Zinc

Reuters Africa reports that copper rose 2 percent at a three-week high.

One of the largest mining companies operating in northern Peru says that a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Peru Wednesday didn't interrupt operations. Roque Benavides, chief executive of precious metals mining company Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (BVN, BUENAVC1.Vl), said in an email message he wasn't aware of any damage from the earthquake on its operations in northern Peru.

Mining company Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) Wednesday raised its ownership stake in Canada-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (IVN.T) by 2% to 48.5% as it sought to cement its commitment to the massive Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project. Rio Tinto paid C$18.98 a share and exercised its subscription right to the tune of C$529.5 million in order to increase its take in Ivanhoe Mines, the majority owner of the Oyu Tolgoi project.

BHP Billiton reported record annual results and beat analyst estimates in the process, after prices of copper, iron ore and coal reached all-time highs because of demand from China. Profit at the world's biggest miner surged 86% for the 12 months $23.6 billion, a full $1.4 billion ahead of expectations, on the back of earnings from iron ore, its biggest division, which jumped 122% to $13.3 billion.

The economic malaise that had markets pushing deep into the red over the last two weeks hit a bright spot on Tuesday. Copper futures rose the most in over a week, Bloomberg reported, on news of an uptick in the Chinese manufacturing sector.

TSX V-quoted Noront Resources on Tuesday published the results of a prefeasibility study into its Eagles Nest nickel-copper-platinum project in Ontario’s Ring of Fire, outlining a $734-million capital investment for a one-million ton a year mine.

Mining giant BHP Billiton has defended as "effective" its strict office etiquette policy, which bans workers from eating pungent food, throwing jackets on their chairs or leaving Post-it notes on their monitors or keyboards after hours. The company outlined its "Office Environment Standard" in a memo emailed to employees in Brisbane this month.

Canadian company Silvercorp Metals Inc. said Monday it is buying a controlling share in two Chinese mining companies for about $10.4 million, including debt. Silvercorp will hold a 90 percent stake in Zhongxing Mining Co. Ltd. and Chuanxin Mining Co. Ltd. It will pay $4.3 million cash for the two companies and assume $6.1 million in debt. Silvercorp is making the purchase through its majority-controlled Henan Found Mining Co. unit.

Finland's Talvivaara missed Q2 earnings expectations and produced 3,951 tonnes of nickel in the quarter adding that its nickel output for the year will be towards the lower end of its 22,000 to 28,000 tons guidance. The miner warned that the short term outlook for nickel – which has declined to its lowest level in 2011 at around USD 21,000 per tonne – is uncertain and volatility across the base metals complex is likely to remain high. On the other hand, the global nickel market has remained in a deficit throughout the first half of the year with LME nickel stocks currently around their lowest levels since early 2009.