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Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK) said late Tuesday it received an environmental assessment certificate from the British Columbia provincial government to extend the life of the Highland Valley copper mine into the mid-2040s.

“This positive decision by the Government of B.C. will support extending the life of Canada’s largest copper mine, strengthening the North America critical minerals supply chain and contributing to jobs and economic activity,” Teck (TECK) President and CEO Jonathan Price said.

Source – Seeking Alpha

“We have to bring production back to our country,” he said.

“In the US, manufacturers will have little choice but to pass on higher costs from imports to consumers until the downstream industry (refining/smelting) has undergone suitable investment,” said Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals analyst at StoneX.

“If Trump imposes tariffs, it will have an adverse impact particularly on aluminum because Europe is already on path to impose a carbon tax and the UK might do it too,” said B.K. Bhatia, additional secretary general at the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries.

Source – Mining.com

The U.S. is expected to implement a 50% tariff on copper imports at the end of the week, but what happens next is anyone’s guess as talk of an exemption for Chile, the biggest U.S. supplier of the metal, and a potential U.S. and European “metal alliance” heats up.

“There remains uncertainty over country-based exemptions and a general sense of tariff fatigue,” wrote Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals demand analyst at StoneX, in a note Tuesday. The European Union, meanwhile, looks to get a break when it comes to U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper.

President Donald Trump’s announcement on July 8 of the coming tariff had led to a 13% spike in copper prices that day, to settle at $5.6855 a pound, a record-high finish at that time, based on data going back to 1968, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Scott-Gray said that when it comes to a potential country-based tariff exemption, Chile is “singled out,” not just because of Marcel’s comments and ongoing negotiations this week, but because the U.S. is reliant on Chile’s imports and the fact that the U.S. holds a trade surplus with Chile, she said.

Source – Market Watch