Collections of Stories in Base Metal Market at SMM 2016 Annual Summit

Diversified mining company South32 announced that the fourth grinding line project at the Sierra Gorda open-pit copper mine has received final investment approval following completion of a feasibility study. The study confirmed that this brownfield plant expansion project is expected to deliver attractive returns. By installing a fourth grinding line, expanding crushing and flotation capacity and associated process infrastructure, the project is expected to increase Sierra Gorda mine’s annual processing capacity from 48 million mt to 60 million mt. Sierra Gorda is a large-scale conventional open-pit copper mine located in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile. South32 holds a 45% stake in the mine, with KGHM holding the remaining 55%. The project is expected to achieve first production in FY2030 and reach full capacity in FY2031.

On July 1, preliminary data released by Eurostat showed that the eurozone’s June CPI rose 2.8% YoY, below market expectations of 3.0% and notably pulling back from May’s 3.2%. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, edged down to 2.4% from the previous 2.6%, also falling below the market forecast of 2.5%. Following these figures, money markets swiftly adjusted downward their bets on additional tightening by the European Central Bank for the rest of the year.

US private-sector employment growth slowed in June but increased for the 12th straight month, signalling that the labour market cooling has not yet turned into a sharp slowdown.Data from ADP Research on Wednesday showed that US private payrolls rose by 98,000 in June, missing economists' expectations for a 119,000 increase, while the prior month’s gain was 122,000. Although the increase fell short of expectations, the data still support the assessment that the labour market is stabilizing this year.