Reuters reported that copper surged almost 2% bolstered by a weaker dollar, the better political situation in Italy and a pickup in Chinese bank lending. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed at $7,639 a tonne, about 2 percent up from a last bid at $7,475 on Thursday and the first move up this week.

Global commodities trader Glencore (LON:GLEN) is making inroads into South African coal. Reuters reports that Glencore has signed a deal to buy energy trader Mercuria's 15 percent stake in South Africa's Optimum Coal Holdings (OCH) in its drive to acquire the whole company worth around $1 billion, sources close to the agreement said. Completing the Optimum acquisition would make Glencore South Africa's fourth-largest coal exporter, without including Xstrata's tonnage, for which it provides advisory services.

Reuters Africa reports a company chaired by Australian iron ore magnate Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest wants to reopen a nickel mine in Western Australia shut more than 15 years ago. A successful restart of the Mount Windarra mine by Poseidon Nickel Co , would mark Forrest's return to nickel mining after quitting the board of Anaconda Nickel in 2002 and founding Fortescue Metals Group , Australia's third-largest iron ore company.

Reuters reports that Saskatchewan's provincial election results have ensured stability of potash revenues for the next four years. Premier Wall has promised to leave potash royalties paid to the province by major producers unchanged for the next governing term, in contrast to the NDP, which wanted to raise them. Saskatchewan is the home base of Potash Corp of Saskatchewan and its rivals Mosaic Co and Agrium Inc also have potash mines in the province.

Liontown Resources Limited announced that it has secured the opportunity to earn up to a 70% interest in the iron ore rights on an extensive portfolio of tenements held by LSE-listed African Barrick Gold plc (ABG) in northern Tanzania, adjacent to its Jubilee Reef Gold Joint Venture.

Political and community leaders in Peru's Cajamarca region demanded on Wednesday that Newmont Mining abandon its $4.8 billion Conga project and said the central government's efforts to broker a truce had failed.

Chinese steel and base metals producers are worried about the risk of payment defaults from customers and delayed orders because of Beijing's monetary tightening which they warned may have gone too far, the Financial Times reported.

Russian state-owned diamond miner Alrosa plans to issue Eurocommercial paper (ECP) worth $400 million to finance a deal with the country's second largest lender VTB , Alrosa President Fyodor Andreyev said. Alrosa, the secretive state diamond monopo...

To measure a country's greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels, it makes sense to consider the whole carbon supply chain, from oil well or coal mine to a consumer's shelf, scientists reported on Monday. Currently, putting a price on climate-warm...