Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Tuesday March 26, at $13,105 per tonne, with dip-buying emerging despite continued strength in the US dollar index. The US dollar index was just under the psychological level of 97. Total LME nickel stocks remain at their lowest level in seven years at 183,582 tonnes, with just 116,292 tonnes on-warr...Read More

The London Metal Exchange has announced a six-month suspension of listing fees for new cobalt brands on the exchange in a note to members on Tuesday March 26, amid emerging liquidity concerns from producers."[A] number of cobalt producers have indicated a desire to list their brand on the LME," the exchange said in the note, "but have expressed concerns that, in the event that the 'user choice' mo...Read More

The United States' copper market was modestly lower on Tuesday March 26 morning amid a lack of trading action and industry participants seeking fresh market catalysts. The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down 0.30 cents to $2.8535 per lb. Copper trading has been fairly quiet over the past several weeks, with modest global growth...Read More

Troilus Gold Corp. of Toronto reports finding a new mineralized zone in the southeast part of the J zone at the past producing Troilus gold-copper mine in the Abitibi region, 175 km from Chibougamau, Quebec. The gold-rich area is about 30 metres from surface and open at depth.Highlights of the new zone include:Hole TLG-J419-091: 1.29 g/t gold and 0.09% copper over 22 metres (1.43 g/t gold equivale...Read More

Polish miner KGHM and a union representing workers at its Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile have agreed to extend contract talks, temporarily warding off the threat of a strike, the union president told Reuters on Tuesday.Maykel Ocayo, president of the 520-member union, said workers would vote on a new contract proposal by Thursday and deliver their decision to management on Friday."The extension...Read More

When should modern Americans care about legislation signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant? When it causes deep environmental damage, deprives the federal treasury of billions, privileges one industry over others, practically gives away public lands, and hasn't been significantly altered in almost 150 years.The law in question is the General Mining Act of 1872, which governs the harvesting...Read More

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is blasting Codelco's decision to pull the plug on a $260 million contract that was at the root of two recent profit warnings.The embattled Canadian construction giant confirmed late Monday night that it had received official notice of the termination, saying it was "appalled and surprised" by the Chilean state-owned miner's decision."We believe that this termination is unwa...Read More

Argentina is eyeing its first major new mining project in two decades, nudged forward by President Mauricio Macri's market-oriented policies. But there's no guarantee he'll be around to take credit.Argentina's economy is tanking with the central bank hiking interest rates to ease inflation and save the peso, the worst-performing currency in emerging markets. That could put Macri on shaky ground as...Read More

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is formally recusing himself from agency reviews and permitting decisions on a proposed gold and copper mine near Alaska's Bristol Bay amid criticism his former law firm represented the developer.Wheeler promised to steer clear of matters involving the controversial Pebble Mine in an updated March 20 recusal statement, two years after his former employer, Faegre Ba...Read More

Chile's Codelco, the world's No. 1 copper producer, will incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into its mines to monitor the health of mining equipment and ensure operations run efficiently, as part of a deal signed Tuesday with Chicago-based AI provider Uptake.The move is part of an aggressive transformation of the state-miner, which is looking at adding fresh technologies to revitalizing some...Read More

Pancontinental Resources (TSXV: PUC) announced this week the acquisition of the St. Laurent project, located in the eastern Canadian province of Ontario.Pancontinental is purchasing the property from 2681891 Ontario Inc., with whom the company entered into an option agreement. To earn a 100% interest, the Toronto-based miner has to pay a total of $145,000 in cash and issue 1,850,000 common shares...Read More

When should modern Americans care about legislation signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant? When it causes deep environmental damage, deprives the federal treasury of billions, privileges one industry over others, practically gives away public lands, and hasn't been significantly altered in almost 150 years.The law in question is the General Mining Act of 1872, which governs the harvesting...Read More

Fastmarkets has extended the consultation period for a proposed change to the specification of its domestic Chinese indium price assessment until Tuesday April 23.On February 25, Fastmarkets proposed to increase the minimum tonnage of its domestic Chinese indium price assessment to 50 kilograms to better reflect the dynamics of the market.The goal of a minimum tonnage is to exclude any deal that,...Read More

Steelmakers in Turkey continued to stay out of the deep-sea scrap market on Tuesday, March 26, due to the volatile Turkish lira, sources told Fastmarkets.Having slumped to TRY100 to $17.41 on Monday - compared with TRY100 to $18.31 on March 18 - the lira regained some ground following an intervention by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB). The currency had been de...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Tuesday March 26 that are worth another look.The London Metal Exchange has announced a six-month suspension of listing fees for new cobalt brands on the exchange in a note to members on Tuesday March 26 amid emerging liquidity concerns from producers. There are no concerns surrounding the availability of bauxite to meet ongoin...Read More

The US copper cathode premium has logged its first movement since July 2018, widening upward amid expectations of higher demand and shorter supply during the second quarter.Fastmarkets AMM assessed the US copper cathode premium at 7-7.75 cents per lb delivered to the Midwest on Tuesday March 26, up by 0.25 cents on the high end of the range from 7-7.5 cents per lb previously.While the first q...Read More

The government of Guinea is seeking to develop and integrate its mining sector in order to use the country's mineral resources to secure diversified domestic economic growth, according to the west African country's minister of mines and geology.Abdoulaye Magassouba told delegates to Fastmarkets' 25th annual bauxite and alumina conference in Miami, on Tuesday March 26, that a key driver for his gov...Read More

RAPAPORT... Impairment charges resulting from tax changes ledGemfields to a loss of $60.4 million in 2018, it said Monday. The group reported a profit of $45.1 million the previousyear. Last year, the Zambian government introduced a 15% export levy thatrequired Gemfields to have its Kagem emerald mine revalued. This contributed toa $26.6 million devaluation, which included an inventory impair...Read More

RAPAPORT... Botswana Diamonds will begin bulk sampling and diamondproduction from its Thorny River project in South Africa in May. It will then ramp up output to 20,000 tonnes a month, thecompany said Monday. The kimberlite ore will be processed at a nearby plant,which is currently being refurbished. In the six months ending December 31, the miner reported aloss of GBP 190,000 ($251,347). It...Read More

RAPAPORT... Global jewelry sales grew 4% to $85.9 billion in 2018 despite a weaker second half, according to market research Russian miner Alrosareleased. The growth was slower than the 5% increase Alrosa reported for the previous year. North American sales grew 4% in 2018, with the region accounting for more than half ofoverall revenue, the company said Monday. In the first half of the year...Read More