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Fortescue takes up 19.9% stake in Atlas Iron

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Fortescue takes up 19.9% stake in Atlas Iron

TOP NEWS

Fortescue takes up 19.9% stake in Atlas Iron

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. has secured a 19.9% stake in Atlas Iron Ltd. by acquiring 15% of the latter's common shares at 4 Australian cents apiece, and another 4.9% through a cash-settled swap relating to notional shares. The company added that it will not support the proposed all-share play for Atlas by Mineral Resources Ltd.

More Australian aluminum could head to US: experts

Australia could end up sending more aluminum to the U.S. following the Trump administration's decision to lift temporary exemptions on tariffs for the European Union, Canada and Mexico, according to Wood Mackenzie's aluminum research head and the Australian government. Wood Mackenzie's London-based head of aluminum markets research, Uday Patel, told S&P Global Market Intelligence that "we may see more metal coming from Australia into the U.S." due to remaining exemptions that apply to Australia, but much will depend on the economics.

Glencore, partner looking to bag Chevron's South African oil assets in US$900M deal

Glencore PLC and Off The Shelf Investments Fifty Six (RF) Pty. Ltd. are in the running to purchase Chevron Corp.'s South African assets in a 50/50 joint deal estimated to be worth US$900 million, a source familiar with the matter told S&P Global Market Intelligence.

BASE METALS

* One of the key shareholders of Nevsun Resources Ltd., Adrian Day Asset Management, urged the miner to enter "good-faith negotiations with any suitor," regarding a proposed takeover, Reuters reported. Nevsun recently rejected a C$1.5 billion joint bid from Lundin Mining Corp. and Euro Sun Mining Inc. saying it did not value the company appropriately and was structured in a way that was "highly problematic."

* Separately, an environmental tribunal in Chile rejected a claim filed by Lundin's Candelaria copper mine in northern Chile against a November 2016 sanction by environmental regulator SMA over a series of breaches of its environmental permit. As a result, the court ordered the company to pay a fine of about 2.8 billion Chilean pesos, daily El Mercurio reported.

* Metals X Ltd. expects to achieve the targeted production rate at its Nifty copper mine in Western Australia of 40,000 tonnes per annum by the end of the year despite the delay in timing of production ramp up. In the September quarter, the company is targeting a production rate of 35,000 tonnes per annum.

* The Michilla copper mine will resume operations in the first quarter of 2019, said José Miguel Ibáñez, general manager of Haldeman Mining Co. SA, which acquired the mine in 2016 for US$52 million from Antofagasta PLC. The project already received the environmental permit and now needs to obtain specific sector permits, Ibáñez said, daily El Mercurio de Antofagasta reported.

* Clive Palmer claimed that his Queensland-based companies own a combined A$6 billion of cobalt in tailings which contain 69,000 tonnes of contained metal, Australian Mining reported.

PRECIOUS METALS

* Members of the Gull Bay First Nation agreed to end the blockade of the Lac des Iles palladium mine in Ontario after reaching an agreement with North American Palladium Ltd. The parties will further negotiate a more detailed participation agreement in the near future.

* Meanwhile, Goldcorp Inc. signed an impact benefit agreement with three First Nation communities in northern Ontario for development of its Borden Lake project, which is set to contribute ore to its Porcupine mill starting in 2019.

* A preliminary economic assessment for Deer Horn Capital Inc.'s namesake gold-silver-tellurium project in British Columbia pegged an after-tax net present value of C$36.5 million at a 5% discount rate, and an internal rate of return of 42%.

* Jubilee Metals Group PLC said its Hernic platinum-chrome tailings project in South Africa achieved record production of 2,101 ounces of platinum group metals in May, taking the total for second quarter's first two months to 3,972 ounces. Meanwhile, the first PGM material delivery under an April agreement with Northam Platinum Ltd. is scheduled for June.

* Altus Strategies plc kicked off exploration at its 369.5-square-kilometer Prikro gold project in eastern Côte d'Ivoire, which will initially focus on areas of historically reported gold occurrences.

* SolGold Plc said its first pass stream sediment survey identified several areas of strong gold mineralization in the Cisne Loja concessions at the Cisne project in Southern Ecuador. The rock chip samples returned intercepts of over 1 g/t of gold, with a best rock sample result of 15.25 g/t of gold and 23.6 g/t of silver.

* The gold market could be using bitcoin-style technology to track a nearly US$200 billion supply chain by 2019, Bloomberg News wrote.

BULK COMMODITIES

* The retail and business community lauded bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate that would require President Donald Trump to gain congressional approval before imposing tariffs on global trading partners.

* The European Commission plans to apply tariffs on about €2.8 billion of U.S. products including makeup, bourbon, steel and motorcycles starting in July in response to Washington's levies on steel and aluminum products.

* Phosphate producer Itafos closed a previously announced four-year US$165 million secured term loan facility from a syndicate of lenders. The funds will be used to cover cash requirements of the Arraias phosphate operations in Brazil and the Conda phosphate operations in the U.S., and to develop other phosphate projects, including Paris Hills in the U.S. and Farim in Guinea-Bissau.

* Kommersant reported that PJSC Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant, owned by Ural Mining & Metallurgical Co., announced the sale of U.K.-based Brock Metal Co. Ltd., which provided the plant with about 20% of its revenues. The British asset does not depend on supplies from the Chelyabinsk zinc plant and brought few dividends, the source said. Analysts estimate the deal to be valued at between £15 million and £20 million. Brock Metal was sold to to Luxembourg-based NFM Alloyz SA on May 31, the company said, without disclosing details.

* The closure of the Navajo coal plant in Arizona, scheduled for 2019, may be delayed as the U.S. Interior Department is mulling use of executive powers to force a water project in the state to purchase power from the plant, Reuters reported.

* The Queensland Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Anthony Lynham denied that an ABC report that the state is still considering funding an estimated A$100 million upfront cost of road access for Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s Carmichael coal project, Australian Mining reported.

* Seriti Resources Pty Ltd. would be interested in buying the assets and quotas of the Gupta family-owned Optimum Coal Holdings Ltd. in South Africa as it looks to move into exporting coal, Reuters reported, citing CEO Mike Teke.

* North China's Hebei province intends to close 22 coal mines this year, phasing out more than 12 million tonnes of coal production capacity, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

* Authorities rescued nearly two dozen people who were trapped after a blast at an iron ore mining project in China's Liaoning province, Reuters reported, citing local media reports. The explosion at the site killed 11 people, while two people were still missing.

* Australian Federal Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg approved the development of Forward Mining Ltd.'s Rogetta iron ore mine in Tasmania, Mining Weekly reported. The project will comprise an open-cut operation producing at a rate of 1 million tonnes per year over a proposed seven-year mine life.

* Voestalpine AG proposed a dividend of €1.40 per share after booking a 43% increase in full-year operating profit. According to Reuters, the Austrian steelmaker's revenues in the period stood at €12.9 billion. In a separate report, Reuters said Wolfgang Eder will resign as Voestalpine's CEO in 2019 after 15 years in the post.

SPECIALTY

* After acquiring Nutrien Ltd.'s 24% stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA, or SQM, for US$4.07 billion, Tianqi Lithium Corp. told Bloomberg that it will not be pursuing a controlling stake in SQM nor interfere in its operations, daily Diario Financiero reported.

* Angola plans to revise policies for its diamond industry in a bid to attract more investment, boost production and obtain higher revenues, Reuters reported, citing President Joao Lourenco, who added that he plans to double the country's diamond output to 14 million carats in the next four years.

* Mason Graphite Inc. cleared a critical permitting hurdle that sets the stage for possible construction of the Lac Gueret graphite project in Quebec, and may also remove a damper on the company's shares, one analyst said.

* Following days of discussions, only one major shareholder of mineral sands play Mineral Deposits Ltd. has fully embraced Eramet's takeover offer of A$1.46 per share, The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk reported. Eramet is likely to table an improved offer, with the current offer set to expire June 21.

* Western Uranium Corp. signed a deal with a Nevada-incorporated Battery Mineral Resources Ltd. subsidiary to form a joint venture for vanadium development at the Sage Mine project, composed of 94 unpatented claims in Utah and Colorado.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia is reducing lending by its ScotiaMocatta metals unit as it moves toward radical restructuring, which is likely to halve the size of its metals business, Reuters reported, citing sources.

* Brazil President Michel Temer next week plans to issue a decree to overhaul the rules for mining permits, bypassing Congress after it failed to approve similar changes in 2017, Reuters reported, citing sources. The decree aims to cut red tape and attract international investment into the country's mining sector.

* South Africa nixed plans to force mining firms to contribute 1% of their annual turnover to a new community development agency, fearing that the funds could be abused, Bloomberg News reported, citing Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe.

* The London Metal Exchange is planning to launch around 15 new contracts in January 2019, including cash-settled cobalt and hot-rolled coil steel contracts, Reuters reported, citing Robin Martin, head of market development.

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