Asia Mining – Page 129 – Republic of Mining

China’s Top Leadership Driving Steel Output Cuts, Cliffs Says – by Jasmine Ng (Bloomberg News – February 2, 2016)

February 2, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Steel production in China will extend declines this year as the country’s top leadership has endorsed a concerted push to cut back on overcapacity in the country that accounts for half of global supply, according to the head of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.

“If the central government has said they want 100 to 150 million tons of steel capacity shut down, they may not get that much but I’m sure they’ll get some,” Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive officer of the largest U.S. iron ore producer, said in an interview. “It’s a decision and it’s a task force led by the Premier Li Keqiang, who’s the number-two guy.”

China’s leaders have vowed to reduce excess capacity in state enterprises including steel even as they battle the slowest growth in a quarter century, announcing targets last month to shutter more factories and help workers cope with layoffs.

China to boost crackdown on illegal rare earth mining – by Sonali Paul and David Stanway (Reuters U.S. – February 2, 2016)

February 2, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE/BEIJING, Feb 2 China plans to boost its crackdown on illegal mining of rare earths by setting up a system to certify the origin of supplies of the materials, used in everything from fighter jets to mobile phones.

Illegal Chinese output and smuggling have helped drag global rare earth prices to their lowest in around six years, hitting legitimate producers hard inside and outside China, which churns out 90 percent of the world’s supply.

“There’s a reasonable level of agitation in every part of the supply chain which is saying (the industry situation) is not good,” said Amanda Lacaze, chief executive of Australia’s Lynas Corp, the only remaining rare earths miner outside China.

Junior miner takes B.C. to court over land transfer – by Iain Marlow (Globe and Mail – February 1, 2016)

February 1, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A junior miner with offices in Vancouver and Beijing is taking the government of British Columbia to court over a treaty-related transfer of land to a First Nations group that the company says should concern all resource companies in the province.

China Minerals Mining Corp. and its subsidiary Cassiar Gold Corp. have filed a petition with the Supreme Court of British Columbia that seeks to reverse a portion of the B.C. government’s transfer of Crown land near the Yukon border in northern B.C. to the Kaska Dena Council.

The transfer was done through an incremental treaty agreement, an arrangement in which the province can grant treaty-like benefits to First Nations groups in advance of a formal modern treaty – a process that could take many years in a province where most First Nations never signed treaties.

UPDATE 3-Freeport loses right to export from Indonesia copper mine, talks ongoing – by Bernadette Christina Munthe and Fergus Jensen (Reuters India – January 29, 2016)

January 29, 2016

http://in.reuters.com/

JAKARTA, Jan 29 Freeport McMoRan Inc on Friday lost its right to export copper concentrate, valued at more than $1 billion, from one of the world’s biggest mines as talks with Indonesia’s government remained deadlocked over payment for a new metal smelter.

Freeport’s six-month licence to export concentrate expired on Thursday and it was unclear how soon a new one would be issued as the two sides have yet to resolve a government demand that the U.S. firm first pay a $530 million deposit.

“Without an export permit, there can be no exports. The exporter knows that,” Didi Sumedi, Indonesia’s director of mining and industrial products told Reuters via text message.

Bauxite prices boosted by temporary ban on mining in Malaysia – by (Strait Times/Bloomberg – January 26, 2016)

January 26, 2016

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia

KUALA LUMPUR (BLOOMBERG) – Bauxite mining in Malaysia went on a tear after neighbouring Indonesia banned exports, transforming an industry that hardly existed until 2013 into China’s biggest supplier.

In September alone, China bought a record 3.7 million metric tonnes of Malaysian aluminum-rich bauxite. It was a US$170.8 million (S$244.3 million) windfall for the oil palm-covered hills in eastern Pahang state, where dozens of companies have rushed in, paying smallholder-farmers for their land to be dug up.

Now, chunks of farmland resemble moonscapes of bauxite quarries and dusty rock piles, which some residents, including Pahang royalty, say have polluted the environment. In response, the government halted mining on Jan 15, starting a three-month moratorium to gain control over an industry that has exposed gaps in Malaysia’s mining laws.

Iran, Italy, France line up mining deals (Press TV/Hellenic Shipping News – January 26, 2016)

January 26, 2016

http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/

Iran’s mining sector is probably a new darling of foreign investors, with companies from China to Europe lining up to try their hand in one of the least developed industries in the resource-rich country.

Iranian and Italian companies hope to finalize investment plans worth 5 billion euros when President Hassan Rouhani arrives in Rome on Monday on the first leg of a landmark visit to Europe.

“Several memorandums worth 5 billion euros have been prepared with Italy for investment in Iran’s mining industries,” Deputy Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Karbasian said on Monday.

The Price Is Wrong? US Mining Giant in Divestment Talks With Indonesia – by Rui Hao Puah (The Diplomat – January 23, 2016)

January 22, 2016

http://thediplomat.com/

Freeport McMoRan Inc enters another stage of its contract renegotiation with Jakarta.

Last week, U.S. mining giant Freeport McMoRan Inc’s Indonesian unit submitted a divestment price to the Indonesian government for an additional stake in one of the world’s biggest copper mines, part of a process to allow the firm to extend its right to operate in the country beyond 2021.

According to Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s minerals and coal director general, Bambang Gatot Ariyono, Freeport had valued its Indonesian asset at $16.2 billion, with the divestment offered to the government being valued at $1.7 billion for a 10.46 percent stake.

Some Indonesian officials and lawmakers have already described the $1.7 billion price tag for Freeport’s huge Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua as too high.

Aluminum stockpiling fund gives glimpse of China metals reforms – by Polly Yam and David Stanway (Reuters U.S. – January 21, 2016)

January 22, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

HONG KONG/BEIJING – China’s plans to set up funds to manage coal and steel capacity closures and stockpiling schemes offer nervous markets some clarity on the likely future make-up of the country’s sprawling and predominantly state-run metals and mining industries.

As the world’s largest producer of aluminum, steel and other metals, and the biggest consumer of copper and iron ore, China is crucial to global metals markets which have slumped in the past year as Chinese industrial demand growth slowed.

China’s slowdown has hit revenue at global miners such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, and the market is keen to know what China plans for its own state-run mining and metals giants – many of which have kept producing even as prices drop below the cost of production.

Bauxite in Malaysia: The environmental cost of mining (BBC News – January 19, 2016)

January 20, 2016

http://www.bbc.com/

Bauxite mining has become a controversial political issue in Malaysia. As the government implements a temporary ban on extracting the aluminium ore, BBC South-East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head visits the most-affected area.

Amid the monotonous dark green lines of Malaysia’s endless palm oil plantations, there are now vivid red gashes in the hills behind the east coast town of Kuantan. These have appeared only in the past 18 months, as a frenzy of open-cast bauxite mining gripped Pahang province.

Tonnes of bauxite are being transported out of the region. It is the world’s main source of aluminium so is vital for the construction of everything from airplanes to saucepans and cooking foil.

China ban on new coal mines barely scratches the surface of tackling capacity – by Kathy Chen and David Stanway (Reuters U.S. – January 18, 2016)

January 18, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING – Jan 18 China’s decision to stop approving new coal mines for three years has been applauded by green groups, but the move is likely to make barely a dent on the world’s biggest coal industry given its vast existing production capacity.

Some estimates suggest China’s surplus capacity could be as high as 2 billion tonnes of coal a year – more than 50 percent of 2015 output – in a country with nearly 11,000 mines.

Beijing wants to cut the share of coal in its energy mix to contain pollution and meet climate change goals, while it is also trying to manage the fortunes of a struggling sector that employs nearly 6 million people.

U.S. Squandered $488 Million on Afghan Mining Projects – by Keith Johnson (Foreign Policy – January 14, 2016)

January 15, 2016

http://foreignpolicy.com/

The United States spent five years trying to help Afghanistan tap what U.S. officials believe is a $1 trillion mother lode of minerals. In the end, U.S. taxpayers threw away half a billion dollars with almost nothing to show for it.

According to a new report by the U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), efforts to help Afghanistan develop some sort of economy floundered thanks to a combination of corruption, incompetence, lack of infrastructure, and a deteriorating security environment.

Afghanistan’s ability to tap what could be vast wealth from deposits of iron, copper, and lithium is so hamstrung by lack of government oversight and a dearth of basic infrastructure that the country’s war-torn security situation is actually the least of its problems.

How e-waste can produce more gold than mining (Economic Times – January 13, 2016)

January 14, 2016

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

JAMSHEDPUR: E-waste, which comprises precious metals like gold and silver, can produce more gold than what is obtained through mining, a senior academician said today.

Fifty pounds of gold and 20,000 pounds of copper could be extracted from one million discarded cell phones, if processed properly, Pranabesh Ray, Dean (Academics), XLRI – Xavier School of Management told a two-day national conference on e-waste management here.

Emphasising the need for proper management of e-waste, Ray said, globally, about 64.5 million tonnes of e-waste are generated annually of which, only around 40 per cent is processed properly.

[India mining] ‘Ready for next great game: Mining minerals from seas’ (Times of India – January 13, 2016)

January 14, 2016

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Maor nations are looking to the oceans for mineral and fuel reserves as reserves on land deplete fast. The recent discovery by ONGC of a large reserve of gas hydrates -a potential gamechanger in fossil fuels -off Andhra Pradesh has shown that the Indian exclusive economic zone may well be able to secure the nation’s energy and other needs, but the technology for commercially exploiting these reserves is still several nautical miles away.

In a chat with Meera Vankipuram, Satheesh C Shenoi, director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, and also director (additional charge), National Institute of Ocean Technolog y (NIOT), Chennai, explains that the process of analysing data on mineral deposits in the Indian ocean has begun.

Does India have the technology and industrial base to extract and use reserves like the gas hydrates?

Right now, we don’t have the technology to produce gas from hydrates.

How the iron ore rout is helping rare earth prices – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 13, 2016)

January 14, 2016

http://www.mining.com/

In order to crack down on illegal mining, pollution and modernize the country’s mostly low-tech industry China consolidated its rare earth industry under six large organizations in 2014.

By far China and the world’s leading rare earth producer is China North Rare Earth Group Co (formerly Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (Group) Hi-Tech Co).

CNRE’s giant mine in Bayan Obo, Inner Mongolia near Baotou City, produces more than the rest of world’s rare earths mines combined and does so as a byproduct of iron ore mining. The 470 million tonne iron deposit was discovered in 1927 and REEs a decade later. According to some estimates Bayan Obo boasts 70% of the world’s proven REE reserves at more than 40 million tonnes.

China steel pullback a new blow for miners – by Scott Murdoch (The Australian – January 12, 2016)

January 12, 2016

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

One of China’s largest iron and steel-producing regions, Hebei, has announced a dramatic cut in production levels this year in a fresh blow to the Australian mining industry.

Regulators have revealed that production at Hebei, which produces a quarter of China’s iron and steel output, will be slashed this year in a bid to alleviate the nation’s worsening pollution problem. Iron production will by cut by 10 million tonnes and steel by eight million tonnes this year.

Hebei governor Zhang Qingwei said steel and cement production would be capped at 200 million tonnes as the nation attempts to reduce the overcapacity that exists in the industry across the country.