By Melanie Burton

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Rio Tinto is asking train drivers working in mineral-rich Western Australia to work more hours, following a move by rival BHP Group, as miners rush to ship millions of tonnes of iron ore amid soaring prices for the steel making material.

The push comes among a worsening skills shortage in Australia's west that has been exacerbated by strict coronavirus restrictions, which unions say have raised mental health risks for workers and their families.

Train driver Paul Bloxsom, who will leave Rio next month, said Western Australian border constraints to keep out COVID-19 that include a 14-day quarantine meant he had only seen his family in Queensland four times in 15 months.

"That's a challenge in itself, the isolation and the loneliness and so on. There was a combination of things, and I just had enough. And there's a lot more jobs going back at home on the east coast," he told Reuters.

Mine workers in Australia often live in cities and fly in and fly out (FIFO) to remote mine sites, a commute that can take anywhere from several hours to a day, including connections.

While miners in Western Australia are enjoying a commodity boom that has powered new construction projects, they are having to compete for workers with government-backed infrastructure projects on the other side of the country.

"Unlike previous construction-led growth periods for our sector, where up to 1,000 people a week were moving to Western Australia for work, there are now strong employment prospects in the eastern states," the state's Chamber of Minerals and Energy said last month.

International skilled migration has also dried up due to Australia's caps on immigration arrivals.

Miners have been looking for ways to ensure they can keep production at full tilt until Australia boosts its vaccination rates, said analyst Peter O'Connor of Shaw and Partners in Sydney.

"Short of keeping people in Western Australia on extended rosters, which wears people out, their options are limited – that is a real and present risk to production," he said.

For train drivers, Rio has asked for expressions of interest in a two-week on, one-week off roster, compared to the typical two-week on, two-week off roster, but said the request was voluntary and would include appropriate remuneration.

BHP has already mandated that roster for its FIFO train drivers as a temporary measure through to August 2022, blaming the skills shortage, but drawing criticism from the CFMEU union which says it has come at a cost for drivers and their families.

BHP, which has announced plans to train 200 new drivers, said it was offering interstate FIFO employees support including financial assistance for temporary and permanent relocation, flexible work options, as well as mental health support.

Rio said it is looking to recruit drivers, and is also providing temporary and permanent relocation packages for interstate workers.

The state government is also taking steps to boost skilled worker numbers, but noted in a statement its strong border measures have kept out COVID-19 and helped drive the national economy.

The CFMEU, however, wants miners and government to find ways for FIFO workers to spend less time in quarantine and more time with their families, said Greg Busson, secretary of the CFMEU mining and energy division.

"We have been dealing with this for 18 months now, surely we have some lessons learned," he said.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton; editing by Richard Pullin)

Pit D, A28 Unit, Q1-4 Kimberlite, Naujaat

July 17, 2021: Sample Pit D with white ‘Mega-bags’ filled with the A28 Unit of the Q1-4 kimberlite, Naujaat Diamond Project, Nunavut. The rock will be processed for diamonds later this year once shipped south by sealift in September. The Q1-4 kimberlite is known for its yellow and orangey yellow diamonds.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — North Arrow Minerals Inc. (TSXV-NAR) (“North Arrow”) reports that the $5.6 million bulk sampling program at its Naujaat Diamond Project, Nunavut is over 50% complete.

Ken Armstrong, President and CEO of North Arrow commented: “Bulk sample collection from the Q1-4 kimberlite at the Naujaat Project is progressing on schedule with field crews having so far delivered over 1,000 tonnes of kimberlite to our laydown near the community of Naujaat. We had targeted a total sample size of between 1,500 to 2,000 tonnes and we now expect to reach the high end of that range. The program has benefited greatly from the prepositioning of sampling supplies in 2020 and our ability to work directly from Naujaat, including the support of 25 local employees.”

The program is on track for completion by the end of August, when the sample will be shipped south in September via annual sealift. Sample processing and diamond recovery is expected to start in the fourth quarter of calendar 2021. Diamonds recovered from the sample are intended to confirm the size distribution and character of an important population of potentially high-value, fancy yellow to orange yellow diamonds found in the Q1-4 deposit.

The program is funded by partner Burgundy Diamond Mines (ASX-BDM), as part of a June 1, 2020 option agreement under which Burgundy may earn a 40% interest in the Naujaat Project by funding the current bulk sample program.

About the Naujaat Project

The Naujaat Project is located near the community of Naujaat, Nunavut. A total of eight kimberlite pipes have been identified within the Project as well as several laterally extensive kimberlite dyke systems. The Q1-4 kimberlite, located just 7 km from the Company’s laydown near the community, is the largest and most diamondiferous of the kimberlites discovered to date and hosts an important, potentially high-value, population of Type IaA – Ib fancy coloured, yellow to orange yellow, diamonds. At 12.5 ha in surface area, Q1-4 hosts an estimated inferred mineral resource of 26.1 million carats total diamond content in 48.8 million tonnes of kimberlite with average +1 DTC total diamond content of 53.6 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) extending from surface to a depth of 205m. Delineation drilling of Q1-4 suggests significant potential to expand the resource at depth with the deepest drill hole terminating in kimberlite at a depth of 376m. The reader is cautioned that mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Details on data verification and resource estimation procedures can be found in the May 2013 technical report filed on www.sedar.com as well as posted on North Arrow’s website along with details on subsequent exploration efforts on the Project [here].

The Naujaat Diamond Project exploration program is being conducted under the direction of Kenneth Armstrong, P.Geo. (NWT/NU and ON), President and CEO of North Arrow and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Armstrong has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this press release.

About North Arrow Minerals

North Arrow is a Canadian based exploration company focused on the identification and evaluation of diamond exploration opportunities in Canada. North Arrow’s management, board of directors and advisors have significant successful experience in the global diamond industry. North Arrow’s most advanced diamond project is the Q1-4 diamond deposit at the Naujaat Project (NU), where a $5.6M 2,000 tonne bulk sample is underway. The Company has also discovered and is evaluating kimberlite fields at the Mel (NU) and Pikoo (SK) Projects and is evaluating and exploring for additional kimberlites at the Loki and LDG JV Projects (NWT). The Company also maintains a 100% interest in the Hope Bay Oro Gold Project (NU), located approximately 3 km north of Agnico Eagle’s Doris Gold Mine.

North Arrow Minerals Inc.

/s/ “Kenneth A. Armstrong”
Kenneth Armstrong
President and CEO

For further information, please contact:
Ken Armstrong
Tel: 604-668-8355 or 604-668-8354
Website: www.northarrowminerals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" including but not limited to statements with respect to North Arrow’s plans, the estimation of a mineral resource and the success of exploration activities. Forward-looking statements, while based on management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the successful integration of acquisitions; risks related to general economic and market conditions; closing of financing; the timing and content of upcoming work programs; actual results of proposed exploration activities; possible variations in mineral resources or grade; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations. Although North Arrow has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. North Arrow undertakes no obligation or responsibility to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f99b05a-2958-487a-948a-e4cd9e68b51e

Vale S.A.’s VALE iron ore production for the second quarter of 2021 was 75.7 million tons (Mt), which came in 12% higher than the year-ago quarter and 11.3% higher than the first quarter of 2021. The company’s 2021 iron ore production guidance of 315-335 million tons remains unchanged, but the nickel and copper outlook are under review, as labor stoppages at the Sudbury mine in Ontario and a flood at Voisey's Bay in Labrador hurt output.

The sequential improvement in iron ore production in the quarter was aided by higher volumes from Brucutu, improvement of weather-related conditions in Serra Norte and a strong performance in Serra Leste. Increased productivity in Itabira Complex, higher third-party purchase and wet processing production in Fábrica during the tests to resume beneficiation plant operations contributed to the improvement as well. These gains were partially offset by the interferences caused by the installation and commissioning of the first of four jaspilite crushers in S11D.

Vale’s pellet production was up 13.3% year over year and 27.4% sequentially to 8 Mt in the second quarter. Second-quarter sales volume of iron ore fines and pellets was 74.9 Mt, up 22% year on year and 14% from the first quarter of 2021.

Production of nickel declined 15.3% year over year to 41.5 kt in the June-ended quarter. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, nickel production was down 14.3% due to labor disruption at Sudbury and unscheduled maintenance in Clydach Nickel Refinery. Copper production was 73.5 kt in the quarter, down 13% year over year and 4% down from the first quarter of 2021. The drop in production was due to labor disruption in Sudbury and delays in mining at Voisey’s Bay, partially mitigated by a more robust performance in Salobo owing to the ramp-up of mine maintenance activities and better performance at Sossego operations.

Cobalt production reached 754 metric tons in the quarter, up 34.2% from the prior-year quarter and up 6% from the first quarter of 2021. Manganese ore production totaled 113 kt in the April-June period, 24.2% lower than the prior-year quarter due to adjustments in the mining plan to ensure the safety and sustainability of underground operations at the Urucum mine. On a year-over-year basis, production was up 24.2% primarily due to the end of the rainy season and improved performance at the beneficiation plant in Morro da Mina.

Coal production was 2.1 Mt in the second quarter, up 63% from the prior-year quarter and 92% higher than the year-ago quarter. This was mainly due to improved productivity after the major plant revamp concluded last quarter. The revamp removed important bottlenecks in the processing plants by increasing equipment availability and productivity. Gold production was down 15.8% year over year to 96,000 troy ounces in second-quarter 2021. Compared to the first quarter, gold production was up 11.6%.

Among other developments, Vale has resumed loading activities at ship loader 6 at the Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal, in São Luís, Maranhão, after five months of maintenance due to a fire in the equipment. The maintenance of ship loader 6, which involved the substitution of over 60% of its components, did not impact Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal’s monthly iron ore shipment schedule for the year.

Vale’s iron ore production guidance for 2021 remains at 315 to 335 Mt. The company stated that it has achieved a production capacity of 330 Mtpy. If sustained, this would allow for an average of 1 Mt per day production in the second half of 2021, due to better weather conditions in the period. Citing uncertainties concerning the labor situation in Ontario, and the ramp-up of the safety and maintenance process implementation in Sossego and Salobo, the company has placed the guidance for nickel and copper for the year under review.

The company’s efforts to improve productivity, introducing more high-quality ore in the market and cutting costs will drive margins. Investment in growth projects and efforts to lower debt will aid growth. Vale will also gain on the rally in iron ore prices this year. Iron ore prices have gained around 40% so far this year and are currently trending at around $220 per ton, fueled by high demand from China amid concerns over supply from the major iron producers. While Vale’s production in the second quarter has improved year on year, it lagged expectations of 78 Mt.

Last week, Rio Tinto plc RIO reported a 9% drop in second-quarter iron ore production to 75.9 Mt due to above average rainfall in the West Pilbara, shutdowns to enable replacement mines to be tied in, processing plant availability and cultural heritage management. Iron ore shipments in the second quarter of 2021 declined 12% year over year to 76.3 Mt. Due to this underperformance, Rio Tinto now expects to ship near the lower end of its range of its previous guidance of 325 Mt to 340 Mt in 2021.

BHP Group’s BHP iron ore production was down 2% year over year to 65.2 Mt in the April-June quarter. On a sequential basis, production improved 9% primarily due to improved performance at Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO). The company anticipates producing between 249-259 Mt of iron ore in fiscal 2022.

Price Performance

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Shares of Vale have surged 86.3% in a year compared with the industry’s rally of 92.7%.

Zacks Rank & Another Stock to Consider

Vale currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Another top-ranked stock in the basic materials space is FreeportMcMoRan Inc. FCX. FreeportMcMoRan has a projected earnings growth rate of 475% for the current fiscal year. The company’s shares have soared 142% in the past year.

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BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (BHP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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BHP Group BHP released production details for the year ended Jun 30, 2021 and provided guidance for fiscal 2022. Total iron ore production rose 2% to 254 Mt (million tons) in fiscal 2021 courtesy of record production at Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO). The company met production guidance for iron ore, copper, metallurgical coal, nickel and energy coal. Petroleum production for the 2021 financial year was slightly above guidance.

Production Highlights

In the April-June quarter, BHP’s iron ore production was down 2% year over year to 65.2 Mt. On a sequential basis, production, however, improved 9% primarily due to enhanced performance at WAIO. Brazilian miner, Vale S.A. VALE, reported its iron ore production for the second quarter of 2021 at 75.7 Mt, which came in 12% higher than the year-ago quarter and 11.3% higher than the first quarter of 2021. Last week, Rio Tinto plc RIO reported a 9% drop in second-quarter iron ore production to 75.9 Mt due to above average rainfall in the West Pilbara.

For the year ended Jun 30, 2021, BHP’s total iron ore production improved 2% year over year to a record 253.5 Mt, within the company’s provided guidance of 245 Mt to 255 Mt. WAIO production was up 1% to a record 252 Mt reflecting record production at Jimblebar and Mining Area C, which included first ore from South Flank in May 2021. This performance was impressive considering weather impact, temporary rail labor shortages due to COVID-19 related border restrictions and the planned Mining Area C and South Flank major tie-in activity. Strong operational performance across the supply chain reflected continued improvements in car dumper performance and reliability, and train cycle times.

Total petroleum production was 102.8 MMboe (million barrels of oil equivalent) for the period under review, down 6% year over year. Total copper production was down 5% year over year to 1,635.7 kt in fiscal 2020. Metallurgical coal production dipped 1% to 40.6 Mt, while energy coal production was 19.3 Mt, down 17% year over year. Nickel production was up 11% year over year to 89 kt.

Average realized prices for iron ore, copper and nickel in fiscal 2021 surged 69%, 52% and 17% respectively. Average realized prices for metallurgical coal declined 19%, while of thermal coal rose 2%. Average realized prices for oil (crude and condensate) and Natural gas were up 6% and 8%, respectively, while LNG prices slumped 22%.

Fiscal 2022 Production Guidance

In fiscal 2022, BHP expects to produce between 249 and 259 Mt of iron ore compared with 253.5 Mt produced in fiscal 2021 as WAIO continues to focus on incremental volume growth through productivity improvements. The company’s petroleum production guidance for fiscal 2022 is expected to be 99-106 MMboe. BHP anticipates copper production between 1,590 kt and 1,760 kt in fiscal 2022. Production guidance of Metallurgical coal for fiscal 2022 is at 39-44 Mt, while the same for energy coal is at 13-15 Mt. Nickel production for fiscal 2022 is now expected between 85 kt and 95 kt.

Development Projects on Track

During fiscal 2021, BHP successfully achieved first production at four major development projects, all of which were delivered either on or ahead of schedule and also within budget. The Atlantis Phase 3 petroleum project and the Spence Growth Option copper project achieved first production in the first half of the financial year. During the fiscal fourth quarter, the South Flank iron ore sustaining project in Western Australia, and the Ruby oil and gas project in Trinidad and Tobago achieved first production.

As of Jun 31, 2021, the company had two major projects under development in petroleum (Mad Dog Phase 2) and potash (Jansen mine shafts), with both of these on track. The Jansen Stage 1 project in Canada remains on track for a go or no-go decision in the next two months.

On 28 Jun, 2021, BHP announced that it had signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Glencore PLC GLNCY to divest its 33.3 per cent interest in Cerrejón, a non-operated energy coal joint venture in Colombia, for $294 million cash consideration. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of fiscal 2022.

BHP’s efforts to make operations more efficient through smart technology adoption across the entire value chain will continue to aid in reducing costs, thereby boosting margins. Focus on lowering debt will fuel growth.

Price Performance

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Over the last year, BHP’s shares have gained 35.7%, compared with the industry’s rally of 22.6%.

Zacks Rank

BHP currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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Zacks Investment Research

SUDBURY, ON / ACCESSWIRE / July 20, 2021 / Northern Superior Resources ("NorthernSuperior" or the "Company") (TSXV:SUP)(OCTQB:NSUPF) is pleased to announce that it has initiated plans to define the northern and eastern extension of the gold "footprint" associated with the NI 43-101 compliant (640,000 ounce at 1.7 g/t gold inferred) CBSZ gold deposit on its large (30km by 15km, 12,545 hectare), 100% owned Croteau Est gold property, Quebec.

The Company will test the northern and eastern extension potential of the CBSZ with a 2,530m, 220-hole reverse circulation (RC) drill program, scheduled to commence in August. The CBSZ gold deposit is currently defined from only 64 drill holes, 350m maximum depth over a 550m strike length, open at depth and open along strike both to the east and west. Within the CBSZ, gold is hosted in a 75-120m wide, east-west trending sericite-carbonate alteration zone and associated stockwork quartz veins.

In defining the original CBSZ discovery, several trenches exposing the CBSZ returned mineralized bedrock grab samples. Highlighted assays include (see Northern Superior press releases July 20, 2011, November 12, 2013):

• 15.0g/t Au;

• 52.8g/t Au;

• 68.7g/t Au; and

• 58.8g/t Au.

From these same trenches channel samples were also taken, highlighted assay values include (see Northern Superior press releases, October 12, 2011, July 5, 2017):

• 92.57g/t Au over 1m or 12.8g/t Au over 7.8m;

• 14.37g/t Au over 7.5m; and

• 8.49g/t Au over 5.7m.

Gold within the CBSZ is associated with at least 9 high grade gold shoots. Highlighted intersections reported include (see Northern Superior press release November 13, 2017, January 10, 2018):

• High grade widths of up to 11.06 g/t Au over 9.10m (including 43.75 g/t Au over 2.00m),

• 61.24 g/t Au over 5.95 m(including 705 g/t Au over 0.5 m)

• High grade mineralization occurring >400 m vertical depth: 7.50 g/t Au over 7.95m (including 56.40 g/t Au over 1.00m) between 489.90m to 497.85m; and

• Wide mineralized widths of up to 1.99 g/t Au over 34.65m (including 9.46 g/t Au over 2.35m).

All 9 high grade gold shoots are of mineable width and grade, dip to the east and are contiguous, as evidenced by the 96% hit rate experienced in the Company's 2017 core drill program (see Northern Superior Corporate Presentation, www.nsuperior.com). The mineralization was proven to extend directly to surface by projecting the shoots to surface and exposing it. This shoot consisted of two zones of >10g/t Au, 2.5m x 2.0 m and 2.0m x 0.5m, enclosed by a halo of >5g/t Au, 7.0m x 2.5m in turn enclosed by a halo of gold mineralization of >3g/t Au over an area of 8.0m x 3.0m (see Northern Superior press release, November 3, 2014).

Dr. T.F. Morris, President and CEO states: "The CBSZ is a gold deposit consisting of high-grade gold material, existing within a large alteration system open at depth and strike to the east and west. The potential extension of the high-grade shoots at depth remains a compelling target with a supportive geological model as witnessed by our 96 percent success rate with our Phase II 2017 drill program.

However, the Company has evidence that the CBSZ gold footprint extends farther north (at least by 600m) and along strike both east and west beyond what is currently defined, encompassing the tuffaceous sediments and the Croteau North Shear Zone (CNSZ) that are aligned parallel to the CBSZ (Figure 1). This evidence is derived from overburden sampling programs, trenching and core drilling. The same programs also included the CBSZ, thus providing a direct comparison of the various heavy mineral and geochemical signatures between the two data sets.

As such, before launching into a core drill program specific to testing the CBSZ at depth, the Company has designed an RC program to test the viability of a broader gold target north and east of the of the CBSZ (Figure 1)."

"It is important to note that the Croteau Est property is a large 30km by 15km land package and despite having a 640,000 oz 1.7g/t gold inferred resource on a very small portion of its land package, the remainder of this property remains largely under explored. With success from this RC program we see potential to step out further onto our numerous regional targets on the property (see Figure 2)."

The RC Program

The RC program is designed to address three primary issues, the answers to which are necessary in determining the potential economic viability of a larger gold footprint north and east of the CBSZ. These include:

1. Accurately determine the distribution and lithogeochemistry of the three primary lithological units (CBSZ, CNSZ and intervening tuffaceous sediments);

2. Determining if the package of primary lithological units should be considered as an economic target as opposed to just the CBSZ; and

3. Determining the extension of these three units past the Croteau Fault and how both the Croteau Fault and Croteau Deformation Zone may play a role in gold mineralization within this system.

To achieve these goals, the RC program will cover a rectangular area 600m by 1km (Figure 1) consisting of a 50 x 100m spaced grid of approximately 200 RC holes. Each hole will penetrate into the bedrock surface 1.5m. The lower basal till (overburden material lying directly over bedrock) and bedrock chips will be collected. The basal till will be processed for gold grains and geochemical analysis. The lithology and geochemistry of the bedrock chips will be determined.

The area to be drilled includes both the CBSZ and CNSZ and the intervening area of tuffaceous sediments. Also captured is the projected northeast extension of quartz porphyry dykes thought critical to high grade gold mineralization associated with the CBSZ mineral resource. In addition, sections of the Croteau Fault and Croteau Deformation Zone occur within the eastern side of the RC test area (Figure 1).

Within the area to be drilled are anomalous gold grain-in-till, (Figure 3), mobile metal ion (Figure 4) and soil gas hydrocarbon signatures (Figure 5). The size and intensity of these anomalous values will be tested from the results of this program, important in defining specific target areas within the system.

* Reference for Northern Superior's 640,000 ounce Inferred Gold Resource: "Drabble, Mark (B. App. Sci. (Geology), MAIG, MAusIMM); Glacken, Ian (BSc Hons (Geology), FAusIMM (CP), MIMMM, CEng; Kahan, Cervoj (B. App. Sci., MAIG, MAusIMM); Morgan, Rebecca (BSc Hons (Geology), GDip (Mining), MAIG, MAusIMM). October 12, 2015. Technical Report on the Croteau Est Gold Project, Québec September 2015, Mineral Resource Estimate."

Qualified Person

T.F. Morris (PhD, P.Geo., FGAC, ICD.D) is a Qualified Person ("QP") within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Morris has reviewed, and approved information disclosed in this press release.

About Northern Superior Resources Inc.

The Croteau Est gold property is one of three key mineral properties 100% owned by Northern Superior. The Company's two other properties (TPK and Lac Surprise) also represent regional scale exploration opportunities (see Northern Superior Corporate Presentation, www.nsuperior.com).

Northern Superior is a reporting issuer in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Québec, and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SUP, and the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol NSUPF.

For Further Information

Please refer to Northern Superior news available on the Company's website (www.nsuperior.com) and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or contact:

Thomas F. Morris PhD., P.Geo., FGAC , ICD.D
President and CEO
Tel: (705) 525 ‐0992
Fax: (705) 525 ‐7701
e‐mail: info@nsuperior.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Press Release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. When used in this document, the words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to such risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including those factors discussed in filings made by us with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties, such actual results of current exploration programs, the general risks associated with the mining industry, the price of gold and other metals, currency and interest rate fluctuations, increased competition and general economic and market factors, occur or should assumptions underlying the forward looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, or expected. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Figure 1. Location of the RC grid, defined by the red rectangle 600m north-south by 1km east-west. The drill area captures several key lithological and structural units including the CBSZ and CNSZ and intervening tuffaceous units plus quartz-feldspar porphyry dykes (QFP), the Croteau Fault and Deformation Zone. See text for details.

Figure 2. The CBSZ 43-101 compliant resource occurs at the intersection of the east to west oriented Croteau Bouchard Shear Zone and the northeast to southwest oriented Croteau Fault. There are at least 11 other such opportunities that occur on the Croteau Est property where east-west oriented shear zones are cross-cut by northeast to southwest faults. Gold showings at several of these intersections including Trench 101, Area # 5 and Croteau South emphasize this opportunity.

Figure 3. Gold grain-in-till anomalies derived from surface overburden sampling and basal tills sampled From RC programs. A basal till sample collected immediately down-ice from an exposed high grade shoot yielded 877 gold grains, 844 of which were pristine grains (96%) indicating very close proximity to source. The RC basal till associated with RC hole CRO15-186 yielded 244 gold grains, 172 of which were pristine (70%). This on its own is a very compelling target as the background value for gold grains in this area is close to 1.

Figure 4. Mobile metal ion gold signature (MMI: areas of red). Note the strong MMI anomaly associated with the CBSZ where the QFP dykes occur. This makes the large red MMI anomaly in the northwest part of the RC grid particularly compelling.

Figure 5. Soil gas hydrocarbon gold anomalies (SGH: areas of dark red). Interestingly, the CBSZ does not have a significantly large SGH signature. However, the RC grid contains several very large and strong SGH signatures.

SOURCE: Northern Superior Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/656136/Northern-Superior-to-Test-Expansion-of-CBSZ-43-101-Compliant-640000-Ounces-Gold-17gt-Gold-Gold-Resource-Croteau-Est-Property-Chapais-Chibougamou-Gold-Camp

(Bloomberg) — Brazilian mining giant Vale SA produced slightly less iron ore than expected last quarter because of teething problems at a new plant in a fresh blow to an already tight global market for the steelmaking ingredient.

The world’s second-largest iron producer churned out 75.7 million metric tons in the second quarter compared with the 78 million-ton average estimate among analysts tracked by Bloomberg. The result was still up from both the previous three months and the Covid-impacted year-ago period.

Vale’s ongoing recovery from an early-2019 dam disaster makes it a major swing factor in a market in which demand remains strong despite China’s efforts to curb emissions and contain commodity inflation. Vale’s ability and willingness to expand and take back the No. 1 producer title it lost to Rio Tinto Group will help determine whether the market moves back into surplus. Rio Tinto has said suppliers are struggling to meet demand.

While Vale is resolving a rail interruption at one of its complexes in southern Brazil, production was held back by disruptions cause by the installation of a crusher plant at its S11D complex in the country’s north. The Rio de Janeiro-based also said it had pushed back resumption dates at other operations due to slower-than-expected permitting and extra work to increase dam safety.

Vale’s ramp-up took a hit in early June when it was ordered to restrict operations at its Timbopeba complex amid concerns surrounding the stability of another dam. In the first quarter, the partial resumption of Timbopeba had helped push up Vale’s output.

Still, Timbopeba delivered a better performance thanks to the commissioning of the three additional wet-processing lines in March. The company said a driver-less train solution at the complex is performing well.

In Monday’s production report, Vale maintained its full-year guidance of 315 million to 335 million tons and said it achieved annual output capacity of 330 million tons. The company expects to reach 350 million tons capacity by year-end and 400 million tons by the end of 2022.

Still, quarterly iron ore sales lagged output, coming in at 67.2 million tons. Rio Tinto said last week that its shipments fell 2% on the previous quarter and flagged annual exports could come in at the low end of its forecast, partly because of rainier-than-normal weather. BHP Group reported a 12% increase in quarterly shipments.

Vale is also one of the world’s largest nickel producers and a major copper supplier. Production of both metals fell in the second quarter and Vale said it’s reviewing annual guidance amid a strike at one of its complexes in Canada.

The Brazilian miner is set to release earnings on July 28.

(Updates with iron sales and nickel production)

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Newmont Corporation’s NEM board recently approved the advancement of the Ahafo North Project to the execution stage. The project, exceeding the required internal rate of return (“IRR”), will be bringing profitable production from the best un-mined gold deposit in West Africa.

The Ahafo North Project includes four open-pit mines and the setting up of a stand-alone mill. The construction is expected to complete in the second half of 2023. At the current gold prices, production from the mine is expected to deliver more than 30% IRR.

It will also lead to the creation of approximately 1,800 jobs, with more than 550 permanent roles. The company aims to focus on the key aspect of achieving gender parity in the workforce after the commencement of operations.

There have been considerable engagements with traditional leaders, local and regional government agencies and also public stakeholder engagement meetings by the company. Stakeholders have backed the project’s infrastructure plans and permits necessary to begin construction.

The company remains dedicated to maintaining its stakeholder interaction by providing regular updates as the project proceeds. This will strengthen its social acceptance.

The full scope of funding will be deployed to high-impact activities, including but not limited to tasks like finalizing engineering and EPCM services, relocating of the national highway and support of additional resettlement activities, constructing and commissioning a 3.7-million-ton per annum plant, constructing a Tailings and Wastewater Management Storage Facility, and long-lead sourcing including the acquisition of 14 CAT 770 haul trucks.

Newmont noted that the project will expand its existing footprint in Ghana and add more than three million ounces of gold production over the initial 13-year mine life. It is committed to sustainably develop and operate the project to add value to its stakeholders.

Shares of Newmont have declined 3.8% over a year against the industry’s rise of 26%. Its earnings growth rate for the current year is pegged at 25.6%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In its first-quarter earnings call, the company said that it expects attributable gold production of 6.5 million ounces, gold cost applicable to sales (CAS) to be $750 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) to be $970 per ounce. It also foresees an increase in gold production and is undertaking investments in its operating assets and other growth prospects.

Newmont Corporation Price and Consensus

Newmont Corporation price-consensus-chart | Newmont Corporation Quote

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Newmont carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Glencore PLC GLNCY and Rio Tinto Group RIO, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and BHP Group BHP, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Glencore has a projected earnings growth rate of 296.7% for the current year. The company’s shares have appreciated 82.9% over a year.

Rio Tinto has a projected earnings growth rate of 124.3% for the current year. The company’s shares have grown 32.6% over a year.

BHP has a projected earnings growth rate of 192.5% for the current year. The company’s shares have gained 38.8% over a year.

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Zacks Investment Research

How far off is Petra Diamonds Limited (LON:PDL) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Petra Diamonds

The method

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$289m

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.9%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 12%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₁ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$39m× (1 + 0.9%) ÷ (12%– 0.9%) = US$372m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$372m÷ ( 1 + 12%)¹⁰= US$125m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$414m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of UK£0.02, the company appears quite good value at a 49% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

Important assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Petra Diamonds as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 12%, which is based on a levered beta of 2.000. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Next Steps:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For Petra Diamonds, there are three relevant factors you should explore:

1. Risks: Take risks, for example – Petra Diamonds has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

2. Future Earnings: How does PDL's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.

3. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every British stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

Rio Tinto plc’s (RIO) iron ore shipments in the second quarter of 2021 declined 12% year over year to 76.3 million tons (Mt) as storms affected its West Australian operations. This takes total iron ore shipped by the company to 154.1 Mt for the first half of 2021, which reflects a 3% drop year over year. Iron production in the first half of 2021 came in 5% lower than the prior year, due to weather and labor constraints. Both shipments and production reported by the company in the first half of 2021 marks its weakest performance since 2015.

Iron ore production in the second quarter was down 9% year over year to 75.9 Mt. The company stated that the shortfall was due to above average rainfall in the West Pilbara, shutdowns to enable replacement mines to be tied in, processing plant availability and cultural heritage management. In the first quarter, the company’s iron production dipped 2% to 76.4 Mt on account of above average wet weather in the mines through February, and fixed plant reliability and labor resource availability. Ongoing travel restrictions due to COVID-19 and a tight labor market in Western Australia have been impacting the company’s ability to access experienced contractors and particular skill sets. Overall, in the first half of 2021, the company has produced 152.3 Mt of iron ore, which is 5% lower than the prior year comparable period.

Rio Tinto raised its iron ore production cost guidance for 2021 citing higher input costs (diesel and labor), costs related to mine heritage management as well as COVID-19 related expenses. The company has so far incurred around $100 million of COVID-19 related costs.

Due to this underperformance, Rio Tinto now expects to ship near the lower end of its range of its previous guidance of 325 Mt to 340 Mt in 2021. The company stated that the guidance remains subject to weather conditions, tie-in and ramp up of brownfield replacement mines, and ongoing cultural heritage management. The labor constraints also persist and will continue to impact operations. Brazilian miner Vale S.A VALE had reported a 14.2% year-over-year increase in its first quarter 2021 iron ore production to 68 Mt courtesy of the company’s ongoing operational stabilization and resumption plan. It is set to release its second-quarter production report on Jul 19, 2021. The company’s iron ore production guidance for 2021 is in the range of 315 Mt to 335 Mt. Meanwhile, BHP Group BHP anticipates producing between 245 Mt and 255 Mt of iron ore in fiscal 2021.

These companies will benefit from higher iron ore prices this year. Iron ore prices have gained around 40% so far this year and are currently trending above $220 per ton. Prices had hit a record high of $232 on May 12 on declining stockpiles and concerns over supply. Meanwhile, iron ore demand from China is benefiting from rise in infrastructure spending and renewed vigor in manufacturing activity. Despite the China government’s efforts to curb steel output to reduce carbon emissions, demand for iron ore showed resilience as mills that were not subject to output curbs continued to ramp up production. Healthy profit margins buoyed by higher demand and a rally in steel prices have led to a rise in production.

The World Steel Association projects steel demand to grow 5.8% in 2021 and reach 1,874 Mt. China's steel demand is expected to improve 3% this year. Further, the ongoing recovery in automotive and constructions sectors across the world will drive demand for steel and thereby for iron ore. In the United States, massive government spending to rebuild infrastructure including railroads, highways and bridges will significantly boost steel demand, thus fueling the requirement of more iron ore.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In the past year, shares of Rio Tinto have gained 38.8%, compared with the industry’s rally of 31.2%.

Rio Tinto currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Another top-ranked stock in the basic materials space is Nucor Corporation NUE which flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.

Nucor has a projected earnings growth rate of 259.9% for the current year. The company’s shares have soared around 131% over the past year.

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/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES./

VANCOUVER, BC, July 15, 2021 /CNW/ – (TSX: LUC) (BSE: LUC) (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUC)

Lucara Diamond Corp. ("Lucara" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced bought deal financing (the "Offering") as well as the previously announced concurrent private placement (the "Concurrent Private Placement" and together with the Offering, the "Financing") for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$41.4 million. Please view PDF version.

Pursuant to the Offering, a total of 33,810,000 common shares of the Company ("Common Shares"), including 4,410,000 Common Shares issued pursuant to the over-allotment option, which was exercised in full, were sold at a price of C$0.75 per Common Share, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$25.4 million. The Common Shares issued pursuant to the Offering were offered by way of a short form prospectus (the "Prospectus") filed in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. The Offering was conducted through a syndicate of underwriters comprised of BMO Capital Markets and Scotia Capital Inc.

Pursuant to the Concurrent Private Placement, a total of 21,347,733 Common Shares were sold at a price of C$0.75 per share for additional aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$16 million, which included an investment by Nemesia S.à.r.l. No commission or other fee was paid to the underwriters in connection with the sale of Common Shares pursuant to the Concurrent Private Placement. The Common Shares issued pursuant to the Concurrent Private Placement are subject to a statutory hold period in Canada expiring on November 16, 2021. The Financing is subject to final approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX").

The net proceeds of the Financing will be used for working capital to support the development and ongoing operation of the Karowe diamond mine, including the Karowe Underground Expansion Project as described in the Company's press release of July 12, 2021.

This news release is not an offer to the public to subscribe for Common Shares or otherwise acquire Common Shares or other financial instruments in the Company, whether in Sweden or in any other EEA Member State and does not constitute a prospectus in accordance within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017. No such prospectus has been or will be prepared in connection with the Offering or the Private Placement.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Eira Thomas
President and Chief Executive Officer

Follow Lucara Diamond on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn

ABOUT LUCARA

Lucara is a leading independent producer of large exceptional quality Type IIa diamonds from its 100% owned Karowe Mine in Botswana and owns a 100% interest in Clara Diamond Solutions, a secure, digital sales platform positioned to modernize the existing diamond supply chain and ensure diamond provenance from mine to finger. The Company has an experienced board and management team with extensive diamond development and operations expertise. The Company operates transparently and in accordance with international best practices in the areas of sustainability, health and safety, environment and community relations.

The information in this release is accurate at the time of distribution but may be superseded or qualified by subsequent news releases.

This information is information that the Company is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on July 15, 2021.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain of the statements made and contained herein and elsewhere constitute forward-looking statements as defined in applicable securities laws. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and include, without limitation, the proposed use of the net proceeds of the Financing and the ability of the Company to obtain final approval from the TSX.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made, including in respect to the intended use of proceeds and Lucara's ability to obtain the final TSX approval for the Financing. These assumptions, opinions and estimates are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and such forward-looking information included herein should not be unduly relied upon.

There can be no assurance that such forward looking statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of those factors discussed in or referred to under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form and under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Prospectus, which is available at http://www.sedar.com, as well as changes in general business and economic conditions, changes in interest and foreign currency rates, the supply and demand for, deliveries of and the level and volatility of prices of rough diamonds, costs of power and diesel, acts of foreign governments and the outcome of legal proceedings, inaccurate geological and recoverability assumptions (including with respect to the size, grade and recoverability of mineral reserves and resources), and unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalations, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job actions, adverse weather conditions, and unanticipated events relating to health safety and environmental matters).

Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which 3 speak only as of the date the statements were made, and the Company does not assume any obligations to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE Lucara Diamond Corp.

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2021/15/c2127.html

MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Rio Tinto reported a 12% fall in quarterly iron ore shipments on Friday after storms affected its West Australian operations, but is expected to report bumper results this month on soaring prices for the steel raw material.

Rio said it now expects to ship near the lower end of its range of 325 million tonnes (mt) and 340 mt in calendar 2021, meaning it may hand back its crown as the world's biggest producer to Brazilian rival Vale S.A..

Vale, which reports output later this month, is on track to meet the upper end of its 2021 guidance of 315-335 mt, according to UBS.

Rio shipped 76.3 million tonnes (mt) of the steel-making commodity for the three months ended June 30, down from 86.7 mt a year ago, just ahead of a UBS estimate of 76 mt.

"We would have liked to have seen higher production to capitalise on these iron ore prices. Still, they are going to be swimming in cash at results time," said analyst David Lennox at Fat Prophets in Sydney.

"Hopefully we will get a good dividend and we are looking for a share buyback as well."

Iron ore prices surged to records above $230 a tonne in May thanks to a post-COVID infrastructure drive by China.

Rio is expected to post half-year underlying earnings of $10.9 billion on July 28 according to a Vuma consensus of 14 analysts, more than double the $4.75 billion it reported for the same period last year.

Rio on Friday also raised its full-year iron ore production cost guidance due to increased labour and input costs.

The miner expects unit costs of $18.00-$18.50 per tonne for the year, up from its previous estimate of $16.70-$17.70 per tonne, even as prices it received for iron ore doubled to $168.40 a dry metric tonne free on board for the first half.

Miners have been facing labour shortages as Australia has shut international borders and snap closed state borders.

Rio also said it delayed commissioning at its new Gudai-Darri iron ore hub to later this year and first production from its Winu copper find in Australia to 2025 from original estimates of 2023, partly due to COVID restrictions.

It lowered 2021 production by 2 Mt due to new strategies to protect Aboriginal areas of high cultural significance as it seeks to repair relations with Aboriginal groups following its destruction of rock shelters at Juukan Gorge last year.

(Reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Sameer Manekar and Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Richard Pullin)

MELBOURNE, Australia, July 15, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm, said: "The global economy, in particular China, recovered strongly and we are intensely focused on servicing our customers with as much product as we can. However, we faced some challenges in the first half notably at our Pilbara operations, which were impacted by replacement mine tie-ins and materially higher rainfall. Heightened COVID-19 constraints, which resulted in numerous travel restrictions, added further pressure on the business and limited our ability to access additional people, particularly in Western Australia and Mongolia, in order to deliver operational improvements or maintenance initiatives and accelerate projects.

"Safety is our first priority and our performance in this area remains robust in challenging conditions. However, as identified shortly after my appointment, operationally we are not where we want to be. Our first half performance has reaffirmed my belief that we have identified the right priorities to strengthen the business: to become the best operator, strive for impeccable ESG credentials, excel in development and secure a strong social licence. We have made initial progress against our priorities, but a large volume of work remains to make Rio Tinto even stronger, so we can continue to deliver superior returns to shareholders, invest in sustaining and growing our portfolio, and make a broader contribution to society."

Q2 Operational update

• Our colleague Nico Swart was tragically killed in a shooting incident whilst driving to work at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in South Africa on 24 May. Our sympathies are with Nico's family and we are offering ongoing support to his family, friends and colleagues.

• We continue to prioritise the safety of our people and communities as some regions experience a resurgence of COVID-19. We have exceeded 30 months without a fatality on site but our all injury frequency rate (AIFR) of 0.39 has seen a slight increase versus the second quarter of 2020 (0.37), and prior quarter (0.35), which underlines that there is no room for complacency.

• We expect iron ore shipments to be at the low end of the guidance range which remains subject to COVID-19 disruptions, tie-in and ramp up of brownfield replacement mines and management of cultural heritage. Mined copper and bauxite production is expected to be at the low end of the guidance range. Full year titanium dioxide slag production guidance has been removed as a result of risks around the timing of resumption of operations at RBM in South Africa, due to an escalation in the security situation. We are working with the local and federal governments and police to ensure we can safely resume operations.

• Pilbara iron ore production of 75.9 million tonnes (100% basis) was 9% lower than the second quarter of 2020 due to above average rainfall in the West Pilbara, shutdowns to enable replacement mines to be tied in, processing plant availability, and cultural heritage management. Shipments of 76.3 million tonnes (100% basis) were 12% lower than the second quarter of 2020 with some additional drawdown of inventories. Ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and a tight labour market have further impacted our ability to access experienced contractors and particular skill sets.

• Bauxite production of 13.7 million tonnes was 6% lower than the second quarter of 2020 due to ongoing system instability following severe wet weather in Eastern Australia in the first quarter.

• Aluminium production of 0.8 million tonnes was 4% higher than the second quarter of 2020, underpinned by the ISAL smelter in Iceland and the Becancour smelter in Quebec operating at full capacity, and the Kitimat smelter in British Columbia nearing completion of its pot relining cycle.

• Mined copper production of 115.5 thousand tonnes was 13% lower than the second quarter of 2020, with lower recoveries and throughput at Escondida as a result of the prolonged impact of COVID-19, and a planned relocation of the in-pit crusher at Kennecott in April. On 31 May, an anticipated slope failure occurred in the south east wall of the Bingham Canyon pit at Kennecott. There were no injuries or damage to equipment as the slide was accurately predicted by our geotechnical experts. Mining in the affected area restarted progressively in June. No ore has been sterilised and we expect to recover the material from the slide which is largely copper bearing ore. Mining rates will however be slower due to the size distribution of the material, and therefore some high-grade production scheduled for late 2021 will be deferred to 2022.

• Titanium dioxide slag production of 298 thousand tonnes was 14% higher than the second quarter of 2020 due to consistent production at the Fer et Titane (RTFT) metallurgical complex in Quebec. Following weeks of violent disruptions, our RBM operations have been significantly hampered. As a result, we have declared force majeure, with all operations curtailed.

• Production of pellets and concentrate at Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) was 2% lower than the second quarter of 2020 due to labour and equipment availability issues impacting product feed. Force majeure declared in April following the fire at the port has been lifted.

• On 17 June, Peter Cunningham was appointed as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect. Peter also joined the Rio Tinto Board as an executive director at the same time. On 7 July, we announced the appointment of Isabelle Deschamps who will join on 25 October as Chief Legal Officer & External Affairs, succeeding Barbara Levi.

• On 4 June, we announced the appointment of Ben Wyatt as a non-executive director of the Rio Tinto Board. Mr Wyatt, an Australian citizen, and former Treasurer and Aboriginal Affairs Minister in the Western Australian Government, will join the Board on 1 September 2021.

• In the second quarter, we entered into four partnerships to progress our work to decarbonise our value chain. These include one with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to study whether hydrogen can replace natural gas in alumina refineries to reduce emissions, and one with POSCO to jointly explore, develop and demonstrate technologies to transition to a low-carbon emission steel value chain.

The full second quarter production results are available here.

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.

LEI: 213800YOEO5OQ72G2R82

Classification: 3.1 Additional regulated information required to be disclosed under the laws of a Member State

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210715006088/en/

Contacts

Contacts
Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations, UK
Illtud Harri
M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas
Matthew Klar
T +1 514 608 4429

Media Relations, Australia
Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, UK
Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom
T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia
T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404
riotinto.com

Category: General

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lupaka Gold Corp. ("Lupaka Gold" or the “Company") (TSX-V: LPK, FRA: LQP) announces that the Company has closed the non-brokered private placement previously announced on June 23, 2021 (the “Placement”).

The Company issued 4,000,000 units at a price of $0.05 per unit for gross proceeds of $200,000. Each unit consists of one common share of the Company (“Share”) and one transferable common share purchase warrant (“Warrant Share”) entitling the holder to purchase an additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.10 for a period of three years from the closing (the “Placement”). All Shares issued and Warrants Shares (if exercised prior to November 15, 2021) are subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from the closing date of the Placement in accordance with applicable securities laws. Closing of the Placement is subject to final acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.

In connection with the subscriptions received the Company expects to pay finders’ fees in the amount of $10,000 in cash. No insiders participated in this Placement.

The proceeds of the Placement will be used to pay ongoing operating costs as the Company continues to pursue its litigation against the Republic of Peru and to support review of potential new properties.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The Securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless an exemption from such registration is available.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this news release.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Gordon Ellis, C.E.O.
gellis@lupakagold.com
Tel: (604) 985-3147

or visit the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com or its website at www.lupakagold.com

Central Copper Resources (CCR), which mines in Congo and Zambia, is gearing up to launch on the London Stock Exchange as copper prices lost ground.

CCR is finalising the documentation and procedures for admission into the exchange's AIM, the market for small and medium size growth companies.

It plans to use the money raised from the IPO to “advance the high grade Mbamba Kilenda copper project in the Congo towards production and to continue high impact exploration” at its Titan project in the Congo and the Lunga project in Zambia.

The funds will go towards direct exploration and evaluation work programmes.

“We believe that we are listing on AIM at a good time in the project life cycles of the portfolio and given the recent performance of the copper price,” said CEO Kevin van Wouw.

Copper prices reached an all-time high in May as commodities markets soared as hopes of a global economic recovery creates demand for raw materials.

Read more: Inflation jitters in UK and US hit FTSE 100

But recently they have been slipping, falling again on Wednesday amid concerns Chinese industrial demand is slowing and as investors wait for clarification from US central bank officials on rate policy, after data showed rising inflation.

‘’Central Copper Resources is well placed to capitalise on the strong demand for copper forecast as the combustion engine is phased out and the adoption of electric vehicles accelerates,” Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown told Yahoo Finance UK.

“Quality copper ore is considered to be in relatively short supply so if the exploration is successful the company would stand to benefit from new mines coming online,” she said

But she warned about the risks of falling prices, and said investors should also be aware "that mining is highly capital intensive and this company does not offer anywhere near the same level of diversification as mining giants such as Glencore (GLEN.L) and Anglo American (AAL.L)."

Meanwhile, London has become home to a number of initial public offerings this year as the City seeks to attract more listings from innovative companies.

A boom in firms listing on the London Stock Exchange powered it to the best first quarter for listings in 15 years.

Watch: What are negative interest rates

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – July 14, 2021) – Canterra Minerals Corporation (TSXV: CTM) (OTCQB: CTMCF) ("Canterra" or the "Company") and GoldSpot Discoveries Corp (TSXV: SPOT) (OTCQX: SPOFF) ("GoldSpot"), a leading technology services company leveraging machine learning to transform the mineral discovery process, are pleased to report on the results of a property-wide comprehensive data review, compilation and drill target selection on the Wilding Gold Project ("Wilding") in Newfoundland using traditional geological and machine learning methods. The results of this exercise identified 54 prospective areas, ranked in order of priority with 10 areas identified as high priority drill targets.

Chris Pennimpede, CEO & President of Canterra, commented, "The Wilding Gold Project continues to evolve with exceptional targets that have yet to be tested. Making discoveries under till cover is challenging, and the team at Goldspot have delivered high-confidence drill targets from the robust surface and geophysical data sets that exist at Wilding. These targets are now being ground truthed by our field crews in preparation for drilling in the late summer – early fall. With GoldSpot's proven track record of new discoveries, we are very excited to start drill and testing these new targets."

Denis Laviolette, Executive Chairman of GoldSpot, commented, "Our team of leading geoscientists and data scientists continue to deliver unrivalled results for our clients through our artificial intelligence backed services and technology portfolio. These 10 high priority drill targets are the result of an extensive investigation and analysis of the Wilding Gold Project ranging from mapping and trenching, structural studies, geochemistry, geophysical magnetic surveys and regional digital elevation maps. We look forward to working with the Canterra exploration team to validate these targets and further advance the project."

GoldSpot Target Generation

GoldSpot is a mining-focused technology company working with the leading exploration and mining names in the industry to apply cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence ("AI") algorithms to significantly increase the efficiency and success rate of mineral exploration. Recent successes by GoldSpot with both leading producers and explorer/developers have demonstrated the potential to expand resources and make new discoveries using this advanced analytical technology.

GoldSpot utilizes its proprietary 'Smart Targeting' approach to distill all available geological information from large land packages and identify the most efficient and cost-effective way to explore, saving time, resources, and capital.

The information used in the GoldSpot investigation at Wilding included: geological data from mapping and trenching, structural studies; geochemical data including >13,000 soil samples and >400 rock samples; geophysical magnetic surveys and regional digital elevation maps. Significant findings include:

Geology and Mineralization

• Wilding exhibits: 1) a structurally controlled quartz + tourmaline + gold vein system with siderite + ankerite + sericite wall-rock alteration, adjacent to the veins (Elm-Alder-Dogberry zones), and 2) disseminated-style gold mineralization hosted by magnetite-rich feldspar porphyry.

• Through the compilation and review of historic work, GoldSpot highlighted important geological features:

  • Mineralization is focused, near and along the southern contact of the Rogerson Lake Conglomerate.

  • Prospective units are the Rogerson Lake Conglomerate, a felsic volcanic unit, a magnetic feldspar porphyry unit and a tonalitic intrusive from the Crippleback Intrusive Suite.

  • At least three generation of mineralized veins are documented. The thickest veins (<1 m) (first generation) trend approximately ENE-WSW. The orientations of later generations of veins are a function of the local stress-regime and may coincide with the orientation of lineaments identified by geophysics.

  • Felsic volcanic rocks also host a distinct type of polymetallic Zn + Cu + Pb + Ag + Au veins.

Geophysics

• Reinterpretation of magnetic field data highlighted two main sets of faults in NW-SE and N-S orientations (Figure 1), which crosscut ENE-WSW trending along geological structures and lineaments. The orientation of faults and lineaments and their intersections are potentially favourable for gold.

• GoldSpot also identified the same fault and lineament orientations in the East Alder Property adjacent to Canterra's Wilding Gold Property by using publicly available geophysical data.

• Areas of demagnetization that may have been caused by gold-related alteration have been identified along and at the intersection of the fault and lineaments.

Geochemistry

• Using the soil gold geochemistry, GoldSpot applied inverse distance weighting (IDW) gridding techniques to identify that there is a strong mineralization signal in surficial samples, corroborating known occurrences. This signal extends to the southwest and northeast, along trend. (Figure 2)

• Interpretation of soil grids also highlighted additional prospective zones and trends that extend from drilled occurrences, (purple dashed lines on Figure 2):

  • Interpretation of multielement ICP soil data also shows good correlation with pathfinder elements.

Areas for further exploration selected by GoldSpot lie in favourable host units near known occurrences, along lineaments and faults, at their intersections or in complex structural settings, and comprises favourable soil signature (Figure 3).

Figure 1 – Interpreted lineaments, contacts and faults in Wilding and East-Alder properties, over reduced to pole magnetics.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8054/90145_d6154bc0046899d9_001full.jpg

Figure 2 – Levelled gold in soils grid using IDW interpolation method. Levelling geochemical data creates a unitless ratio, so values on the legend do not represent ppm, ppb, etc.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8054/90145_capture_550.jpg

Figure 3 – Selected target areas for exploration by GoldSpot in the vicinity of the known vein systems, over 1VD magnetics

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8054/90145_d6154bc0046899d9_004full.jpg

About Canterra Minerals

Canterra is earning a 100% interest in the Wilding and Noel Paul Gold Projects, located 50km south, by logging road, from Millertown and directly northeast of Marathon Gold's Valentine Lake Gold Project in Central Newfoundland. The 243km² property package includes 50km of the northeastern strike-extension of the Rogerson Lake Structural Corridor, which hosts Marathon Gold's Valentine Lake deposits, Matador Mining's Cape Ray deposit, Sokoman's Moosehead discovery and TRU Precious Metals' Golden Rose and Twilight discoveries. A $2.75 million exploration program is underway, focusing on drilling and surface exploration on the Wilding Gold Project. This program will include additional diamond drilling on the existing zones and follow up trenching and diamond drilling on numerous targets identified from previous soil geochemistry sampling. Canterra's team has more than 100 years of experience searching for gold and diamonds in Canada and have been involved in the discovery of the Snap Lake diamond mine, in addition to the discovery of the Blackwater Gold deposit in British Columbia, Canada.

The scientific and technical information and exploration data quality assurance and control contained in this news release were prepared under the supervision of David Evans, M.Sc., P.Geo., Manager of Exploration for Canterra. Mr. Evans is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument ("NI") 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF CANTERRA MINERALS CORPORATION
Chris Pennimpede
President & CEO

Additional information about the Company is available at www.canterraminerals.com
For further information, please contact: +1 (604) 687-6644
Email: info@canterraminerals.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects.; the business and operations of the Company; unprecedented market and economic risks associated with current unprecedented market and economic circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as those risks and uncertainties identified and reported in the Company's public filings under its respective SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/90145

Many prominent investors, including Warren Buffett, David Tepper and Stan Druckenmiller, have been cautious regarding the current bull market and missed out as the stock market reached another high in recent weeks. On the other hand, technology hedge funds weren't timid and registered double digit market beating gains. Financials, energy and industrial stocks initially suffered the most but many of these stocks delivered strong returns since November and hedge funds actually increased their positions in these stocks. In this article we will find out how hedge fund sentiment towards Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) changed recently.

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) was in 25 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of March. The all time high for this statistic is 26. RIO has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 26 hedge funds in our database with RIO holdings at the end of December. Our calculations also showed that RIO isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q1 rankings).

Hedge funds' reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn't keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Hedge funds have more than $3.5 trillion in assets under management, so you can't expect their entire portfolios to beat the market by large margins. Our research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 115 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). So you can still find a lot of gems by following hedge funds' moves today.

Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management

At Insider Monkey, we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. For example, economists warn of inflation flare up. So, we are checking out this backdoor gold play that has hit peak gains of 718% in a little over a year. We go through lists like the 10 best battery stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Now let's take a peek at the key hedge fund action surrounding Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO).

Do Hedge Funds Think RIO Is A Good Stock To Buy Now?

At Q1's end, a total of 25 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -4% from the fourth quarter of 2020. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in RIO over the last 23 quarters. With hedgies' positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an "upper tier" of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

More specifically, Fisher Asset Management was the largest shareholder of Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO), with a stake worth $971.9 million reported as of the end of March. Trailing Fisher Asset Management was Arrowstreet Capital, which amassed a stake valued at $285.7 million. Impala Asset Management, Masters Capital Management, and Impala Asset Management were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Impala Asset Management allocated the biggest weight to Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO), around 5.92% of its 13F portfolio. Impala Asset Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, dishing out 4.68 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to RIO.

Judging by the fact that Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there was a specific group of funds that slashed their full holdings heading into Q2. Intriguingly, Josh Donfeld and David Rogers's Castle Hook Partners sold off the biggest investment of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling about $16.6 million in stock. Andrew Sandler's fund, Sandler Capital Management, also dropped its stock, about $16.5 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds heading into Q2.

Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO). We will take a look at Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY), The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), TOTAL S.A. (NYSE:TOT), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC), and The Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE:TD). This group of stocks' market valuations match RIO's market valuation.

[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position SNY,15,1142178,0 SCHW,76,4905041,15 AMAT,78,5711193,17 TOT,17,1163601,3 IBM,41,1355701,-10 HSBC,12,234093,-2 TD,19,212935,-3 Average,36.9,2103535,2.9 [/table]

View table here if you experience formatting issues.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 36.9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $2104 million. That figure was $1597 million in RIO's case. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for RIO is 42.7. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 5 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 95.8% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 40 percentage points. These stocks gained 24% in 2021 through July 9th and beat the market by 6.7 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on RIO, though not to the same extent, as the stock returned 10.7% since the end of Q1 (through July 9th) and outperformed the market.

Get real-time email alerts: Follow Rio Tinto Plc (NYSE:RIO)

Suggested Articles:

• How to Best Use Insider Monkey To Increase Your Returns

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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.

VANCOUVER, BC, July 13, 2021 /CNW/ – (TSX: LUC) (BSE: LUC) (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUC)

Lucara Diamond Corp. ("Lucara" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the recovery of a 62.7 carat fancy pink diamond from its 100% owned Karowe Diamond Mine located in Botswana (image attached). The diamond has been given the name "Boitumelo" meaning "Joy" in Setswana. This impressive diamond, measuring 26x17x16mm is described as a high-quality, fancy pink, Type IIa gem and was recovered from direct milling of ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe. A superb, 22.21 carat fancy pink gem of similar quality was also recovered during the same production period along with two additional pink gems of similar colour and purity weighing 11.17, and 5.05 carats (image attached). The 62.7 carat Boitumelo diamond represents the largest fancy pink gem to be recovered in Botswana and one of the world's largest rough pink diamonds on record. View PDF version.

Eira Thomas, CEO commented: "Lucara is delighted to announce another historic diamond with the recovery of the Boitumelo, and very pleased to demonstrate the continued potential for large, coloured diamonds from the South Lobe production. These remarkable pink diamonds join a collection of significant diamond recoveries in 2021 produced from the EM/PK(S) which forms a key economic driver for the proposed underground mine at Karowe."

This press release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. John Armstrong, Ph.D. P.Geol., Vice-President, Technical Services of the Company and a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

Eira Thomas
President and Chief Executive Officer
Follow Lucara Diamond on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn

ABOUT LUCARA
Lucara is a leading independent producer of large exceptional quality Type IIa diamonds from its 100% owned Karowe Mine in Botswana and owns a 100% interest in Clara Diamond Solutions, a secure, digital sales platform positioned to modernize the existing diamond supply chain and ensure diamond provenance from mine to finger. The Company has an experienced board and management team with extensive diamond development and operations expertise. The Company operates transparently and in accordance with international best practices in the areas of sustainability, health and safety, environment and community relations.

The information in this release is accurate at the time of distribution but may be superseded or qualified by subsequent news releases.

This information is information that the Company is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out, at 2:30pm Pacific Time on July 13, 2021.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain of the statements made and contained herein and elsewhere constitute forward-looking statements as defined in applicable securities laws. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and such forward-looking information included herein should not be unduly relied upon. The value of the Company's shares, its financial results and its mining activities are significantly affected by the price and marketability of the diamonds recovered. The sales price of a diamond is determined by its characteristics, including colour. While pink diamonds are relatively rare, there is no assurance that the pink diamonds recovered from the Karowe Diamond Mine will have the characteristics required to achieve a high sales price.

There can be no assurance that such forward looking statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of those factors discussed in or referred to under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form available at http://www.sedar.com, as well as changes in general business and economic conditions, changes in interest and foreign currency rates, the supply and demand for, deliveries of and the level and volatility of prices of rough diamonds, costs of power and diesel, acts of foreign governments and the outcome of legal proceedings, inaccurate geological and recoverability assumptions (including with respect to the size, grade and recoverability of mineral reserves and resources), and unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalations, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job actions, adverse weather conditions, and unanticipated events relating to health safety and environmental matters).

Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date the statements were made, and the Company does not assume any obligations to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE Lucara Diamond Corp.

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2021/13/c4709.html

VANCOUVER, BC, July 12, 2021 /CNW/ – (TSX: LUC) (BSE: LUC) (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUC)

Lucara Diamond Corp. ("Lucara" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed loan documentation in relation to its previously announced senior secured project financing debt package of US$220 million (the "Facilities") between Lucara Botswana Proprietary Limited ("Lucara Botswana") as the Borrower and a syndicate of five mandated lead arrangers ("MLAs"). The MLAs are: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Africa Finance Corp., ING, Natixis, and Societe Generale, London Branch. Afreximbank is acting as Facility Agent in connection with the Facilities. Please view PDF version

The Facilities include two tranches: a project finance facility of US$170 million to fund the development of the underground project, and a US$50 million working capital facility to re-finance the Company's existing debt and to support on-going operations. The Facilities, combined with the recently announced equity financings totaling approximately US$30 million (the "Initial Equity Contribution") (link to news release), and projected cash flows from the Karowe open pit mine, during the underground construction period, result in the Karowe Underground Expansion Project (the "UGP") being fully financed.

Eira Thomas, President and CEO commented: "Lucara is excited to be moving forward with a fully financed underground expansion project, extending Karowe's mine life to at least 2040 and projected to deliver at least US$4 billion in additional revenues using conservative diamond price assumptions. Securing credit commitments for the arrangement of US$220 million senior debt facilities from five leading international financial institutions, with significant mining and metals track records and experience in Africa, is an important achievement for Lucara and reflects confidence in the large-stone resource at Karowe and the considerable efforts undertaken over the last five years to scope and define this attractive, highly economic growth opportunity for the company. It also reflects confidence in the strong, safe and reliable operating environment that has prevailed at Karowe over the last eight years, adhering to high standards in respect of ESG and striving to deliver long-term economic benefits to Botswana and the communities in which we operate. The development of the underground expansion project will adhere to all required environmental regulations and comply with Equator Principles.

As a final comment, we believe this expansion project comes at the right time in the market cycle, with improving supply and demand fundamentals helping to stabilize and support stronger diamond prices in the short and longer term. The Karowe mine remains one of the highest margin diamond mines in the world, having yielded 5 of the 10 largest diamonds in recorded history and is the only mine to have recovered three diamonds greater than 1,000 carats."

First drawdown under the Facilities is expected to occur early in the third quarter this year, following satisfaction of certain conditions precedent customary to a financing of this nature, including the closing and receipt of the Initial Equity Contribution ("Financial Close").

In connection with the Facilities, the Company's largest shareholder, Nemesia S.a.r.l. ("Nemesia") has agreed to provide a limited standby undertaking in the event of a funding shortfall occurring up to thirty-six (36) months from Financial Close (the "Shareholder Undertaking").

Key terms of the project finance facility:

• Lucara Botswana Proprietary Limited, 100% owner of the Karowe Mine is the Borrower, with Lucara Diamond Corp. as the Sponsor and the Guarantor until the Project Completion Date;

• Up to US$170 million provided to fund the development, construction costs and construction phase operating costs of the UGP as well as financing costs in relation to the Facilities;

• 8 year maturity after Financial Close, with quarterly repayments commencing on June 30, 2026;

• Interest rate and Margin: LIBOR (or replacement benchmark) plus margin of 5.5% annually for the period commencing on Financial Close and ending on the Project Completion Date, and 5.0% annually thereafter;

• First ranking security over all assets of the Borrower on a fixed and floating basis, as well as all shares in and shareholder loans into the Borrower and all shares in and shareholder loans into the intermediary companies between the Sponsor and the Borrower;

• The project facility will require interest rate hedging of at least 75% of the Borrower's exposure for a period of at least six (6) years to be arranged as a condition subsequent to Financial Close;

• Positive and negative covenants, including financial ratios, as well as events of default and a cash flow waterfall customary to a financing of this nature are set out in the Facilities agreement.

• Key terms of the working capital facility ("WCF"):

• Borrower: Lucara Botswana

• Up to US$50 million for a senior, secured WCF to be used initially to re-finance the Sponsor's existing working capital facility and thereafter, for working capital and other corporate purposes of the Borrower;

• Interest rate and Margin: LIBOR (or replacement benchmark) plus margin of 3.5% annually.

Shareholder Undertaking from Nemesia

Nemesia has agreed to provide up to US$25 million in the Shareholder Undertaking for a period of up to thirty-six months from Financial Close in support of the Facilities. The Shareholder Undertaking is unsecured and subordinated to the Facilities. As consideration for providing the Shareholder Undertaking, and subject to receipt of all required regulatory approvals, Lucara has agreed to issue 600,000 common shares as a fee upon execution of the Shareholder Undertaking and a further 600,000 common shares should the Shareholder Undertaking be called upon in the event of a funding shortfall. As an additional fee, Lucara, as the Sponsor, has agreed to issue 5,000 common shares for each US$500,000 drawn down per month until the amounts borrowed are repaid.

Nemesia is an insider of the Company and, as a result of their provision of the Shareholder Undertaking and receipt of 600,000 common shares in connection with the execution thereof, the transaction contemplated by the Shareholder Undertaking will be considered a "related party transaction" under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company intends to rely on the exemptions set forth in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 in respect of Nemesia's provision of the Shareholder Undertaking as the aggregate fair market value of the common shares issued to Nemesia upon signing of the Shareholder Undertaking was less than 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

A material change report in respect of the signing of the loan documentation in relation to the Facilities, including the provision of the Shareholder Undertaking, will be filed in accordance with MI 61-101, but is not expected to be filed 21 days in advance of the closing of the Facilities as the Company wanted to close the Facilities on an expedited basis for sound business reasons.

Terrafranca Advisory Limited acted as financial advisor to the Company. Norton Rose Fulbright acted as legal counsel to the Company with support from Lawrence Khupe Attorneys in Botswana. Mayer Brown LLP acted as legal counsel for the MLAs with support from the Botswana law firm Armstrongs.

Eira Thomas
President and Chief Executive Officer

Follow Lucara Diamond on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn

ABOUT LUCARA

Lucara is a leading independent producer of large exceptional quality Type IIa diamonds from its 100% owned Karowe Mine in Botswana. The Company has an experienced board and management team with extensive diamond development and operations expertise. The Company operates transparently and in accordance with international best practices in the areas of sustainability, health and safety, environment and community relations.

The information in this release is accurate at the time of distribution but may be superseded or qualified by subsequent news releases.

This information is information that the Company is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above at 7:00am Pacific Time on July 12, 2021.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain of the statements made and contained herein and elsewhere constitute forward-looking statements as defined in applicable securities laws. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and include, without limitation, projected revenues from production at the Karowe mine, diamond pricing assumptions and diamond market trends, the ultimate use of proceeds from the Facilities; the estimated capital cost and the duration of the construction period; the timing of any drawdowns under the Facilities; the Company's satisfaction of the conditions precedent, including the Initial Equity Contribution, to achieve Financial Close; receipt of regulatory approvals for the issuance of common shares to Nemesia in connection with the Shareholder Undertaking; and whether any amounts will be drawn under the Shareholder Undertaking.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. These assumptions, opinions and estimates are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and such forward-looking information included herein should not be unduly relied upon. There can be no assurance that such forward looking statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of those factors discussed in or referred to under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form and under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Prospectus, a preliminary version of which is available at http://www.sedar.com, as well as changes in general business and economic conditions, changes in interest and foreign currency rates, the supply and demand for, deliveries of and the level and volatility of prices of rough diamonds, costs of power and diesel, acts of foreign governments and the outcome of legal proceedings, inaccurate geological and recoverability assumptions (including with respect to the size, grade and recoverability of mineral reserves and resources), and unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalations, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job actions, adverse weather conditions, and unanticipated events relating to health safety and environmental matters).

Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date the statements were made, and the Company does not assume any obligations to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE Lucara Diamond Corp.

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2021/12/c6065.html

KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 12, 2021 / Diamcor Mining Inc. (TSX-V.DMI / OTCQB-DMIFF), ("Diamcor" or, the "Company") a company with a proven history of supplying rough diamonds to the world market, has been invited to present at the First Annual Access to Giving Virtual Investor Conference being held July 13^th – July 15^th, 2021. CEO, Dean Taylor will present at the conference.

Event: Access to Giving Virtual Investor Conference

Date: Thursday, July 15, 2021

Time: 1:30 – 1:55 am EDT

Management will be available for one-on-one meetings to be held throughout the conference. The presentation will be webcast live and available for replay on the following link.

https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2744/42005

To receive additional information, request an invitation or to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please email angie.goertz@issuerdirect.com.

Investors can register here.

About Access to Giving Virtual Investor Conference

Access to Giving Virtual Investor Conference, being held July 13th – 15th, 2021, is a first-of-its-kind virtual investor conference where companies in all different market cap segments will have the opportunity to present their story and conduct 1×1 meetings with qualified investors, for charity. Investors will make donations to purchase a block of meetings to meet with companies. 100% of monies raised, through bids on 1×1 meetings, will be donated to financial literacy education.

About Diamcor Mining Inc.

Diamcor Mining Inc. is a fully reporting publicly traded junior diamond mining company which is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol V.DMI, and on the OTC QB International under the symbol DMIFF. The Company has a well-established operational and production history in South Africa and extensive prior experience supplying rough diamonds to the world market.

About the Tiffany & Co. Alliance

The Company has established a long-term strategic alliance and first right of refusal with Tiffany & Co. Canada, a subsidiary of world famous New York based Tiffany & Co., to purchase up to 100% of the future production of rough diamonds from the Krone-Endora at Venetia Project at then current prices to be determined by the parties on an ongoing basis. In conjunction with this first right of refusal, Tiffany & Co. Canada also provided the Company with financing to advance the Project. Tiffany & Co. is a publicly traded company which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TIF. For additional information on Tiffany & Co., please visit their website at www.tiffany.com.

About Krone-Endora at Venetia

In February 2011, Diamcor acquired the Krone-Endora at Venetia Project from De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, consisting of the prospecting rights over the farms Krone 104 and Endora 66, which represent a combined surface area of approximately 5,888 hectares directly adjacent to De Beers' flagship Venetia Diamond Mine in South Africa. On September 11, 2014, the Company announced that the South African Department of Mineral Resources had granted a Mining Right for the Krone-Endora at Venetia Project encompassing 657.71 hectares of the Project's total area of 5,888 hectares. The Company has also submitted an application for a mining right over the remaining areas of the Project. The deposits which occur on the properties of Krone and Endora have been identified as a higher-grade "Alluvial" basal deposit which is covered by a lower-grade upper "Eluvial" deposit. The deposits are proposed to be the result of the direct-shift (in respect to the "Eluvial" deposit) and erosion (in respect to the "Alluvial" deposit) of material from the higher grounds of the adjacent Venetia Kimberlite areas. The deposits on Krone-Endora occur in two layers with a maximum total depth of approximately 15.0 metres from surface to bedrock, allowing for a very low-cost mining operation to be employed with the potential for near-term diamond production from a known high-quality source. Krone-Endora also benefits from the significant development of infrastructure and services already in place due to its location directly adjacent to the Venetia Mine.

Qualified Person Statement

Mr. James P. Hawkins (B.Sc., P.Geo.), is Manager of Exploration & Special Projects for Diamcor Mining Inc., and the Qualified Person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 responsible for overseeing the execution of Diamcor's exploration programmes and a Member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta ("APEGA"). Mr. Hawkins has reviewed this press release and approved of its contents.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:
Mr. Dean H. Taylor
President & CEO
Diamcor Mining Inc.
www.diamcormining.com

For further information contact:
Mr. Dean H. Taylor
Diamcor Mining Inc
DeanT@Diamcor.com
+1 250 862-3212

Mr. Rich Matthews
Integrous Communications
rmatthews@integcom.us
+1 (604) 757-7179

Cautionary Language

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. While these forward-looking statements represent our best current judgement, they are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict and which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Further, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

WE SEEK SAFE HARBOUR

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Diamcor Mining Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/655202/Diamcor-to-Present-at-Access-to-Giving-Virtual-Investor-Conference

(Bloomberg) — Petra Diamonds Ltd. sold a 39.3-carat blue gem for more than $40 million, making it one of the most expensive rough diamonds ever.

The small miner sold the exceptional Type IIb blue diamond to a joint venture between top producer De Beers and Diacore, a trading company owned by the billionaire Steinmetz family, it said Monday. The stone fetched just over $1 million per carat and is the most expensive gem Petra has ever sold.

Petra found the diamond at the Cullinan mine in South Africa in April. The mine, once owned by De Beers, is famous for both large and blue stones and was where world’s biggest diamond was found in 1905. Blue stones are among the most rare and valuable.

The sale is good news for Petra, which was forced to restructure its debt last year, when the Covid-19 crisis brought the industry to a standstill at a time when the company was already facing a mountain of debt and falling diamond prices. The shares, which were once worth more than $1.5 billion, closed up 1.1% on Monday.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Energy Fuels (UUUU) closed at $5.41 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.31% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.13%.

Heading into today, shares of the uranium and vanadium miner and developer had lost 22.72% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's loss of 4.51% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.39% in that time.

UUUU will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect UUUU to post earnings of -$0.04 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 50%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.48 million, up 1269.75% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of -$0.17 per share and revenue of $18.41 million. These totals would mark changes of +26.09% and +1010.62%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for UUUU. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. UUUU is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 45, which puts it in the top 18% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Energy Fuels Inc (UUUU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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Zacks Investment Research

LONDON MARKETS Stocks in London moved higher on Friday, as investors took in stride news of a growth pullback in the country. Deal news sent FTSE 250-listed Vectura climbing. The FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX) rose 0.

LONDON, July 08, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto and POSCO, the largest steel producer in South Korea and one of the world’s leading steel producers, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore, develop and demonstrate technologies to transition to a low-carbon emission steel value chain.

The partnership will explore a range of technologies for decarbonisation across the entire steel value chain from iron ore mining to steelmaking, including integrating Rio Tinto’s iron ore processing technology and POSCO’s steelmaking technology.

The MoU with POSCO underlines Rio Tinto’s commitment to working in partnerships with customers on steel decarbonisation pathways and to invest in technologies that could deliver reductions in steelmaking carbon intensity of at least 30% from 2030 or with potential to deliver carbon neutral steelmaking pathways by 2050. Both Rio Tinto and POSCO share the ambition to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

As one of South Korea’s leading industrial companies, POSCO’s efforts to decarbonise will play an important role in achieving the country’s recently announced ambition to become carbon-neutral by 2050, which has inspired Korean companies to accelerate decarbonisation activities.

Rio Tinto’s Vice President of Iron Ore Sales and Marketing, Simon Farry, said: "This partnership with POSCO, a valued and long-standing customer, demonstrates our combined commitment to working together to identify ways to reduce emissions across the steel-making process. The agreement also complements Rio Tinto‘s partnerships with other customers as the industry focusses on developing technologies that support the transition to a low-carbon economy."

POSCO’s Head of Steel Business Unit, Hag-Dong Kim, said: "Tackling climate change is a critical item in achieving sustainable development for a better future. On the journey to achieving carbon neutrality with Rio Tinto, we can play an important role of finding a way to build a low-carbon steel industry"

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto produces materials that are essential to human progress. We have publicly acknowledged the reality of climate change for over two decades and have reduced our emissions footprint by over 30 per cent in the decade to 2020.

We have set ambitious emissions targets to reduce our carbon intensity by a further 30% and our absolute emissions by a further 15% by 2030, alongside establishing a $1 billion fund to invest in climate related projects. These targets will bring us a step closer to achieving our long-term goal of becoming net zero emissions by 2050 (which includes emissions from shipping of our products).

In 2021, we also outlined our new scope 3 goals, which include working in partnerships with customers on steel decarbonisation pathways through investing in technologies that could deliver reductions in steelmaking carbon intensity of at least 30% from 2030 and investing in breakthrough technologies with potential to deliver (i) carbon neutral steelmaking pathways by 2050; and/or (ii) zero-carbon aluminium.

As part of our climate strategy, we have entered into partnerships with the world’s largest steel producer, China Baowu Steel Group, one of China’s most prestigious and influential universities, Tsinghua University, and Japan’s largest steel producer, Nippon Steel Corporation, to develop and implement new methods to reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental performance across the steel value chain.

About POSCO

POSCO is the world’s leading steel-making company established in 1968. POSCO has two steelworks in Pohang and Gwangyang, South Korea. Recognised by World Steel Dynamics as the most competitive steelmaker for 10 consecutive years, POSCO is devoted to the company’s management philosophy, 'Corporate Citizenship: Building a Better Future Together'.

POSCO plans to utilise carbon risk as an opportunity, overcoming its inevitable need for CO2 emission. Through innovative technologies, such as CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage), and hydrogen-based steelmaking, POSCO aims to equip itself with ‘low carbon competitiveness’ which enables providing ‘green steel’.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210708005340/en/

Contacts

Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations, UK
Illtud Harri
M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas
Matthew Klar
T +1 514 608 4429

Investor Relations, UK
Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Media Relations, Australia
Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom

T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia

T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

riotinto.com

Category: General

Shares of mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO) were down around 4% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO. Both companies will work together on various technologies to achieve low-carbon emissions across the entire steel value chain.

The partnership is a step towards both Rio Tinto’s and POSCO’s long-term ambitions of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The alliance will integrate Rio’s iron ore processing capabilities with POSCO’s steelmaking expertise to evaluate possible ways to reduce carbon emissions throughout the steel value chain, from the mining of iron ore to the final production of steel.

In pursuit of its net-zero goal, Rio Tinto has signed similar partnership agreements with several other steel producers, including China’s Baowu Steel Group, and Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation.

Rio Tinto has actively been working on the climate change issue for over twenty years and has reduced its emissions by more than 30% in the past ten years. (See RIO stock charts on TipRanks)

Furthermore, Rio Tinto plans to reduce carbon intensity by 30% and absolute emissions by an incremental 15% by 2030.

Notably, it has also created a $1 billion fund to finance projects related to climate change and the betterment of the environment.

Simon Farry, VP of Iron Ore Sales and Marketing at Rio Tinto, commented, “This partnership with POSCO, a valued and long-standing customer, demonstrates our combined commitment to working together to identify ways to reduce emissions across the steel-making process. The agreement also complements Rio Tinto‘s partnerships with other customers as the industry focuses on developing technologies that support the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

UBS analyst Myles Allsop recently downgraded Rio Tinto to Sell from Hold.

Allsop believes that iron ore has reached an inflection point and forecasts iron ore prices to fall around 50% from their current highs of around $220, based on an expected boost in the iron ore supply.

Consensus among analysts is a Moderate Buy based on 2 Buys and 1 Sell. The average Rio Tinto price target of $101.56 implies 24% upside potential to current levels.

Rio Tinto scores a 7 out of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock is likely to perform in line with market expectations.

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TORONTO (Reuters) -Junior miner Star Diamond Corp on Thursday said it objected to Rio Tinto's "predatory and coercive" actions after the global miner called a meeting for a joint venture the Canadian company says does not yet exist.

Rio Tinto responded by saying it "disagrees with Star Diamond’s interpretations in all material respects."

The companies have been in a long-running dispute over development of Star Diamond's Star-Orion South Diamond Project in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

In 2017, Star Diamond entered an earn-in agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc that gave the Anglo-Australian miner an option to earn up to a 60% interest in the project.

Saskatoon-based Star Diamond later said Rio overspent on the project while exercising its earn-in options before completing and delivering results from its bulk sampling program. It said Rio Tinto was trying to boost its stake at below market value.

Rio has spent roughly C$168 million to complete a 10-hole bulk sample program that Rio told Star Diamond would originally cost about C$18.5 million, the Canadian company said on Thursday.

"Rio Tinto now seeks to call a management committee meeting that it has no legal right to call for a joint venture that Rio Tinto knows has not been duly formed," Star Diamond said in a release.

A Rio Tinto spokesman said the miner has a right to call a meeting of the management committee and that Star Diamond’s latest attempt to prevent it from exercising that right was denied by a court on June 24.

A preliminary study in 2018 estimated 66 million carats of diamonds could be recovered from the C$2 billion Star-Orion project over a 38-year mine life.

Rio faced similar acrimony with its junior partner Turquoise Hill Resources over expansion of the pair's Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, although that dispute was put to bed in April.

(Reporting by Jeff Lewis; Editing by David Gregorio and Paul Simao)

(Adds Rio comment)

TORONTO, July 8 (Reuters) – Junior miner Star Diamond Corp on Thursday said it objected to Rio Tinto's "predatory and coercive" actions after the global miner called a meeting for a joint venture the Canadian company says does not yet exist.

Rio Tinto responded by saying it "disagrees with Star Diamond’s interpretations in all material respects."

The companies have been in a long-running dispute over development of Star Diamond's Star-Orion South Diamond Project in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

In 2017, Star Diamond entered an earn-in agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc that gave the Anglo-Australian miner an option to earn up to a 60% interest in the project.

Saskatoon-based Star Diamond later said Rio overspent on the project while exercising its earn-in options before completing and delivering results from its bulk sampling program. It said Rio Tinto was trying to boost its stake at below market value.

Rio has spent roughly C$168 million to complete a 10-hole bulk sample program that Rio told Star Diamond would originally cost about C$18.5 million, the Canadian company said on Thursday.

"Rio Tinto now seeks to call a management committee meeting that it has no legal right to call for a joint venture that Rio Tinto knows has not been duly formed," Star Diamond said in a release.

A Rio Tinto spokesman said the miner has a right to call a meeting of the management committee and that Star Diamond’s latest attempt to prevent it from exercising that right was denied by a court on June 24.

A preliminary study in 2018 estimated 66 million carats of diamonds could be recovered from the C$2 billion Star-Orion project over a 38-year mine life.

Rio faced similar acrimony with its junior partner Turquoise Hill Resources over expansion of the pair's Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, although that dispute was put to bed in April. (Reporting by Jeff Lewis; Editing by David Gregorio and Paul Simao)

RALEIGH, NC / ACCESSWIRE / July 8, 2021 / Access to Giving – an investor conference themed around investor education and advocacy begins next week, July 13^th – 15^th, 2021. More than 50 companies are scheduled to conduct virtual presentations over the three-day period as well as 1×1 meetings with qualified investors throughout the event.

John Hope Bryant, guest host on CNBC and CEO of Operation HOPE will deliver the keynote to kick off the conference on Tuesday, July 13^th at 9 am ET. Three educational panels will also take place over the three days at 11 am each day. The panels are as follows:

Tuesday, July 13^th, 2021
Panel: ESG
Speakers: Andy Behar, CEO, As You Sow and Dr. Christine Chow, IHS Markit

Wednesday, July 14^th, 2021
Panel: Pledge 1% – How Companies & VCs/Investors Can Leverage Equity for Social Impact
Speakers: Jan D'Alesandro, Tim Connors and Jessica Lindl

Thursday, July 15^th, 2021
Panel: Human Capital
Speakers: Starla Sampaco, Nihad Karabernou McBride and Georgia Homsany

A live webcast, including audio, video, and presentation slides, will be accessible for registered participants here. Interested parties unable to watch the live webcast will be able to view and listen to an archived copy of the webcast, which will be available here as well following the conclusion of the event.

Join us and gain an understanding and potential trends and key value drivers across a wide array of industries. If you are a qualified investor, register here and pledge to take meetings. If you're new to the investment world, come listen to some presentations, panels, and learn more.

The full agenda can be found here, and the full event website can be found here.

To receive additional information, request an invitation or to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please email Angie Goertz or call 919-228-6240.

Companies registered to date:

About Access to Giving
Access to Giving is the first-of-its-kind virtual investor conference and will be held July 13^th – 15^th, 2021. Companies will have the opportunity to tell their story and conduct 1×1's with qualified investors for charity. 100% of monies raised through donations for 1×1 meetings will be given to causes that are focused on financial literacy and financial education.

About Issuer Direct Corporation
Issuer Direct® is an industry-leading communications and compliance company focusing on the needs of corporate issuers. Issuer Direct's principal platform, Platform id. ™, empowers users by thoughtfully integrating the most relevant tools, technologies, and services, thus eliminating the complexity associated with producing and distributing financial and business communications. Headquartered in Raleigh, NC, Issuer Direct serves thousands of public and private companies globally. For more information, please visit www.issuerdirect.com.

Contact Information:
Angie Goertz, Vice President of Events
Issuer Direct Corporation
Office: (919) 228-6240
Email: Angie.Goertz@IssuerDirect.com

SOURCE: Access to Giving – Issuer Direct

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/654764/50-Companies-to-Present-at-the-Access-to-Giving-Virtual-Investor-Conference-on-July-13th–15th-2021

MELBOURNE, July 07, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto has appointed Isabelle Deschamps to succeed Barbara Levi as Chief Legal Officer & External Affairs. Isabelle, who is currently General Counsel of AkzoNobel and a member of the Executive Committee, will join Rio Tinto on 25 October 2021.

Isabelle, a dual Canadian and UK citizen, has over 20 years’ experience in various senior legal roles across Europe and Canada. She joined AkzoNobel in 2018 as Group General Counsel, where she is responsible for all legal, integrity & compliance and intellectual property management, as well as company secretary. She was a driving force behind the Diversity & Inclusion programme.

Before joining AkzoNobel, Isabelle spent six years at Unilever in the UK and in The Netherlands where she had accountability for legal and compliance for its European businesses and its Food & Refreshment division worldwide. Prior to that she led the legal and compliance activities for the Personal Care business whilst also managing the global Intellectual Property group and spearheading legal support to e-commerce, digital and privacy.

Isabelle joined Unilever from Nestlé, where she held various positions in Switzerland and globally. She started her career at a Canadian law firm in Montreal and is admitted to the England and Wales Law Society and to the Quebec (Canada) Bar.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm said "Isabelle brings a wealth and diversity of legal experience having worked in various senior legal roles for a number of large multinational companies. I am delighted to welcome her to Rio Tinto and look forward to having her join the executive team and lead our legal, compliance and external affairs teams."

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210706005875/en/

Contacts

Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations, UK

Illtud Harri
M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas

Matthew Klar
T +1 514 608 4429

Media Relations, Australia

Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, UK

Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Investor Relations, Australia

Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto plc

6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom

T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited

Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia

T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

riotinto.com

Category: General

HEIDELBERG, Germany, July 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DELPHI Unternehmensberatung Aktiengesellschaft (“DELPHI”) has acquired of 55,500 Common Shares of Rokmaster Resources Corp. (“Company”) (TSX-V: RKR) at C$ 0.50 per Common Share in the public market (“Transaction”) for a total consideration of C$27,750.

DELPHI now has ownership and control of 14,720,500 Common Shares representing approximately 14.0% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company (calculated on a non-diluted basis immediately after the Transaction) and assuming the exercise of 7,839,427 Warrants of the Company entitling DELPHI to purchase up to an additional 7,839,427 Common Shares, DELPHI has ownership and control of 22,559,927 Common Shares, representing approximately 19.9% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company (calculated on a partially diluted basis immediately after the Transaction).

Prior to the Transaction, DELPHI had ownership and control of 14,665,000 Common Shares, representing approximately 14.0% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company (calculated on a non-diluted basis immediately before the Transaction), and assuming the exercise of 7,908,802 Warrants of the Company entitling DELPHI to purchase up to an additional 7,908,802 Common Shares, DELPHI had ownership and control of 22,573,802 Common Shares, representing approximately 19.9% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company (calculated on a partially diluted basis immediately before the Transaction).

The acquisition was made solely for investment purposes. In accordance with applicable securities laws, DELPHI may, from time to time and at any time, acquire additional Common Shares and/or other equity, debt or other securities or instruments (collectively, “Securities”) of the Company in the open market or otherwise, and DELPHI reserves the right to dispose of any or all of its Securities in the open market or otherwise at any time and from time to time, and to engage in similar transactions with respect to the Securities, the whole depending on market conditions, the business and prospects of the Company and other relevant factors.

DELPHI was incorporated in Germany. DELPHI’s principal business is to invest its own funds.

For further details relating to the acquisition please see the amended Report, which was filed in accordance with applicable securities laws, a copy of which is available under the Company’s profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, or may be obtained from DELPHI Unternehmensberatung Aktiengesellschaft, Wilhelm K. T. Zours (CEO / Member of the Board), +49 6221 649240, info@deutsche-balaton.de.

In this article, we will be looking at the 11 best materials stocks for 2021. To skip our detailed analysis of these stocks, you can go directly to see the 5 Best Materials Stocks for 2021.

In a time of financial volatility induced by a global pandemic and inflation all but knocking on our doors, as per comments made by the Federal Reserve, one industry has managed to weather the storm and retain its relevance within investor circles: basic materials. According to the Wall Street Journal, in light of inflation concerns, investors have begun racking up their shares in energy and materials stocks as of May 2021, on the expectation that the incoming inflation would accompany financial growth for these stocks. These two groups of stocks were leading the S&P 500's sectors in May, with a 6.9% gain for the materials sector, performing much better than other sectors like technology and other growth stocks which contributed to the 0.4% fall in the US stock index.

The materials sector has been on a steady rise since the end of 2020, with the sector having gained 16% near the end of last year, performing better than all the other sectors in the S&P 500 index. This trend has continued, as mentioned above, well into 2021, with analysts and investors anticipating that it will continue on this path as the economy gets more revved up. Bloomberg has reported that raw materials account for over half of the 20 best performing exchange-traded products in 2021, while investors allocated about $2.6 billion in May to tracking materials stocks in light of consumer activity and construction surges. Moves by major firms like Aberdeen Standard Investments and Tidal ETF Trust indicating interest in the materials sector is proof that investor circles are fixating on the sector. Aberdeen Standard Investments has filed for two broad commodities ETFs and an industrial metals fund, for instance, while Tidal ETF Trust filed for the SonicShares Global Shipping ETF, as per Bloomberg reports.

Jason Bloom, the head of fixed income and alternatives ETF strategy at Invesco, has commented that higher inflation can be expected in the next 5-10 years, and hence, investors making moves into the materials sector to model their portfolio along safer lines is reasonable. For Bloom, the materials sector serves as a "potent" hedge against inflation. As such, materials sector companies like LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX), and Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO) are gaining an edge in the stock market. Hence, we have compiled a list of the best materials stocks for 2021.

Because of the pandemic, the entire hedge fund industry is feeling the reverberations of the changing financial landscape. Its reputation has been tarnished in the last decade, during which its hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. On the other hand, Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and May 28th, 2021, our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 206.8%, vs. 91.0% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 115 percentage points (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that significantly underperformed the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017, and they lost 13% through November 16th. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.

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Without further ado, let's look at the 11 best materials stocks for 2021. We chose these stocks based on hedge fund sentiment, fundamentals, future growth catalysts and analysts' ratings.

Best Materials Stocks for 2021

11. Ternium S.A. (NYSE: TX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 14

Ternium S.A. (NYSE: TX) is a manufacturer and processor of steel products in Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Brazil, the US, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. The company has two segments: Steel and Mining. It ranks 11th on our list of the best materials stocks for 2021.

This April, Ternium S.A. (NYSE: TX) announced its dividend of $2.1, with a forward yield of 5.17%. In the first quarter of 2021, Ternium S.A. (NYSE: TX) had an EPS of $3.07, beating estimates by $0.4. The company's revenue was $3.25 billion, up 43.05% year over year and beating estimates by $54 million, and its gross profit margin is 24.62%. The stock has a forward PE ratio of 4.01 and has gained 32.09% in the past 6 months and year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 14 hedge funds held stakes in Ternium S.A. (NYSE: TX) worth roughly $203 million. This is compared to 13 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of roughly $104 million. Like LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX), and Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO), Ternium S.A. (NYSE: TX) is a good materials stocks to invest in.

10. BHP Group (NYSE: BHP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23

BHP Group (NYSE: BHP) is a natural resources business operating in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, North America, South America, and internationally. The company has four segments: petroleum, copper, iron ore, and coal. It ranks 10th on our list of the best materials stocks for 2021.

This June, BHP Group (NYSE: BHP) announced plans to double its spending on exploration for base metals in the next 5 years, as per Laura Tyler, the Chief Technical Officer for the company in a report by Reuters. Continuing the report, BHP Group (NYSE: BHP) was said to be expected to bring in stronger profits this quarter because of the rise in iron ore prices. Reuters has also reported that BHP Group (NYSE: BHP) is one of two companies offering Samarco a $238 million debtor-in-possession loan to bail the miner out of bankruptcy. In the fiscal second quarter of 2021, BHP Group (NYSE: BHP) had an EPS of $0.38, and its revenue was $7.25 billion, up 7.56% year over year. The company has a gross profit margin of 78.75% and the stock has gained 7.51% in the past 6 months and year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 23 hedge funds held stakes in BHP Group (NYSE: BHP) worth roughly $1.35 billion. This is compared to 18 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of roughly $1.21 billion. Like LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX), and Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO), BHP Group (NYSE: BHP) is a good materials stocks to invest in.

Harding Loevner, an investment management firm, mentioned BHP Group (NYSE: BHP) in its first-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here's what they said:

9. CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) is a producer and distributor of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, clinker, and other construction materials across the globe. The company ranks 9th on our list of the best materials stocks for 2021.

This June, CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) raised its FY 2021 EBITDA guidance to $3.1 billion, crossing expectations and in light of rising demand for its products. The company also mentioned that it would be reducing net debt by $2 billion in 2021, through free cash flow generation and other means. It also expects growth investments to add approximately $400 million to its EBITDA by 2023. This May, CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) also announced its partnership with BP to work on net-zero emissions in their production processes and transportation. In the first quarter of 2021, CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) had an EPS of $0.38, beating estimates by $0.34. The company's revenue was $3.41 billion, up 10.56% year over year and beating estimates by $159 million. The company's gross profit margin is 32.5% and its stock has gained 61.82% in the past 6 months and year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 24 hedge funds held stakes in CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) worth roughly $471 million. This is compared to 22 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of roughly $455 million. Like LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX), and Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO), CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: CX) is a good materials stocks to invest in.

8. Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO) is a company operating in the mining, exploration, and processing of mineral resources worldwide. It offers aluminum, copper, diamonds, gold, borates, and other minerals, and ranks 8th on our list of the best materials stocks for 2021.

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO) has announced its partnership with Schneider Electric (OTC: SBGSY) to work on a sustainable market ecosystem for both companies. The two are working on reducing their carbon footprint through the deal, and will also be evaluating new opportunities like the efficient production of other materials for renewable technologies. The company has a gross profit margin of 41.92%. The stock has a trailing PE ratio of 13.61 and has gained 6.89% in the past 6 months and year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 25 hedge funds held stakes in Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO) worth roughly $1.59 billion. This is compared to 26 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of roughly $1.71 billion.

7. MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) is a company operating in the integrated rare earth mining and processing business. The company owns the Mountain Pass facility in the Western Hemisphere, and it ranks 7th on our list of the best materials stocks for 2021.

On June 30th, Baird initiated its coverage of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) with an Outperform rating and a $45 price target. The firm referred to the company as a "rare magnetic opportunity," with analyst Ben Kallo commenting that the company's Mountain Pass is a unique asset and MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) deserves a premium valuation. Earlier this June, the Russell 3000 index added MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) while deleting some other basic materials companies. In the first quarter of 2021, MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) had an EPS of $0.13, beating estimates by $0.05. Its revenue was $59.97 million, beating estimates by $15.57 million, and it has a gross profit margin of 59.1%. MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) has gained 29.38% in the past 6 months and year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 29 hedge funds held stakes in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) worth roughly $2.62 billion. This is compared to 32 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of roughly $2.74 billion. Like LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX), and Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO), MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) is a good materials stocks to invest in.

6. Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 30

Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK) explores, acquires, develops, and produces natural resources in Asia, Europe, and North America. The company's segments include Steelmaking Coal, Copper, Zinc, and Energy. It ranks 6th on our list of the best materials stocks for 2021.

This May, Deutsche Bank upgraded Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK) shares to Buy with a $30 price target. Analyst Abhinandan Agarwal commented that the stock's delivery of the QB2 copper project will transform the portfolio and open the path for free cash flow, returns, and lower emissions in production. The analyst has estimated a 45% increase in Teck Resources Limited's (NYSE: TECK) copper equivalent volumes, a development that would make the company's balance sheet more robust. In the first quarter of 2021, Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK) had an EPS of $0.5, missing estimates by -$0.02. The company's revenue was $2.07 billion, up 23.43% year over year but missing estimates by $56.46 million, and its gross profit margin is 17.43%. Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK) has gained 20.14% in the past 6 months and year to date.

By the end of the first quarter of 2021, 30 hedge funds held stakes in Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK) worth roughly $1.07 billion. This is compared to 31 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of roughly $798 million. Like LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX), and Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO), Teck Resources Limited (NYSE: TECK) is a good materials stocks to invest in.

Click to continue reading and see the 5 Best Materials Stocks for 2021.

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Disclosure: None. 11 Best Materials Stocks for 2021 is originally published on Insider Monkey.