Zinc

The London Metal Exchange said Tuesday it has completed a major upgrade to its electronic trading platform to cope with record volumes and high frequency trading. A takeover of the 134-year old exchange – one of the last bastions of open outcry trading – appear to be in the offing as its major shareholders jockey for position and competition from Asia intensifies. Over the last 7 years electronic trading has grown from 2% to over 70% of the LME's market volume.

Initial underground mine production has successfully commenced at Xstrata Copper’s Ernest Henry Mining operation in north-west Queensland, marking the site’s transition from open pit mining, which is now complete, to underground mining and magnetite processing. This is a major milestone in the progression of Xstrata Copper’s AUD589 million project to extend its Ernest Henry operations to at least 2024.

A new open-pit copper-gold mine in Canada's Yukon Territory would be powered with natural gas. Releasing an update today on its Casino project, Western Copper and Gold Corp. (TSE:WRN) says the company has partnered with Yukon Energy Corp., the territory's energy utility, to evaluate strategies for supplying liquified natural gas (LNG) to the mine and the Yukon.

Ecuador is not a top-of-mind country when it comes to mining, but that could change as the government signals a shift in direction towards the minerals sector, the Globe and Mail is reporting. The Globe reports that the leftist government of Rafael Correa plans to invest $3 billion in the next two and a half years in order to reduce the country's dependence on oil exports.

Chile's state copper giant Codelco plans to invest over US$4 billions next year to speed up the development and construction work at several new mining projects, including Ministro Hales Mine (former Mansa) in the North of the country and the expansion of El Teniente, in the South. Meanwhile, global miner Anglo American's CEO Cynthia Carroll is allegedly under pressure to resolve the ongoing dispute with Codelco as soon as possible or shareholders will demand changes at the top, the Financial Times reports today.

Reuters reports Peruvian President Ollanta Humala declared a state of emergency late on Sunday banning assembly and giving police special powers of arrest to quell protests against Newmont Mining's Conga gold mine that have caused havoc across the region of Cajamarca for 11 days.

Reuters reports protestors abandoned roadblocks on Saturday after police were called in to secure access for basic goods to Cajamarca on day 10 of the conflict over Newmont Mining’s proposed Conga gold mine in northern Peru.

While large zinc stockpiles, weak prices and cloudy global economic projections cast a veil of gloom over zinc markets, salvation is not far away.

Bloomberg reported copper traders are bullish on signs that demand is rising due to a drop in global inventories.