According to Reuters, US rare earth miner MP Materials will merge with a private equity-backed “blank check” company to go public for $1.47 billion, demonstrating Wall Street’s growing interest in promoting rare earth production in the United States.
South Africa downturn
In terms of the number of mines, South Africa has the most impact, with 55 projects at risk, including the Sishen iron mine, as well as 21 gold mines and 16 platinum mines, with a total mine operating income of $1 billion at risk.
In contrast, the mine income of the Democratic Republic of Congo has not been greatly affected overall. S&P believes that Ivanhoe Mines’ Kamoa-Kakula copper mine may be at risk, but the mine’s construction progress so far has exceeded expectations.
PNG may let Barrick reopen mine if court case dropped
Barrick Gold Corp said on Friday it would be willing to talk to Papua New Guinea (PNG) about reopening the Porgera gold mine but only without preconditions, after Prime Minister James Marape urged it to withdraw court action against the state.
