The board of Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas has approved roughly 1.38 billion reais ($344 million) in new capital expenditures.

The world's top iron ore miner has named Marcelo Spinelli as its new head of coal and ferrous metals.

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.

A court hearing between Vedanta and the government of Zambia over control of its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) business was adjourned on Friday.

Lynas said it intends to build an initial ore processing plant in Western Australia that would help it overcome political headwinds in Malaysia.

Almost all recorded gold was from industrial-scale mining, with just 800 kilograms recorded from artisanal mines.

Workers from the unions involved had rejected last weekend a proposal by the company.

Dealers charged a premium of about $1 an ounce over official domestic prices.

Ongoing stoppages at Newmont Goldcorp's Penasquito mine in Mexico are costing both public coffers in the country and the company millions.

The liquidation application was brought against Vedanta-controlled KCM by Zambian state-owned ZCCM-IH, which holds a 20.6% stake in the unit.

Bavura Holdings, in which Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters is a major shareholder, would sign an agreement to mine platinum on Zimbabwe's mineral-rich Greak Dyke.