mineral exploration project – commodity prices – mining stock- trade and market

Lihir Gold shareholders have voted almost unanimously to accept Newcrest Mining’s $10.6 billion scrip-and-cash takeover offer.

The deal will create the world’s fourth-biggest mining company.

With no sign of a white knight emerging, the vote, in Port Moresby yesterday, makes the acquisition almost a formality, with Papua New Guinea National Court approval of the deal scheme of arrangement the only hurdle.

At the meeting, 99.86 per cent of all votes cast were in favour of the deal, which will see Lihir shareholders receive 0.12 Newcrest shares and 22.5c for every...

First Nickel Inc. is pleased to announce that it has entered into an engagement letter to appoint Societe Generale and Commonwealth Bank of Australia to act as exclusive lead arrangers for a senior secured project loan facility up to CAD$30 million. Any commitment by either Lead Arranger will be subject to, among other things, internal credit approval, due diligence, receipt of any government and regulatory approvals and definitive legal documentation, including the provision of a separate commitment letter.

An initial cash arrangement fee was paid to the Lead Arrangers upon signing of...

Turkey and Iran may jointly build two petrochemical units, state-run Press TV news channel reported, citing Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister.

Iran and Turkey are discussing construction of an urea and an ammonia unit in the industrial hub of Assaluyeh in southern Iran, Press TV said, citing Abdolhossein Bayat, who is also the managing director of National Iranian Petrochemical Co.

Talks include construction of a petrochemical plant in Miyandoab in western Azerbaijan province that can produce 539,000 tons of petrochemical products annually, the TV station reported.

Bayat, who...

Stocks in Australia’s biggest mining companies rose Monday as the government’s plans for a new tax on their profits were thrown into doubt after the nation’s closest election in almost 50 years delivered no clear mandate.

Trading in the rest of the market was flat, however, and Australia’s chamber of commerce urged companies to continue investing despite what will likely be two or three weeks of uncertainty about who will govern the country for the coming three years.

The center-left Labor Party — which has ruled for the past three years and remains in...

China’s gold producers will extend this quarter’s rally as demand for the precious metal increases and inflation exceeds government forecasts, according to Central China Securities Holdings Co. and Guoyuan Securities Co.

Zijin Mining Group Co. and Zhongjin Gold Corp., the nation’s two biggest bullion producers, are good investments as consumer prices are expected to rise around 3.5 percent this month, Li Jun, a Shanghai-based strategist at Central China, said in an interview yesterday. Inflation accelerated to 3.3 percent in July, the highest since October 2008.

“In this...

Gold held above $1 230/oz an ounce in Europe on Friday as concern over the outlook for the global economy supported interest in the metal as a haven from risk, but gains were capped by fresh strength in the dollar.

Spot gold was bid at $1 230,45/oz at 09:26 GMT, against $1 230,10 late in New York on Thursday. US gold futures for December delivery eased $2.80 to $1,232.60.

The precious metal rose to a peak of $1 237,15/oz on Thursday after weak US jobless and manufacturing data knocked the dollar and boosted interest in assets seen as lower risk. It later pared those gains as the...

Market Roundup

Crude Oil prices fell yesterday, but a bounce by equity markets pulled crude futures well above lows and allowed traders to shrug off data showing combined U.S. crude and product stocks rose to the highest since weekly records began in 1990.

In Focus

- U.S. commercial crude and product stocks rose last week to the highest level since the U.S. government began tracking weekly data, government data showed Wednesday, a sign fuel supply is outpacing demand amid a slow U.S. economic recovery.

- China’s diesel exports...

Stocks and the dollar dropped and Treasuries rallied, sending the yield on the two-year note below 0.5 percent for the first time, as lower-than-estimated growth in company payrolls added to evidence the economic recovery is slowing. Gold extended the longest advance since November.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.4 percent to 1,121.64 at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming a drop of as much as 1.7 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 1.1 percent, reversing earlier gains. Two-year Treasury yields fell to as low as 0.4977 percent. The dollar slumped to an eight-month low...