China told the WTO it would stop accepting certain types of foreign solid waste, including metals, in 2018 if they didn't meet stricter impurity thresholds.
Dollar weakness, which continued into early January after its biggest annual drop since 2003, had helped gold registred last week a fourth straight weekly gain for the first time since April.
Zinc hit its highest in more than a decade on Friday as concerns over market tightness persisted, while copper hit a two-week low as Chinese investor interest was muted with the Lunar New Year holidays looming.
Coal and iron ore dominated mining takeovers in 2017, Thomson Reuters data shows, with buyers favoring the heavily polluting devil they know over the uncertainties of a battery-powered future.
China plans to create several "super-large" coal mining companies by the end of 2020 as nation ramps up years of efforts to streamline the fragmented sector.
Physical gold demand across Asia remained subdued this week as prices rallied to a three-and-a-half-month high, keeping retail buyers away from the market.
Cold weather is expected to hit regions across China in the coming week, bringing snow and rain that may cause disruptions at construction sites, one of the biggest consumers of steel.
Unionized workers at Glencore's Lomas Bayas copper mine rejected a final contract offer and began government-facilitated mediation Thursday to avoid strike.
Crystallex International Corp is seeking to collect $1.2 billion plus interest awarded in 2016 by a World Bank tribunal against Venezuela, which Venezuela has refused to pay.
Suncor Energy and Teck Resources Ltd have taken higher stakes in Fort Hills oil sands mine from partner Total SA, resolving a dispute over building costs.
Arrival of new Silicon Valley players like Tesla and Apple to old world of metals serves to reinforce focus on environmentally clean, ethical supply chains.
