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Asia Mining

India Seeks $15 Billion Investment to Double Mining Output – by Archana Chaudhary and Rajesh Kumar Singh (Bloomberg News – August 29, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

India expects to woo 1 trillion rupees ($15 billion) of investment over five years to double mining output and cut mineral imports.

The government’s goal is to speed up exploration, including upfront payments for discovered deposits when the mines are auctioned, Mines Minister Piyush Goyal said in an interview. The administration will invite foreign companies to participate, he said, while acknowledging challenges such as land acquisition and environmental hurdles.

“We’re working to change the rules of the game from doing small amounts of exploration in an incremental fashion to doing it on a fast-track, one-shot, big-picture way,” Goyal, 52, said on Saturday in New Delhi. There’s “easily” scope to pour 50 billion rupees into the search for deposits, he said.

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Mongolia’s Epic Meltdown Won’t Be Reversed by a Commodity Revival – by Michael Kohn (August 25, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The commodity super-cycle that peaked in 2011 powered Mongolia to world-beating growth. Then came the bust and China’s recent economic slowdown that’s pushed the land of Genghis Khan into an unprecedented economic crisis this summer.

Yet even though the commodity market finally has a pulse again after a five-year collapse, a modest revival in prices isn’t going to be enough to rescue Mongolia’s mineral-rich, $12 billion economy.

What worked for Mongolia in 2011 isn’t working now. The nation, once dubbed Minegolia for sitting on what the International Monetary Fund has estimated is $1 trillion to $3 trillion in mineral wealth, has seen its attractiveness as an investment destination wane as global miners rein in spending.

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Nickel merry-go-round: Indonesia ferronickel replacing Philippine ore – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 25, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, AUSTRALIA – Is nickel’s current rally sustainable or is the metal merely having a strong run because market participants are more focused on the environmental crackdown in top ore miner the Philippines, rather than on the surge in Indonesian ferronickel exports?

No doubt nickel is one of the strongest commodity performers this year, with benchmark London futures rising 13.3 percent from the end of last year to the close on Wednesday.

The bulk of that rally has come in the past three months as new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his hard-line environment secretary Regina Lopez cracked down on alleged environmental abuses by the mining industry.

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China steel slowdown for G20 a risk for iron ore – by Henry Sanderson(Financial Times – August 24, 2016)

https://www.ft.com/

Reports Beijing will suspend production during summit comes at a tricky moment

Iron ore traders are likely to closely monitor the G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou next month, but not to hear the economic prognostications of world leaders.

Instead they will be studying the impact on the market for iron ore, a key ingredient in steel, of reported government orders to shut down polluting steel factories in surrounding areas and provinces, as Beijing tries to ensure clear skies ahead of the event on September 4-5.

The price of iron ore, a big source of profits for global mining houses such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, has rallied about 40 per cent this year, making it one of the best performing commodities. But analysts are now warning that a weakening in steel demand in the second half of this year could halt its advance.

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China Nickel Trade Shifts as Ore Imports Drop, Ferronickel Rises (Bloomberg News – August 24, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

China’s imports of nickel ore and refined metal dropped in July, while overseas purchases of an intermediate form of the raw material surged, signalling the shifting mix of shipments into the world’s top stainless-steel producer.

Inbound shipments of ore were 3.29 million metric tons, down 34 percent from about 5 million tons a year earlier, while imports of refined metal dropped 41 percent to 27,129 tons, according to Chinese customs data Wednesday. Overseas purchases of ferronickel jumped 56 percent to 92,240 tons, the second-highest on record, as Indonesian shipments rose more than fivefold.

Refined nickel in London has advanced 16 percent this year amid speculation a mining clampdown in the Philippines will encourage Chinese buyers to seek other forms of the metal as ore shipments from the top producer decline.

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Miners slam demolition campaign, blame illegal small-scale mining – by Manolo Serapio Jr and Enrico Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – August 24, 2016)

http://www.gmanetwork.com/

MANILA – Miners claim the government’s environmental crackdown is a “demolition campaign” against mineral producers and are seeking to meet with President Rodrigo Duterte amid a spate of shutdowns stemming from the probe, an industry official said.

Duterte’s seven-week old government has so far suspended 10 mines, eight of them nickel, for environmental infractions, sowing fear among large-scale miners in the world’s top nickel producer that more shutdowns may follow.

The mining industry expects to push ahead with $23 billion worth of new investments from this year through 2020, but this “spirit of optimism is being shattered by … a very unstable policy outlook,” Benjamin Philip Romualdez, president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, said at an industry conference on Wednesday.

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We Did It, You Should Too: Ore-Ban Talk Gathers Pace in Asia – by Jasmine Ng (Bloomberg News – August 22, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The Philippines should follow Indonesia’s lead and prohibit the export of raw metal ores, according to National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, who said he was a big supporter of the curbs imposed by his country and results so far have been a success.

The restrictions have helped to spur the local manufacture of greater-value products, the former finance minister said in an interview in Singapore on Monday. Although some revenue was lost in the near term, the policy means there’ll be much a better result in future, he said.

Indonesia halted the export of ores from 2014, roiling the nickel market, and some Philippine lawmakers are now weighing a similar move as President Rodrigo Duterte conducts an audit of the industry to ensure its compliance with environmental standards.

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Philippine Miners Optimistic Over $34 Billion Project Pipeline – by Norman P Aquino (Bloomberg News – August 22, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The Philippines’ mining crackdown will separate good companies from bad ones and the industry is optimistic over prospects for $34 billion in projects to be developed in the next six years.

Most of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines’ 20-plus members meet international standards and comply with the country’s environmental regulations, Executive Vice President Nelia Halcon told a briefing in Manila on Monday.

In terms of the pipeline, “these projects have been approved and it’s only a matter of pushing their development,” Halcon said, referring to ventures that include the $5.9 billion Tampakan copper-gold project in South Cotabato province and Philex Mining Corp.’s $900 million Silangan project in Surigao del Norte. “We’re always hopeful,” she said.

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Rio Tinto Will Close India Bunder Diamond Project to Cut Costs – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – August 22, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

More than a decade after its discovery, Rio Tinto Group said Monday it will shut the Bunder diamond mine in India by the end of the year, as the world’s second-biggest miner seeks to cut costs and conserve cash.

Bunder remains a top-class diamond deposit and Rio Tinto will work with the federal and Madhya Pradesh state governments to examine options for another investor to take over the project, the company said in an e-mailed statement.

Development of the mine about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of New Delhi has been stymied by delays in environmental approvals that would allow the clearing of a forested area important to tiger and other wildlife habitats. The deposit was discovered in 2004.

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Philippine villagers claim victory over nickel mining firm (Catholic News Service – August 18, 2016)

http://www.catholicregister.org/

MANILA, Philippines – Residents of a small island in the central Philippines hailed a government order that stopped one of the country’s largest mining firms from removing nickel ore stockpiles from their village. The removal of the ore was ruining local ecosystems, the residents said.

“We thought we’d see our island waste away first,” Rebecca Destajo, a village leader on Manicani Island off the coastal town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province, told ucanews.com Aug. 18 after the government announced its decision.

Opposition to mining operations on the island had been ongoing since the Hinatuan Mining Corp., an affiliate of Nickel Asia Corp., acquired rights to mine in the village in 1987.

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Mining future is formed by Chinese policy movements (MINEX Forum – August 18, 2016)

http://minexforum.com/en/

Because of this China and its demand still remains at the heart of the global resources industry. China once consumed 60 per cent of all seaborne iron ore, and despite its waning appetite it still has the largest influence on many metals due to its overwhelming demand for raw materials – relative to other nations.

“If you believe that China is one of the most significant factors in the global mining market – whether it be capital, consumption, stockpiling, project construction or its announced infrastructure initiatives – then it’s imperative to pay attention to the economic and political issues shaping the country’s future,” australianmining.com.au reports in reference to Deloitte Canada’s global leader for mining M&A advisory, Jeremy South.

Unlike many other nations China has a highly interventionist government, which dictates market controls. “Beyond interfering with the free movement of markets, the government’s fiscal intervention may threaten its ability to fund new programs designed to spur future growth,” Deloitte reports.

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Top Chinese Nickel Producer Says Bull Market Just Beginning – by Alfred Cang (Bloomberg News – August 17, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Nickel’s rally is only just getting started, making the metal an attractive bet for investors, according to Jinchuan Group, China’s biggest producer of the refined metal.

Tightening global supplies because of a mining clampdown in the Philippines and rising demand from the stainless steel industry in China will push prices higher even after they climbed 35 percent from February lows, Chairman Yang Zhiqiang wrote in a statement on the company’s website. China consumes about half of the world’s supply and the Philippines produces a fifth of it.

“Nickel’s advance is just the beginning of a long bull run, with current prices still around multi-year lows, making the metal a promising investment,” Yang wrote.

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Mining is not a sunset industry – expert – by James Konstantin Galvez (The Manila Times – August 17, 2016)

THE mining industry will always remain a major pillar of the Philippines economy, a management consultancy firm specializing on mining said.

Challenging President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent remark that minerals development sector is already a sunset industry, the president and CEO of Amdgy Consultancy, Deogracias Contreras, said that there will never be a sunset in the local mining industry.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion at Lido, Contreras cited the country’s increasing need for both metallic and non-metallic resources to keep the economy moving forward. “Since the dawn of time, we have been mining. Mining is not just metallic, it also includes non-metallic and energy,” he pointed out. President Duterte had vowed to limit mining operations in an effort to preserve what is left of the country’s natural resources.

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China’s Sinking Mining Towns Should Have Been Protected: Expert – by Gao Shan (Radio Free Asia – August 16, 2016)

http://www.rfa.org/

China’s sinking coal-mining towns are largely the result of a failure to implement existing environmental legislation, a top geological expert has told RFA. A three-decades-long coal-mining boom in the northern province of Shanxi has left hundreds of communities in imminent danger of sinking into the ground.

The Shanxi authorities say they now plan to relocate some 655,000 residents by the end of next year from former mining regions now deemed unsafe. The industry has cost the government around 77 billion yuan (U.S. $11.6 million) in economic losses, local officials estimate.

Yang Yong, a subsidence expert based in the southwestern city of Chengdu, told RFA that Shanxi had paid a heavy environmental price for its massive contribution to the Chinese economy through coal production.

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NEWS RELEASE: Newly Appointed CEO Mr. Chen Dexin Aims at Building Jinchuan into a World-Class Mining Company

HONG KONG, Aug 16, 2016 – (ACN Newswire) – Jinchuan Group International Resources Co. Ltd (the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, collectively referred to as the “Group” or “Jinchuan International”, SEHK: 2362) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Chen Dexin as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of the Company, effective 15 June 2016. Mr. Chen is a seasoned executive appointed out of his extensive mining industry experience. He aims at building Jinchuan International into a world-class mining company.

Mr. Chen joined Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd (“Jinchuan Group”), the controlling shareholder of Jinchuan International, following graduation and has long been responsible for frontline mining technology and management. He was promoted to General Manager of the No. 2 Jinchuan Mine (an underground mine), and in 2010 to Vice President, in charge of mine resources of Jinchuan Group.

During this period, Mr. Chen also performed as Chairman of the Board and Acting Chief Executive Officer of Metorex (Proprietary) Ltd (“Metorex”), a subsidiary of Jinchuan International, and as Deputy Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Wesizwe Platinum Ltd (“Wesizwe”), a company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the Republic of South Africa.

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