Pakistan welcomes venture’s willingness for negotiated settlement after Reko Diq mine ruling

Reuters reports Romania has launched the sale of its biggest copper mine Cupru Min SA Abrud via a tender, the government's industry privatisation office said on its website. The deadline for bids is Jan. 17 deadline. Romania wants to sell 100% of the mine which sits on about 60% of the European Union member's copper reserves equal to roughly 900,000 tonnes. Cupru Min is based in Abrud, Alba County, Romania and operates the Roşia Poieni copper mine. The company says deposits amount to more than 1 billion tons ore with an average of 0.36% Cu and 1.8% S. Copper production began in 1983 and the designed capacity of the mine is 9 million tons of ore extracted and processed per year with expansion to 15 million tons per year.

BBC footage shows arrest being made in a campaign to crack down on dealers who buy stolen metal that has been launched by the Transport Police in Yorkshire, England. Copper theft on railways has led to thousands of hours of delays to passengers every year. Yorkshire authorities say the problem is costing them millions a month.

Barely a week after Anglo American announced that the $2.8 billion they splashed on expanding their flagship Los Bronces mine will start to bear fruit before year end, Chile's state-owned Codelco decides to exercise an option to acquire half of it. Codelco has passed on neighbouring Los Bronces, a smelter and a second mine before, but Chile's finance minister on Friday warned Anglo that it must honour the deal that dates back to 1978. Codelco has put together $6 billion but analyst say that short changes Anglo by billions. What must really gall Anglo, which seems to have been taken by surprise, is that they will have to pay around $1 billion in taxes on the transaction.

Ongoing labour unrest at Freeport-McMorran's Grasberg mine in Indonesia has forced the American company to declare force majeure. The announcement made Wednesday effectively allows Freeport to stop shipments from its gold and copper mine so that it can avoid liability on existing customer orders. About 8,000 workers — a third of the mine's workforce — have been on strike since September 15th and earlier this month vowed to shut down the mine if hourly wages of $1.50 are not upped 8-fold. The strike recently turned ugly with reports of sabotage and injuries.

TORONTO, CANADA--(Marketwire - Oct. 27, 2011) -

Teck Resources (TSE:TCK.B) posted strong third-quarter earnings and rewarded shareholders with a 33% dividend increase. However, the Vancouver-based diversified mining company also lowered its 2011 guidance for copper and coking coal, its principle export commodities. Coal sales volume was lowered to 22.2 to 23 million tonnes (from 23.5 to 24.5 million) due to weakening steel markets. Teck blamed problems at its Quebrada Blanca operation in Chile for lower than expected copper volumes; 2011 copper sales guidance was lowered to 320,000 tonnes from 330,000 to 340,000t. The company had a record quarter, increasing its third-quarter revenues to $3.4 billion from the same period in 2010 — a 40% increase. Adjusted earnings were $742 million compared to $452 million in Q3 of last year.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 26, 2011) - Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) announced today that it will pay an eligible dividend of $0.40 per share on its outstanding Class A common shares and Class B subordinate voting shares on January 3, 2012, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 15, 2011. This represents a 33 percent increase from the previous dividend.

Washington lawmakers yesterday approved a bill to approve a land exchange clearing the way for what would be North America’s largest copper […]

Bellhaven Copper & Gold (CVE:BHV), a Canadian exploration company operating in Panama and Colombia, received a 10.2% equity interest investment by IAMGOLD Corporation which will subscribe for eleven million units of Bellhaven at C$0.55 per unit. In mid-October, IAMGOLD (TSE:IMG) said it was going start buying new companies that would complement its core strengths, established relationships with foreign governments and working experience in Africa and the Americas. "The private placement will build our treasury to approximately $9.6 million, allowing us to ramp-up the exploration programs at La Mina," said Paul Zweng, Bellhaven's interim CEO and director.