First Quantum wants to operate Cobre Panama without ‘legal uncertainties’

Lundin Mining is once again the target of takeover speculation, after the Daily Telegraph fed the rumour mill with talk of JP Morgan advising BHP Billiton and Belgian zinc miner Nyrstar on a joint bid for Lundin. The market reacted favourably to the speculation on Tuesday, bidding up the stock by 14.5% on the TSX, but seasoned investors in Australia say a takeover by BHP is likely not in the cards.

Mining companies in Peru invested $2.95 billion in the first half of 2011, up 70% compared to the same period last year, the government said.

First Quantum announced a 51% increase in gross profit as the 41% higher net realized copper price more than offset the lower sales volume. There was a 3% decrease in copper production from the Kansanshi and Guelb Moghrein mines due to maintenance-related downtime at both operations and the processing of low-grade, high acid consuming oxide ore at Kansanshi.

As the country marked Heroes Day, Robert Mugabe used the occasion to make fresh threats to punish foreign owned companies from Western countries that have imposed targeted sanctions on him and his key ZANU PF officials. The US and European Union slapped the sanctions on Mugabe and his cronies because of human rights abuses.

A copper mine proposed for southern Arizona is stuck in limbo while federal regulatory agencies decide whether to grant the mining company a permit. Canadian Business said Monday that Rosemont Copper is waiting for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to grant or deny a permit for the mine, located on a mix of private and public land in the Santa Rita Mountains some 30 miles southeast of Tucson.

Shares of North American base metal miners tumbled on Monday along with the price of copper, zinc, and nickel after the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by S&P amplified fears of a global economic slowdown.

Newmont Nusa Tenggara, a unit of US miner Newmont Mining Corp , said on Sunday there had been no significant impact on production from several days of protests at its Indonesian copper and gold mine. Local authorities have dispersed the protesters who since Aug. 2 had been blocking access and disrupting operations at the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in the island of West Sumbawa. Newmont also plans to review its job application process, which had been the focus of the protests. Batu Hijau aims to produce around 275 million pounds of copper and 275,000 ounces of gold in 2011.

Copper prices may remain above $4 a pound in coming months, driven by a recovery in demand from China, according to Codelco, the world's largest producer. Chinese inventories seem to have decreased and now the industry is catching up again," Diego Hernandez, chief executive officer of the Chilean state-owned company, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Output from Chile, the world's largest copper producer, may miss a target of 5.6 million metric tons in 2011 by 5 percent because of project delays, weather disruption and strikes at mine sites. Codelco plans to spend about $20 billion this decade to boost annual production to meet forecast rising global demand for copper.

Miners voted Friday to end a two-week long strike at the world's largest copper mine, La Escondida in northern Chile, approving an agreement struck by their union and management. Escondida employees accepted a management offer of a special production bonus for 2010, a year in which the mine had record earnings, a spokesman for the mine's largest union said. Image of the Escodida mine, by BHP Billiton.