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Australia blasts Chinese ambassador for threatening to ruin our economy in response to backing inquiry into source of coronavirus - before consulate takes extraordinary step of LEAKING the fiery phone call
Ambassador Cheng Jingye slammed Australia's push for an inquiry into the virus
He said the probe could push Chinese citizens to reject Australian exports
The Morrison government stood firm in its decision to back the calls for a review
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the nation won't give in to 'coercion'

Mining operations in South Africa are allowed to restart and produce to a maximum of 50% of normal capacity, subject to having COVID-19 health protocols in place. Ellis says that production levels at 50% is a “pie in the sky target”.

This would mean the larger open cast mines opening fully from 1 May, and underground mines resuming 50% of production immediately, she says.
“Such a fast ramp up is unrealistic with social distancing measures and negates the fact that a return to Level 5 restrictions, curtailing mine production, is liable as South Africa approaches the peak of the crisis.”
The country will move from Level 5 to Level 4 lockdown on 1 May, with some businesses allowed to reopen.

Mining industry ‘more exposed’ to pandemic
South Africa’s mining sector is particularly exposed to the spread of Covid-19. According to the Minerals Council of South Africa, the industry employs a workforce numbering almost 420,000, many of whom are underground on any given day. Some mines have thousands of men and women underground, descending into the depths in crowded “cages”. Before and after, dressing rooms are filled with miners preparing for their shifts or cleaning up afterwards. It does not take an epidemiologist to realise that the mining work environment is a catalyst for spreading the COVID-19 pandemic.

In South Africa, this is exacerbated by the fact that the mining labour force remains migrant, with constant movement between the gold fields and platinum belt and Lesotho, Mozambique and the Eastern Cape. In addition, the average age in the industry’s workforce is over 40, increasing their vulnerability to an illness that poses a greater risk the older the infected person is.

The resources sector faces new and different challenges due to the current global crisis. From border lockdowns, new health protocols, falling demand and prices, production pressures, project delays, supply chain and logistics issues, staffing, to declining optimism - like most sectors, the industry has been turned upside down.

Many companies have been significantly affected by COVID-19, and global restrictions to encourage social distancing have seen projects either slowing or shutting down, and operations put on care and maintenance. Global mining giants like Rio Tinto and Anglo American have reported production slowdowns due to coronavirus-related restrictions. And, a study by Deutsche Bank shows that from mid-March virus-related base metal disruptions are hitting commodities operations with significant total output cuts; as an example, global offline capacity numbers show copper mine suspensions are 2.7Mty or 14% of global mine supply, and an estimated 85Mty of blast-furnace capacity has been suspended which equates to a demand cut of 50Mty of coking coal.

Alliance News) - Moody's Investors Service on Friday affirmed its Baa2 long term issuer rating for Anglo American PLC, however changed its outlook to negative from stable.
The credit agency's outlook change reflects its expectation that the miner's operating and financial performance will suffer from the disruption of mining operations and decline in certain commodity prices, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Toff said this this on CNA.

“My opinion about brokers counts for nothing. But the market is influenced by them and therefore cannot be ignored. “

Jefferies International BT.A
Reiterates
Buy
Buy
260.00p

Make your mind up Toff, brokers are morons one minute but then you have time to read and publish on a BB.

“This broker coverage on Centrica today exemplifies just how inadequate brokers are.
As an ex-trader I learnt that these morons follow the shareprice - not vice-versa.

Think about it - the shareprice is 32p and all of a sudden they halve the target price from £1 to 50p - to make it appear like they’re in touch. Brokers have human faces - they’re people like you and me - and from what I’ve seen of them they’re mostly obtuse bean- counters - dreary analysts- if they had a modicum of talent they wouldn’t be doing that job - they’d be making fortunes trading.

When Debenhams went bankrupt about 12 months ago two brokers rated it as a strong buy. “

the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability.

That’s Toff.

Some recovery following FTSE 100 crash, but is there more to come?

BT share prices sank as low as 107.3p on 12 March, levels not seen since the financial crisis of 2008. The telecom giant recovered from that recession, posting steady growth to trade close to £5

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa extended a national lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus by two weeks until the end of April as infections continue to mount.

“There is sufficient evidence to show the lockdown is indeed working,” with the rate of new infections slowing, Ramaphosa said Thursday in a televised address. “Unless we take these difficult measures now, unless we hold this course a little longer, the coronavirus pandemic will engulf, and ultimately consume, our country.”

Companies across Britain, big and small, have been forced to turn to the government to pay their staff as the pandemic cuts through vast swathes of the economy. BT said it would not need the scheme and would pay all staff for at least three months.

Telecommunications companies should be more robust than most during the economic and social turmoil created by the coronavirus pandemic. While several consumer demands have reduced, the desire for connectivity has surged.

Policies of social distancing have placed a greater emphasis on mobile and broadband networks. This logic indicates that BT Group (BT.A) and Vodafone (VOD) should be among the stronger performers on the FTSE 100 as the pandemic runs its course.

Potash gets tougher for BHP and Anglo American
Potash or dividends? At its simplest that is the challenge for BHP and Anglo American as they both try to enter a tightly-controlled industry at the same time, leaving shareholders to worry about whether the bold expansion moves will affect their dividends.

The diamond industry faces a reckoning, with mines and processing centers closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and demand threatened by a looming global recession.

Market leader De Beers, a unit of Anglo American PLC, has canceled a diamond auction, its third planned for this year, after its second auction ended in early March with sales down 28% from last year's event.

De Beers Group’s chief financial officer Nimesh Patel will leave the company on July 26, it announced Thursday.

https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/anglo-american-seeking-to-mine-on-indigenous-lands-in-brazils-amazon/

https://www.groundup.org.za/article/five-mining-groups-ask-court-approve-r5-billion-silicosis-settlement-case/

Percentage wise not a lot.