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G7 members slam Trump's metal tariffs

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G7 members slam Trump's metal tariffs

TOP NEWS

G7 members slam Trump's metal tariffs

G7 finance leaders asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to convey their "unanimous concern and disappointment" over the 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs that the U.S. imposed on Mexico, Canada and the European Union, Reuters reported. Finance leaders from Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy and Japan made the comment in a joint statement following a three-day meeting of G7 finance leaders in Canada. The group also called for "decisive action" at the G7 summit scheduled to take place in Quebec June 8 and 9.

Fortescue looking to expand beyond iron ore, says CEO

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. is working toward expanding its mining base beyond iron ore, as well as establish its presence in both Argentina and Ecuador, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing CEO Elizabeth Gaines. The chief executive said she is "optimistic" about the future of copper due to its growing use in electric vehicles, with countries like Argentina and Ecuador both prospective for copper-gold, as well as lithium in the former.

DRC Supreme Court rejects Glencore's challenge to move Kamoto dissolution case

The Supreme Court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo rejected Glencore PLC's challenge that a commercial court is not competent to hear a petition to dissolve the company's Kamoto Copper Co. SARL unit brought by its partner and state miner Gecamines SA, Reuters reported citing a lawyer representing the state miner.

BASE METALS

* Hammer Metals Ltd. terminated an option allowing a unit of Newmont Mining Corp. to earn up to a 75% interest in a 250-square-kilometer area, in the Mount Isa copper project in Queensland, Australia.

* Sandfire Resources NL is set to acquire the remaining 30% stake in the Monty copper-gold project in Western Australia from joint venture partner Talisman Mining Ltd., The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk reported. The deal is said to be worth around A$70 million, the report added.

* Unionized workers at BHP Billiton Group's Escondida copper mine in Chile started another round of contract negotiations with the miner, Reuters reported. The union is demanding a one-time bonus of US$34,000 per worker and a 5% increase in salaries.

* Weatherly International PLC appointed Simon Kirkhope and Andrew Johnson of FTI Consulting LLP as administrators to the company. The company also terminated the formal sale process initiated in late April, when it announced a strategic review. Additionally, the company said it remains uncertain regarding the resumption of operations at its Tschudi copper mine in Namibia due to a recent increase in groundwater inflow at the site.

* Galileo Resources Plc conceptual grade and tonnage estimate at its Star Zinc project in Zambia pegged a potential exploration target of 485,000 tonnes at 15.4% zinc, at a 3% zinc cutoff. It represents an 80% increase in tonnes and a 14% increase in grade compared to the 2015 model.

* U.K.-listed Antofagasta PLC paid taxes and fees amounting to US$316.8 million in Chile and US$206,000 in the U.S. in 2017, Mining Weekly reported.

* Production at Nexa Resources SA's Tres Marias zinc smelter in Brazil's Minas Gerais state has returned to normal levels. Output at the smelter was partially affected due to interruptions in supply of raw materials resulting from a nationwide strike by truck drivers in the country.

* Bass Metals Ltd. terminated a previously agreed terms sheet to sell all of its tenements and mining-related interests in Tasmania, Australia, to NQ Minerals PLC, by mutual consent. Bass is now in the process of appointing advisers to run a formal sale process with interested parties.

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

* Afritin Mining Ltd. appointed a local contractor for phase one construction of plant civil works at its flagship Uis tin mine in Namibia. Construction is scheduled to complete in the third quarter.

* BMR Group PLC has agreed to pay up to US$800,000 to Blue Square Minerals Ltd. as compensation for work to secure restoration of a small-scale mining license of the company, and corporate advisory and technical support services related to the Kabwe zinc project in Zambia.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Union workers of a transportation contractor company in Mexico on June 1 blocked access to Goldcorp Inc.'s Penasquito gold mine in Zacatecas state. Protesters demand the company to agree to an indefinite delivery contract, said the company in a statement, daily La Jornada reported.

* Junefield Group SA subsidiary Ecuagoldmining South America SA was ordered to stop operations at its Rio Blanco gold-silver project in Ecuador following an order from a judge in the Cuenca province, Mining.com reported. The judge gave the order after an organization representing 12 ethnic groups from the Kichwa nation, Ecuarunari, said the company did not seek consent from the local people before starting development.

* Shanghai Pengxin Group Co. Ltd. subsidiary Pengxin International Mining Co. Ltd. is in advanced talks to purchase the Martabe gold-silver mine in Indonesia, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. The deal is estimated to fetch about US$1.5 billion for the EMR Capital Group-led consortium.

* Shanta Gold Ltd. estimated a JORC-compliant mineral resource at its Singida gold project in central Tanzania of 12.3 million tonnes at 1.84 g/t gold containing 725,000 ounces. The measured and indicated resource increased 12% to 381,000 contained ounces.

* Pasu Loharjun, who heads the committee focused on settling the dispute between Thailand and Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd., said the Australian firm recently submitted a statement of claim over the shutdown of its Thai unit Akara Resources PCL to arbitration, Thai Rath reported. Loharjun said the two sides still have the opportunity to enter negotiations to resolve the dispute, adding that a tribunal will eventually side with the Thai government.

* Sunrise Resources PLC signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with a second potential customer for future sales of perlite from its CS pozzolan-perlite project in Nevada.

* Cora Gold Ltd.'s drilling north of Zone B further extended the mineralized strike at the Sanankoro gold discovery in southern Mali to about 5.2 kilometers.

* A worker was killed at Sibanye Gold Ltd.'s Driefontein gold operations in South Africa due to a fall-of-ground incident, said the National Union of Mineworkers. The union said the fatalities occurring at the company's operations are "totally unacceptable."

BULK COMMODITIES

* Maxim Sokov resigned as president and executive director of En+ Group PLC, the controlling shareholder of United Co. Rusal PLC.

* Kommersant and Vedomosti reported that Rusal will be allowed to become resident in special administrative regions with special tax and currency regimes, which are planned to be created on the Russian islands of Russkiy, near Vladivostok, and Oktyabrskiy, near Kaliningrad.

* Lamêlée Iron Ore Ltd. received conditional approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange for a proposed reverse takeover of Aura Health Corp., after which it will exit from the mining sector.

* The European Union will not return to negotiations with the U.S. to settle a row over steel and aluminum tariffs, as the bloc opened a case at the World Trade Organization and began formulating retaliatory measures.

* German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said the U.S. government could face pressure to exempt some German-made steel imports from tariffs as U.S. companies that are dependent on these special steel products would have to raise prices, Reuters reported.

* A spokesman for Mitsui & Co. Ltd. confirmed that the Japanese company will keep its stake in the Kestrel coal mine in Queensland, Australia, even after Rio Tinto completes the sale of its 80% interest in the project, Reuters reported.

* Philippe Darmayan, the head of ArcelorMittal's French division, called on for quotas and safeguards to protect the European steel industry in the wake of the U.S. government's decision to impose aluminum and steel tariffs, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine AG said the impact from the import tariffs would be manageable, but urged the EU to act quickly to protect its firms.

* Coal mines developer Aspire Mining Ltd. said a feasibility study on the Erdenet to Ovoot rail project pegged an equity net present value after tax of US$276 million, based on a discount rate of 8%, and an aftertax internal rate of return of 8%.

* Tata Chemicals Ltd. completed the sale of its phosphate fertilizers business, and the bulk and non-bulk fertilizers trading business to Indorama Holdings BV unit IRC Agrochemicals Private Ltd. for 8.73 billion Indian rupees. Tata Chemicals intends to focus on specialty chemicals and consumer foods, while maintaining leadership in the inorganic chemicals business.

* Ferrum Crescent Ltd. will start trading on the ASX as well as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under its new name, Europa Metals Ltd., effective June 5 under the code EUZ.

* A recent report from BMI Research showed that China, India and the U.S. will remain the largest thermal coal consumers, while China, India and Russia will continue as the largest consumers of coking coal through 2027, Mining Weekly wrote.

* A coal mine collapse resulting from a gas explosion in Pakistan's Balochistan province killed four workers, Mining.com reported, citing local media reports. Nine people were said to be working at the site at the time of the explosion, of which six got trapped while only two were rescued.

* Brazil's iron ore export volumes jumped 11.01% year over year to 38.98 million tonnes in May, Metal Bulletin reported, citing figures released by the country's foreign trade ministry, MDIC.

SPECIALTY

* Nutrien Ltd. auctioned its remaining stake in Chilean lithium miner Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA for nearly US$1 billion, Reuters reported. The 20,166,319 B SQM shares were sold on Chile's IPSA stock exchange for 31,000 Chilean pesos, or US$49.05 per share.

* Eramet is set to meet major shareholders in Mineral Deposits Ltd. as it kicks off its takeover bid for the Australian mineral sands producer, The Australian Financial News reported. Earlier in May, Mineral Deposits recommended its shareholders to reject Eramet's about A$291 million off-market takeover offer.

* Mkango Resources Ltd. started a 5,000-meter diamond drilling program at its Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi as part of the ongoing feasibility study, funded by Noble Group Ltd. unit Talaxis Ltd.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* As part of new measures aimed at further tightening control of the mining industry, large-scale mining licenses in Tanzania will only be issued following cabinet approval, Reuters reported, citing Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Palamagamba Kabudi. According to the report, the country delegated the issuance of large-scale project licenses to a newly appointed mining commission, which succeeds the authority of its mining ministry.

* Peru's Mining Ministry informed that it added 54 new exploration projects totaling US$306.5 million to its portfolio. The list includes projects that will be developed during this year only, news agency Andina reported.

* COSCO Shipping Holdings Co. Ltd. will construct and operation a port on the Pacific coast of Peru in the town of Chancay, with an investment of US$2 billion, Reuters reported, citing China's ambassador to Peru.

* China warned the U.S. that any trade deals between the two countries will be invalid if the U.S. implements tariffs and other trade measures, Xinhua News Agency reported.

* Australia's mining sector is on track to record its biggest and most active year of mergers and acquisitions for the fiscal year that will end June 30, with about US$12 billion worth of transactions since July 1, 2017, according to data compiled by The Australian.

* Zimbabwe's parliament passed amendments to the mining bill, removing a requirement for foreign mining companies to list locally, Reuters reported.

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