar ratings across all corporate sectors, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Bonds of coal miners have become increasingly rare in the dollar market as fund managers in the public market globally cool on debt tied to industries associated with higher carbon emissions. That has led more miners to turn to funding from private credit managers, such as a $600 million loan signed by Singapore’s Golden Energy and Resources in July from funds including Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP.

Indonesia’s Indika Energy is the only other coal miner in the Asia Pacific to sell dollar notes this year, while US coal producer Alliance Resource Operating Partners LP’s May fundraising is another rare example of such a deal.

Both those issuers priced the debt with coupons in excess of 8.5%. Local-currency bond deals of Asian coal miners are more common, with Shaanxi Coal & Chemical Industry Group Co. selling notes in the yuan market earlier this month.

(By Finbarr Flynn and Sharon Klyne)

A decade ago lithium was the popular metal, five years ago it was the turn of gold and more recently copper has been the flavour of the month at these events across Asia.

But at the 121 Mining and Energy Investment conference this week in Singapore there was no clear choice, and no real consensus on where the best opportunities lie.

If there was a broad theme, it was that the energy transition is real and happening, even if it will take place at varying speeds and in different forms across Asia, the world’s most populous region and the engine room of global economic growth.

But how best to leverage the energy transition into profitable investments is turning into a vexing challenge for both those with cash to splash and those seeking to develop projects aimed at accelerating the change to cleaner fuels and power systems.

One of the surprising metals on the radar screen at the conference was lithium. It went out of favour in recent years after a surge in investment took the market into surplus, resulting in a collapse of prices, which have dropped some 88% since reaching a record high in December 2022.

The thinking is that while the lithium market is currently oversupplied, and this may persist into 2025, there is a wave of new demand coming.

Much of the bearishness surrounding lithium has been about the slower-than-expected uptake of electric vehicles in the developed world.

But while sales may have been disappointing, lithium demand is set for strong increases in the next few years as electric heavy vehicles enter service, and as battery storage to firm renewables such as wind and solar become more widespread.

It’s this demand for lithium that will end up trumping any weakness in EV car sales, and it’s set to accelerate strongly by 2030, which is coincidently around the time a mining company may be able to bring on new production assuming they started development soon.

Steel demand equals coal

Another out of favour commodity is coal, but there was interest expressed in metallurgical, or coking coal, the higher quality fuel used mainly to make steel.

In effect this is an India play, with the expectation that as it continues its massive infrastructure build out, the South Asian nation will also produce more steel, and thus need to import coking coal given the lack of domestic resources.

While coal is the bogeyman of climate change, the view among some investors is that given the energy transition relies heavily on steel, coking coal can be acceptable given its role in producing steel.

Steel can be decarbonized by upgrading iron ore using green hydrogen and then using electric arc furnaces, but the view is that this will take several decades to reach the scale needed, and in the meantime the coal-intensive, traditional basic oxygen furnace method will dominate in India, as it does in China.

Another part of the commodity complex attracting investor interest is the midstream sector, where raw materials are processed into intermediate goods.

The desire of Western countries to diversify away from China’s dominance of metal processing is unlocking opportunities, such as the capital available from the US Inflation Reduction Act.

The trick is navigating the bureaucratic processes behind the various global legislations, and even if the money can be accessed, it still may not be enough to overcome China’s economies of scale and first mover advantages.

For example, setting up a lithium processing plant in Australia, the world’s biggest producer of the battery metal, is likely to come in at up to eight times the capital and operating cost of a similar operation in China.

Accessing capital remains an ongoing struggle, with both investors and miners saying the pools of available capital are shrinking, especially if Chinese money is deemed politically unacceptable.

This means that smaller projects are increasingly turning to intermediaries to obtain funding, such as global trading houses such as Glencore and Trafigura.

Banks will lend to these well-established companies, and they in turn will lend to smaller-scale projects.

But the problem with this process is that it increases the cost of capital and slows down the pace at which new projects can be brought on line.

The bottom line is that the energy transition is viewed as offering huge opportunities to miners, traders and investors, but it remains plagued by uncertainty over which technologies will emerge as the leaders, and also the lack of coordinated government policies such as incentives and carbon taxes.

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, Clyde Russell, a columnist for Reuters.)

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

The government cleared an extension of operations at Whitehaven Coal Ltd.’s Narrabri, MACH Energy Australia Pty’s Mount Pleasant and Ashton Coal Operations Pty’s Ravensworth thermal coal mines in New South Wales. The Narrabri underground mine was granted permission to operate until 2044 and Mount Pleasant to 2048.

Australia, one of the world’s biggest exporters of fossil fuels, has been criticized for continuing to support massive coal and natural gas projects while pursuing more ambitious cuts to domestic emissions. Miners argue that their fuel is cleaner than supplies from other nations and that delays to approvals risk jobs and Australia’s reputation as a reliable partner.

“Whitehaven’s high quality thermal coal has an important role to play in supporting global energy security during the multi-decade energy transition, particularly in Asia where there continues to be strong demand for its use in high-efficiency, low-emissions, coal-fired power stations,” the Sydney-listed company said Wednesday.

The three mines will emit about 1.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide over their lifetime, according to the Australia Institute, about three times national annual emissions. They take the total number of coal projects approved by Albanese’s government to seven.

“These are not new projects,” but extensions of existing operations, said Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. “The emissions from these projects will be considered by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy under the government’s strong climate laws.”

Australia’s thermal coal exports are set to fall to about A$28 billion ($19 billion) in the year through June 2026, from A$37 billion in the 2023-2024 period, according to government forecasts. Volumes are likely to be stable.

(By Stephen Stapczynski)

Environmental reclamation and site restoration costs for 24 major mining companies reached $72 billion in 2023, up from $40 billion in 2013.

According to Moody’s, this figure represents about 42% of the mining industry’s outstanding long-term debt at the fiscal year-end of 2023.

The 24 companies studied spent between $1.4 billion and $1.8 billion annually on AROs during the 2013-2018 period. However, since 2018, their ARO payments have more than doubled to approximately $3.7 billion in FY2023 — a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.2%.

This increase comes as governments have tightened regulations on mining in recent years to promote more sustainable practices.

As of the end of 2023, Rio Tinto had the largest ARO provision, followed by BHP, Newmont, Glencore and Vale.

To put this into perspective, Rio Tinto’s 2023 AROs represent 32% of its revenue. For BHP and Vale, the figure stands at 18%.

The accident was caused by a methane gas explosion in two blocks, B and C, of the mine run by the Madanjoo company, state media said.

“76% of the country’s coal is provided from this region and around 8 to 10 big companies are working in the region including Madanjoo company,” the governor of South Khorasan province Ali Akbar Rahimi told state TV on Sunday.

The rescue operation in block B has been completed. Of the 47 workers who were in the block 30 died and 17 were injured, Rahimi said earlier.

Rescue operations in block C have started. Methane density in the block is high and the operation will take around 3-4 hours, he added.

There were 69 workers in the blocks at the time of the explosion, state TV reported.

“Seventeen injured people were transported to the hospital and 24 people are still missing,” it said earlier on Sunday, citing the head of Iran’s Red Crescent.

The explosion occurred at 9 p.m. (1730 GMT) on Saturday, state media said.

President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed condolences to the victims’ families. “I spoke with ministers and we will do our best to follow up,” Pezeshkian said in televised comments.

(With files from Reuters)

Holtum, a former British military officer, has seen a rapid rise at Trafigura since he joined from Glencore in 2014. He currently runs Trafigura’s gas, power and renewables division.

A Trafigura spokesperson declined to comment on the appointment.

Reuters exclusively reported in April that CEO Jeremy Weir was priming Richard Holtum to take over when he step back into a chairman role.

(By Anushree Mukherjee; Editing by Louise Heavens)

Electricity from thermal sources rose 3.7% in August from a year earlier to 614.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), according to official data released on Sept. 14.

Thermal power in China is overwhelmingly coal-fired, with only a small amount coming from natural gas.

The gain in thermal generation was less than the 5.8% rise in total electricity output to 907.4 billion kWh, reflecting the strong increase in clean energy production.

Hydropower rose 10.7% in August from the same month in 2023 to reach 163.5 billion kWh, although it is worth noting the pace of growth decelerated from July’s 36.2% surge.

The contribution of renewables also continued to rise strongly, with solar output surging 21.7% from a year earlier, while wind gained 6.6%. Nuclear generation rose 4.9% in August.

The August power generation data confirms two trends that are shaping China’s energy landscape.

The first is that renewables are taking an ever bigger share of total electricity output, and this is likely to continue.

The second is that while coal’s share in generation is sliding, it remains the bedrock of China’s energy system and is likely to remain that way for at least another decade.

The rapid rollout of renewables all but guarantees that much of the increase in demand for electricity in coming years will be met by wind and solar.

In the first seven months of this year installed solar capacity reached 124 gigawatts (GW), an increase of 28% from the same period in 2023.

Installed wind capacity rose 38 GW over the same period, a gain of 6% from the first seven months of 2024.

In contrast, in the first seven months of 2024, new thermal power capacity of 24 GW was commissioned, while hydropower saw only a marginal increase and nuclear remained steady.

Coal holds on

While the deployment of renewables is resulting in them claiming a larger share of generation, the amount of electricity from coal is still rising, and will likely continue to do so.

China is still building new coal-fired plants at a rapid pace, with data from the Global Energy Monitor showing 173.5 GW currently under construction, which is about 76% of the global total.

While older coal-fired plants will be retired, China is on track to increase its total generation from coal from the current 1,147 GW in coming years.

This means that the world’s biggest coal producer and importer is likely to mine and buy even more coal.

China’s coal output rose 2.8% in August from a year earlier to 396.55 million metric tons as production ramped up to meet the increased electricity demand, which in turn was stoked by hotter-than-usual summer temperatures.

Coal demand for industrial processes such as cement and coal-to-chemicals is also increasing.

This has led to rising prices for thermal coal in China’s domestic market. The price at the northern port of Qinhuangdao , as assessed by consultants SteelHome, ended at 855 yuan ($120.60) a ton last week, up from a recent low of 825 yuan in late August.

Firmer domestic prices have kept seaborne imports competitive, with data from commodity analysts Kpler showing arrivals of 30.42 million tons of thermal coal in August, a three-month high and up from July’s 28.55 million.

September imports of seaborne thermal coal are also on track for a robust outcome, with Kpler estimating 27.77 million tons, a figure that is likely to be revised higher as more cargoes are assessed by the end of the month.

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, Clyde Russell, a columnist for Reuters.)

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

The Brisbane-headquartered miner has profited from a spike in prices for energy coal over the past few years, first from supply constraints during the Covid-19 pandemic and then from the Ukraine war.

While thermal coal prices fallen from peaks above $400 a metric ton two years ago to around $137 a ton on Tuesday, they are still double the levels seen in early 2020.

That has helped New Hope build up available cash of A$824.5 million ($556.46 million). The miner in July also completed an offering of $A300 million of senior unsecured convertible notes due in 2029.

“We want to make sure we have the firepower to execute if we see something attractive in the market,” Bishop said in an interview after the company released results.

“We’re not desperate. It depends what type of assets come up,” he said, adding that New Hope had submitted a bid for five metallurgical coal mines Anglo is selling.

First-round bids for the Anglo mines were due by Sept. 9 as Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad takes initial steps to simplify the company after it rejected a $49 billion takeover offer from BHP earlier this year.

An acquisition would be a big move from the thermal coal miner into steel-making coal.

Separately, New Hope expects to spend around $A500 million on its internal growth projects, mostly on the restart of its New Acland mine. It has also raised its stake in privately held coal miner Malabar Resources to 19.97% from 15%.

“It ticked the boxes for our strategy, it’s cash generative, permitted, already selling coal, it will be very low on the cost curve,” he said, adding that a minority stake would allow it an opportunity to “get smarter” in underground mining.

Earlier on Tuesday, New Hope reported an annual profit on Tuesday that fell 56.2% because of lower coal prices.

The miner reported a full-year net profit attributable of A$475.9 million ($321.33 million), compared with A$1.09 billion a year earlier.

New Hope’s average realized prices during the reported period fell to A$183.25 per ton from A$346.73 per ton in 2023, while its saleable coal production for the year increased 26% to 9.1 million metric tons.

The company declared a final dividend of 22 Australian cents, compared with 21 cents a year earlier. Shares rallied as much as 5.4% and were last at A$4.35, up 2.4%.

($1 = 1.4817 Australian dollars)

(By Sherin Sunny and Sneha Kumar; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Alan Barona and Christian Schmollinger)

Privately-owned Seriti is a major coal supplier to South Africa’s thermal power stations and also exports some of its output.

The planned job cuts would impact workers at Middleburg mines and Klipspruit South-East pit, Seriti said in response to questions from Reuters. Both operations, which employed a combined 5,212 workers as of March 2024, were acquired from South32 in 2021.

The mines “are not currently commercially sustainable and require material restructuring to improve unit costs and the prospects of future sustainability”.

“These mines continue to be adversely impacted by, amongst others, Transnet under-performance and general market volatility,” Seriti said.

Coal prices have fallen off record highs above $450 per metric ton reached in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to current levels around $100.

South Africa’s freight rail operator Transnet continues to struggle to provide adequate services due to shortages of locomotives and spares as well as cable theft and vandalism of its infrastructure, impacting coal exporters such as Seriti.

The company said it had on Monday initiated consultations with labour unions under South Africa’s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), a statutory body which mediates and certifies outcomes of labour disputes.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it would fight the latest round of job cuts at Seriti.

“The NUM will be embarking on a massive mobilization to try and stop Seriti Resources from undermining unions by retrenching employees willy-nilly,” the union said in a statement.

(By Nelson Banya; Editing by David Evans)