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Rio Tinto seeks protection of trade secrets amid US probe

TOP NEWS

Rio Tinto seeks protection of trade secrets amid U.S. investigation

Rio Tinto requested the protection of its trade secrets from the public eye during the SEC investigation into fraud allegations related to the acquisition of the Riversdale coal mine in Mozambique, The Australian Financial Review reported. The company's lawyers filed a request for a protective order in a New York court in a bid to stop the disclosure of its documents submitted as part of the case. The request was also signed by the SEC's lawyers.

Kobe Steel facing lawsuit from US consumers

Kobe Steel Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corp. are facing a lawsuit from its U.S. consumers for allegedly violating consumer protection laws and engaging in fraud by concealing the use of substandard metal components in vehicles, Reuters reported. This comes after Hiroya Kawasaki resigned as the CEO, president and chairman of Kobe Steel and Akira Kaneko stepped down as the company's executive vice president over a data fabrication scandal that affected some of Japan's biggest automakers and bullet train operators.

Report: Glencore in talks to sell quarter of cobalt output to Chinese firm

Glencore Plc is negotiating a one-year deal with Chinese firm GEM for the sale of about a quarter of its cobalt production, Reuters reported, citing sources. The price and volume are still being discussed, the source noted.

DIVERSIFIED

* Lawyers for Rio Tinto, former CEO Tom Albanese and former CFO Guy Elliott filed a consolidation motion to have recent U.S. SEC fraud charges against them dismissed, London's Financial Times reported. The charges were filed October 2017, with the commission accusing the parties of violating the reporting, books and records, and internal controls provisions of federal securities laws related to an acquisition of coal assets in Mozambique.

BASE METALS

* An uptick in pricing and investor sentiment drove an increase in Russian miner PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co.'s revenue in 2017, which grew by 11% year over year to US$9.15 billion. Net profit tumbled 16% to US$2.12 billion, impacted by increased cash costs linked to the appreciation of the Russian ruble against the dollar.

* Finland's Ahtium Oyj, formerly known as Talvivaara Mining Co. Plc, filed for bankruptcy after failing to turn profits from current projects and secure financing to acquire new ones.

* Nanjing Hanrui Cobalt Co. Ltd., which produced one-third of China's cobalt powder in 2017, is looking to acquire cobalt projects to improve its self-sufficiency in raw materials amid rising cobalt prices, Chairman Liang Jiankun said.

* Auroch Minerals Ltd. signed binding agreements to acquire a 90% interest in the Arden zinc project and 100% of the Bonaventura zinc project, both in South Australia.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Silver Range Resources Ltd. optioned the expanded South Kitikmeot gold project in Nunavut, Canada, to Amaroq Gold Corp., allowing the latter to purchase the project in exchange for cash and share payments spread over five years. South Kitikmeot covers the Esker Lake, Gold Bugs, Qannituq, Uist, Ujaraq, Hiqiniq and Bling prospects.

* Mining Forum SA threatened to block Lonmin Plc's 5.1 billion South African rand takeover by Sibanye Gold Ltd., alleging the platinum producer failed to fulfill its mandatory license obligations, Fin24 reported.

* MacPhersons Resources Ltd. posted a 118% increase in the contained resource at its Boorara gold project in Western Australia, to 507,000 ounces.

* As a resource investing destination, Canada is losing sway to the U.S., Franco-Nevada Corp. President and CEO David Harquail said. In a Q&A session with S&P Global Market Intelligence, Harquail railed against regulation in Canada and praised the relative ease of making some investments in the U.S.

* Rumble Resources Ltd. signed a binding option with Stonevale Enterprises Pty. Ltd. to acquire up to 80% of the Nemesis gold project in Western Australia, covering 141.6 hectares.

* Adam Travis, who along with his family owns approximately a 5.2% interest in Colorado Resources Ltd., is seeking the reorganization of the company's board. Travis nominated Patrick Soares, Bryan Wilson, Christian Kargl-Simard, Michael Cathro and himself for election to the company's board.

* Russia's gold output in 2018 is expected to increase by 3% year over year to 328 tonnes, Reuters wrote, citing the Gold Industrialists' Union.

BULK COMMODITIES

* The Australian Securities and Investments Commission claimed Rio Tinto knew within months of completing the Riversdale deal that its coal resource estimate for the new Mozambique asset was "materially" overstated, The Australian Financial Review wrote. The Australian regulator alleged that the coal resources and reserves that Rio released in March 2012 were 67% lower than what the company had estimated in the due diligence assessments.

* Rio Tinto will cut up to 200 jobs at the Brockman 4 and Marandoo iron ore mines in Western Australia's Pilbara region by early 2019 as the company's automated truck fleets come online, The West Australian reported. A company spokesperson did not deny the claim.

* A Brazilian court struck down Norsk Hydro ASA's appeal to restart full operations at its Alunorte alumina refinery in the country due to possible environmental damage, Reuters reported. The company was seeking an injunction against a directive to cut the refinery's output by 50%.

* Sirius Minerals Plc is seeking US$2 billion in debt guaranteed by the U.K. government to advance its Woodsmith potash project in the country, saying the funds are important to its financial plan, the Financial Times reported.

* BHP Billiton Group CEO Andrew Mackenzie vowed to ramp up spending in Australia from a possible A$25 billion pipeline "within months" if the country moves to cut corporate tax, The Australian reported. Meanwhile, BlueScope Steel Ltd. CEO Mark Vassella said the group was likely to make additional investments in the country if the tax rate was lower.

* Moody's upgraded India's JSW Steel Ltd.'s corporate family rating and senior unsecured debt rating to Ba2 and Ba3, respectively, assigning a stable outlook to the ratings. The rating agency attributed the move to the company's improving credit metrics owing to higher steel sales amid rising demand in India.

* Itochu Corp. signed a deal with Vitrinite to develop a new coking coal mine in Queensland's Bowen Basin, The Australian Financial Review reported. Vitrinite said the deal will allow the company to develop a feasibility study and business case for the mine in preparation for starting construction.

* A government official said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called U.S. President Donald Trump on March 5 and "forcefully defended" the country's interests amid looming tariffs from the U.S. government, Reuters reported. One of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's economic advisers said the country could retaliate against the steel tariffs by upping duties on cotton imports from the U.S.

* As Australia's miners brace themselves for the impact of the U.S. president's decision to tax steel imports, Gina Rinehart, executive chairman of Roy Hill Holdings Pty. Ltd., has praised Donald Trump, who she said could teach a thing or two to local politicians as industry red tape concerns gather pace.

* South African steel and aluminum producers remain uncertain about the impact of trade tariffs by the U.S. on their businesses, but the companies said they will seek to mitigate the risk via export diversification, Mining Weekly reported.

* Goldman Sachs said the proposed tariffs risk damaging the country's economy through higher raw material costs and weigh on the economies of allies Canada, Mexico and the EU, ironically easing the economic impact to China and Russia, Bloomberg News reported, citing a report by the New York-based bank.

* Malaysia extended its ban on bauxite mining to June 30 to finalize mining regulations for the commodity, Reuters reported, citing the country's natural resources and environment minister, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

* India's Supreme Court directed Vedanta Ltd. to approach the additional city civil and session judge and special judge for CBI cases at Bangalore for the release of the group's 34,544 tonnes of iron ore, which were seized on claims that Vedanta engaged in illegal mining. This sets aside a previous ruling of the Karnataka high court that allowed the release of iron ore to the company, Mint reported.

* China Magnesium Corp. Ltd. secured the rights to use a proprietary technology for the production of high-purity magnesium lithium alloys through a cooperation deal with Xi'an Nonferrous Metallurgical Design and Research Institute.

* The European Commission extended existing anti-dumping duties of between 48.3% and 71.9% on imports of Chinese seamless, stainless steel tube and pipe for another five years, Metal Bulletin reported.

* The Thai Supreme Court ordered coal miner Banpu PCL to pay 1.5 billion Thai baht in compensation to former partner Siva Nganthavee for the use of information about the Hongsa coal-fired power plant in Laos, the Bangkok Post wrote. Businessman Siva claimed Banpu used information gained from their partnership to misinform the Lao government, resulting in the termination of their contract.

SPECIALTY

* Anglo American Plc's rough diamond sales in the second cycle of this year for its De Beers SA unit slipped to a provisional US$555 million, from US$672 million in the first sales cycle. Sales in the second sales cycle of 2017 totaled US$553 million.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed an alarming drop in greenfields exploration, where the future tier-one deposits are likely to be found, though S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis revealed that Australia tops the world in overall exploration spend.

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