The Pre-Start

Cokal to develop an underground coal operation at its BBM met coal mine with mining contractor PT Bersama Indonesia (CKA)
Bowen Coking Coal copped a 29D from Iolite Partners to remove Nick Jorss and Neville Sneddon from the board and appoint Robert Leitz (BCB). BCB reckons the 249D notice is “defective”
Silver Mines advised that the Court of Appeal will hand down its judgement relating to the Bingman case on August 16^th (SVL)
Geopacific increased its MRE at Woodlark to 1.67Moz @ 1.07g/t, with the vast majority in the measured & indicated categories (GPR)
West African shared grade control drilling results from Kiaka South, which will contribute ounces in the first 18 months of production (WAF)
Galena’s concentrate production exceeded 10kt in July, as operations show an improvement. CBH & Toho Zinc paid US$15m, reducing Abra debt while Tony James resigned, effective August 31^st (G1A)
Viridis has picked up additional tenements near its Colossus project, which will be explored & included in the next resource update (VMM)
Strike Energy was awarded 85MW of certified reserve capacity in the interconnected system by AEMO for 2026. FID in Nov 2024 (STX)
Frontier Energy secured certified reserve capacity for its Waroona project (FHE)
Mayur Resources shared that Stage 2 of the whark construction at Kido (cement & lime) is underway, completion targeted at late CY24 (MRL)
Great Boulder released AC results from Mulga Bill North, confirming the continuity of mineralisation over 400m from 40m below (GBR)
Blackrock notched up its Bellevue stake to 11.6% (BGL)

High Grade It

Gold Fields Osisko takeover hands it full ownership of the Windfall gold project, currently a 50:50 JV with Osisko (Bloomberg)
BHP & union leaders at the Escondida operation in Chile are sitting down for one last session, offering US$28.9k per employee bonus (Bloomberg)
Woodside is the worst performing large cap stock in Australia over the past year, down 33.5% (CB)
Analysts are perplexed why Australia’s key export, iron ore, is still trading around $US100 a tonne despite China’s property crisis (AFR)
Zambia closed its border with the Congo, blocking a key copper trade route (Mining.com)
Gold steadied ahead of key US data prints this week, with traders focused on the Fed’s pivot to monetary easing (Bloomberg)
40% of Biden’s major IRA manufacturing projects have been delayed or paused, accounting for US$84b of initiatives (FT)
Two of the nation’s largest superfunds, Aware & Rest Super, appear to be facilitating bets against the success of LTR & LYC (West)
Chevron is seeking drilling clearance to replenish supplies from Australia’s biggest LNG development (The Australian)
WA premier Roger Cook has backed unions seeking to re-establish themselves in the Pilbara iron ore industry (AFR)
‘Unambiguous step backwards’: Business Council boss Bran Black blasts unionisation threat at BHP Pilbara sites (West)
Slow approvals are risking the next mining boom (AFR) A key takeaway from our time in Kal
Bowen Coking Coal chair Nick Jorss hit back at a move to unseat him by a Swiss fund (The Australian)
Asra Minerals is seeking to sell Tarmoola pastoral lease to Red 5 to boost cash balance (West)
Barrick is looking for investment opportunities in Canada, according to CEO Mark Bristow (Bloomberg)

Wheelin’ n Dealin’

Gold Fields has agreed with Osisko Mining to buy the company for C$4.90/share in cash, totalling C$2.16b (EV of C$1.48b) (GFI.JSE)
Dataroom reported continued speculation over the sale of Albemarle’s 49% Greenbushes stake, with IGO naturally interested (The Australian)
Metal recycler Sims has liquidated $435m worth of assets to help it survive the toughest conditions for the industry in a decade (AFR)
Dynamic Group reiterates its “accept” recommendation regarding the on-market takeover from Australian Meat Industry Super, who now hold 61.6% (DDB)
- Harvest Lane continues to build its stake, now up to 16%
A Marathon Oil shareholder sued to block its proposed acquisition by ConocoPhillips, claiming the US$17b deal “significantly undervalues” the company (Bloomberg)
Stanmore has completed the acquisition of Eagle Downs from S32 & Aquila (SMR)

Rattlin’ the Tin

Macmahon finalised an increase to its existing $250m syndicated debt facility and added a new $80m tranche (MAH)
Volt Resources is in trading halt pending a capital raising (VRC)

Word on the Decline

Gold Fields C$2.16b takeover of Osisko to consolidate ownership of the Windfall gold project in Québec, Canada (currently a 50:50 JV) has us guessing at what this could mean for for Gold Road
Will the Goldfields crew keep the M&A ball rolling and wrap up 100% ownership of Gruyere (also currently a 50:50 JV) as well? Time will tell…

Do you have some Word on the Decline? Reply to this email or shoot a message to [email protected] directly. We will always take your privacy seriously.

In the Weeds

On the front line of the battle against illegal Amazon gold mining (FT)
The price of iron ore has dropped for a sixth consecutive week as China's steel sector continues to struggle (Reuters op-ed)
Platinum Documentary: Mining, Science and History (YouTube)