Daily Brief Energy/Materials: Freeport Mcmoran, Linde India Ltd, Pan American Silver, Orezone Gold , ADX Energy Ltd, Steel Dynamics, Baker Hughes, Halliburton Co and more

• In its first quarter earnings, Freeport-McMoRan reported successful results in executing its business strategies.
• The incoming CEO, Kathleen Quirk, outlined the company’s strategic focus on copper, citing the growing global demand for the metal in numerous sectors, particularly in electrification.
• The long-term trends point to tight market conditions due to constrained existing supplies, limited major new projects, and extended deadlines for supply development.

• Linde India entered into related party transaction without shareholders approval.
• Further company also allocated future businesses and existing business of Linde India to its sister concern Praxair
• Whether existing RPTs material in nature and need shareholder approval?  Whether the allocation of future and existing business from a listed entity to another promoter company amount to a RPT?

Pan American Silver (PAAS) has announced a sale of the La Arena and La Arena II projects to Zijin Mining for US$245m in cash, US$50m in a contingent payment and a 1.5% NSR gold royalty. La Arena II is a copper and gold sulphide deposit that sits underneath the currently producing La Arena gold project. We view the transaction as positive for PAAS, given La Arena’s very short mine life, significant capex required to bring La Arena II into production and the fact that copper is not PAAS’s core commodity.

• Following a big breakout in March, gold pressed on hitting new all-time highs, however, lost steam and fell towards the end of the month up just 2% in April.
• Silver outperformed gold, being up 5% on the month.
• Copper held its big gains from early in the month, up 13% to $4.6/lb.

• ADX has raised A$13.5 mm of new equity priced at A$0.105 per share.
• One free-attaching option will be issued for evert two placement shares with an exercise price of A$0.15 per share and an expiry date of 08/05/2026.
• The proceeds from the raise will fund (1) the production testing of the 450 m gas column encountered at the Welchau exploration well (the well might also be deepened to assess the exploration potential below the current total depth of the well), (2) the residual drilling cost (net of the carry provided by MND) of a gas exploration well on the ADX-AT-I licence, (3) the residual cost (net of the carry provided by MND) of the drilling and tie-in the Anshof-2A sidetrack and (4) upgrades to the gas processing facilities at ADX’s Vienna Basin fields.

• The first quarter 2024 results for Steel Dynamics Inc., display the strong performance of the company when considering their financial and operational undertakings.
• Reaching near-record quarterly steel shipments of 3.3 million tons, Steel Dynamics demonstrated impressive control over its operations.
• Four new value-added flat rolled steel coating lines were introduced that contribute to a product diversification that included 1.1 million tons of higher-margin products.

• Baker Hughes Company’s recent results offers mixed signals for investors, delivering a blend of positive and negative takeaways.
• The solid first-quarter results highlight the company’s resilience despite external volatility, with the order book and margin development indicating a path towards the achievement of full-year guidance.
• A significant 11% year-on-year increase in the quarterly dividend suggests a positive outlook for investors, aligning with the company’s commitment to enhance shareholder returns.

• Halliburton, one of the largest oilfield services companies globally, recently held its first-quarter 2024 conference call that demonstrated robust performance.
• The company delivered a total revenue of $5.8 billion and an operating margin of 17%.
• Both divisions showcased improvement in margin year-over-year.