Amid the prolonged battle between the government and big miners over a policy to ban the export of raw mineral ore, two smaller miners have agreed to ship their raw ore overseas despite having to pay hefty export taxes.

State-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) says that the total investment value of the FerroNickel (FeNi) processing plant project in Buli, East Halmahera, North Maluku, could reach US$800 million to $1 billion.

Casablanca Capital LP said two independent proxy advisory firms have recommended shareholders of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc vote in favor of the hedge fund's bid to replace some of the members of the miner's board of directors.

Indonesia's government may offer Newmont Mining Corp's copper contract to state-owned Aneka Tambang (Antam) if the U.S. company does not quickly resume production, a government official said on Thursday.

Shares in Sirius Resources have shot up by more than 10 per cent after it announced it has found more nickel in Western Australia.

Australian miner Sirius Resources NL is in late-stage negotiations with a trio of major nickel smelters to supply up to 26,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate annually, its managing director said.

It is reported that Russia’s MMC Norilsk Nickel said that the company has entered into an agreement to sell its Black Swan/ Silver Swan assets located in Western Australia.

Australian nickel projects, presumably deemed non-core businesses, by mining majors BHP Billiton, and Norilsk Nickel are either reportedly up for sale, or sales have been agreed, which will see some of the country’s nickel production, or potential output move...