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Indonesia will audit over 8,000 existing mining permits to make sure they are in line with mining and environmental laws, the country's finance minister said on Monday, days after the country passed new regulations on environmental protection. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week signed a two-year moratorium on permits for logging and another decree allowing underground mining in protected forests if conditions such as an environmental assessment had been met.

The Santiago Times reported that Sebastián Pinera, president of Chile, signed a bill which if approved by Congress, would eliminate a substantial source of revenue for Chile’s armed forces and at the same time relieve a massive burden on the country’s state mining company. Under current legislation dating back to the Second World War, 10% of revenues from Chile’s National Copper Corporation, Codelco, are directed to the nation’s armed forces. Codelco is the world’s largest copper mining company and accounts for some 11% of global copper production, but the tax has contributed to years of underinvestment and the prospect of falling output at the miner just as copper prices hit record highs.

Bard Ventures Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:CBS)(FRANKFURT:BVU) is pleased to announce that the drill program on its Lone Pine Property has commenced. The property is located 15 kilometers north-northwest of Houston, BC and is situated in the Omineca Mining Division. The drill program is planned to further evaluate exceptional drill hole results received from all three zones on the property, being the Alaskite Zone, the Quartz Breccia Zone and the 61 Zone.

Toronto stock exchange listed Minera Andes announced on Friday the proposed spin-out of its copper assets, including the 100%-owned Los Azules project, has been deferred. The gold, silver and copper exploration company cited weaker financial markets, financing uncertainties, and a delayed legal decision regarding its dispute with TNR Gold over claims on the Argentinean property, as contributing to the board’s decision.

Reuters Africa reports Exxaro (JNB:EXX) has invited bids for the company’s stake in a zinc and lead mine in Namibia. The market news is quoted as saying: The assets up for sale include Exxaro’s 50.04 percent stake in the Rosh Pinah mine and its wholly owned Zincor refinery.

Pan Pacific Copper Co, Japan's top smelter, said on Friday it and BHP had agreed to a 29 percent rise in copper treatment and refining fees for ores to be delivered in July-December, reflecting higher fees on the spot market. Pan Pacific, a unit of JX Holdings Inc , agreed to $90 a tonne for treatment fees and 9 cents a pound for refining for the six months, a company executive said.

Large copper smelters in China settled term treatment and refining charges with global miner BHP Billiton Ltd at $90 per tonne and 9 cents per pound respectively for delivery in the second half of this year, a smelter source said on Friday. The second-half treatment and refining charges, or TC/RC, will nearly double from the same period of 2010 and represent a rise of 25 percent from about $72 for the first half of 2011. The term TC/RC for the full year 2010 was $46.5 and 4.65 cents.

Mitchell Adam, President and CEO of Vancouver-based Pan Terra Industries announced on Thursday it has entered into a deal to acquire 80% of Namibia’s Congo Namibia Trading, a private gold and copper exploration company. Under Thursday's letter of intent, TSX-Venture listed Pan Terra will pay C$300,000 in cash and issue 3m shares as well as 3m share purchase warrants priced at C$0.73. Congo Namibia Trading holds 100% interest in five exclusive prospecting licenses in the Tsumeb Copper Belt in Namibia as well the rights to acquire 51% stake in an Angolan and a Zimbabwean gold joint venture.

Commodity Online reports that copper markets were in surplus of 118,000 tonnes during January — March this year according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics. The market was in surplus 43,000 tonnes for the whole of 2010. Stocks of copper by end of March 2011 were 138,000 tonnes higher than by the end of 2010. Refined copper production was 4.76 million tonnes in Jan-March 2011, up 1.8% compared to the first quarter of 2010.