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[Graphite pollution] IN YOUR PHONE, IN THEIR AIR – by Peter Whoriskey (Washington Post – October 2, 2016)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

A trace of graphite is in consumer tech. In these Chinese villages, it’s everywhere.

At night, the pollution around the village has an otherworldly, almost fairy-tale quality. “The air sparkles,” said Zhang Tuling, a farmer in a village in far northeastern China. “When any bit of light hits the particles, they shine.”

By daylight, the particles are visible as a lustrous gray dust that settles on everything. It stunts the crops it blankets, begrimes laundry hung outside to dry and leaves grit on food. The village’s well water has become undrinkable, too.

Beside the family home is a plot that once grew saplings, but the trees died once the factory began operating, said Zhang’s husband, Yu Yuan. “This is what we live with,” Zhang said, slowly waving an arm at the stumps.

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China demand drives good outlook for commodities – by Allan Seccombe (Business Day – October 3, 2016)

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

THE outlook for a broad range of commodity prices has turned positive, with January this year marking the low point, and Chinese demand once again the dominant factor this year and in 2017.

In Macquarie’s Commodities Compendium, which showed upward revisions in a host of commodity price expectations for the next 12 months, the importance of China for global commodity demand and pricing was again underlined as the key driver for the sector after a difficult year in 2015 and at the start of this year.

“Perhaps the biggest single contributor to the stronger-than-expected commodity pricing environment this year has been the resurgence of Chinese demand as the Chinese government continues to prolong its more commodity-intensive phase of growth,” Macquarie said.

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Nickel Market Faces Supply Shock as UBS Sees Risks Next Year (Bloomberg News – October 2, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

About a tenth of the world’s nickel supply is at risk after the Philippines widened a crackdown on miners, raising the chances of prices rallying by another 25 percent through 2017, according to UBS Group AG, which had already billed the metal as one of its favored commodities.

The market is reeling after the Philippine government threatened to close another 14 mines last week, pending responses to an environmental audit. Of 41 operations reviewed — the majority of them nickel-producing — about three-quarters have been halted or told they need to come up to scratch.

That puts 55 percent of Philippine nickel output, or 11 percent of global supply, at risk of exiting the market, according to UBS. Shutdowns raise the chances of nickel reaching $6 a pound, or $13,228 a metric ton, by the end of next year, analyst Daniel Morgan said by phone from Sydney on Friday.

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Would so-called Party B been a better buyer for Thompson Creek Metals? – by Barry Critchley (Financial Post – September 29, 2016)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Let’s hope the directors at Thompson Creek Metals — a company with interests in copper, gold and molybdenum and whose shares were delisted from the NYSE this year — made the right decision.

In three weeks, shareholders will give their opinion on the takeover by Centerra Gold, the largest Western-based gold producer in Kyrgyzstan. Centerra is offering paper to Thompson Creek (TC) shareholders.

Centerra also raised $195 million via an offering of $7.35 installment receipts, the proceeds of which will be used to help repay two maturing TC debt issues. TC’s debt holders will be made whole in the transaction, which was announced in July and will wrap next month. But TC’s equity holders may not be so lucky. They will end up with a minority stake in Centerra, whose main asset is the Kumtor mine in the Kyrgyz Republic.

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Global Nickel Market Convulsed as Top Shipper Sees Mine Failings – by Andreo Calonzo and Cecilia Yap (Bloomberg News – September 27, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The Philippines said three-quarters of its mines fell short in an audit of the top nickel producer, with 20 mines facing suspension unless they can respond to shortcomings within days, on top of the 10 already halted. Nickel went on a switchback ride, flipping from losses to a six-week high.

The mines already shut, together with those now recommended for suspension, accounted for 56 percent of nickel production by value last year, Environment Undersecretary Leo Jasareno told reporters in Manila on Tuesday. He presented the findings of the checkup at a briefing with Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, saying only 11 mines had passed. The country has 41 metallic mines, mostly nickel, together with suppliers of copper and gold, according to a revised presentation by the government.

Mines recommended for suspension will be allowed to operate as normal until a final decision in about two weeks, according to Jasareno. Lopez plans to meet on Thursday with miners that haven’t passed the test, before making a final decision on their status, as well meeting with those that did.

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Philippines to suspend 20 more mines, boosting nickel price – by Enrico Dela Cruz and Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – September 27, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – The Philippines has ordered the suspension of 20 more mines for environmental violations, as the world’s top supplier of nickel ore vowed to pursue stricter standards than in global mining centers such as Canada and Australia.

Most of the mines were nickel producers and the news sent global prices up more than 1 percent on Tuesday, helping the metal recover from earlier losses amid worries over disruption of supply to the important Chinese market.

President Rodrigo Duterte has warned that the Philippines could survive without a mining industry and 10 mines have already been shuttered as part of an audit completed last month.”I am not against mining but I am definitely against the adverse effects that may happen, that are happening in some of the situations,” Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez told a briefing.

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Are China’s booming copper exports the new normal? – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – September 22, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – China continued to pump refined copper out into the international market last month to the tune of 57,000 tonnes. Cumulative exports so far this year now total 335,000 tonnes, already exceeding any previous calendar year.

To be sure, the country is still absorbing more refined copper than it is exporting. But it is increasingly clear that the acceleration in outbound flows which started in the second quarter is not a statistical blip.

And with the copper market full of talk about further large inflows of metal into London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses, the question is whether Chinese exports, once something of a rarity, are becoming the new normal.

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Philippines to suspend 12 more mines in environmental crackdown – by Enrico Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – September 21, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – A dozen more Philippine mines, mostly nickel projects, are in danger of being suspended in an ongoing environmental crackdown on the sector, an environment undersecretary said on Wednesday.

The Southeast Asian nation, the world’s top supplier of nickel ore, has already halted the operations of 10 mines, eight of them nickel producers, for environmental lapses since it launched an audit in July, stoking increases in global prices.

A total of 40 large-scale metal mines in the country underwent an audit launched on July 8 by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez as she sought to stop what she claims is irresponsible mining from harming the environment.

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Glencore Sees Nickel Price Rising on Global Supply Shortage – by Eko Listiyorini (Bloomberg News – September 21, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc, the commodities trader and miner, expects nickel prices to climb through 2018 as demand outstrips supply, assuming Indonesia continues its policy of curbing ore exports and encouraging local processing.

“We believe we’ve seen the bottom, both in terms of the actual spot prices experienced earlier this year and also in terms of the annual average we will see in 2016,” said Kenny Ives, the company’s head of nickel. “We expect spot prices to be higher and we also expect the average to be higher,” he said in an interview in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Nickel prices have advanced 17 percent this year on the London Metal Exchange as global stockpiles declined. The Philippines, the world’s largest shipper of mined nickel used in stainless steel, is carrying out an environmental audit and closing mines that don’t meet international standards, curbing supply. Output of stainless steel in China, the world’s biggest producer, has also been increasing this year as new capacity fires up.

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Panel prepares blueprint for doubling mineral output growth – by Gireesh Chandra Prasad (Livemint.com – September 20, 2016)

http://www.livemint.com/

To boost growth, the mining ministry is set to revive operations in several hundred mines

New Delhi: Mineral production in India needs to grow 15% a year by volume to meet mines minister Piyush Goyal’s goal of raising the share of mining in the country’s economic output by one percentage point in the next two-to-three years, according to a blueprint being finalized by the government.

Mining output grew 9% in 2015-16 and 10.6% in the April-July period of 2016-17, according to official estimates.To boost growth, the ministry is set to revive operations in several hundred mines as per a plan being prepared by a committee chaired by mines secretary Balvinder Kumar.

The panel has met once and will meet again in a fortnight after identifying the steps to be taken in the case of each of the mines to be revived. “We have to take several steps to achieve the target.

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Newmont’s Indonesia mine sale closure may slip into fourth quarter: CEO – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – September 20, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – Newmont Mining Corp’s sale of its stake in the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia may not close until the fourth quarter of the year, Chief Executive Gary Goldberg said on Monday, adding that the approvals process was complex.

Newmont agreed on June 30 to sell its 48.5 percent economic interest in its Indonesia operations to a local investor group for up to $1.3 billion. The Denver-based miner said at the time it expected the deal to close in the third quarter.

The possible delay comes after some analysts raised concerns after the deal was announced that closing conditions, including requirements for a valid export license for the mine, posed risks to the transaction.

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Nickel Advances on Supply Concerns as Mining Shares Surge – by Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – September 19, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Nickel jumped the most in two months after the Philippines said it may suspend more mines as part of a nationwide audit that’s due for release this week. Glencore Plc and other mining shares also advanced.

Nickel has climbed 15 percent in 2016 as the Philippines shutters sites for failing to meet environmental standards, threatening supplies from the nation, the top supplier of the mined metal. The government could tell more mines to stop operating, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday after similar comments to Reuters.

“As much as 150,000 tons of nickel, or 8 percent of global supply, could be at risk of closure,” Anton Berlin, head of analysis and market development in Moscow at GMK Norilsk Nickel PJSC, one of the two largest producers of the metal, said by e-mail on Monday.

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Exclusive: Philippines may suspend at least 10 more mines under crackdown – by Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.s. – September 19, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – The Philippines could suspend at least 10 more mines under an environmental crackdown on the sector, the minister in charge of mining said, in a move that threatens to halt the operations of half the mines in the world’s top supplier of nickel ore.

Global nickel prices jumped 2 percent as the country’s second-biggest nickel producer warned that more new stoppages would disrupt shipments to the crucial Chinese market and elsewhere.President Rodrigo Duterte has taken a tough line on the industry and warned the nation could survive without mining, while mineral producers have labeled a review of the sector a “demolition campaign”.

The Philippines has already halted the operations of 10 mines, eight of them nickel producers, for environmental lapses since it launched an audit on July 8.That has left 30 mines still operating, but Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez said others could be suspended when the agency releases the results of the mining audit on Thursday.

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Iron ore mining resumes in India’s Goa amid environmental concerns – by Murali Krishan (Deutsche Welle – September 15, 2016)

http://www.dw.com/en/

Mining in the western Indian state of Goa has restarted after a ban was lifted by the government. The tussle between the mining lobbies and environmental groups has also resumed. Murali Krishnan reports.

The western India state of Goa is famous for its stunning beaches. It is also India’s third-largest iron ore producer. Mining plays a vital role in contributing to the state’s economy. In fact, it is as important to Goa as its tourism industry. But years of unbridled development have led to massive land grabbing by the real estate lobbies and illegal miners.

Until the 2000s, Goa’s mining industry had been controlled by a few families. After that, the infrastructure boom in China triggered an unprecedented mining in the state. The mining mafia, in collusion with political groups, committed large-scale environmental and legal violations. The environmentalists estimate that the loss to the public exchequer owing to illegal mining amounted to a staggering 4.6 billion euros.

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China denies aluminium exports evading U.S. duties (Reuters Africa – September 14, 2016)

http://af.reuters.com/

SHANGHAI, Sept 14 (Reuters) – A Chinese industry group has denied that the country’s aluminium producers could be involved in exporting extrusion products via Mexico to circumvent U.S. duties, in the latest sign of bubbling trade tensions between the two nations.

A report by the Wall Street Journal last week cited U.S aluminium executives contending that some $2 billion worth of Chinese metal products had been stockpiled in Mexico as part of a scheme to re-export to the United States, which imposes heavy duties on Chinese products.

The newspaper said a total of 1 million tonnes of aluminium products were previously spotted by a pilot commissioned by a U.S. aluminium executive to fly over a factory in Mexico.

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