A collaboration between metals and mining companies including Anglo American, Glencore and Tata Steel have released a proof of concept carbon tracing platform to trace emissions across the value chain using distributed ledger technology.

Deshnee Naidoo has been appointed as director, finance & business development, base metals, at Brazilian miner Vale, Fastmarkets understands.

Teck Resources is continuing to increase its workforce at the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) copper project in northern Chile and expects the project to be about 40% complete by the end of the year, the company said this week.

Canada-based Lundin Mining Corp is to suspend operations at its Candelaria copper mine in Chile after mediation talks with a second union at the site failed to result in an agreement .

Companies with strong balance sheets and access to capital could drive a gradual pick-up in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the metals and mining sector in the months ahead, following a significant reduction in deal numbers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to consultancy firm PwC.

Global commodities miner-marketer Glencore will continue to take a disciplined approach to ensuring that it does not overproduce at a time of declining demand for some materials, the company’s chief executive officer has said.

South Africa will enter a 21-day nationwide lockdown from midnight on Thursday March 26 and ordered the country’s metals and mining operations to be placed on care and maintenance.

If global financial markets had been operating under a pervading sense of uncertainty due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), they now appear to be veering on panic.

The continued unpredictability of trade relations between China and the United States has made long-term planning harder for businesses, including mining companies.