NEW DELHI, May 27 (Reuters) – India is expected to face a wider coal shortage during the quarter ending September over expectations of higher power demand, an internal power ministry presentation seen by Reuters showed, worsening risks of widespread power outages.
The energy-hungry nation expects local coal supply to fall 42.5 million tonnes short of demand in the September quarter, 15% higher than previously projected, due to higher growth in power demand and lower output from some mines.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/
The recent big investments Chinese companies are making in Indonesian nickel mines are attracting renewed attention. China’s CNGR Advanced Materials Co Ltd. announced on May 19 that it will expand its nickel matte business in Indonesia, partnering with Singapore’s RIGQUEZA International Co., LTD.
A total investment of $1.26 billion will be put in a production line in Indonesia with an annual capacity of 40,000 tons of nickel matte. This is the second cooperation between the two companies in Indonesia. In 2021, the two sides signed a cooperation project agreement to produce 60,000 tons of nickel matte per year.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk on Saturday in Texas to discuss potential investments and technology, Indonesia’s government said in a statement.
The meeting between Musk and Widodo, better known as Jokowi, came after a round of working-level discussions on a potential investment in Indonesia’s nickel industry and supply of batteries for electric vehicles, Indonesian officials told Reuters.
https://www.businesslive.co.za/
Facility is being revived to extract the metal that is used in technologies ranging from chips to electric vehicles
Sangdong — Blue tungsten winking from the walls of abandoned mine shafts, in a town that’s seen better days, could be a catalyst for South Korea’s bid to break China’s dominance of critical minerals and stake its claim to the raw materials of the future.
The mine in Sangdong, 180km southeast of Seoul, is being brought back from the dead to extract the rare metal that’s found fresh value in the digital age in technologies ranging from phones and chips to electric vehicles and missiles.
An unusually early and brutal heat wave is scorching parts of India, with acute power shortages affecting millions as demand for electricity surges to record levels. Supplies of coal at many thermal power plants are running perilously low, spawning daily power outages in several states. The shortages are sparking scrutiny of India’s longtime reliance on coal, which produces 70 per cent of the country’s electricity.
The situation highlights India’s pressing need to diversify its energy sources, as demand for electricity is expected to increase more than anywhere else in the world over the next 20 years as the densely populated country develops, according to the International Energy Agency.
China was responsible for more than half of the new coal power station capacity being built around the world last year, showing how much the country is propping up one of the worst drivers of climate change.
Nearly 200 countries pledged a “phasing down” of coal at the COP26 climate summit last year. But figures from a report by the non-profit Global Energy Monitor show that is nowhere near being realised yet. Globally, the number of coal power stations is actually growing as new constructions more than offset the closure of old plants.
About half of China’s imports of bauxite – a mineral used to make aluminium – are from the West African nation
The ruling Guinean military junta’s determination to increase revenues from its bauxite and iron ore resources could hit China’s efforts to make inroads into the West African nation.
Despite assurances that the military would respect “existing regulations, contracts and investments” after Alpha Condé was removed as president in a coup in September, Guinea has been exerting more pressure on foreign mining firms. Most recently, it ordered foreign companies to construct local bauxite refineries and in March suspended operations at Simandou, the country’s largest iron ore deposit.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/
The Indonesian government has claimed that its raw nickel export ban, which started in January 2021, has shown positive impacts after seeing increases in mining investments and exports of nickel-derived products.
This statement seems to be premature, considering that the government has failed to disclose the data that can support this argument. The Indonesian government has long desired to add high value to domestic mining products, especially nickel, through downstreaming.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/
Chinese stainless steel giant Tsingshan Holding Group (THG) has for many years relied on short selling to reduce its future costs for nickel, a key component of stainless steel and a major ingredient in lithium-ion batteries. But rather than nickel prices falling as hoped, the price skyrocketed to over $100,000 per ton on March 8, one day before THG’s 200,000-ton short sell contract was due on March 9.
The price of nickel went up even before Russia invaded Ukraine, reflecting the increasing demand for electric vehicle batteries and stainless steel. The price soared after the war started, since Russia produces 23 percent of the world’s high-quality nickel and has been sanctioned finacially. The price rocketed as THG bought large amounts of nickel to reduce those short bets and its exposure to costly margin calls.
Country’s mineral riches, estimated to be worth $1 trillion, key to prosperous future
Mes Aynak, Afghanistan (AP) _ The ancient buddha statues sit in serene meditation in the caves carved into the russet cliffs of rural Afghanistan. Hundreds of meters below lies what is believed to be the world’s largest deposit of copper.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are pinning their hopes on Beijing to turn that rich vein into revenue to salvage the cash-starved country amid crippling international sanctions.
Pakistan’s western border all along boasts rich mineral resources because of geological blessings of nature.
The mountains along the border which are shared by Iran and Afghanistan have in their bosom “the booty of mineral resources”. It is not only a prize from the Almighty for Pakistan but also the geological makeup of earth in the form of various mountain ranges lying on this axis. Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan all have copper, gold, iron, lead and granite, fluoride, chromite and marble (metallic and non-metallic resources).
Metals (copper, gold, iron and lead) in largest quantities are available only in Balochistan, whereas stones (non-metallic) are sufficiently available in KP too, and presently mining at a large-scale (of a non-metallic kind) is mostly taking place in KP.
https://www.mining-technology.com/
Canada’s Barrick Gold has agreed to restart the Reko Diq gold and copper mining project in Pakistan, following ten years of legal battles and negotiations. An agreement has now been signed by the Canadian mining firm with the governments of Pakistan and Balochistan province on a framework, which enables recommencement of the project.
Claimed to host one of the largest undeveloped open-pit copper-gold porphyry deposits in the world, the Reko Diq mine was suspended in 2011 following the rejection of a development licence by the Pakistani Government to project partners Barrick and Antofagasta.
NGOs supporting a ban on Russian exports to India are silent about the consequent shift of the industry to China.
New Delhi: Exports of rough diamonds from Russia’s state-owned Alrosa mines have resumed to India, although tensions remain high over such consignments.
The exports, claim those in the industry, were started to help Indian diamond traders avoid Western sanctions imposed on Vladimir Putin-led Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Exports were carried out through making payments in euros through German banks.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — It is a metal found in products used by people worldwide, unthinkingly every day. Whether it’s scrolling on a mobile phone or commuting to work in an electric car, nickel is a key part of these high-tech devices. Now nickel — a prime component in batteries — has the markets in turmoil and one Chinese company facing billions of dollars in losses.
Chinese nickel giant Tsingshan Holding Group Co wagered that nickel prices would fall, but instead, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent the commodity’s trading prices through the roof last week, driven by concerns about disruptions to the Russian company Nornickel, one of the world’s largest suppliers.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Rio Tinto Group is proposing to buy the 49 per cent of Canadian miner Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. it doesn’t already own for US$2.7-billion, potentially putting an end to years of strife with Turquoise Hill’s management and shareholders.
London-based Rio, one of the world’s biggest diversified mining companies, said on Monday it is offering $34 in cash a share for Turquoise Hill, a 32-per-cent premium to its Friday close on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
