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US squares off with EU, Canada, Mexico over steel, aluminum tariffs

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US squares off with EU, Canada, Mexico over steel, aluminum tariffs

TOP NEWS

US squares off with EU, Canada, Mexico over steel, aluminum tariffs

The Trump administration has begun a battle royal with some of its key allies over steel and aluminum tariffs after moving to lift temporary exemptions on tariffs for the European Union, Canada and Mexico, intensifying a trade dispute that could hit a broad swath of industries. Reactions from the European Union and Mexico were swift. The EU was set to go to the World Trade Organization, while Mexico threatened equivalent measures against the U.S. Canada announced its own retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products worth C$16.6 billion and said it would also pursue WTO action.

Myanmar concerns persist amid rising investment

Myanmar Metals Ltd. CEO John Lamb, in an exclusive interview with S&P Global Market Intelligence, believes he has timed the junior's entry perfectly into the country which is expanding trade links with China, but international mining lawyer, Mining Standards International Founder Robert Milbourne, who helped Myanmar build its regulations has serious reservations as exploration is still at a trickle.

Southern Copper eyes US$10B copper expansion in Peru, Mexico

Southern Copper Corp. is preparing to invest more than US$10 billion in Peru and Mexico to capitalize on rising copper prices and demand, Bloomberg News reported. "During the last five years we've not seen significant investment worldwide," Southern Copper CFO Raul Jacob Ruisanchez said during an interview. "There were projects but not enough to cover the demand we will see in the next few years." The company expects to start work on its Tia Maria copper project in 2019, one of the three projects that it is planning to build in Peru with a combined investment of about US$7 billion, he said.

DIVERSIFIED

* The Australian Tax Office is arguing in a pre-trial hearing that BHP Billiton Group's U.K. and Australian listed entities were associates in an A$82 million tax dispute over the miner's Singapore marketing hub, The Australian Financial Review reported. BHP may have to pay more taxes if the claim is successful.

BASE METALS

* S&P Global Market Intelligence's Metals and Mining Research estimated that global mined production of zinc fell in the first quarter of 2018 to 3.05 million tonnes, compared with the 3.20 Mt registered in the final three months of 2017, which brought the annual total to 12.39 Mt. However, the estimated figure for the latest quarter is still just above the year-ago global output of 2.9 Mt.

* Nelson Pizzaro will stay as Codelco's CEO, as the Chilean state copper miner is moving forward with a 10-year plan to overhaul its aging mines, Reuters reported.

* Weatherly International PLC is seeking advice in relation to administration, after Orion Mine Finance (Master) Fund I LP will unlikely permit the miner from further drawing down an existing uncommitted loan facility obtained in July 2017.

* Independence Group NL completed the recently announced A$73.2 million sale of its Jaguar copper-zinc operation in Western Australia to CopperChem Ltd.

* Antofagasta PLC unit Antofagasta Minerals S.A. is seeking approval from Chilean authorities for a US$100 million expansion plan on its Zaldivar copper mine, which will extend operations to 2031, El Mercurio reported.

* MMG Ltd. reported a fatality at its Sepon operations in Laos. A mine surveyor died after a tree struck the vehicle he was driving. The Sepon operations include a gold mine and a copper mine.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Tharisa PLC is considering an investment in Karo Resources' planned US$4.2 billion platinum project in Zimbabwe, Bloomberg News reported, citing Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis.

* Great Panther Silver Ltd. said a preliminary economic assessment on restarting operations at its polymetallic Coricancha property in Peru defined a net present value of US$16.6 million, at a 7.5% discount rate, with an 81% internal rate of return, both after taxes.

* Sumatra Copper & Gold Plc lowered its full-year production guidance to between 37,500 ounces gold equivalent and 42,500 ounces gold equivalent, from between 45,000 ounces gold equivalent and 55,000 ounces gold equivalent previously, after it temporarily suspended mining activities at its Tembang gold-silver mine in Indonesia.

* Sibanye Gold Ltd. is exploring options to trim its debt, but ruled out tapping shareholders for funds. The company's options include raising up to US$500 million via a streaming arrangement, or the financing of recycling inventory in process at its U.S. operations. Sibanye released the update to address concerns over recent mine safety incidents, high balance sheet leverage and its planned acquisition of Lonmin PLC, which the miner believes to have caused the recent plunge in its share price and market value.

* Kin Mining NL placed the Cardinia processing plant on care and maintenance, following the miner's decision to halt construction work at the Leonora gold project in Western Australia.

* Jaguar Mining Inc. is significantly scaling back underground mining activities at the Pilar and Turmalina gold mines due to the ongoing nationwide truck drivers' strike in Brazil.

* Force Commodities Ltd. entered separate options to sell its two Halls Peak silver project tenements, EL4474 and EL7679, in New South Wales, Australia, for up to A$665,800 to XS Resources Ltd. The sale will allow Force to solely focus on its lithium projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

* Catalyst Metals Ltd. will move to form an unincorporated joint venture with Navarre Minerals Ltd. over the Tandarra gold project in Victoria, Australia, after incurring an A$3 million spend within four years.

BULK COMMODITIES

* The European Union would take the U.S. to the World Trade Organization to settle a row over steel and aluminum tariffs and vowed to retaliate with additional duties on American imports. "We will defend the Union's interests, in full compliance with international trade law," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted as saying in a statement announcing that the WTO will launch proceedings against the U.S. on June 1.

* Outside the U.S., reactions to aluminum and steel tariffs against Canada, the European Union and Mexico were blistering as industry called the move counterproductive and governments announced plans to hit back. The Aluminum Association of Canada said that aluminum customers would suffer with higher prices under the tariffs that would knock back the competitiveness of North America's aluminum industry. Jim Beck, a spokesperson for Alcoa Corp., a large aluminum producer with operations in Canada, criticized the tariffs and described their target as misplaced. German Steel Federation President Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff condemned the move, calling on the EU to implement safeguard measures shielding steel firms from a diversion of trade flows that will see an increase of steel exports targeting the European market.

* Tata Steel Ltd.'s Dutch arm called on the European Union to protect the European market from a flood of cheap imports seeking new destinations in the wake of U.S.-imposed tariffs, Reuters reported.

* The U.S. plans to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Historically, these countries accounted for between a quarter and a third of seaborne U.S. steel and aluminum imports, according to data from Panjiva Inc., a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

* Rio Tinto was caught in the crossfire of the trade war between the U.S. and Canada, as the U.S.-based customers of the miner will now have to pay a 10% tariff on aluminum, The Australian Financial Review reported. Rio Tinto's Quebec and British Columbia smelters ship over US$2 billion per annum of aluminum to manufacturers in the U.S., accounting for more than half of Canadian sales.

* Rio Tinto completed the US$200 million sale of its 75% interest in the Winchester South coal project in Queensland, Australia, to Whitehaven Coal Ltd.

* Moody's said that tariffs on the steel and aluminum imports from the EU, Canada and Mexico may boost some domestic metal products, but the move will likely hurt the U.S. economy, Reuters wrote.

* The U.S. Treasury Department extended the deadline for investors to divest stakes in sanctioned Russian companies, including En+ Group PLC and United Co. Rusal PLC, to Aug. 5 from the previous June 6 deadline, Reuters reported. The companies were included on a U.S. sanctions list in April for allegedly profiting from malign activities of the Russian government. Meanwhile, En+ Chairman Greg Barker told Reuters that he asked the U.S. Treasury for an extension before trading restrictions come into force while developing a plan to meet U.S. requirements to lift the sanctions against Rusal and En+.

* Port Waratah Coal Services Ltd. scrapped plans for a A$5 billion coal terminal at the world's biggest coal port in Newcastle, opting to allow the lease to lapse in 2019 and save around A$100 million in land lease fees, ABC reported May 31. Hennie du Plooy, CEO of Port Waratah, said the company consulted with various industry shareholders and concluded that the existing terminals' capacity, including potential expansion options, is likely to be sufficient to cater for future growth in coal exports.

* A pre-feasibility study for BCI Minerals Ltd.'s Mardie salt project in Western Australia outlined a pretax net present value, discounted at 10%, of A$335 million, an internal rate of return of 20%, and a payback period of five years after the start of production.

* ASX hopeful Trigg Mining Ltd. postponed plans for an IPO after failing to raise a minimum of A$4 million from investors, The West Australian reported. The aspiring potash producer attributed the move to "recent weakness in equity markets," adding that it would revisit plans when conditions improve.

* Centrex Metals Ltd.'s updated resource estimate for the Ardmore phosphate rock project in Queensland, Australia, increased to 16.2 million tonnes grading 27.8% phosphorus pentoxide, or P2O5, using a 16% P2O5 cut-off, partly due to a lower cut-off grade utilized based on the latest project information.

* Altech Chemicals Ltd. received Malaysian government approval for the manufacturing license for its proposed 4,500-tonne-per-annum high purity alumina plant in the country's Johor state.

* NLC India Ltd. and Indian state miner National Mineral Development Corp. Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia's Environmental Clean Technologies, for a collaboration in the research and development of the latter's two proprietary technologies, The Hindu reported.

* A proposed deal between Potash Ridge Corp. and Canada Coal Inc. for a potential collaboration over the former's Valleyfield Fertilizer Corp. unit has fallen through. The unit holds the Valleyfield potash property in Quebec.

SPECIALTY

* PJSC Alrosa's third auction in Israel received US$14.5 million in revenue from the sale of 112 gem-quality lots of special-size rough diamonds with a total weight of 1,824 carats.

* Bluejay Mining PLC plans to bring into production its Dundas mine in Greenland in 2019, which will be the highest-grade ilmenite project in the world, Mining Weekly reported. The project is said to host a resource of 96 million tonnes at 6.9% ilmenite.

* Triton Minerals Ltd. approved the development of the Ancuabe graphite project in Mozambique, following a positive definitive feasibility study in December 2017 and the completion of development and commercialization activity this year.

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