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Suspected Communist rebels attacked Xstrata Plc's $3 billion Tampakan mine in the Philippines, which may be Southeast Asia's largest untapped copper deposit, according to the military and project partner Indophil Resources NL. The group burned a drill rig and police are investigating, the Melbourne-based company said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. No one was injured in the assault, which took place around midnight on July 20, according to the statement, which did not identify the attackers. The rebels, probably from the New People's Army, ``tried to extort money from the owners of the mine, but they declined to pay the so-called revolutionary tax,'' Armand Rico, a military spokesman, said today by phone from Davao City. Insurgent attacks may undermine the Philippines' drive to develop the nation's mining industry to exploit gold, copper and nickel. Indophil, which also reported an attack on Jan. 1, is the subject of takeover bids from Xstrata Plc, which owns 62.5 percent of the mine, and a rival management group.

Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd., China's second largest gold miner, said it has completed its initial feasibility study for developing a gold-copper mine owned by Far Southeast Gold Resources Inc.(FSGRI).

First wind farm in Southeast of Brazil will generate 28 MW with 17 wind generators.

It was reported that China's Amer International expects to complete construction of its new 250,000t/y copper rod production line, located in its Chaohu City facility in Anhui Province, by year-end. The expansion project will bring Amer's production capacity to 500,000t/y and its total copper rod production is anticipated to reach 200,000t in 2011. A spokesperson for the company said that it will manufacture rod for both domestic and foreign export markets. In addition, Amer also intends to source copper cathode for rod-processing from within China and also overseas. Total investment for the project amounted to RMB2.5B.

Southwire, the US-based aluminium and copper cablemaker, has said that while the use of copper in most electrical applications is unlikely to change, some manufacturers are likely to move toward the use of aluminium wire. The auto industry is increasingly using aluminium wire for traditional copper applications. This is occurring most predominantly outside of the US, however domestic autos companies have also been using aluminium wire for battery cable and aluminium wire harnesses for lights. Southwire stated that for most electrical applications copper usage will remain dominant because of its overall reliability.

Guangzhou Jiangtong Copper products, a subsidiary of Jiangxi Copper, announced that it began trial production at its new 400,000t/y copper wirerod plant this week. The company expects to supply nearby consumers in southern China as well as those in foreign markets in Southeast Asia. Capital investment expenditure totalled RMB2.0B.

"Vietnam is one of the few countries in the Southeast Asian region that has established regulatory bodies in the power sector. In 2004, the Electricity Reform Law was introduced to establish a competitive electricity market in the country. Reforms were initiated in 2012 and agencies such as the Directorate General of Energy (DGE) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV) restricted the control and ownership of transmission grid and power generation of Vietnam Electricity (EVN)."

"Geographic regions will vary significantly in their rates of investment. Emerging markets will represent the largest growth in T&D spending, with Africa and Southeast Asia the fastest growing regions as they build out new infrastructure to boost their electrification rates. However, North America and Europe will see lackluster growth in traditional T&D infrastructure spending of around 1%, but will account for the majority of smart grid spending. The individual country with the largest amount of traditional T&D spending will be India, which will outpace China by 2024. Smart grid annual spending on distribution automation will be concentrated in Europe ($11.5bn per year), followed by North America ($7.5bn) and East Asia ($6.1bn), as these regions modernize their existing electric infrastructure."

"According to Arizona Republic the bill -set to be passed before the end of the year- would allow Rio to acquire 2,400 acres of the federally protected Tonto National Forest in southeast Arizona in exchange for 5,000 acres in parcels scattered around the state."

Hitachi Cable Ltd., has set out its new medium-term management plan known as the Renewed Plan "BRIDGE" with additional management measures. The company said under the new plan, key measures for business structure reforms included; the consolidation of its domestic sales companies, regional offices and branch offices, with the consolidated company taking operational control of all its existing manufacturing companies; the withdrawal from the optical submarines cable business, restructuring of its telecommunications cable business, review of packaging materials operations and a review of its copper tubes business; consolidations and eliminations of group companies in southeast Asia and consolidation of group companies in Europe and North America by country. This is in addition to a reduction in staff at domestic companies which is expected to involve some 1200 staff. The company will also implement measures to reduce fixed expenses. This includes a review of the company's pension system, an operational review of employee facilities including company dormitories, company housing, etc., and the sale of some of these facilities. The Hitachi Group aims to boost sales in priority target areas as a percentage of net sales from 55% in fiscal 2011 to 65% in fiscal 2016.