TOP NEWS

China Molybdenum eyes Lundin stake in Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt mine

China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. is said to be among the hopefuls for Lundin Mining Corp.'s 24% stake in the Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. The Chinese group has held talks with Lundin over the intention. Lundin has been considering multiple options since Freeport-McMoRan Inc. agreed to sell its 56% interest in the project to China Molybdenum for US$2.65 billion in cash and and up to US$120 million in contingent consideration.

Almonty drops takeover bid for ATC Alloys

Almonty Industries Inc. dropped its planned off-market takeover offer for ATC Alloys Ltd., as the Australia-listed company's 60% ferrotungsten joint venture in Vietnam ran into trouble.

US steel makers to file tariff evasion charges against Chinese peers

ArcelorMittal USA Inc., Nucor Corp., AK Steel Holding Corp. and U.S. Steel Corp. plan to filling charges with the U.S. Commerce Department against Chinese competitors, alleging that the latter avoided American import duties by diverting their steel shipments to Vietnam.

DIVERSIFIED

* The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will not oppose plans by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and British Columbia Investment Management Corp. to acquire stakes of 40% and 9.99%, respectively, in Glencore Plc's Glencore Agriculture Ltd. unit.

* Stephen Pearce, who resigned as the CFO of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., has been appointed finance director at Anglo American Plc.

BASE METALS

* Nyrstar NV is selling its El Mochito zinc-lead-silver mine in Honduras to Toronto-listed Morumbi Resources Inc. Both parties have also entered into an off-take deal that will see Nyrstar buying 100% of zinc and lead concentrate production from El Mochito for a 10-year period.

* Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is holding talks with Chinese copper smelters in Hong Kong for processing its 2017 long-term contractual volumes, but an agreement has yet to be reached, Metal Bulletin reported, citing market sources. The U.S.-based company is said to be proposing cutting the contractual volumes by half due to the disposal of its assets in recent years.

* More than 99% of the members of the Union of Mine Supervisors at Antofagasta Plc's Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile rejected the wage proposal made by the mining company as part of the collective bargaining negotiations process that started a few weeks ago. The workers will decide next week whether to go on strike, daily Diario El Día reported.

* More than 380 workers of the Miners and Metalworkers Union of Votorantim Metais SA unit Compañía Minera Milpo SAA in Peru's Pasco region have started an indefinite strike. The workers demand that the company respect the collective agreement and are calling for the immediate removal of the company's operations manager and its labor relations manager, whom they accuse of harassment, daily Correo reported.

* Compañía Minera Milpo said the Ministry of Energy and Mines approved its US$300 million Magistral copper-molybdenum-silver project in Peru's Ancash region, Reuters reported.

* Shareholders of Gryphon Minerals Ltd. have approved the group's takeover by Teranga Gold Corp. The deal is expected to close in mid-October.

PRECIOUS METALS

* A local judge in Argentina's San Juan province ordered the suspension of activities at Barrick Gold Corp.'s Veladero mine and the identification of staff members and executives on duty at the time of the Sept. 13 cyanide spill, news agency Télam reported.

* Separately, the Ministry of Environment filed a claim before the federal justice in San Juan province against Barrick Gold over the monitoring and safety errors that led to the Sept. 13 cyanide spill at Veladero, daily Clarín reported.

* Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. will stick to its "going global" strategy and expects overseas operations to account for over 50% of its total profit in five years' time, according to Chairman Chen Jinghe. Chen told delegates at the China Mining Congress and Expo 2016 in Tianjin, China, that the company is seeking to become a global mining group by 2030, with more expansion plans expected in coming years.

* Eastern Goldfields Ltd. tapped GR Engineering Services Ltd. to refurbish its Davyhurst gold processing plant in Western Australia. The work is expected to cost about A$12.6 million and is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2017.

* Alliance Resources Ltd. is acquiring a 51% equity stake in Tyranna Resources Ltd.'s Wilcherry gold project in South Australia for A$2 million.

* Kibo Mining Plc will consolidate its Tanzanian gold interests that will involve the Imweru and Lubando projects. The new deal will see the reverse takeover of London-listed Opera Investment Plc and the business, which will be holding these assets, will be renamed Katoro Gold Mining Plc.

* Vedomosti reported that Jiri Šmejc and Petr Kellner will sell about 6% of Polymetal International Plc. Alexander Nesis' ICT Group is ready to buy part of their stake.

* A preliminary economic assessment for Metanor Resources Inc.'s Barry gold project in Quebec estimated an after-tax net present value of C$25.9 million, using a 6% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 94%.

BULK COMMODITIES

* China's State Council approved the proposed 3 billion Chinese yuan merger of two of the nation's largest steelmakers, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. and Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd., Shanghai Daily reported. The newly formed company will be named China Baowu Steel Group.

* Vale SA intends to expand blending facilities for Brazilian Blend iron ore fines to the Rizhao and Shulanghu ports in eastern China, and the Beilun and Zhanjiang ports in southern China, while allowing yuan-denominated trades at the ports, S&P Global Platts reported, citing Vale's executive manager for shipping and iron ore marketing, Luiz Meriz.

* Votorantim SA will temporarily suspend billet production at its steel mill in Barra Mansa city, Brazil, due to the country's weak economic performance, as well as to optimize operations at its steel mills, Metal Bulletin reported.

* Fortescue Metals Group named former Rio Tinto executive Greg Lilleyman as its new director of operations, effective January 1, 2017.

* TerraCom Ltd. subsidiary Orion Mining Pty. Ltd. signed a binding deal to acquire the Blair Athol coal mine in Queensland, Australia, from the Blair Athol joint venture.

* U.S. environmentalist Tom Clarke's Conuma Coal Resources Ltd. is set to restart operations at the Brule metallurgical coal mine in British Columbia, Mining.com reported. The Wolverine mine is expected to be back online in 2017, while no timeline is available for the Willow Creek mine.

* Alcoa Inc.'s Alcoa Nederland Holding BV unit priced its offering of US$750 million aggregate principal amount of 6.75% senior notes due 2024, and US$500 million aggregate principal amount of 7.00% senior notes due 2026.

SPECIALTY

* Shenghe Resources Holding Ltd. will acquire a 12.5% stake in Greenland Minerals & Energy Ltd. and also agreed to help the ASX-listed company advance the Kvanefjeld lanthanides project in Greenland.

* Rough diamond sales at PJSC ALROSA totaled US$243.0 million in August, 58% more than at the same time last year but a drop on the bumper month of July, when the Russian miner moved US$306.7 million in rough stones.

* Aldrin Resource Corp. agreed to acquire two lithium prospective drill-ready projects, the Case Lake project in Ontario and the Larder River project in Nova Scotia.

* Dominion Diamond Corp.'s Ekati diamond mine process plant in Canada resumed operations at full capacity Sept. 21. Meanwhile, the company noted that it sold a 186-carat, gem-quality diamond recovered from Ekati for US$2.8 million.

SNL Metals & Mining and S&P Global Platts are owned by S&P Global Inc.

The Daily Dose is updated as of 7 a.m. ET, and scans news sources published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Ukrainian. Some external links may require a subscription.