Asia Mining – Page 127 – Republic of Mining

Former Rio Tinto boss Tom Albanese says India iron ore industry ‘complicated’ – by Amanda Saunders (Sydney Morning Herald – November 24, 2015)

November 25, 2015

http://www.smh.com.au/

Oversupply might have helped push the iron ore price down to near decade lows but Australian miners can breath easy on former Rio Tinto boss Tom Albanese’s call that former industry heavyweight India is unlikely to emerge as a major exporter any time soon.

Iron ore fell to $US44.10 on Monday night, within 10¢ of the 10-year low of $US44.10 it hit in July.

India is one of the great unknowns in iron ore. What is clear is that steel demand in India, while maybe not holding the same trajectory as China, is on the rise, Delhi-based Mr Albanese said.

Myanmar Continues Search After Deadly Landslide at Jade Mine – by Thomas Fuller (New York Times – November 23, 2015)

November 24, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

BANGKOK — It was known locally as Plastic Village, a sprawling encampment made from tarps and scraps of trash and inhabited by workers who scavenged for jade in the rugged hills of northern Myanmar.

Rescue workers on Monday continued to dig through the remnants of the encampment after a landslide over the weekend buried it along with at least 120 people.

The landslide was Myanmar’s worst jade mining disaster in recent years, highlighting the primitive conditions of an industry that is highly lucrative but notorious for its secrecy and hazardous working conditions.

India opposes deal to phase out fossil fuels by 2100 at climate summit – by Tommy Wilkes (Reuters India – November 24, 2015)

November 24, 2015

http://in.reuters.com/

NEW DELHI – India would reject a deal to combat climate change that includes a pledge for the world to wean itself off fossil fuels this century, a senior official said, underlying the difficulties countries face in agreeing how to slow global warming.

Almost 200 nations will meet in the French capital on Nov. 30 to try and seal a deal to prevent the planet from warming more than the 2 degrees Celsius that scientists say is vital if the world is to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change.

To keep warming in check, some countries want the Paris agreement to include a commitment to decarbonise — to reduce and ultimately phase out the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas that is blamed for climate change — this century.

NEWS RELEASE: China Railway FSDI Signs KWG Standstill Agreement

November 24, 2015

http://kwgresources.com/

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Nov. 24, 2015) – KWG Resources Inc. (CSE:KWG) (“KWG”) and China Railway First Survey & Design Institute Group Co., Ltd. (“FSDI”) have signed a Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement arranged by Golden Share Mining Corporation (TSX VENTRUE:GSH) (“GSH”), which includes a three-year standstill provision, to enable the scoping and engineering data of KWG subsidiary Canada Chrome Corporation (“CCC”) to be made available for examination and analysis by FSDI.

The parties intend to explore the possibility of a negotiated transaction between them for FSDI to undertake a feasibility study for KWG on all aspects of the construction of a Ring of Fire transportation corridor and railroad, including terms for construction financing facilities. FSDI has begun its review of the CCC data and advises that it will deliver a proposal to the parties as soon as possible in preparation for discussions in early 2016.

In Diamond City, slowdown is not forever – by Melvyn Reggie Thomas (The Times of India – November 21, 2015)

November 23, 2015

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Surat: The world’s biggest diamond polishing center – Surat – can hope for the much-needed recovery from the slowdown it is reeling under since almost 18 months.

The Diamond Producers Association (DPA), a consortium of world’s leading diamond mining companies, is set to launch a $6 million global marketing blitzkrieg to boost the sale of diamonds.

DPA has hired Mother, a leading advertising agency in New York, for the campaign that would mainly target the millennial or ‘young adult’ population across the globe.

Hopes fade for 100 miners missing after landslide near Myanmar jade mine – by Aung Hla Tun (Reuters U.S. – Novmeber 23, 2015)

November 23, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

YANGON – Hopes faded on Monday that any of an estimated 100 people missing would be found alive after a landslide in northern Myanmar buried an encampment near a jade mine, and officials said it was still unclear how many people were living in the area.

Rescue workers had recovered 113 bodies when the search was suspended on Monday evening, Khin Kyaw, a local police officer, told Reuters. Two of the bodies recovered were women, he said.

Heavy equipment has been brought in to assist the digging in Hpakant, the site of the landslide in a mountainous area in the northern Kachin State that produces some of the world’s highest-quality jade.

UPDATE 1-Nickel smelter developers shelve Indonesia projects amid credit squeeze – by Fergus Jensen (Reuters U.S. – November 18, 2015)

November 19, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, Nov 18 Nickel smelter developers are putting projects on hold as they struggle to get financing with metal prices near their lowest in more than a decade, industry and government stakeholders said on Wednesday.

Indonesia was the world’s top exporter of nickel ore until 2014 when it banned shipments in an effort to push miners to develop downstream, or mineral processing, industries.

With abundant reserves of relatively high quality ore investors say there is potential for developing nickel smelters in Indonesia, but the current market is challenging.

Mexican drug gangs, an Argentinian tycoon and the illicit trade of uranium to China – by Gardenia Mendoza (Fox News Latino – November 13, 2015)

November 13, 2015

http://latino.foxnews.com/index.html

MEXICO CITY – A gang-related arrest in Mexico took a surprising twist last week when a portion of the suspect’s testimony was leaked, revealing that the criminal organization La Familia Michoacana is also involved in the illegal trade of uranium to China.

Sidronio Casarrubias – the head of the Guerreros Unidos crime gang who was arrested last year and interrogated about his alleged involvement in the disappearance of 43 college students from Iguala, in the state of Guerrero in September 2014 – said the uranium operation in Mexico is being carried out under the orders of mogul Carlos Ahumada, a prominent Argentinian-born businessman who spent a couple of years in jail in a bribery scandal.

Casarrubias said Ahumada, who holds a dual Mexican-Argentinian citizenship, owns two uranium mines in Guerrero.

“The cargo is moved by small boats,” said Casarrubias shortly after he was arrested, but whose testimony was released only recently and published by Milenio newspaper.

China domestic demand could be driver to new commodities supercycle – by Lawrie Williams (Lawrieongold.com – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://lawrieongold.com/

If you thought Black Friday and Cyber Monday were the peak of overhyped sales frenzy – you ain’t seen nothing yet! China’s Singles Day – an even more hyped up event from China’s online giant, Alibaba, sees even more conspicuous demand than Black Friday and Cyber Monday rolled together – and all in one day.

The event falls on the 11th day of the 11th month and this year saw sales hit an almost unbelievable US$14.3 billion – up from just over $9 billion a year earlier.

For a country the media tells us is in recession and struggling with its domestic economy – a factor blamed for many of theWest’s current ills, and for the resource sector’s poor performance in particular – this has to be a truly remarkable figure and suggests that whatever may be afflicting the country’s manufacturing and exports sector, domestic demand is running higher than it has ever been – and substantially so.

Afghanistan aims to choke Taliban smuggling funds with gemstone bourse (Reuters U.K. – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://uk.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE – Afghanistan aims to deprive Taliban militants of funds from smuggled exports of the prized blue gemstone, lapis lazuli, by creating its own bourse to sell the stone, which has been traded for thousands of years in the Hindu Kush mountains.

The Taliban is increasingly financed by criminal enterprises such as smuggling gemstones like lapis, rubies, emeralds, as well as heroin laboratories and kidnapping.

Afghanistan loses roughly $100 million a year through gemstone smuggling, more than the total exports of commodities like coal and industrial minerals like talc, said the country’s mining minister.

“It’s a big issue for the people of Afghanistan, because they are losing their property to groups of terrorists which on one side are stealing our property and on the other side are strengthening their terrorist group.

REFILE- China’s cashed-up Jinchuan unit seeks copper, nickel assets (Reuters U.S. – November 12, 2015)

November 12, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 12 (Reuters) – A Hong Kong-based unit of China’s Jinchuan Group is hunting globally for quality copper and nickel assets, leveraging its access to capital at a time when Western rivals are finding it hard to secure finance, its chief executive said.

“People are running out of money. Whether it’s their balance sheets or they just can’t fund their operations, or their projects,” Peter Albert, CEO of Jinchuan Group International Resources, told Reuters on Thursday.

“Companies like ours, who do have access to capital, it’s an opportunity for us.”

Jinchuan International (JCI) is a unit of state-owned Jinchuan Resources, China’s biggest nickel producer and a major copper producer. China has urged its huge SOES to expand overseas for growth to combat struggling activity at home.

Japan’s Metals Producers Cut Targets as China’s Demand Slows – by Masumi Suga (Bloomberg News – November 11, 2015)

November 11, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Japanese metals producers continue to cut profit forecasts, with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp. the latest to warn of the impact of China’s slowdown.

Sumitomo Metal slashed its operating profit forecast by 37 percent for the year through March, according to a statement Tuesday. Its shares fell as much as 9.5 percent, the most in four years. Mitsubishi Materials, which is less reliant on metals for revenues, saw its shares rise as it made a more modest reduction in its forecast of 2.4 percent and gave a rosier outlook on prices.

The companies’ outlooks underscore the challenges facing metals producers as demand slows in China, the world’s biggest consumer. Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., and top steel mills Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. and JFE Holdings Inc., are among the firms to cut their full-year earnings forecasts in recent weeks.

Sumitomo Metal now expects a full year-operating profit of 74 billion yen ($600 million), after posting a 6.9 percent decline in the first half to 51.5 billion yen.

Gadget Hungry China to Drive `Lifestyle’ Metal Gains, PwC Says – by David Stringer Bloomberg News – November 10, 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

China’s swelling middle class is poised to drive long-term demand gains for metals including copper, zinc and nickel as the world’s second-largest economy transitions to consumer-driven growth, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia.

The urbanization of the world’s most populous nation, which moved about 300 million people to cities in the past 20 years, promises to herald an increased need for metals required to make every kind of consumer product from smartphones to refrigerators, PwC Australia’s Melbourne-based national mining leader Chris Dodd said in an interview.

“We’re heading towards the period in China for the lifestyle metals to really come to the fore,” Dodd said by phone. “If you currently have a mobile phone in your hand you are not going to tolerate a scenario where you don’t have one in the future. If you’ve ever put an air conditioner in your house, you are not going to live without one.”

While metals prices have tumbled this year as the Chinese economy expands at the slowest pace in two decades, copper and nickel are likely to be the first to emerge from the rout in commodities, according to T. Rowe Price Inc.

China Burns Much More Coal Than Reported, Complicating Climate Talks – by Chris Buckley (New York Times – November 3 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/

BEIJING — China, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases from coal, has been burning up to 17 percent more coal a year than the government previously disclosed, according to newly released data. The finding could complicate the already difficult efforts to limit global warming.

Even for a country of China’s size, the scale of the correction is immense. The sharp upward revision in official figures means that China has released much more carbon dioxide — almost a billion more tons a year according to initial calculations — than previously estimated.

The increase alone is greater than the whole German economy emits annually from fossil fuels.

Officials from around the world will have to come to grips with the new figures when they gather in Paris this month to negotiate an international framework for curtailing greenhouse-gas pollution.

India’s coal-fueled economy taking a toll on environment and rural villagers – by Shashank Bengali (Los Angeles Times – October 15, 2015)

November 10, 2015

http://www.latimes.com/

A giant power plant set atop what was once a virgin forest churns with coal from a nearby mine, a roaring example of India’s aspirations to best China’s economic growth and light the homes of its poorest people.

Yet the privately run Sasan power project — backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. government funding — has also generated land disputes, health and environmental concerns and financial hardship for villagers who say it has delivered little of what was promised.

As India tries to bring electricity to 300 million people who lack it, it is defying international calls for reducing climate-changing fuel emissions and instead heavily expanding investments in coal, often with huge costs for rural people living in the path of the inexpensive fossil fuel.

In the village of Amlohri two miles west of the Sasan plant, a mountain of rocky mining waste dumped by Reliance Power, the plant developer, surrounds a cluster of mud-and-brick dwellings, their tin roofs reflecting a blinding sun.