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CMJ Daily Tape
TRADE REMEDY | NICKEL
Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade has opened an anti-dumping investigation into certain cold-rolled stainless steel products from China, Indonesia and Taiwan, under Decision No. 2948/QĐ-BCT dated 6 November 2026, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam. The case, coded AD25, covers HS codes 7219.32.00, 7219.33.00, 7219.34.00, 7219.35.00, 7219.90.00, 7220.20.10, 7220.20.90, 7220.90.10 and 7220.90.90. The petitioners are Posco VST Co., Ltd. and Tan Viet Metal Science and Technology Co., Ltd. Interested parties have until 5 January 2027 to register. The authority said it will send sampling questionnaires to producers and exporters, then questionnaires on dumping, injury and causation, and that provisional measures are possible.
The petitioners, Posco VST and Tan Viet, are Vietnamese cold-rollers, and every HS line in the case is cold-rolled or other flat product; no hot-rolled line is listed. That leaves the re-roller's feedstock untouched and puts the duty risk on finished coil. Importers on quarterly contracts for Indonesian cold-rolled coil now have to price 2027 arrivals with a possible provisional duty, and will ask for duty-paid terms or shorter tenors before they book first-quarter tonnage.
M&A | COPPER
TDG Gold Corp. agreed on 12 November 2026 to sell a 51% interest in its Aurora West property, in the Toodoggone district of British Columbia, to Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. for C$110 million in cash at closing, TDG said. Freeport can lift its stake to 75% of Aurora West JVCo and 100% of a two-claim ClaimsCo by sole-funding C$80 million of exploration and paying C$40 million. It committed C$30 million within three years, at least C$15 million in the first two. Closing needs TSX Venture Exchange approval.
Freeport pays C$110 million up front for ground with no resource, grade or drill data in TDG's release, and commits only C$30 million of the C$80 million earn-in, C$15 million of it in two years. That is a drill budget. Access runs over TDG-held roads under a Road Use Agreement, and the Toodoggone has a short field season, so two seasons of core decide whether Freeport funds the other C$50 million or stops at 51% and TDG has to fund pro rata.
PRODUCTION | COPPER
Capstone Copper said on 12 November 2026 that commissioning of the primary crusher at Pinto Valley, in Arizona, showed additional maintenance was needed on a few major mechanical components, which the original equipment manufacturer is making off-site. The crusher is now expected back in mid-December 2026, against a plant restart planned for early November. A partial concentrator restart on temporary mobile crushers is set for mid-November at up to 40 thousand tonnes per day. Capstone cut the bottom of its 2026 copper guidance to 195 thousand tonnes from 200 thousand.
The 5,000-tonne cut rests on one supplier: the OEM building crusher components off-site for a mid-December recommissioning. Until then Pinto Valley runs on mobile crushers at up to 40 thousand tonnes per day, and the release gives no buffer if the parts arrive late. The same release flags a Chilean national strike that threatens fuel and sulphuric acid deliveries and concentrate and cathode shipments, so the 195-thousand-tonne floor depends on two supply lines Capstone does not run.
PERMITTING | GRAPHITE
Nouveau Monde Graphite obtained mining lease no. 1057 for its Matawinie Mine from Québec's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests in October, the company said in its third-quarter update, filed with the SEC on 13 November 2026. Project expenditures reached C$67 million as of 30 September, within budget, NMG said. It expects financial close of senior debt in the upcoming weeks and targets a final investment decision on the 13ktpy Bécancour Battery Material Plant in the upcoming months. Offtakes with Panasonic Energy, Traxys and the Government of Canada cover about 70% of Matawinie production.
The mine is permitted and under construction; the converter is not. Bécancour is pre-FID, and NMG says Panasonic Energy's equity "may" come at FID. Panasonic's offtake is for the lithium-ion battery market, which takes processed anode material, so until Bécancour is sanctioned, built and qualified by Panasonic, part of the 70% contracted volume has no conversion route in Canada. Matawinie concentrate would then need a flake buyer while the anode plant catches up.
