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EU prepares countermeasures against Trump's metal tariffs, Merkel says

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EU prepares countermeasures against Trump's metal tariffs, Merkel says

TOP NEWS

Merkel: EU preparing countermeasures against Trump's metal tariffs

Europe will implement countermeasures against U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum just like Canada, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview after the G-7 summit, Reuters reported. She said the EU is preparing countermeasures in line with World Trade Organization rules, and the planned action is to not "let ourselves be ripped off again and again." The German leader also said any talks about a trade bloc would have to include non-tariff barriers to trade as well as free access to public tenders.

South African union seeks higher minimum wage from gold miners

South Africa's Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union will demand a monthly minimum pay of 12,500 South African rand in upcoming wage negotiations with the country's major gold producers, Bloomberg News reported. AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa also called for better housing, maternity leave benefits and a five-day workweek. AMCU is the second-largest union at producers including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Sibanye Gold Ltd. and Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd.

Vale reaches US$700M cobalt streaming deal

Vale SA struck a US$700 million deal to sell future cobalt production from its Voisey's Bay nickel-copper-cobalt complex in Newfoundland and Labrador, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources. The move comes amid increased demand for cobalt, which is a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries, with prices more than tripling in the past two years.

BASE METALS

* Mitsubishi Materials Corp. President Akira Takeuchi will switch to the chairman role after the June 22 annual shareholders' meeting, and Executive Vice President Naoki Ono will assume the president position, Reuters reported. The management change comes after new disclosures of wrongdoing at the Naoshima copper smelter and refinery in western Japan. The company first announced in November 2017 that its subsidiaries falsified data about products, including parts for aircraft and automobiles.

* Manhattan Corp. Ltd. signed an option to earn up to 80% of the Joshua copper project in Chile from Helix Resources Ltd.

* The union at BHP Billiton Group's Escondida copper mine in Chile hopes to reach a deal on a new labor contract with the company, Reuters reported. "A favorable scenario has emerged for developing negotiations to reach a satisfactory agreement," the union said in a statement, noting higher copper prices.

* Pembridge Resources PLC agreed to receive US$30 million in prepayment financing from a leading global Japanese trading house through an off-take agreement for 125,000 tonnes of copper concentrate produced at the Minto mine in Canada's Yukon Territory.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Jaguar Mining Inc. said all underground mining activities at its Pilar and Turmalina gold mines in Brazil are back to normal following a 10-day national strike by truck drivers. The company expects some shipping and logistics issues to continue due to backlogs throughout the country. Jaguar will look to increase inventory stock levels where possible.

* Petropavlovsk PLC's second-largest shareholder, Sothic Capital, said a requisition by fellow shareholders CABS and Slevin to overhaul the gold miner's board of directors was "contrary to good corporate governance." Sothic, which owns 10.9% of the company, said such a move could damage the "significant value potential" of Petropavlovsk, and the lack of transparency surrounding the requisition had led to concerns over a strategy to take over Petropavlovsk "by stealth means at a discount."

* Ausmex Mining Group Ltd. launched a joint venture with Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd. unit Exco Resources (QLD) Pty. Ltd. on the historical gold mines collectively known as the Golden Mile project, adjacent to the Mount Freda mining lease that Ausmex also controls in Queensland, Australia.

* First Mining Gold Corp. kicked off a metallurgical study at its Springpole gold project in northwestern Ontario to determine an optimal flow sheet for the project. Results of the study will be incorporated into the preparation of a pre-feasibility study for Springpole that is expected to be completed in 2019.

* Just over three months after an earthquake cut power to the Porgera gold mine, putting a damper on production, Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. said that in early June, the supply of electricity to the mine had resumed to about 50% of pre-earthquake levels. Zijin also said it expects full power to be restored within six to eight weeks.

* An Ethiopian investment syndicate will acquire a 30% stake in KEFI Minerals PLC unit KEFI Minerals Ethiopia Ltd., which holds the company's interest in Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Co. Ltd. Following the syndicate's investment of US$30 million, it will own 23% of the Tulu Kapi gold project, with KEFI owning 54% and the Ethiopian government holding the remaining 23%.

* Harmony Gold said a worker was fatally injured in a fall-of-ground incident at its Bambanani gold mine in South Africa.

* A fifth body was recovered from the Cieneguita gold-silver complex in northern Mexico, where a tailings dam collapsed last week, Mining.com reported. Two other miners remain missing.

* Pasu Loharjun, Thailand's permanent secretary for industry, dismissed a rumor that the government was trying to pay Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. to end the latter's arbitration proceedings against Thailand in connection with company subsidiary Akara Resources PCL's Chatree gold mine in the country, Manager Daily reported.

BULK COMMODITIES

* The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is taking court action against Rio Tinto, former CEO Tom Albanese and former CFO Guy Elliott for delaying the write-downs of Mozambique coal assets, The Australian reported. The regulator claimed that Albanese and Elliott avoided a US$2.4 billion impairment over the coal assets by withholding negative information on reserves, valuation and coal transport options from the board's audit committee.

* Bellzone Mining PLC said it is in discussions to explore options to maximize the value of its major assets, including the Konta port and the Kalia iron ore project in Guinea.

* Investment management firm Elliott Capital Management wrote a letter to ThyssenKrupp AG's management asking them to improve the terms for the proposed steel joint venture with Tata Steel Ltd., Bloomberg News reported. According to Elliott, the current terms will reduce German conglomerate's value by about €1.9 billion.

* Swedish-Finnish steelmaker SSAB is looking into possibly closing a steel tube factory in Lappohja, Finland, to focus on other tube manufacturing sites in the country, Reuters reported. The facility employs 115 people, and the company plans to hold talks over reducing headcount at the site.

* The Trump administration pushed for the Central Arizona Project to stick with the Navajo coal-fired plant, but the water supplier chose to switch to solar power instead. CAP's board voted to sign a 20-year power purchase agreement with Origis Energy USA Inc. for 30 MW of solar generation capacity and associated energy from the project as well as a five-year agreement with Salt River Project for 35 MW of capacity and energy from a combination of Salt River Project's solar facilities.

* ArcelorMittal and Chicago-based LanzaTech Inc. kicked off a €150 million project to convert carbon gas to bioethanol. ArcelorMittal started construction in Ghent, Belgium, to house a new installation that will convert carbon-containing gas from its blast furnaces into bioethanol.

* The Chinese government told several large steel mills to increase their year-over-year import volumes of U.S. metallurgical coal as part of the country's attempts to narrow its significant trade deficit with the U.S., sources told S&P Global Platts. Ministry of Commerce officials have approached at least two steelmakers that have previously procured U.S. metallurgical coal and instructed them to procure more U.S. exports, sources close to the matter said.

* European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered U.S. President Donald Trump a joint assessment of EU-U.S. trade to help resolve a dispute over the steel and aluminum import tariffs that the EU believes is based on a misreading of trade data, Reuters reported.

* Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said the country will launch an antidumping probe into U.S. companies in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, Reuters reported, citing the Dogan news agency. "However the USA looks at our products, we will look at their products in the same way. We will launch important processes within a few days," Zeybekci was quoted as saying.

* An Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. unit and the Guinean government agreed to create a mining company that will hold licenses to the Boffa Nord and Boffa Sord bauxite projects in the African country. The project development cost is estimated at about US$706 million.

* According to the Financial Times, United Co. Rusal PLC will have difficulties maintaining its stake in PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. as U.S. sanctions threaten Rusal's debt deal with Sberbank, for which it used a 25% Norilsk Nickel stake as collateral. Rusal holds about a 27.8% shareholding in Norilsk Nickel.

* Ncondezi Energy Ltd. said its potential partners for the joint development of its 300-MW power and coal mine project in Mozambique accepted the proposed integrated financial model for submission to Electricidade de Moçambique EP and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy.

* Harvest Minerals Ltd. signed a sales contract for an initial order of 50,000 tonnes of its multinutrient natural fertilizer and remineralizer, KPfértil, produced at its Arapua fertilizer project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The company is also looking to raise about £9 million through a common share placement to fund the expansion of Arapua's production capabilities.

SPECIALTY

* Pallinghurst Resources Ltd. generated record revenues of US$71.8 million from the auction of rough rubies held in Singapore by its wholly owned unit Gemfields Ltd. The company sold 95% of the 86 lots offered at an average price of US$122 per carat.

* BlueRock Diamonds PLC expects production at its Kareevlei diamond mine in South Africa to be suspended for 10 days as repairs are conducted on the cone crusher within the crushing circuit. The company expects improved capacity following repairs.

* De Beers SA awarded a transportation contract for its Venetia diamond mine in South Africa, valued at between 600 million rand and 700 million rand, to six local black economic empowerment partners, Mining Weekly reported. De Beers is investing US$2 billion in an underground project to extend the mine life to 2045.

* PJSC Alrosa's diamond sales reached US$288.0 million in May, down from US$405.3 million in April. Yuri Okoyomov, Alrosa's deputy CEO, said there was a planned sales decline in May driven by the sale of accumulated inventories and a seasonal drop in current output.

* Between 3,000 and 5,000 protesters hailing from Spain, Portugal and France rallied over the weekend against the construction of Berkeley Energia Ltd.'s Salamanca uranium mine in Spain, Mining.com reported, citing local news sources. The protesters said uranium exploitation in Salamanca would have serious environmental effects.

* A key Mineral Deposits Ltd. shareholder is not too impressed with a A$291 million offer made by Eramet in April, Reuters reported. "At this stage we are not inclined to accept Eramet's current bid of A$1.46 per share," Simon Mawhinney, chief investment officer at Allan Gray Australia, told the newswire. Allan Gray Australia holds a 13.4% stake in Mineral Deposits.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* The Brisbane Supreme Court in Queensland, Australia, ordered Clive Palmer to hand over a list of his personal assets within 30 days as part of the ongoing case with Queensland Nickel liquidators, The Australian reported. The list is required to have his percentage in the assets and their value and location.

* U.S. President Donald Trump said the trade partners "have no choice" but to agree to the country's terms and confirmed that he pushed for a tariff-free G-7 as he left the summit early. "No tariffs, no barriers and no subsidies. That's the way it should be," he said.

* The Democratic Republic of the Congo Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala signed a regulation to implement the country's new mining code into law with no changes, Reuters reported, citing advisers to the prime minister. "The decree fully implements the mining code promulgated by the President of the Republic in March," said the premier's legal counsel, Anita Lwambwa, confirming that none of the mining industry's recommendations were included.

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