US markets down, Sept. 30-Oct. 4: Sibanye-Stillwater, NACCO Industries, Cleveland Cliffs

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9% to 26,573.70 and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.34% to 2,952. Spot gold finished the trading week at US$1,504 per oz., up US$8.10 per ounce.

Shares of South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater rose 80¢ (14.4%) to US$6.36. The mining company announced on Oct. 4 that it plans to acquire 100% of the share capital of Sibanye Gold as part of a restructuring after the company’s recent merger with Lonmin. The precious metals miner said the restructuring will create a more efficient group structure, with a new holding company. The entity will keep Sibanye-Stillwater as its name and list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with the same shareholders. (Exactly the same shares in the new holding company will be issued to existing shareholders.) The gold subsidiary will continue to be called Sibanye Gold.

NACCO Industries rose 43¢ (0.7%) to US$62.53 per share. The company announced on Sept. 25 that its subsidiary, North American Coal Corp., will be the exclusive contract miner for the Thacker Pass lithium project, which is wholly owned by a subsidiary of Lithium Americas. Thacker Pass is described by Lithium Americas as the largest known lithium deposit in the United States. North American Coal has formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Sawtooth Mining, to design, build, operate and maintain the Thacker Pass project. Under the arrangement, Lithium Americas will reimburse Sawtooth for its operating and mine-reclamation costs, and pay Sawtooth a management fee per tonne of lithium delivered during the 20-year contract term. Sawtooth will give Lithium Americas $3.5 million to develop the project and provide engineering services related to mine design and permitting. Sawtooth plans to invest up to $50 million on the initial mining fleet and equipment after Lithium Americas has secured permits and financing for the project. Lithium Americas will reimburse Sawtooth’s equipment investment over a seven-year period from the equipment-acquisition date.

Cleveland-Cliffs rose 25¢ (3.5%) to US$7.38 per share. The company announced it has finished building a 139-metre furnace reactor tower for its hot-briquetted iron project in Toledo, Ohio. The company says the project is ahead of schedule and could start commercial production in the first half of 2020.