A new lead and zinc mine in northwestern Cuba is on track to start production in October as part of the Caribbean island's attempt to breathe fresh life in its mining sector, the joint venture Emincar overseeing the project said this week.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday the country's mining industry pays too little in tax and not enough in compensation for any environmental damage.

South Africa intends to suspend the granting of applications for prospecting and mining rights as well as any renewals pending a court case to review new mining laws, the Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Thursday.

The United States and China failed on Wednesday to agree on major new steps to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, casting doubt over President Donald Trump's economic and security relations with Beijing.

The smelter, one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, has been hampered by insufficient power supplies and maintenance work since a major power outage last year shut operations for two weeks.

Sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday that China was considering a merger between the two major metals and mining firms as Beijing pushed to consolidate its bloated state-run enterprises to help increase efficiency and competitiveness.

South Africa's Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) expects half-year profits to fall by as much as 67 percent due to a stronger rand, lower sales and post-tax impairments, the company said on Tuesday.

Codelco, which sends all its profits to state coffers, posted a larger profit in the first quarter of 2017 than in all of 2016 as a result of a strict policy of containing costs and a modest recovery in global prices for the red metal.

Two employees at the Tenke copper mine in Democratic Republic of Congo suffered minor injuries in an electrical fire at the weekend.

China, with its massive aluminum sector and equally massive exports, stands accused, but the real smelter killers were much closer to home.

The Resolution copper project in Arizona would be a prototype for a looming era of more invasive US mines as companies run out of easy-to-reach deposits.

Working 50 metres (164 feet) under ground with minimal air supply, Uuganbaatar is one of thousands of Mongolians trying to make a living digging for coal.