GLEN.L - Glencore plc
| Previous Close | 268.85 |
| Open | 269.30 |
| Bid | 272.90 x 0 |
| Ask | 273.10 x 0 |
| Day's Range | 266.80 - 274.80 |
| 52 Week Range | 249.75 - 343.60 |
| Volume | 32,110,111 |
| Avg. Volume | 39,675,725 |
| Market Cap | 37.228B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.10 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 11.36 |
| EPS (TTM) | 24.00 |
| Earnings Date | Aug 7, 2019 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 0.15 (5.70%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-09-05 |
| 1y Target Est | 4.95 |
- Reuters•2 days ago
RPT-COLUMN-Why the cobalt market needs Congo's "illegal" miners: Andy Home
The death last month of 43 artisan miners at the Kamoto Copper Company KOV concession in the Democratic Republic of Congo has refocused attention on the human cost of producing what is a key input into electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The KOV concession is majority-owned by a subsidiary of trading and mining group Glencore. The official response to the incident - sending the army to clear around 20,000 "illegal" miners from the area around the mine - merely underlines the problematic nature of the world's dependence on Congo for its supply of cobalt.
- Financial Times•3 days ago
Martin Gilbert set to assume chair of Revolut
Revolut is close to appointing City veteran Martin Gilbert as its new chairman, as the four-year-old digital bank aims to strengthen governance and win over investors ahead of an upcoming fundraising. Mr Gilbert, the former co-chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen, has been informally advising Revolut’s chief executive for several months, and two people familiar with the situation said his appointment to the board is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. In the past Mr Gilbert has denied taking on too many roles, telling the Financial Times last year that he was “very disciplined”.
- Financial Times•3 days ago
Trafigura ends use of middlemen after corruption probes
Trafigura, one of the world’s biggest commodity traders, is to stop using intermediaries — the well-connected individuals who help set up contracts in resource-rich countries. The privately owned company, which trades more than 5.5m barrels of oil per day, will end all of its “business development” agreements with agents by October, although it will continue to use security advisers, risk analysts and other specialist service providers such as port agents. The move by Trafigura follows a series of corruption investigations and allegations involving intermediaries and middlemen that have caused alarm at the highest levels of the commodity trading industry.
- Reuters•5 days ago
COLUMN-Why the cobalt market needs Congo's "illegal" miners: Andy Home
The death last month of 43 artisan miners at the Kamoto Copper Company KOV concession in the Democratic Republic of Congo has refocused attention on the human cost of producing what is a key input into electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The KOV concession is majority-owned by a subsidiary of trading and mining group Glencore. The official response to the incident - sending the army to clear around 20,000 "illegal" miners from the area around the mine - merely underlines the problematic nature of the world's dependence on Congo for its supply of cobalt.
- Bloomberg•5 days ago
Australian Thermal Coal Leaves Investors Cold
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- When you’re in the business of buying and selling, timing is everything.That’s the costly lesson facing BHP Group, which is looking at options to divest its thermal coal assets according to a report Thursday by Thomas Biesheuvel of Bloomberg News that cited people familiar with the matter.Arch-rival Rio Tinto Group raised $2.7 billion selling mines in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney to Yancoal Australia Ltd., in a process that started in 2016. BHP could get far less: Macquarie Group Ltd. estimates $1.6 billion. That’s despite the fact that BHP’s Mount Arthur and Cerrejon mines, in the Hunter Valley and Colombia, post roughly the same Ebitda as as the ones Rio Tinto sold. BHP has had good reasons to keep operating these mines. They’ve produced several years of good earnings, for one. Mount Arthur has probably been even more profitable than it looks on paper, thanks to its ability to utilize tax losses that will now be running low.Still, it will be galling to sell at a discount when the long-term price for the high-energy coal mined in the Hunter Valley is now about a third higher than the $63 a metric ton level at the time Rio Tinto’s deal was announced.What’s changed? More or less everything.Back in 2016, coal was still the lowest-cost way of delivering new generation in most major markets. The slumping price of wind and solar generation since then has changed the game. Thermal coal will fall to 11% of U.S. generation by 2030 from the mid-20s at present, S&P Global Ratings wrote in a report Wednesday; outside of Spain and Germany, most European coal-fired plants will be retired by 2025.North Asian markets supplied by Mount Arthur look like an exception, with Japan, South Korea and China making up about 80% of Australia’s thermal coal exports. The first two countries are rare cases where falling renewables costs have failed to undercut the black stuff.Even there, though, the picture is dimming: Japan’s coal-fired capacity will go into to decline starting 2023, and actual demand should fall faster since its most recent plants use fuel more efficiently, according to a report this week by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a research group opposed to fossil fuels. South Korea now has taxes on coal amounting to $60 a ton and imports will fall by half by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.The group of potential buyers looks thin, too. Anglo American Plc, which has a one-third stake in Cerrejon alongside BHP and Glencore Plc, doesn’t seem in the mood for bulking up. The Japanese trading houses that have historically been major investors in Australia’s mining industry, meanwhile, have been quietly divesting strategic coal stakes for several years. What does that leave? Glencore, despite a promise in February to cap coal output, shouldn't be ignored. In that announcement, the commodities trader noted it may still buy out some minority stakes, which seems to anticipate a deal on Cerrejon. Glencore could also, in theory, get rid of its South African operations and replace them with Mount Arthur, keeping total output within limits and swapping in a more profitable mine. That would depend on finding a buyer for those South African mines, though, and there’s enough turmoil in that country’s coal and energy sector as it is.China is another possible buyer for Mount Arthur. The pit is adjacent to Yancoal’s existing operations, suggesting possible synergies. Still, 2019 isn’t the best year to be doing this. Since February, the country has been holding up shipments of Australian coal for ill-defined reasons that have a whiff of geopolitics about them. Any Chinese business looking for government approval to buy an Australian coal mine will have to reckon with that.Beyond that, there’s even the possibility that smaller local miners will have a go. In the old days, the idea that a relative minnow like Whitehaven Coal Ltd. could absorb a pit the size of Mount Arthur would have seemed absurd, but at Macquarie’s estimate of a $600 million price tag it’s not impossible. Based on BHP’s latest results, a buyer could pay off that sum in 18 months or so and run the mine for cash, assuming rehabilitation costs weren’t too high. Still, how times have changed. Back when Rio Tinto was hawking its coal assets, the company could plausibly argue that it still saw a bright future for the stuff. Nowadays, BHP is warning that it could be “phased out, potentially sooner than expected,” even as it’s trying to tempt buyers. Those M&A bankers are going to have their work cut out to get a good price.To contact the author of this story: David Fickling at dfickling@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew Brooker at mbrooker1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities, as well as industrial and consumer companies. He has been a reporter for Bloomberg News, Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and the Guardian.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg•6 days ago
BHP Is Latest Giant Miner to Plan Exit From Thermal Coal
(Bloomberg) -- BHP Group is moving ahead with plans to exit thermal coal, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest move by the world’s biggest miners to retreat from the dirtiest fuel.BHP is looking at options to divest the business that includes assets in Australia and Colombia, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the development has not been made public. There’s no guarantee the company will go ahead with a sale, the people said.The decision demonstrates how growing climate-change pressure from investors and regulators is reshaping the future of extractive industries. Rival Rio Tinto Group has already removed all exposure to thermal coal and other producers including Anglo American Plc have been cutting output amid growing pressure from investors. Even Glencore Plc, the biggest shipper, has said it will look to limit production.BHP had already signaled cooling interest in thermal coal. Earlier this year, Chief Financial Officer Peter Beaven said the company had no appetite for growth in the commodity.While thermal coal makes up a fraction of BHP’s profits, it’s led to some investors saying they can’t hold the stock.Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund last month got the green light to dump more than $13 billion in stocks linked to fossil fuels, including companies that mine more than 20 million tons of thermal coal, pushing Anglo American and BHP out of reach. Climate Action 100+, which has the backing of more than 300 investors managing $32 trillion, has already forced reforms from extractive giants such as BP Plc and Glencore.For BHP, thermal coal has become increasingly hard to justify. The company’s profits are driven by iron ore, oil, copper and coking coal (used to make steel) and thermal coal is likely to contribute just 1% of profit this year, according to Liberum Capital Markets.BHP’s move comes as its biggest rival, Rio, has become increasingly emboldened on climate change after offloading its last coal mines last year. The company has started promoting itself as the only major miner without exposure to fossil fuels.The move is also likely to put further pressure on Anglo, which, despite dramatically cutting its coal output, still mines almost 30 million tons a year.Still, exiting coal is unlikely to be easy for BHP. Its Colombian mine stake, which it owns with Anglo and Glencore, feeds the European market where demand is weak right now. Capacity could be cut in the country to balance an oversupplied market, Liberum estimated.Macquarie Group Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are seen as frontrunners to run a sales process for the BHP assets, the people said.Macquarie said earlier this year that BHP’s Australian thermal coal business had a net present value of about $600 million and estimated the figure for its Cerrejon business in Colombia at about $1 billion.(Updates with charts and context.)\--With assistance from Dinesh Nair.To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Biesheuvel in London at tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel HillFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg•9 days ago
Congo’s Swing Producers Turn to Copper After Cobalt Meltdown
(Bloomberg) -- Production of hand-dug cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo is poised to drop sharply after prices tumbled, prompting many of the country’s thousands of artisanal miners to switch focus to copper instead.Congo last year produced about 72% of the world’s cobalt, a key ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles and smartphones. While most of the country’s production is from large, mechanized mines run by companies including Glencore Plc, diggers that use rudimentary tools tend to respond more quickly to price changes.Artisanal output soared during cobalt’s rally during 2017 and early 2018 and accounted for as much as 20% of Congo’s production of the metal last year, according to Darton Commodities. The Congolese authorities say the figure was as high as 30%. After a supply glut sent cobalt prices plummeting about 70% from the peak, many of the country’s artisanal miners are now switching focus to copper instead.“At the moment the diggers prefer to work the copper,” said Jacques Kaumbu, the president of a mining cooperative in Lualaba province. “The old cobalt pits no longer interest them.”The workforce at Kaumbu’s cooperative has halved this year to around 500 and the group is only producing 2,000 tons of ore a month, 15% of which is cobalt, compared with 4,000 tons of cobalt ore and 1,000 tons of copper a year ago.Artisanal output could decline by more than 70% this year, according to Andries Gerbens, a cobalt specialist at Darton Commodities. While precise numbers are unavailable, as many as 200,000 people in the Katanga region make a living by extracting minerals by hand.Artisanal production will retreat to levels seen in 2013 to 2016 before the boom, said Jack Bedder, a cobalt expert and director at Roskill Information Services.Also in Lualaba, closely held Chemaf Sarl and its partner Trafigura Group Ltd. are reviewing the future of their pilot artisanal-mining project. Lower cobalt prices make the venture “immensely challenging,” said Trafigura Head of Social Responsibility James Nicholson. The Mutoshi Cobalt artisanal project has shed about about 2,800 of its 4,100 authorized diggers this year.Looking ahead, artisanal miners are seen returning to cobalt once the market switches back into an expected deficit during the next decade, driven by a forecast surge in electric-vehicle sales, according to analysts including Darton Commodities.“Artisanal mining will continue to be the swing producer,” said George Heppel, senior analyst at CRU Group.(Updates with estimate for number of artisanal miners in sixth paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: William Clowes in Kinshasa at wclowes@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel HillFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters•9 days ago
Congolese army fires in the air during protest at Glencore plant
Congolese soldiers fired in the air on Monday as illegal miners protested outside a metallurgical plant on a copper and cobalt concession run by Glencore, a witness told Reuters. The protest at the Luilu plant follows the eviction last week of thousands of illegal miners from Glencore's Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession in southern Democratic Republic of Congo after 43 people died in a landslide.
- Reuters•9 days ago
UPDATE 3-Congolese army fires in the air during protest near Glencore plant
Congolese soldiers fired in the air on Monday as illegal miners protested outside a metallurgical plant on a copper and cobalt concession run by Glencore, a witness said. The protest near the Luilu plant follows the eviction last week of thousands of illegal miners from Glencore's Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession in southern Democratic Republic of Congo after 43 people died in a landslide. Glencore said in a statement that about 80 people had protested on the national road in the town of Luilu.
- Bloomberg•10 days ago
Budweiser Calls Time on a Hong Kong IPO Custom
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The world’s biggest brewer may be calling time on a long-established practice in Hong Kong’s stock market.The Asian unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV is aiming to raise as much as $9.8 billion in what’s poised to be the world’s biggest initial public offering so far this year. Unusually for a deal of this size, the company doesn’t plan to reserve a block of stock for so-called cornerstone investors. That’s good news for potential subscribers concerned that the business may lose its fizz after listing.Cornerstone investors are companies, institutions or wealthy individuals that commit to buying a chunk of stock at the IPO price and holding it for a minimum period, typically six months. The presence of such heavyweights helps to ensure the success of a sale by signaling confidence in the issuer’s prospects and enticing the wider investing public to climb on board. Associated mostly with Chinese state-owned firms in recent years, cornerstones have a long pedigree in Hong Kong, with billionaire tycoons such as Li Ka-shing, the city’s richest man, and Lee Shau-kee frequently called on to provide a seal of approval for key IPOs.The trouble with cornerstones is that they drain liquidity by tying up so much stock after listing. They’re disliked by bankers, lawyers and some investors. It’s debatable whether they even serve companies, beyond the immediate objective getting their offerings through the gate. If trading proves moribund once they’ve joined the market, the end-game can be a withdrawal of the listing.So market participants are watching Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Ltd. closely. The absence of cornerstones means there will be a battle of wills between believers who see the IPO as a chance to buy into a company in a high-growth region with a lock on China’s taste for premium beer, and skeptics who view the offering as overpriced. The valuation looks punchy, at 22 times estimated Ebitda for 2019 at the top of the mooted range, as my colleague Chris Hughes observed last week.The distorting effect of cornerstone investors has arguably grown bigger as Hong Kong tycoons have taken a back seat and Chinese state-owned enterprises, which may have a less commercial rationale for such purchases, have increased their presence. Out of 36 IPOs in the past five years that raised more than $1 billion, 33 had a cornerstone tranche, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Postal Savings Bank of China Co., which raised $7.62 billion in 2016, sold almost 77% of its offering to cornerstones including China Great Wall Asset Management, China State Grid Corp. of China, and conglomerate HNA Group Co.All the top 10 biggest cornerstone tranches in that group were for Chinese government companies. In April, state-backed brokerage Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co. raised $1.15 billion, with 71% of the deal locked up. The company’s shares have fallen 27% since they started trading. Postal Savings has lost 1.5% since listing, versus a 22% gain for the benchmark Hang Seng Index.Private companies also use cornerstones, though they tend to allocate lower percentages. Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. earmarked 24% of its $5.4 billion IPO last year to 10 investors including Hillhouse Capital and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Xiaomi shares slumped on the day the six-month holding period ended, accelerating a decline that began when they started trading.Lack of liquidity may be an even bigger concern, and it isn’t confined to Chinese companies. Glencore International Plc, the world’s largest listed commodity trader, sold stock to cornerstone investors including BlackRock Inc. and Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJSC when it listed in London and Hong Kong in 2011. The company delisted from Hong Kong six years later, saying trading in the stock was a fraction of the U.K. equivalent.Singapore-based video-gaming firm Razer Inc. sold almost 30% of its 2018 offering to cornerstone investors. But other non-Chinese companies including Prada SpA, L’Occitane International SA and Samsonite International SA have eschewed the practice.A successful Budweiser sale would deal a further blow to the cornerstone custom. AB InBev executives and bankers said Thursday that they had enough investor demand just two days into the IPO roadshow. That should rouse a chorus of cheers from many in the Hong Kong market.\--With assistance from Zhen Hao Toh. To contact the author of this story: Nisha Gopalan at ngopalan3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew Brooker at mbrooker1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Nisha Gopalan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals and banking. She previously worked for the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones as an editor and a reporter.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Financial Times•10 days ago
Congo, child labour and your electric car
Miners drank beer, whisky and smoked to get through the day, he recalls. “It was very tiring, very difficult,” he says, standing on the edge of a makeshift football pitch by a school in Kolwezi in the DRC’s south-east. For more than a decade the global digital revolution has been enabled by places like Kolwezi, a mining town dotted with small Chinese casinos and faded Belgian colonial bungalows.
- Bloomberg•12 days ago
Armed Forces Called to Defend Glencore Mine in Congo
(Bloomberg) -- Glencore Plc said armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo are in the area around the operations of its Kamoto Copper Co., after dozens of illegal miners were killed in a landslide last week.“We prioritize the safety and security of our workforce and host communities,” Glencore said in a statement on Thursday. “KCC will continue to engage with all the relevant stakeholders to collaborate on identifying and implementing a long-term, sustainable solution to illegal mining in the DRC.”Illegal miners will be removed from the site of the Glencore project where at least 43 died last week, Interior Minister Basile Olongo said on Saturday. Glencore estimates that 2,000 unauthorized people enter its open-pit mine on average every day.Illegal mining is the result of a harsh economic divide across Africa, home to some of the world’s richest reserves of metals and minerals and some of the poorest people, who are willing to risk their lives in dangerous conditions to eke out a living. Some mining concessions in Congo are vast with perimeters stretching for miles, making them difficult to police.The workers entered the KCC operation without permission and put their own lives at risk by digging at the site, one of the world’s biggest cobalt mines, Glencore said last week.It’s a problem that’s affected several companies in the industry. Congo has also deployed troops to protect China Molybdenum Co.’s Tenke Fungurume mine from illegal miners.Human RightsWhile General John Numbi, the inspector general of the armed forces, said diggers at TFM were cleared without a shot being fired, Amnesty International has said the presence of troops near the mines risks human rights abuses.The soldiers chased diggers away from the Glencore site Thursday, said Emmanuel Umpula, director of Afrewatch, a Kolwezi-based human rights group. Police dispersed protesting diggers from near the governor’s office by firing live rounds in the air, he said.“The diggers are asking for the creation of special artisanal mining zones as the governor has promised,” Umpula said. “They are also demanding that the provincial mining minister resign. They say the minister has never defended the diggers.”Glencore said KCC has asked the Congolese armed forces to “exercise restraint and operate in accordance with voluntary principles on security and human rights.”The army respected “the rules of engagement and conduct” at TFM and will do the same at KCC, General Philemon Yav told reporters.(Updates with comments general in final paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: William Clowes in Kinshasa at wclowes@bloomberg.net;Tiago Ramos Alfaro in London at talfaro1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Dylan Griffiths, Nicholas LarkinFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Financial Times•13 days ago
Congolese army deployed to Glencore copper mine following deaths
The Congolese army has arrived at Glencore’s largest copper and cobalt mine following the deaths of over 40 informal miners on the site. Glencore said it had communicated its expectations to the army that it “exercise restraint” and operate in accordance with international human rights standards. The Switzerland-based miner has said around 2,000 informal miners a day have been entering the site of the Kamoto Copper Company over the past month in the southern mining town of Kolwezi.
- Bloomberg•13 days ago
An Airline That Doesn't Want You to Fly. That's New
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Ever since the economist Milton Friedman claimed the sole responsibility of business was to maximize profit, there’s been a lively debate about whether companies should have other, more socially beneficial aims.It’s pretty much accepted practice, though, for a firm to try to sell more of its products and services. To not do so is a good way to go out of business. So the decision by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to encourage its customers not to purchase flights – at least in some circumstances – is rather curious.The Dutch airline, part of the Air France-KLM group, launched a new sustainability campaign last week that featured some surprising suggestions for how passengers could help cut the aviation industry’s carbon dioxide emissions. The advert claims that while “we all have to fly every now and then,” sometimes there are better alternatives. “Do you always have to meet face-to-face? Could you take the train instead?” the kindly narrator enquires. The clip concludes by assuring viewers that “no actual flights were taken for the making of this film.”If you’d have asked me a few years ago about potential threats to the aviation industry, then video conferencing and high-speed trains would have come high on my list. That KLM has become an advocate for these things is unexpected, but it might help its business in the long run.It certainly makes sense to try to get ahead of policymakers and public opinion in responding to aviation’s big contribution to pollution (the industry is responsible for about 2-3% of man-made carbon dioxide emissions). Thanks in part to the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, “flight shame” has become a thing and seems to be affecting demand for travel and holidays. France has joined the Netherlands in supporting new European aviation taxes, and some French politicians have floated the idea of banning domestic flights on routes where trains are an alternative.Taxes and enforced restrictions on short-haul flying would be bad for KLM, which relies on connecting international passengers via its Amsterdam hub. No wonder it’s keen to project an image of environmental responsibility. Its goal certainly isn’t to discourage all air travel. “We are a company that needs to make a profit to survive… We want to still be around when we have succeeded in our efforts to make aviation sustainable,” it has explained.Hence its campaign will doubtless prompt claims of green-washing: Raising ticket prices or scrapping routes would be a much simpler way to curtail emissions. KLM knows the train isn’t really an alternative to its many long-haul flights.Cigarette maker Philip Morris International has drawn similar flak for urging people to give up smoking or to use its vaping or heated tobacco products instead, while the drinks industry was lampooned for urging customers to drink responsibly (while doing everything it could to make alcohol seem cool).However, KLM’s intervention does at least look like an acknowledgement that the unconstrained growth anticipated by the aerospace and aviation industries is irresponsible. Airbus SE expects international air traffic to increase almost 4.5% a year for the next two decades, creating lots more carbon pollution.Large commercial electric planes aren’t technologically viable yet. Until then, it’s better that when people do fly, they pick an airline with more efficient jets, less polluting fuels and carbon-offsetting projects, all of which KLM is pursuing. Similarly, Ryanair Holdings Plc – long a climate change skeptic – has begun publishing monthly emissions data to try to show its “pollution per passenger kilometer traveled” is lower than that of its peers. If anything, climate change is happening faster than scientists feared and our efforts to cut emissions have been too slow. That means companies will have to forgo their most indefensible activities. Even Glencore PLC, hardly an environmental angel, has promised not to increase coal production above current levels. As strange as it sounds, “Don’t Buy Our Product” could yet become a common business strategy.To contact the author of this story: Chris Bryant at cbryant32@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters•13 days ago
UPDATE 3-Congo army evicts illegal miners from Glencore project, sparks protests
Congolese security forces evicted thousands of illegal miners from a copper and cobalt mine run by Glencore on Thursday, sparking angry protests outside the governor's office and looting of shops, local activists said. The move by the police and army came one week after a landslide at the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession, majority-owned by a Glencore subsidiary, killed 43 people, prompting a government pledge to swiftly remove the miners. Glencore said in a statement that Democratic Republic of Congo's army had been deployed to an area around KCC.
- Bloomberg•14 days ago
Nutrien Says 34 Workers Trapped Underground in Potash Mine
(Bloomberg) -- Workers at Nutrien Ltd.’s Cory potash mine in Saskatchewan have been stuck underground since Tuesday afternoon, but are safe.The 34 maintenance workers became trapped underground after the service shaft stopped operating, Will Tigley, a spokesman for the world’s largest crop-nutrient supplier, said by email.“Our teams are making the necessary arrangements to bring the workers to the surface as soon as practicable,” Tigley said.The Cory mine isn’t currently producing potash, and is in its summer maintenance period. With the mine out of production it won’t affect the global potash supply.Nutrien shares closed down 0.4% in Toronto.“Most people are sort of familiar enough with these types of incidents to know that potash mines prepare for this,” Alexis Maxwell, research director for Bloomberg Green Markets, said by telephone.Earlier this year, workers at Nutrien’s Allan potash mine in Saskatchewan were stuck underground after an overnight fire. The 63 workers were brought to ground safely the next day.Across the globe, there are have been several incidents of mine accidents and workers being trapped this year. Last month, Glencore Plc said at least 19 illegal miners were killed when part of a mine collapsed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In April, 1,800 workers who had been trapped at a Sibanye Gold Ltd. underground platinum mine in South Africa were safely brought to the surface.(Updates with stock price and comment from analyst)To contact the reporter on this story: Ashley Robinson in Winnipeg (Non BLP Loc) at arobinson193@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net, Millie Munshi, Patrick McKiernanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg•14 days ago
By the Numbers: Congo’s Deadly Struggle With Illegal Mining
(Bloomberg) -- A deadly landslide and troop deployments at two giant mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo highlight how authorities are struggling to cope with citizens’ efforts to share in the country’s immense mineral wealth.The events at Glencore Plc and China Molybdenum Co.’s operations are the latest examples of long-running tensions that exist in the copper- and cobalt-rich Katanga region between the sprawling, foreign-owned industrial mines and locals who extract the minerals using rudimentary hand tools.Producers say the trespassers are endangering both themselves and mine employees, while diggers and their families claim they have mined the land for years and should have a right to access at least parts of the vast tracts controlled by international companies.Here are five key figures that show the extent of the problem:200,000People estimated to be involved in artisanal mining in KatangaDigging and trading minerals—although arduous and frequently dangerous—is often the most attractive way to make a living in one of the world’s poorest countries. Of course, not every person with a pickaxe is an illegal miner—many work in licensed cooperatives on authorized sites. While exact figures are unavailable, far more people are employed in so-called artisanal mining in Katanga than fully mechanized sites, according to Andrew Britton, managing director of consultant Kumi Consulting. The 200,000 figure is from trading house Trafigura Group. Ltd.2,000Trespassers per day at the Glencore-controlled Kamoto concessionWhile special zones exist for artisanal miners, the allure of rich deposits on foreign-owned concessions draws thousands of sometimes-violent intruders onto the enormous permits. Diggers also say that they are deterred from moving to authorized areas because some local cooperatives there are controlled by the families of local politicians rather than the miners themselves.The longstanding issue of illegal mining jumped back into the spotlight when at least 43 people died last week in a landslide after breaking into an area of the giant Kamoto mine, owned by Glencore Plc unit Katanga Mining Ltd.Congo recently sent troops to clear out thousands of diggers at China Molybdenum Co.’s Tenke Fungurume mine, and an army chief said this week the president has ordered a similar action at Kamoto. Amnesty International and other local rights groups oppose the operations and say the deployments will exacerbate the situation.1,600Square kilometers covered by Tenke FungurumeThe giant concessions are not only near impossible to secure, they’re also too huge to mine all at once. TFM is especially large. That’s led some locals to argue that international companies should allow artisanal miners onto areas of the sites that aren’t being worked on. “Why can’t they leave a part to the diggers? Diggers don’t need to work everywhere”, said Jacques Kaumbu Mukumbi, director-general of a mining cooperative in the village of Kawama.Many of those being expelled don’t even view themselves as “illegal” miners. There’s a sense that, “as Congolese, they have the right to dig,” said Emmanuel Umpula, director of Afrewatch, a Kolwezi-based human rights group. “They think a company cannot take large areas, mine a small part of it and employ a tiny section of Congolese.”72Congo’s percentage share of global cobalt production last yearThere’s no denying Congo’s riches—besides cobalt, a key ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles and smartphones, it’s also a top-five copper producer and significant source of tantalum. An estimated 20% of the country’s cobalt, a key ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles and smartphones, was produced artisanally in 2018, according to Darton Commodities. Yet the country is under pressure to improve its image as a metal supplier, after research exposing child labor and lethal working conditions on uncontrolled sites prompted some buyers to try to avoid Congolese cobalt altogether and the London Metal Exchange to require cobalt and tin producers to carry out reviews of their supply chains. 10Local government’s proposed remedyLualaba, the Katangan province with the richest deposits, is seeking to formalize the artisanal sector. Governor Richard Muyej spearheaded a project on the outskirts of Kolwezi, the provincial capital, where a unit of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. was awarded a purchasing monopoly in exchange for paying to resettle hundreds of people, seal off the perimeter and excavate the site to make mining safer for the two cooperatives that operate there. Muyej plans to roll out the model to at least 10 other sites, but so far progress has been slow.In another example of formalizing artisanal operations, closely held Chemaf Sarl has allocated a controlled area at its Mutoshi project to a local cooperative that sells all its cobalt ore to the company. Chemaf is partnering on the project with Trafigura, which buys its refined material. Still, the site assigned to the cooperative could be depleted by the end of this year and it’s unclear whether the project will be extended or replicated.To contact the author of this story: William Clowes in Johannesburg at wclowes@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Liezel Hill at lhill30@bloomberg.net, Nicholas LarkinFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters•15 days ago
UPDATE 2-Illegal miners defy eviction from Glencore's Congo project
I llegal miners at a copper and cobalt mine run by Glencore in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo defied a deadline to vacate the site on Tuesday, a union official said, raising fears of a potentially violent standoff. A landslide last Thursday at the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession, majority-owned by a Glencore subsidiary, killed 43 people, prompting the government to vow to remove the miners.
- Bloomberg•16 days ago
Congo Army to Remove Illegal Miners From Glencore Site
(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo is preparing to send troops to remove illegal miners from a Glencore Plc mine where at least 43 people died last week.The deployment follows a similar move last month to protect China Molybdenum Co.’s Tenke Fungurume mine from incursions by illegal miners. Thursday’s fatal accident at an open pit operated by Glencore’s Kamoto Copper Co. was caused by a landslide that occurred after the people broke into an area of the mine, according to the company. Glencore estimates that 2,000 unauthorized people enter the industrial copper-cobalt site on average every day.Read more: Deaths at Glencore’s Mine Put Spotlight on Illegal Mining“I have received an order to do the same thing as at TFM,” General John Numbi, inspector-general of the Congolese Armed Forces, said by phone from the city of Kolwezi. “The president has instructed me to put an end to the theft of minerals in the concessions, on the mining sites."Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi met with senior military officers Sunday to discuss the response, Numbi said. The operation is expected start on Tuesday, he said.(Updates with timing in final paragraph. A previous version corrected Numbi’s location.)To contact the reporter on this story: William Clowes in Kinshasa at wclowes@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel Hill, Dylan GriffithsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters•16 days ago
RPT-Glencore's Congo tragedy highlights security conundrum for miners
DAKAR/LIMA, June 30 (Reuters) - The deaths of 43 illegal miners at a Glencore facility in Congo last week highlighted a growing challenge for mining companies struggling to secure sites from small-scale prospectors digging for cobalt, copper and other minerals. Many mines span hundreds of square kilometers across rural terrains, a tantalizing prospect for illegal miners, also known as artisanal miners, who break into sites in search of metals, some of which end up in electric cars and other products. "If people do not have work or an industry, they rely on this activity," said Patrick Hickey, a mining industry consultant who has worked at mines across Africa.
- Reuters•17 days ago
Glencore's Congo tragedy highlights security conundrum for miners
- Reuters•17 days ago
CORRECTED-Glencore's Congo tragedy highlights security conundrum for miners
DAKAR/LIMA, June 30 (Reuters) - The deaths of 43 illegal miners at a Glencore facility in Congo last week highlighted a growing challenge for mining companies struggling to secure sites from small-scale prospectors digging for cobalt, copper and other minerals. Many mines span hundreds of square kilometers across rural terrains, a tantalizing prospect for illegal miners, also known as artisanal miners, who break into sites in search of metals, some of which end up in electric cars and other products. "If people do not have work or an industry, they rely on this activity," said Patrick Hickey, a mining industry consultant who has worked at mines across Africa.
- Reuters•18 days ago
After deadly collapse, Congo vows to remove illegal miners from Glencore concession
Congo's interior minister vowed to remove all illegal miners by Sunday from a copper and cobalt mine run by Glencore following a landslide this week that killed at least 43 of them. Thursday's accident at the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) concession near Democratic Republic of Congo's southern border with Zambia has focused attention on the dangers run by informal miners, who burrow dozens of metres below ground in search of ore using rudimentary tools. Glencore estimates that some 2,000 diggers enter KCC property each day.
- Bloomberg•19 days ago
Death Toll at Glencore’s Mine Puts Spotlight on Illegal Mining
(Bloomberg) -- The dozens of people killed in a landslide at Glencore Plc’s mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo highlight a constant struggle in the industry: illegal mining.It’s the result of a harsh economic divide across Africa, home to some of the world’s richest reserves of metals and minerals and some of the poorest people, who are willing to risk their lives in dangerous conditions to eke out a living.The open-pit mine, which is part of the Kamoto Copper Co., that Glencore operates in Congo is vast and the perimeters stretch for miles, making them difficult to police. Glencore estimates that 2,000 unauthorized people enter the industrial site on average every day.The company said the people were killed in a landslide on Thursday after breaking into an area of the mine. As of Friday, 43 bodies had been recovered, according to Joseph Yav Katshung, chief of staff to the governor of the Lualaba province."Illegal mining is a prime example of the kind of risks associated with mining in DRC," said Indigo Ellis, an analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk consultancy in London. "It’s not as simple as saying hiring private security will solve the problem, as often they are involved in this trade."Lives at RiskThe workers entered the mine without permission and put their own lives at risk by digging at the Kamoto industrial site, one of the world’s biggest cobalt mines, Glencore said in a statement on Thursday. There are possibly more unconfirmed fatalities, and a search and rescue operation is ongoing.Workers will go to extreme lengths to break into mine sites in Africa, sometimes tunneling underneath walls or living underground to extract ore with a pick-axe. Valuable metals like cobalt, an essential part of the lithium-ion batteries, and ready markets makes illegal mining an attractive choice for the poorest in Africa. South Africa estimates there are 14,000 people involved in the illegal mining.Troops DeployedIt’s a problem that’s affected several companies in the industry. Congo deployed troops to protect China Molybdenum Co.’s Tenke Fungurume mine from illegal miners.“The police are overwhelmed,” said Richard Muyej, the governor of Congo’s Lualaba province. He estimated there were 5,000 to 8,000 diggers at the Tenke Fungurume site."They attack those driving the machines to help themselves to the minerals, sometimes brutally," he said. "Are the police capable of facing this war? In three months, due to clashes between the police and diggers, I’ve lost three policemen, killed by thrown rocks. Others have lost their eyes.”A gold mine owned by AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. in Ghana was forced to evacuate employees when it was overrun by thousands of illegal miners in 2016. In South Africa, more than 30 illegal miners died in an explosion at an unused gold mine shaft in 2017.For Glencore, the mine accident is a warning sign of the risks of working in Congo, which ranks as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Investors have punished the company’s shares in the past year because of a U.S. investigation into its financial dealings in Congo.The shares added 1.4% to 267.65 pence as of 1:02 p.m. on Friday, rebounding from a 4.9% loss yesterday."We are concerned about the risk of additional safety issues in the future as these illegal mining activities are unlikely to stop in the country," said Christopher LaFemina, an analyst at Jefferies Group LLC. "Security measures will clearly need to be increased to reduce the risk of another tragedy at these operations."(Updates with latest death toll in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: William Clowes in Kinshasa at wclowes@bloomberg.net;Felix Njini in Johannesburg at fnjini@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel HillFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
