Australia approves A$100m in tax incentives for junior miners

Copper dropped 2.2 percent to $7,054.50 at 3:21 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange Tuesday. A close at that price would mark the biggest drop since Dec. 5.

Rio Tinto-controlled Turquoise Hill said the bill relates to an audit on taxes imposed and paid by the mine operator between 2013 and 2015.

Following the 2016 launching of the Collective Action Initiative for the Metals Technology Industry, the program announced today that it has added a new member.

Rampant violence and corruption are the norm in the mines of the southern Guayana region.

On Tuesday Global miner Rio Tinto reported a 1 percent rise in iron ore shipments for 2017 to 330.1 million tonnes, meeting its guidance.

Copper surged as much as 2.1 percent, the most since Nov. 13, to $7,262 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.

The London-listed miner said production in three months to Dec fell 30 pct to 148,477 oz. compared with a year ago and 22 pct from the previous quarter.

The average E.V. requires 80kg more copper than a regular vehicle. There is also significant copper needed to build out E.V. infrastructure in the power grid as well as battery charging infrastructure.

An earthquake in Peru on Sunday has claimed two lives and caused an illegal mine to collapse.