China fails on steel sector reform

The Australian Financial Review reports China has failed to shut-down outdated steel mills and will not meet its 2017 target for overhauling the sector, according to Europe's peak business camber, as analysts believe the recent rally in the price of iron ore will not last.

He said steel mills around Beijing had increased production ahead of the National People's Congress, which begins on March 5, as they will be forced to shut-down lines to ensure blue skies for the week-long session of China's rubber-stamp parliament.

“It will not take long, maybe a week or two, but steel prices and the price of iron ore will start falling again,” said the source who asked not to be named.

Newcrest pays $36m to shareholders over class action

Newcrest Mining has paid $36 million to shareholders who brought a class action against the miner for breaching its continuous disclosure obligations bringing an end to a wretched period for Australia's largest gold producer, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Newcrest said it had agreed to pay the sum to family trustee company Earglow, which led an action on behalf of several dozen shareholders who acquired an interest in Newcrest shares between August 13, 2012 and June 6, 2013.

Some OZ Minerals investors don’t want new copper mine

When the board of OZ Minerals considers whether to approve construction of Australia's next copper mine on Thursday, they will do so in the knowledge that some important sections of their share register don't want the mine to go ahead, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Some top-10 shareholders in the copper miner believe the direction of the Chinese economy is unclear so it is a bad time to be committing capital on construction of the Carrapateena mine, which is expected to cost between $500 million and $1 billion.