Iron ore price woes endure as Chinese steel demand faces ‘last hurrah’

The tax was first mooted in 2010 but has been postponed at least three times after mining companies, steelmakers and state-owned power utility Eskom said it would erode profit and push up electricity prices.

The Minas Gerais environment secretary estimated this week that the dam had a 10-15% chance of collapsing.

State-controlled China Communications Construction Co and iron ore miner Vale SA have agreed to set up a steel mill in Brazil's northern state of Pará with a $450 million investment.

The iron ore market is surging, with prices last week topping the $100-per-tonne level for the first time in five years.

While iron ore prices have surged to a five-year high above $100 a tonne, not all producers of the steel-making ingredient are sharing in the bounty.

According to the Vancouver-based miner, there are low exploration and development costs associated with the project.

The fortunes of two commodities are beholden to China, the world's biggest importer and user of both iron ore and copper.

"We were very clear that as long as the 232 tariffs were there it would be very, very hard for us to ratify the new NAFTA," Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Saturday.

Researchers want space-miners to focus on the Moon, Mars and iron-rich bodies tumbling through the asteroid belt and leave things such as Jupiter and Saturn alone.