Miners in Congo face subcontracting limits under new rules

Large copper smelters in China settled term treatment and refining charges with global miner BHP Billiton Ltd at $90 per tonne and 9 cents per pound respectively for delivery in the second half of this year, a smelter source said on Friday. The second-half treatment and refining charges, or TC/RC, will nearly double from the same period of 2010 and represent a rise of 25 percent from about $72 for the first half of 2011. The term TC/RC for the full year 2010 was $46.5 and 4.65 cents.

Mitchell Adam, President and CEO of Vancouver-based Pan Terra Industries announced on Thursday it has entered into a deal to acquire 80% of Namibia’s Congo Namibia Trading, a private gold and copper exploration company. Under Thursday's letter of intent, TSX-Venture listed Pan Terra will pay C$300,000 in cash and issue 3m shares as well as 3m share purchase warrants priced at C$0.73. Congo Namibia Trading holds 100% interest in five exclusive prospecting licenses in the Tsumeb Copper Belt in Namibia as well the rights to acquire 51% stake in an Angolan and a Zimbabwean gold joint venture.

Commodity Online reports that copper markets were in surplus of 118,000 tonnes during January — March this year according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics. The market was in surplus 43,000 tonnes for the whole of 2010. Stocks of copper by end of March 2011 were 138,000 tonnes higher than by the end of 2010. Refined copper production was 4.76 million tonnes in Jan-March 2011, up 1.8% compared to the first quarter of 2010.

Scorpio Mining achieved record mine operating earnings of $12.5 million in Q1 2011, an increase of 823% over mine operating earnings in Q1 2010 and 123% over mine operating earnings in Q4 2010. Net earnings were $6.6 million or $0.03 per share (basic) for Q1 2011 compared to $18.6 million or $0.17 per share (basic) for Q1 2010. The Q1 2010 net earnings included a $19.8 million gain on dilution and deconsolidation of Scorpio Gold Corporation ("Scorpio Gold"). Basic earnings per share of $0.09 in Q4 2010 was due to the inclusion of $12.4 million of non-cash corporate tax recoveries.

Commodities trader Glencore's bumper public offering has increased interest in Hong Kong listings from across the mining sector and will prove a welcome boost to the bourse, a senior executive at the exchange said. The world's largest diversified commodities trader is set to make its market debut in London and Hong Kong next week, in what could be a record listing, with Glencore [GLEN.UL] hoping to raise $11 billion.

Click here to read the whole story or read an excerpt below. By Matt Day COPPER futures ended above $US4 a pound today for the first time in more than a week on indications that steep price declines have boosted demand for the industrial metal. The

Xstrata Mount Isa Mines has announced plans to sustain the future of its Mount Isa operations through expanded mining and concentrate production, while phasing out copper smelting at Mount Isa and refining operations in Townsville by the end of 2016. 

California-based Casablanca Mining reported first quarter results that consolidated the gains made by the exploration and intellectual property rights company in 2010. Total assets increased to $3.8m and net loss declined to $0.01/share. Construction of Sulfatos Chile Copper Sulfate plant using the company’s patented electrolysis extraction process was continued. Casablanca also said it is in negotiation to acquire further gold mining properties in Chile and has some 43-101 technical reports in progress.

Noront Resources has completed a brokered placement worth $17.4 million, the Toronto-listed junior explorer announced yesterday. The deal will give Baosteel the right to increase its stake in Noront to 19.9%. It will also give Baosteel, a large steel producer owned by the Chinese government, a seat on Noront's board of directors. Proceeds from the placement will be used for feasibility studies on Noront's Eagle's Nest nickle-copper-palladium property and the Blackbird chromite deposit in the Ring of Fire poly-metallic mining district in northern Ontario, Canada.