Asia Mining – Page 115 – Republic of Mining

China’s Nickel Ore Lifeline at Risk as Philippines Talks Tough (Bloomberg News – June 22, 2016)

June 22, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Nickel ore shipments from the Philippines may be jeopardized by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s appointment of an anti-mining crusader to head the country’s environment department, a move that may potentially disrupt supplies to Chinese buyers.

“We might see an imminent crackdown on Philippines’ small mines,” Sam Xia, an analyst at China Merchants Futures Ltd., said from Shenzhen on Wednesday, a day after Regina “Gina” Lopez, 61, managing director of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc., said that she’d accept the role. “This will reduce its nickel ore exports, including to China.”

The Philippines has emerged as the key supplier of nickel ore to Asia’s top economy after Indonesia halted shipments in January 2014 in a bid to promote local processing.

BHP Sticks With Coal in Hard Times – by Rhiannon Hoyle (Wall Street Journal – June 21, 2016)

June 21, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/

SYDNEY—Amid the misery in a market strained by bankruptcies, mine closures and mass worker layoffs, coal still has at least one major supporter.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, on Tuesday sounded a bullish note on future demand and its role as a major exporter. In an investor briefing, it said the world’s appetite for coking coal, used in steelmaking, and thermal coal, which is burned to generate electricity, will rise as developing economies demand more steel and energy.

“We expect that thermal coal will remain front and center in Asia’s energy portfolio into the foreseeable future because it is the cheapest and most readily available source for power generation,” said Mike Henry, BHP’s head of Australian mining.

Is China the de facto, unwitting OPEC for metals? – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – June 20, 2016)

June 20, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, AUSTRALIA – Is China doing for metals markets what Saudi Arabia used to do for crude oil? The world’s largest producer and consumer of industrial metals may be acting as a de facto, if unwitting, type of OPEC for metals, adjusting supply in response to price signals and balancing the market.

While not as obvious as the role Saudi Arabia played as the market balancer for crude in the previous glory days of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the dynamics for China and metals may be somewhat similar.

Consider the following. Up until fairly recently China was an insignificant player in the export market for most industrial, or semi-refined, metals such as steel, refined copper and aluminum. However, exports of steel and aluminum have surged since then, effectively integrating China into the global markets for these intermediate stage metals.

India wants private sector to explore for diamonds, gold – by Krishna N. Das (Reuters India – June 20, 2016)

June 20, 2016

http://in.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI – India is seeking the participation of Rio Tinto and Anglo American’s De Beers to explore for diamonds and gold, part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition to make the country a major mineral producer, the mines secretary said.

Balvinder Kumar told Reuters on Monday that the Indian government will start to auction the rights to up to 70 diamond and gold exploration zones to mining companies this year.

India stopped producing diamonds years ago and produces only a small amount of gold, although it is the world’s second-biggest consumer of the yellow metal. Modi wants to revive the sector, with most of the exploration and production conducted by the private sector. The blocks that will go on sale are among 100 mineral zones identified by the state-run Geological Survey of India following an aerogeophysical assessment.

Congo Copper Miner Plans Chinese Joint Venture at Main Asset – by Thomas Wilson (Bloomberg News – June 16, 2016)

June 17, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Gecamines, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s state-owned miner, is in talks to give China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group a majority stake in its most prospective copper asset.

CNMC will finance, build and operate a copper-processing facility at the Deziwa concession in return for a 51 percent stake in the project, Jean Dominique Takis, head of strategy, said in an interview Tuesday in the capital, Kinshasa.

CNMC will be reimbursed for its investment in the plant, which should have an initial capacity of 80,000 metric tons a year, through an off-take agreement over an agreed period that wasn’t specified, after which ownership of the project will be returned to Gecamines, Takis said. The agreement is a “new type of partnership” designed to increase revenue in coming years, Gecamines Chairman Albert Yuma said last week.

BURN, BURN: Climate change or not, power-starved India just can’t help burning more coal – by Tapan Sarker (Quartz India – June 15, 2016)

June 16, 2016

http://qz.com/

More than a fifth of India’s population lacks access to electricity, posing a major development challenge. India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has promised to bring affordable access to electricity to all of these people by 2019.

While Modi has committed to increasing renewable power generation, India is also increasing coal production. India is the world’s third-largest coal producer and its second-largest coal importer. This is increasing the tension between development and India’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.

The world economy is changing faster than ever and Asia is at the forefront of its transformation. The growth, led by China over the past decade and more recently by India, shows that Asia has significant progress to make. But there are enormous challenges in realising the dream of the Asian Century.

China Plans to Boost Metals Reserves Amid Commodities Glut (Bloomberg News – June 16, 2016)

June 16, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

China, the world’s top consumer of base metals, will boost stockpiles, accelerate the closure of excess capacity and provide tax breaks for producers as the country grapples with a raw-materials glut amid the slowest growth in decades.

The nation will increase reserves of some metals and study a trial program for companies to build stockpiles in addition to their inventories, according to State Council guidelines posted on its website Thursday. China already holds stockpiles of metals though the State Reserve Bureau. The statement from China’s cabinet didn’t specify a timeline or say how the plan would be financed.

China has set a priority of shuttering surplus industrial capacity as the country shifts from a capital-intensive to a consumption-led economy after commodities prices collapsed because of oversupply. Domestic smelters late last year pledged to cut output as metal prices fell to the lowest in six years.

[India] Mining of atomic minerals to be opened up to private sector – by Gireesh Chandra Prasad (Live Mint.com – June 15, 2016)

June 15, 2016

http://www.livemint.com/

The government, like it did with hydrocarbons, is set to open up exploration and production of atomic minerals to private mining companies.

It is part of a strategy to increase domestic supplies of fuel as the country readies to expand its nuclear power generation capacity, Balvinder Kumar, secretary in the ministry of mines, said.

India currently has a 5.7 gigawatts (GW) nuclear power generation capacity, which barely accounts for 2% of the total power capacity but is expected to witness a sharp increase over the next 16 years as the country moves away from fossil fuels for its energy needs.

The Department of Atomic Energy’s target is to have 63GW of nuclear power capacity by 2032.

The Philippines: Is the Peace Process in Muslim Mindanao Collapsing? (Stratfor.com – February 11, 2016)

June 15, 2016

https://www.stratfor.com/

“Powerful economic incentives to stabilize the region remain as well.
Central to Manila’s argument for the Bangsamoro law has been
Mindanao’s wealth of untapped mineral resources, namely gold, copper,
nickel, manganese, lead, zinc and iron ore deposits, plus oil and

The failure of the Philippine Congress to approve a core part of a recent peace deal with rebels in the southern Philippines will complicate the fragile settlement and risk at least a short-term surge in violence.

The need to devote security resources to combat other internal threats and to reorient its defense posture to external threats — namely those posed by China — will prevent Manila from abandoning the peace process altogether, regardless of who wins the presidency in May.

[Diamonds/DeBeers] No Slogan Is Forever – by Stephen Rego (Business World India – June 14, 2016)

June 14, 2016

http://businessworld.in/

The number 1 advertising slogan of the last century, the iconic ‘A Diamond is Forever’, will henceforth no longer be the vanguard message of the diamond industry as the Diamond Producers Association unveils a new platform to redefine diamonds for the millennial generation.

A little over a week ago, the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), an organisation set up last year by the world’s largest diamond mining companies, including De Beers, revealed that it would be adopting a new campaign platform to promote diamonds among the millennial generation. That new platform is “Real is Rare. Real is Diamond”.

Thus, ‘A Diamond is Forever’, the four words that were the cornerstone of all global marketing campaigns launched by De Beers in various parts of the world since 1948, will now no longer enjoy a monopoly in generic promotions, though they will probably still be used by De Beers to push its own Forevermark brand of diamonds and diamond jewellery.

The reason for the shift, the DPA says, is to redefine diamonds for the 21st century, giving them new meaning and aligning them with the perceptions and thinking of the new millennial generation.

Japan Unswayed by Increased Pressure to Disavow Coal Support – by Chisaki Watanabe and Emi Urabe (Bloomberg News – June 14, 2016)

June 14, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Japan, faced with increasing calls from environmentalists to phase out coal, is standing by its support of the fossil fuel, saying it will help developing countries adopt the best available technologies for coal-fired power plants.

Pressure to rein in carbon dioxide emissions is intensifying, especially after the Paris Agreement, a global deal reached in December to tackle climate change. Environmentalists have criticized Japan for being one of the biggest providers of coal financing among Group of Seven nations and for being a laggard in switching to cleaner energy sources.

In response, Japan says it’s helping to develop more efficient coal-fired plants that can cut carbon dioxide emissions. The Asian nation’s financing of coal-fired projects is also helping to improve energy security in countries that still rely on the cheap fuel, officials say.

Indian govt steps up mineral exploration ahead of private sector entry – by Ajoy K Das – MiningWeekly.com – June 13, 2016)

June 14, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – Indian government-owned and -operated mineral companies are stepping up exploration projects across the country as the government hopes it would help catalyse more private sector investment.

“The Indian government has put in place an efficient framework to attract private, domestic and foreign investment into mineral exploration in the country. But private investments in long gestation projects typically come in with a lag and, therefore, various government-owned entities are being prodded to take a lead,” an official in the Ministry of Mines said.

There has been a flurry of activity among provincial and federal government-owned mineral and mineral processing companies to announce exploration projects.

Turquoise Hill shares soar as takeover rumour back in spotlight – by Peter Koven (Financial Post – June 14, 2016)

June 14, 2016

http://business.financialpost.com/

One of the Canadian mining sector’s most popular takeover rumours is back in the limelight. Shares of Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. jumped 13 per cent on Monday, closing at $4.16, after Britain’s Sunday Times reported that Rio Tinto Ltd. hired bankers at Goldman Sachs to study a potential privatization of the Vancouver-based company. Turquoise Hill is currently worth $8.3 billion.

It has been nearly 10 years since Rio Tinto first invested in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., the predecessor company to Turquoise Hill. And in 2012, it became the firm’s controlling shareholder. It is no secret that Rio covets Turquoise Hill’s Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, and experts were not surprised by the talk that the company is back in play.

“It’s a recurring headline,” said Sasha Bukacheva, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. Some industry watchers think it is inevitable that Rio will eventually boost its stake in Turquoise Hill. But given the recent positive developments around Oyu Tolgoi, there is some logic for the mining giant to make a move soon.

Environment, mining groups back Duterte’s shape up call for miners (The Philippine Star – June 13, 2016)

June 13, 2016

http://www.philstar.com/

MANILA, Philippines – Environment and mining groups have voiced support for president-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s call for mining companies to “shape up.”

For a country with a rich biodiversity and island ecosystems profile like the Philippines, there is no place for illegal miners and destructive mining practices, said Ysan Castillo, secretary general of Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST). “We are fully behind President Duterte in admonishing firms to practice responsible mining because it is the only way for us to achieve sustainable development,” Castillo added.

In a statement, Michael Toledo, senior vice president for public and regulatory affairs of Philex Mining Corp., one of the country’s oldest and largest mining firms, said they fully support Duterte’s campaign against illegal and irresponsible mining and commit to work with the incoming administration in addressing this problem.

Rio Tinto looks to lift stake in Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi mine – by Bridget Carter and Gretchen Friemann (The Australian – June 13, 2016)

June 13, 2016

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

Speculation just won’t go away that Rio Tinto will move to better match its equity position in Mongolia’s expanding Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine to its deep involvement and leadership of the nation-changing project.

The latest chatter, courtesy of London’s Sunday Times, is that Rio has hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser to look at a two-step wrap-up of the Vancouver-listed Turquoise Hill, owned 51 per cent by Rio. Turquoise Hill owns 66 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi (meaning Rio has a 33.66 per cent Oyu Tolgoi stake), with the Mongolian government owning the remaining 34 per cent.

The Sunday Times is suggesting that Rio is looking to increase its stake in Turquoise Hill and have the rest of the company acquired by single strategic buyer or consortium. Both Rio and Goldmans declined to comment, as was the case the last time it was reported Goldmans had been hired to solve the Oyu Tolgoi conundrum.