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Brazil’s Usiminas leases iron ore access in $1.16 billion deal

Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas said on Thursday it agreed to pay at least $1.16 billion to have long-term access to iron ore resources, seeking to battle a surge in prices for the key steel ingredient. Usiminas signed an agreement to rent mining rights owned by MBL Materiais Basicos for the next 30 years, it said in a securities filing. Usiminas will also buy 6 million tonnes of iron ore reserves at $12.50 per tonne from MBL, as well as a processing facility.
Reuters | July 14, 2011 | 11:40 pm

Limited upside for nickel prices

Nickel prices rebounded from a sharp fall in June, but slow demand and concerns about an impending sharp rise in output will exert downward presure, or at least limit upside prospects in the next month or two. The London Metal Exchange three-months nickel price was last indicated at $23,920 a tonne. "We've got a situation of rising production and slowing stainless demand growth," said independent consultant Angus MacMillan. Against this backdrop, he said prices were more likely to move lower than higher.
Reuters | July 14, 2011 | 4:23 pm

NYMEX-U.S. crude edges up on weak dollar

* Dollar weakness supportive to oil prices * Brent August crude contract expires on Thursday * Coming up: EIA natural gas data, 10:30 a.m. EDT Thursday NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures edged up on Thursday as the dollar's weakness
Reuters | July 14, 2011 | 12:29 pm
mexico map flag mining

Mexico’s Fresnillo to double silver output, becoming world no. 1

Precious metals miner Fresnillo plans to double output at its newly opened Saucito mine in central Mexico by 2015 or 2016 in a second phase of expansion, a company executive said on Tuesday. With the project and other expansion plans, Fresnillo is looking to overtake BHP Billiton, which produces more silver as a by-product from other metals, as the world's biggest overall silver producer. The company's eponymous mine is the world's largest primary silver mine which has been in near continuous operation since 1550.
Reuters | July 13, 2011 | 4:00 am

Australia’s ERA Q2 uranium output slides 84%, ups 2011 guidance

Australian uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia on Wednesday reported an 84 percent drop in second-quarter production from three months earlier, blaming voluntary interruptions in production due to safety concerns on flooding, but lifted its full-year production guidance.
Reuters | July 13, 2011 | 2:29 am

Puda Coal says auditor resigns, fiscal 2009 and 2010 ‘cannot be relied on’

Reuters reports China's Puda Coal said its auditor Moore Stephens has resigned, effective immediately, and the auditor warned that audit reports for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 should no longer be relied upon. In April, the Puda stock had been halted by the American Stock Exchange after the company said it will investigate unauthorized transactions in the shares of subsidiary Shanxi Coal by Chairman Ming Zhao, alleged by an website.
Reuters | July 12, 2011 | 9:28 pm
Iron ore price extends gains

Peabody, ArcelorMittal bid $5 bln for Macarthur Coal

Peabody Energy has teamed up with ArcelorMittal to offer $5 billion for Australia's Macarthur Coal , the world's biggest producer of pulverised coal, as demand for steel-making raw materials intensifies. The cash offer of A$15.50 a share represents a 40-percent premium to Monday's close and comes just a day after Australia unveiled a plan to tax carbon emissions from the nation's worst polluters, or about 500 companies, including coal miners.
Reuters | July 11, 2011 | 1:55 pm

Copper hits nearly 2-month high after Greek vote

Jun 29 (Reuters) - Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange hit its highest in nearly two months on Wednesday at $9,280 a tonne as the euro rallied on optimism Greece will be able to avert a default, after its parliament backed an austerity bill.
Reuters | June 30, 2011 | 10:48 pm