Zinc

According to reports more than 7,000 workers from Freeport McMoRan's massive gold and copper mine in Indonesia's western Papua region started a week-long strike on Monday to demand better wages. The Grasberg mine is the richest gold and third largest copper mine in the world and and the US company's local subsidiary is the largest single taxpayer to the Indonesian government.

Canadian base metal and coal miners were the nation's economic bright spot in April, according to report from Statistics Canada released on Thursday. The study, which looked at gross domestic product by industry, found that mining grew strongly while the rest of the economy was mostly flat.

Mexican mining production rose 22% in April from the year-ago month, led by a big jump in output of copper, the National Statistics Institute, or Inegi, said Thursday. Copper production rose 77% to 32,324 metric tons.

The Chilean Federation of Copper Workers announced a strike for July 11 to oppose plans to privatize the state-owned National Copper Company (Codelco). The management of Codelco, the biggest copper producer in the world, is preparing for privatization, said Raimundo Espinoza, a leader of the workers' federation, FTC.

The stock of cobalt and copper miner Metorex is up by a third this year following Brazilian giant Vale's $1.1bn bid for the mid-tier producer. With reports surfacing that Jinchuan, China's biggest nickel miner, is readying a competing offer shareholders of the Johannesburg-based company look set to extract further value ahead of a vote on July 22. Metorex has aggressive expansion plans for its central and Southern African projects and aims to more than double its current annual copper output of around 50,000 tonnes. It's a far cry from the situation in 2009 when the company was fighting for survival amid serious cost overruns in the Congo.

Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) ("Teck") announced today that it has priced its previously announced offering of senior unsecured notes. Teck will issue US$2.0 billion in aggregate principal amount of notes, consisting of US$300 million aggregate principal amount of 3.15% notes due 2017, US$700 million aggregate principal amount of 4.75% notes due 2022 and US$1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.25% notes due 2041.

The Street reports that Copper's supply versus demand curve shows that the metal is likely to shine in the near future.

Candente Copper Corp. (TSE:DNT) updates on the status of the entirely owned Cañariaco Norte Copper Project in Northern Peru.

An announced order for milling equipment for First Quantum's big Sentinel copper project in Zambia suggests a decision to go ahead with the project has already been taken. FLSmidth has received a contract worth approximately USD 50m from Kalumbila