Coal production fell 16% to 48.7 million tonnes in the first half, partly because of market-related cuts in Australia.

Moscow has been trying to protect its defense and construction industries from further growth in raw materials costs as metals prices rise at a global level.

Many companies are engaged in the gold mining business, but the industry is dominated by a select group of players.

The dispute with Rio dates back to the miner’s sale of the Dunkirk smelter in France to Gupta for $500 million in 2018.

The formula for Kryptonite in the Superman series is the closest match to the lithium-boron chemistry of the Serbian find.

The company said it would start a $2.2 billion buyback programme to be completed by the end of 2021.

Thyssenkrupp's mining business, which competes with Metso Outotec, Sandvik and Atlas Copco, is expected to fetch a "low triple-digit million euro" sum.