The Globe and Mail reports in is Tuesday edition that miners have welcomed 2016 with a fresh round of writedowns. The Globe's Ian McGugan writes Anglo American Platinum, the world's top platinum miner, got the week off to an ominous start when it announced on Monday that it was knocking down the paper value of its assets by $851-million, an amount equal to more than a quarter of the company's book value (all figures U.S.). Its writedown follows Barrick's announcement last week that it expects to take a hit of as much as $3-billion on goodwill and asset-impairment charges when it reports earnings next month. Earlier this month, BHP Billiton PLC unveiled a $7.2-billion writedown on its U.S. shale assets. Companies write down the value of their assets to reflect the lower earnings power of those holdings in deteriorating market conditions. Mr. McGugan says the latest charges indicate that at least some asset values still have further to fall. James Bennett, a Citigroup analyst, wrote in a report Monday that he figures there is a 27-per-cent chance Anglo America's net present value is now less than zero, adding investors have "genuine fatigue" around Anglo's restructuring plans and no payoff in sight.