Chile's Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX) (NYSE:GOLD), revoking the permanent closure of the Canadian miner's Pascua-Lama gold-silver project.The world's largest gold miner, which completed its merger with Randgold at the beginning of the year, said the March 14 ruling overturned the Antofagasta Environmental Court's order, issued late last year, and it also ordered...Read More

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO), the world's second largest miner, is recommending shareholders to vote against a resolution requiring the company to release its direct emissions details and strategies on how its greenhouse gas emissions and those of its customers can be cut.In a letter from chairman Simon Thompson, Rio urged investors to vote against the proposed rule change that would have the miner t...Read More

The CIS export billet market remained at a standstill on Monday March 18 due to the absence of trading activity in most of the commodity's usual outlet regions, Fastmarkets heard on Monday March 18.Mills were indicating offers within the range of $460-465 per tonne fob Black Sea.But customers in most outlet regions could not afford such high prices because they would not be able to pass on these h...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday March 18 that are worth another look.Bulk alloy suppliers are reporting increased prompt demand from British consumers amid concerns about potential supply disruptions when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. A preliminary decision from a court in Brazil's Itabira city, in the country's southeastern Minas Gerais st...Read More

Aluminium on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Monday March 18, having peaked at its highest since February 6.The three-month aluminium price ended at $1,920.50 per tonne, up $23.50 from the pre-weekend close.For much of March, the three-month price held below resistance at $1,900 per tonne. It hit a two-month low of $1,845 per tonne on March 11. Around 45% of LME alu...Read More

Treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for spot copper concentrates dropped sharply in early March with Chinese smelters entering the market in earnest for units, while a lack of supply from blockaded Las Bambas mine has also prompted spot buying. The Fastmarkets TC/RC index for spot copper concentrates dropped by $5.3 per tonne / 0.53 cents per lb on March 15 to $69/6.9 cents, the lowest si...Read More

Revenue garnered from the United States' Section 232 tariffs - in place for almost a year - stood at $4.3 billion for steel and $1.4 billion for aluminium as of Thursday February 21, 2019, according to data from US Customs and Border Protection.While the blanket 25% steel tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump's administration has helped US steel mills to reap record profits, restart id...Read More

The Comex copper price ticked higher in morning trading on Monday March 18 with markets awaiting a resolution to the US-China trade negotiations that have dictated investor sentiment for months. The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 1.65 cents to $2.9225 per lb. "Ongoing US/China trade talks remain under way... as the two sides continu...Read More

Growing fears of a bauxite supply disruption are putting alumina traders on alert for a potential price increase, sources have told Fastmarkets. The concern originates form Brazil, where mainly Minera????o Rio do Norte (MRN), Minera????o Paragominas, Alcoa and Companhia Brasileira de Alum?-nio (CBA) produce bauxite, the raw material for alumina. A new resolution issued by the Brazilian mining agen...Read More

In less than two weeks, the Zambian government is set to introduce a new series of tax measures: rocketing tax rates have prompted some copper producers to shut down their operations, while others have cut production and costs to keep their businesses running in the world's sixth largest copper producing country. A tax regime comprising a new sales tax and an increase in mineral royalty tax (...Read More

Hilde Merete Aasheim has been appointed new president and chief executive officer of aluminium producer Norsk Hydro, effective May 8.She will succeed Svein Richard Brandtz??g, who steps down after 10 years as CEO.Brandtz??g, who became CEO of Hydro in March 2009, has been working in Hydro for 33 years and will remain with the company...Read More

RAPAPORT... Debswana, De Beers' Botswana joint venture, has launched a new project set toextend the life of its Jwaneng mine until 2035. The Cut-9 expansion, which will cost Debswana approximately$2 billion, is expected to produce an estimated 53 million carats of roughdiamonds, the company said Monday. "With global consumer demand for diamonds reaching recordlevels in 2018, the extension wi...Read More

RAPAPORT... A pink diamond from Namibia's offshore drilling programfetched $17,000 per carat at a tender in Antwerp. The 5.71-carat stone fetched $97,076 at the sale, the firstDiamond Fields Resources has held since resuming mining in 2018, it said lastweek. The company also sold 47,298 carats of high-quality whiteand colored rough stones for $1.1 million, it noted. It sold all the diamonds...Read More

RAPAPORT... Mining operations at Alrosa's Mir deposit won't resume until at least 2030, as the company carries out work on the site that could take up to 13 years. It will take approximately five years for the miner to conduct deep-levelexploration and designwork that will enable it to open the site safely. That will costthe company RUB 2 billion ($30.9 million), Alrosa said Monday. Alr...Read More

Russian state-controlled miner Alrosa will assess the quality of Zimbabwe's diamond reserves over the next six months but would only start mining if it can take a majority stake in such a project, the company's chief executive said on Monday.Zimbabwe is seeking to attract investment and has scrapped legislation that restricts foreign participation for some commodities. It has yet to do so for diam...Read More

Plate prices in the United States have inched up following a round of $2-per-hundredweight price increases and despite deep concerns among service centers sources about the staying power of higher prices.Fastmarkets AMM's price assessment for cut-to-length plate stands at $47.50 per hundredweight ($950 per short ton), up 1.1% from $47 per cwt previously but down 3.1% from $49 per cwt at the beginn...Read More

Albert Milton, the managing director of Botswana's Debswana Diamond Mining, announced that Debswana aims to keep production at around 24 million carats this year, Reuters reported.   Debswana is a joint venture between De Beers and Botswana's government. In 2018, Debswana's production increased with six percent, reaching 24.1 million carats, its highest output in the past four years. Th...Read More

Botswana's Debswana Diamond Mining, a joint venture between De Beers and the southern Africa country's government, have awarded Thiess' subsidiary CIMIC a $1.2-billion contract to extend the lifespan of their Jwaneng mine.Jwaneng, which began operations in 1982, is currently 650 metres deep, but its owners want to deepen the pit to 830 meters (2,700 feet), which will allow continuing operations f...Read More

Prices for cold-heading quality (CHQ) and high-carbon wire rod remained stable month over month in the United States, although sources offered varied reports on market activity. Fastmarkets AMM again assessed the price for cold-heading quality wire rod at $46 per hundredweight ($920 per short ton) North American delivered duty paid Great Lakes region on Friday March 15 and that for high...Read More

Alrosa reported last week that net profit had risen with some 15 percent to reach $1.4 billion in 2018. The announcement followed earlier reports that the company's sales volume had dropped with eight percent compared to 2017. Higher price levels for goods sold, however, caused sales to rise $4.4 billion, a value increase of six percent, the leading diamond miner said.   "The key financial d...Read More