Rio Tinto plc (LON: RIO) have seen their shares in green, despite an update on its Richards Bay operations which will concern shareholders.

Rio Tinto is an Anglo-Australian multinational and one of the world’s largest metals and mining corporations. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto, in Huelva, Spain, from the Spanish government.

Shares in Rio Tinto were boosted 0.39% to 4,190p. 4/12/19 12:00BST.

This has been a busy week for the mining sector, and competitor Centamin have been involved in a takeover deal proposed by Endeavour Mining. This morning, shareholders got an update that Centamin had unanimously rejected the approach which saw its shares in green.

Rio Tinto have seen their share of success and struggle in 2019, and shares have remained volatile.

In July, the FTSE100 listed firm changed its iron ore cost guidance following lower output caused by operational challenge and adverse conditions.

A few months after, the firm saw its shares spike in November after Rio Tinto made a pledge to the ERA to clean up a uranium mine. Additionally, the firm, said they will take part and underwrite a fundraise by invest Energy Resources of Australia (ASX: ERA).

Today, Rio Tinto have given shareholders a cautious outlook over safety concerns at its Richard Bay Minerals unit in South Africa.

Rio Tinto said it has shut down the project over fears for the safety of its employees due to an “escalation in violence in the communities surrounding the operations”.

“There has been an escalation of criminal activity towards RBM employees and one was shot and seriously injured in the last few days. As a result, all mining operations at RBM have been halted and the smelters are operating at a reduced level, with a minimum number of employees now on site. Construction of the Zulti South project has also been temporarily paused,” Rio said.

Rio’s Energy & Minerals Chief Executive Bold Baatar added: “The safety of our people is Rio Tinto’s key priority and we have taken decisive action to stop operations to reduce the risk of serious harm to our team members.

“We are in discussions with the local communities, regional and national governments, and the police in order to find a way to address the safety and security issues. Our goal is to return RBM to normal operations in a safe and sustainable way. We would like to acknowledge and thank the police and authorities for their support.”

The miner said it will contact its customers to “minimise potential disruptions”.

As a result of this, Rio said its titanium dioxide slag production in 2019 will be at the bottom end of the guided range of 1.2 million tonnes to 1.4 million.

Rio Tinto will hope that expectations are not slashed to the extent that rival Fresnillo did on Monday, which saw their shares dip as the firm speculated production to be within the lower end of its target.

Certainly, Rio will have to be careful. With issues involving worker and operational safety, Rio have taken a no risk approach and once the issue is resolved the firm will hope that production figures won’t be affected too significantly so that trading can continue without hinderance.

Yesterday, Centamin PLC (LON: CEY) saw their shares surge after the firm rejected a hostile merger approach from rival Endeavour Mining.

Today, Centamin have spoken with their senior board, and have given the market an update. The rejection from rival Endeavour will please shareholders about the resilient nature of the firm.

Centamin said the offer “materially undervalues” the company and it is “better positioned” to deliver shareholder returns on its own rather than teaming up with Endeavour.

Centamin became the latest London-listed gold miner to be an M&A target following a hostile £1.47 billion all-share combination proposal by Endeavour on Tuesday.

However, Centamin said the proposal is “skewed in favour” of Endeavour, and “fundamentally undervalues” Centamin, which operates the Sukari gold mine in Egypt.

The company added: “Centamin regularly considers potential strategic opportunities and does so through the correct communication channels and with non-disclosure agreements in place in order to best protect shareholders’ interests. Centamin has communicated to Endeavour several times its willingness to engage on this basis and Endeavour has repeatedly refused to engage in a proper manner and allow the sharing of non-public information in order to better assess the value to shareholders of the potential combination.”

Centamin said that based on all information, the offer is simply not worth the proposal. Endeavour has been unable to “demonstrate that the logic of the proposal outweighs the risks to Centamin’s established policy of distributing significant cash returns to shareholders”.

Centamin shareholders, under the current proposal, would end up with 47% of the enlarged company, but it said it would’ve contributed 100% of the free cash flow in the first half of 2019 and it would’ve also contributed all of the free cash flow in 2018.

Centamin also noted it has liquid assets of $289 million, and no debt, as of September 30, whereas Endeavour has gross debt of $729 million, with net debt of USD599 million.

Centamin Chair Josef El-Raghy said: “The board strongly believes that Endeavour’s proposal significantly increases financial and operating risk without any material benefits to our shareholders. Centamin’s stated strategy has always been to maximise returns for all of its shareholders, having returned approximately USD500 million to shareholders since 2014. In addition, despite numerous requests, Endeavour has refused to enter into a customary non-disclosure agreement to allow the board to further assess the proposal.

“It is the board’s belief that the proposal made by Endeavour sits in stark contrast with Centamin’s strategy and we strongly advise our shareholders to take no action.”

This week has been busy for competitors in the gold mining industry, as Greatland Gold saw their shares dip yesterday despite new reported discoveries in their Australian mines.

The decision made to reject the approach will please shareholders of Centamin, as the firm will now look to keep their performance in their own hands.

Following the update in October, where the FTSE250 listed firm saw its shares dip after the firm saw its output levels decline, there will be a keen emphasis to turn fortunes around and create optimism for shareholders.

Shares of Centamin trade at 128p (-0.35%). 4/12/19 11:52BST.

Vodafone Group plc (LON: VOD) have announced a deal to distribute Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Platform across Europe.

Vodafone have hit news headlines over the last few months, and have been bruised by poor performance globally.

At the start of November, the firm reported a half year loss in an update to shareholders. The loss for the six months ended 30 September amounted to €1.9 billion, which alerted shareholders.

The company said, however, that this “primarily reflects losses in relation to Vodafone Idea post an adverse judgement against the industry by the Supreme Court in India”.

Later that week, Vodafone issued a statement alluding to crisis in its Indian operations, which saw its shares sink 1.92% on the announcement.

Vodafone said that the stiff competition from firms such as Reliance Jio (NSE: RCOM) and Tata Communications (NSE: TATACOMM) stopped business flourishing, and threatened the sustainability of future operations in India.

Vodafone concluded that the senior board would make an ensured effort to turn around business fortunes, and the deal with Amazon seems like a start.

Amazon.com Inc’s AWS Wavelength provides developers the ability to build mobile applications that serve users with single-digit millisecond latencies over the 5G network.

FTSE100 listed Vodafone, said it plans to roll out AWS Wavelength in strategic locations within its 5G network, and has had success after it finalized a deal to work with Virgin Mobile which was announced in the early weeks of November.

“With Europe’s largest 5G network across 58 cities and as a global leader in internet of things with over 90 million connections, Vodafone is pleased to be the first telco to introduce AWS Wavelength in Europe,” said Vinod Kumar, chief executive of Vodafone Business.

AWS Wavelength will be available first in the UK and Germany on the Vodafone 5G network, expanding to other Vodafone markets across Europe, the company explained.

Certainly, the domination of Amazon continues to spread to all sectors. However, shareholders of Vodafone can be optimistic about the move.

Shareholders would have wanted senior management respond to a series of poor performances, and the tie up deal with Amazon is a step in the right direction.

Shares of Vodafone trade at 144p (-1.14%). 4/12/19 11:19BST.

The UK service sector saw the steepest decline in business activity since March, new data on Wednesday revealed. The GBP/USD is currently trading close to 1.3050, the highest since early May, as polls ahead of the general election show a lead for the Conservatives. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI fell to 49.3 in November, down from October’s 50.0 reading, indicating a slight reduction in service sector output. However, this is higher than November’s earlier flash reading of 48.6. Nevertheless, the report said that the data from November signals the fastest pace of decline for eight months. The prevailing uncertainty surrounding the nation’s departure from the European Union continued to weigh on business and consumer spending, the report added. Meanwhile, new work declined for the third month in a row, and at the fastest pace since July 2016. “November’s PMI surveys collectively suggest that the UK economy is staggering through the final quarter of 2019, with service sector output falling back into decline after a brief period of stabilisation,” Tim Moore, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit, commented on the data. Tim Moore continued: “Lacklustre demand remains centred on business-to-business spending. Service providers have attributed the recent soft patch to delayed decision-making on new projects until greater clarity emerges in relation to the domestic political landscape. Sales to export markets were hard-hit in November, as signalled by the steepest fall in new work from abroad for more than five years.” Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, also commented on the findings of the report: “The sector was hemmed in with no room for improvement in November by the fastest fall in the pipeline of new work since July 2016, and the biggest drop in export orders since this index began in September 2014.” “As Brexit nerves continued to affect domestic client decision-making, a veil of silence also descended over European clients in particular who were reluctant to commit until there is more clarity in the UK’s future direction,” Duncan Brock continued. “However, deeply cautious consumers already unwilling to spend in the current Brexit-infused climate, were spared the additional burden of higher prices in November. Companies raised their charges only modestly, restrained by strong competition in the marketplace and the lowest input price inflation since August 2016, giving them some much-needed breathing space.” With the general election just around the corner, the question remains – will next week finally show some political clarity over the UK’s future?

Quiz (LON:QUIZ) shares plunged on Wednesday after it posted a half year loss and a decline in group revenue. Shares in the fast fashion brand were down over 11% during trading on Wednesday. The retailer said that, for the six months ended 30 September, loss before tax amounted to £6.8 million, down from a profit of £3.8 million recorded for the same period a year prior. Meanwhile, group revenue declined 5% to £63.3 million, down from last year’s £66.7 million figure. The company highlighted that the pressures surrounding the UK retail sector have hit its results. “Much of the UK retail sector has remained under pressure during the period impacted by macro-economic uncertainty well as the accelerating structural shift to online retailing,” Quiz said in its results. Indeed, Quiz is not alone to feel the woes of the tough retail climate – the difficult trading conditions have been well publicised as of late. “Whilst it is disappointing to report a decline of profits year-on-year, management are focused on implementing the actions identified further to the Group’s business review conducted earlier in 2019,” Tarak Ramzan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the results. “We are pleased to report progress improving gross margins and reducing costs across the business, and will look for further improvements to develop our omni-channel offering,” the Founder and Chief Executive Officer continued. “QUIZ has continued to achieve sales growth in its international business and, in particular, online despite the challenging trading conditions. This has been supported by effective marketing investment including a successful collaboration with TV star Samantha Faiers.”

The British Retail Consortium announced earlier this week that retail sales dropped in November. However, the figures do not include the Black Friday shopping period, and last year’s do.

Trading has been strong over the Black Friday promotional week, as retailer have beaten forecasts of a gloomy shopping period. Shares in Quiz plc (LON:QUIZ) were down on Wednesday, trading at -11.21% as of 09:24 GMT.