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Trump orders aluminum, steel tariffs; Mexico, Canada initially exempted

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Insight Weekly: US stock performance; banks' M&A risk; COVID-19 vaccine makers' earnings

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Insight Weekly: LNG exports surge; investors unfazed by inflation; neobanks drive VC funding

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Essential Metals Mining Insights November 2021

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[Infographic]: 2021 World Exploration Trends


Trump orders aluminum, steel tariffs; Mexico, Canada initially exempted

TOP NEWS

Trump orders aluminum, steel tariffs; Mexico, Canada initially exempted

President Donald Trump signed orders enacting tariffs of 25% on global steel imports and 10% on aluminum, pledging to boost American production and security. The move was hailed by some U.S. steel producers but left some industries and Republican lawmakers concerned about adverse effects on U.S. companies that rely on imported steel and aluminum that could lead to job losses. The tariffs initially will not apply to imports of steel and aluminum from Mexico and Canada. The U.S. invited all countries that will be affected to negotiate tariff exclusions, and the EU and Australian governments are hopeful of securing exemptions. The EU warned that it would approach the World Trade Organization in 90 days "to protect our industry with rebalancing measures, safeguards" if its products are not exempted, EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said.

S&P raises metals price assumptions again amid prospects of improved demand

S&P Global Ratings again raised its price assumptions for copper, nickel, zinc and iron ore, seeing prospects of stronger demand ahead coupled with supply constraints in the coming two to three years. From estimates released in December 2017, S&P now expects 2018 copper prices of US$6,400 per tonne, US$12,000/t of nickel, US$3,200/t of zinc and US$65/t of iron ore.

Rio Tinto's Australian coal mines may receive US$2.5B of bids

Sources familiar with the bidding told Reuters that bids for Rio Tinto's stakes in the Hail Creek and Kestrel coal mines in Queensland, Australia, could reach up to US$2.5 billion, with at least three bidders expected to submit final offers by the March 12 deadline.

DIVERSIFIED

* Royal Dutch Shell plc and private equity firm Blackstone Group LP agreed to work together for a joint US$10 billion bid for BHP Billiton Group's U.S. shale assets, Sky News reported. If successful, the bid would mark the largest takeover Shell has been involved in since its purchase of BG Group in 2016.

* Thor Mining PLC decided to focus on its Pilot Mountain tungsten-silver-copper project, Molyhil tungsten-molybdenum project and Kapunda copper project following a strategic business review.

* Rio Tinto shareholder Australasian Center for Corporate Responsibility expressed disappointment over the mining giant's decision to hear a certain resolution in its annual general meeting in Australia and not in London, the Financial Times wrote. ACCR co-authored the resolution that will force the company to review its membership of industry associations.

BASE METALS

* Roman Abramovich's Crispian Investment Ltd. conditionally agreed to sell a 4% interest in PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co. to Vladimir Potanin's Whiteleave Holdings Ltd. and United Co. Rusal Plc, Reuters reported, citing a lawyer for Rusal. The share transfer, however, will be reversed if Rusal wins the court ruling in the dispute. Potanin is expected to complete the purchase of a 2% stake in Norilsk from Abramovich in the week of March 12.

* Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. booked a consolidated net loss of 1.97 billion Philippine pesos in 2017, rising from a loss of 879 million pesos in 2016, despite improved underlying earnings. The company attributed the increased losses to market losses for copper price hedges and interest on certain loans.

* Sadique Kebonang, Botswana's minister of minerals, confirmed that the government paid Norilsk Nickel US$45 million to settle a dispute relating to state-owned BCL Mine's withdrawal from a deal to acquire a 50% stake in the Nkomati nickel mine in South Africa from the Russian miner, Reuters reported.

* S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis points to zinc exploration in Australia rising in line with the rest of the world in 2018, but juniors and analysts believe that the closet is bare as far as decent brownfields opportunities go and greenfields are too risky.

* Despite sharply higher mined copper production in the final quarter of 2017, S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates that the annual total slipped to 19.85 million tonnes, down 1.9% from 2016 levels. The Metals and Mining Research team expects the recent improvement in mined production to continue and forecasts global mined copper output to reach 20.41 million tonnes this year.

* Glencore PLC unit Glencore Canada Corp. signed a deal to supply Noranda Income Fund with all of its zinc concentrate requirements and purchase the fund's zinc metal for four years ending April 30, 2022.

* A Swedish court rejected charges brought against Boliden AB over the export of industrial waste to Chile in the 1980s, Reuters reported. The company was sued in 2013 for about 100 million Swedish kronor.

* Codelco's Ventanas division plans to invest US$9 million in its furnace maintenance works as part of the company's 2018 maintenance plan, which will take 29 days of nonstop work starting the first week of March, Minería Chilena reported.

* Also, Codelco received environmental approval to build a US$1 billion desalination plant to supply water to its operations in Chile's northern region, allowing the miner to expand its Radomiro Tomic copper project in the country and advance its investment plan, Reuters wrote.

* Aura Minerals Inc. secured a US$20 million loan facility from Louis Dreyfus Co. Metals for the restart of its Aranzazu copper mine operations in Mexico.

* Puma Exploration Inc. signed an option agreement to allow Rio Tinto unit Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. to acquire its Red Brook zinc project in New Brunswick for C$1 million.

* Freeport-McMoRan Inc. unit PT Freeport Indonesia is still open to developing a smelter in Sumbawa in Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara province even though it has officially submitted a US$2.2 billion proposal to develop a smelter inside the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate in Gresik by 2022, The Jakarta Post reported.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Japanese trading firm Hanwa Co. Ltd. will acquire about a 9.76% stake in the Waterberg platinum group metal-copper-nickel joint venture in South Africa from JOGMEC after winning a public tender held Feb. 23. The parties are now set to start negotiations over the terms of the acquisition.

* Several of the top 10 gold miners had lower production in the December 2017 quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, ranging from a decline of 1% by Newcrest Mining Ltd. to a 15% drop by Goldcorp Inc.

* Pretium Resources Inc. incurred a net loss of US$2.7 million, or 1 cent per share, in the fourth quarter of 2017, narrowing from a loss of US$8.6 million in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the company reduced its net loss of US$61.2 million in full-year 2016 to US$16.5 million in full-year 2017.

* Detour Gold Corp. swung to net earnings of US$16.7 million and US$88.2 million in fourth quarter and full year 2017, respectively, from year-ago net losses of US$13.5 million and US$6.9 million.

* LeaGold Mining Corp. produced 53,446 ounces of gold at the Los Filos gold mine at an all-in sustaining cost of US$918 per ounce in the fourth quarter. Full-year 2017 production, meanwhile, amounted to 191,195 ounces, meeting the midpoint of its guidance of between 185,000 and 200,000 ounces.

* Santa Fe Gold Corp. said an independent study defined a value of US$839 million for the Alhambra property, one of the historical mines in New Mexico it recently acquired.

* Coeur Mining Inc. kicked off production at its Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine in British Columbia following the successful commissioning of mill operations.

* Stonewall Resources Ltd. increased by 215% the total Vaalhoek resource, part of the larger TGME gold project in South Africa, to 791,000 ounces of gold contained in 3.3 million tonnes grading 7.46 g/t gold, after it released a maiden open cut resource for the mine.

BULK COMMODITIES

* South Korea is considering filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the U.S. if it is not exempted from the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, The Korea Herald reported. The Chinese Commerce Ministry joined the chorus of critics against the tariffs, calling it "destruction of the multilateral trade system" backed by the WTO that would have a "serious impact" on global trade, The Washington Post reported.

* France will work with its EU partners to assess the impact the U.S. tariffs will have on their industries, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted.

* China's Tangshan city will extend restrictions on steel mills' output to Nov. 14 after current limits expire next week as the city government continues to work toward curbing air pollution, Reuters wrote, citing the Tangshan Iron and Steel Association.

* Under recently issued regulations, the Indonesian government capped domestic coal prices for power stations at US$70 per tonne for two years, Reuters reported, citing energy ministry spokesman Agung Pribadi.

* Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp.'s full-year 2017 net income doubled to C$157.3 million, from C$78.2 million in 2016, as revenue increased 38% to C$158.6 million.

* Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. accepted for purchase US$446.9 million aggregate principal amount of 2022 notes following the close of the early participation date of the previously announced offer.

* Kobe Steel Ltd. plans to appoint Mitsugu Yamaguchi, the head of its machinery business, as president and CEO to replace Hiroya Kawasaki, who announced his resignation in connection with the data fabrication scandal, Reuters reported.

* South Africa Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe is seeking the quick resolution of the business rescue process of the Optimum coal mine, owned by the Gupta family, which has links to deposed President Jacob Zuma, Reuters reported.

* The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility claimed Rio Tinto is denying its U.K. investors an opportunity to vote on a motion that would force the company to review its membership of industry associations that support fossil fuels, the Financial Times reported.

* Administrators for BSG Resources Ltd. said they would work to return the miner to solvency and pay creditors in full after it entered into voluntary administration to guard itself against legal disputes associated with the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, Reuters reported.

SPECIALTY

* Magnis Resources Ltd. restructured its Nachu graphite project on the back of changes to Tanzania's mining legislation in 2017 and amended its special economic zone license with the government.

* American Lithium Corp. signed a deal to acquire the lithium-prospective Gap-Lode project in Nevada by purchasing owner 1134989 B.C. Ltd. for 6 million common shares.

* The Chilean Nuclear Energy Commission approved a request by Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA to increase its lithium extraction quota in the Atacama salt flats, Diario Financiero reported. The lithium miner is now allowed to produce 216,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2025, from the current limit of 45,000 tonnes.

* Argentina Lithium & Energy Corp. will acquire its third lithium brine project by applying for approximately 9,000 hectares of mining claims in the north end of the Salar de Antofalla in Argentina's Salta province.

* Canada Carbon Inc. is filing a C$96 million lawsuit against the municipality of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge in Quebec and members of its council, alleging that the council acted in bad faith regarding the development of the company's Miller graphite mine and marble quarry.

* Rogue Resources Inc. formed a strategic partnership with Ed Seguin & Sons Trucking and Paving Ltd. and SCR Mining and Tunneling LP for the development of the Snow White silica/quartz project in Ontario.

* MGX Minerals Inc. is partnering with Light Metals International Inc. and Orion Laboratories LLC to develop and commercialize a new process for extracting hard-rock lithium from spodumene concentrate.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Canada's largest provincial economy faces the "threat of a zombie NAFTA" and uncertain growth given the Trump administration's push for protectionist trade policies, Ontario Minister of Finance Charles Sousa said.

S&P Global Ratings and S&P Global Market Intelligence 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.