Nonferrous

• PXP shareholders OK Freeport deal May 20, 2013

  Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s previously announced acquisition of Plains Exploration & Production Co.’s (PXP’s) oil and gas assets is expected to close May 31 after PXP shareholders approved the deal at a special meeting May 20.

• GBC’s initial public offering may price this week May 20, 2013

  Global Brass & Copper Holdings Inc.’s (GBC’s) initial public offering (IPO) is likely to take place this week, according to a company presentation.

• Felman plans to idle furnace, cut staff May 20, 2013

  Felman Production LLC will idle one of its three electric-arc furnaces May 31 and has already begun reducing its work force, citing a recent decline in silicomanganese prices as a primary factor for the cost-cutting.

• Aluminum fence standard OK’d May 20, 2013

  ASTM International has approved a new specification for ornamental aluminum fence systems.

• Woulfe Mining reviews costs, Sangdong project May 20, 2013

  Woulfe Mining Corp. is aiming to reduce costs after a companywide review revealed liquidity issues and the ability of the company and its subsidiaries to meet various payables beyond the next few months.

• Sale or liquidation said Ormet’s options May 20, 2013

  Bankrupt aluminum producer Ormet Corp. says it could be forced to liquidate if its sale to an entity owned by private investment firm Wayzata (Minn.) Investment Partners LLC is not approved.

• Davis to raise funds, invest in resources May 17, 2013

  Former Xstrata Plc chief executive officer Mick Davis has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as part of a plan to raise a major mining fund—potentially worth billions of dollars—and could make a play for the Las Bambas copper project in Peru, AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin understands.

• Ferbasa’s first-quarter profits decline as shipments slide May 17, 2013

  Brazilian ferroalloys producer Cia. de Ferro Ligas da Bahia (Ferbasa) saw first-quarter earnings fall year on year on reduced exports and increased costs.

• SAG mill at Copper Mountain Mine down May 17, 2013

  Operations at Copper Mountain Mining Corp.’s semi-autogenous grinding mill at its Copper Mountain Mine in British Columbia have been temporarily suspended.

• Midwest aluminum premiums narrow May 17, 2013

  Midwest aluminum premiums rose slightly this past week after discounts subsided in the wake of lower metals prices on the London Metal Exchange.

• Secondary aluminum alloy prices hold steady May 17, 2013

  Slowing demand and lower scrap prices could bring secondary aluminum alloy prices down in the coming weeks, according to market sources.

• LCH.Clearnet increases LME trade fees, shocking brokers May 17, 2013

  LCH.Clearnet has increased the registration fee for London Metal Exchange trades to 15 pence per lot (23 cents) from 5 pence (8 cents), it announced May 15.

• ITA concludes China silicon metal review May 17, 2013

  The U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) has determined that Shanghai Jinneng International Trade Co. Ltd., the sole company under review in an anti-dumping duty administrative review of silicon metal imports from China from June 1, 2011, to May 31, 2012, didn’t have any reviewable transactions. The China-wide cash deposit rate is 139.49 percent.

• Glencore Xstrata taps Hayward interim chairman May 17, 2013

  Tony Hayward, former chief executive officer of oil company BP Plc, has stepped in as interim chairman of Glencore Xstrata Plc following the departure of Sir John Bond.

• Aluminum distributors divided over MSCI data May 16, 2013

  Service center sources are divided over whether recent data that showed declines in U.S. aluminum shipments and inventories last month indicate tough times ahead.

• Alcoa to shut two potlines, delay third May 16, 2013

  Alcoa Inc. plans to permanently close two older potlines at its Baie-Comeau smelter in Quebec and postpone the construction of a new potline by three years as the company looks to cut costs.

• Noranda's CEZinc may see output decline May 16, 2013

  Noranda Income Fund reported a boost in zinc production in the first quarter, but output rates may be reduced going forward as the closure of Xstrata Zinc Canada’s Brunswick Mine forces Noranda’s refinery to process feed mix with a higher impurity content, the company said.

• Globe faces penalties after death at Ala. facility: OSHA May 16, 2013

  Globe Metallurgical Inc. faces $106,000 in penalties after the October death of a worker at its silicon metal plant in Selma, Ala.

• Baja Mining records loss in first quarter May 16, 2013

  Baja Mining Corp. remained in the red in the first quarter as its in-development copper-cobalt-zinc-manganese project in Baja California Sur, Mexico, continued to face financing issues.

• Mining still suspended at Grasberg mine as death toll rises May 16, 2013

  Mining operations were suspended for a second day at PT Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg copper and gold mine as the company confirmed the death of five workers in a tunnel collapse the day before.

• First Nickel exceeds output goal but logs loss in 1st qtr. May 16, 2013

  First Nickel Inc. produced an estimated 2.7 million pounds of payable nickel from its flagship Lockerby Mine in Ontario during the first quarter, up sharply from 1.2 million pounds in the same period last year and surpassing its goal of about 2.5 million pounds.

• Alcoa names Wilt president of global primary products May 16, 2013

  Alcoa Inc. has appointed Robert Wilt as president of global primary products effective June 1, the company said May 16.

• General Moly ends $125M loan deal for Mount Hope May 16, 2013

  General Moly Inc. and Sichuan Hanlong (Group) Co. Ltd. have agreed to terminate a $125-million loan deal that was intended to supplement a $665-million term loan to finance the Mount Hope molybdenum project in Nevada.

• Glencore Xstrata’s Quebec mine venture kicks off output May 16, 2013

  Glencore Xstrata Plc has started zinc and copper production at the Bracemac-McLeod Mine in Quebec, in which it holds a 65-percent stake.