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Chromium/Platinum Group Metals

Police Disperse Crowd of 3,000 at Amplats Amid Strike Talks – by Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – February 4, 2014)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

South African police fired rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse a 3,000-strong crowd who massed at an Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS) mine in support of a strike that has disrupted the world’s three biggest producers.

Police broke up the crowd at the Khuseleka mine, northwest of Johannesburg, Thulani Ngubane, a spokesman for the South African Police Service in the North West province, said by phone today. Two people were arrested.

The group had “the intention of not letting any mineworker go to work and we tried to resolve it amicably and we had to resort to minimum force,” Ngubane said.

Talks resumed in Pretoria aimed at resolving the dispute between producers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which has been on strike over pay since Jan. 23. The union has more than 70,000 members on strike at Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) and Lonmin Plc (LON), which run the largest mines in a country accounting for about 70 percent of global output of the precious metal.

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Tighter South African emission laws boost platinum ‘beneficiation’ – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – February 3, 2014)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) –Tighter vehicle emission legislation in South Africa would boost the struggling platinum mining industry and be a fantastic local beneficiation route for the metal, which is facing an uphill battle, SFA Oxford MD Beresford Clarke said on Monday.

Beresford, who was addressing the Investing In African Mining Indaba on Monday, said that South Africa was becoming less competitive in the platinum market and the next three years would be tough for platinum.

The recycling of platinum autocatalysts and platinum jewellery had risen to two-million ounces a year, four times higher than in 2000, and was tantamount to Lonmin-sized output being incrementally added every five years.

Palladium-rich Russian and North America were outdoing platinum-and-rhodium dominant South Africa, with both countries producing at lower cash costs and higher by-product credits than South Africa.

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Zimbabwe: Zimasco to Splurge U.S $300 Million – by Phillimon Mhlanga (All Africa.com – January 30, 2014)

http://allafrica.com/

ZIMBABWE Mining and Smelting Company (ZIMASCO), the country’s largest ferrochrome producer, is building a new 600 000 tonnes per annum sinter plant which is expected to boost output, it has been learnt.Sources with intimate knowledge of the company’s expansion plans told the Financial Gazette’s Companies & Markets that the plant, which is the latest technology in ferrochrome production, would cost between US$250 million and US$300 million.

It is understood that funding for the plant will be provided by Chinese majority shareholder, Sinosteel Corporation, which controls a 73 percent stake in the company. ZIMASCO’s spokesperson, Clara Sadomba, said she would not divulge details in the absence of the company’s chief executive who was in China.

“Unfortunately, I can’t officially comment on the developments because my CEO (Li Jinqian) is away on business in China but he is coming back after the second week of February,” said Sadomba. The plant, which will be built in Kwekwe, would process chrome fines into balls that can be processed by other existing blast furnaces.

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Chromium market growth continues but ferrochrome producers face headwinds – Roskil (Steel Guru – January 29, 2014)

http://www.steelguru.com/

Roskil reported that at end 2013, ferrochrome prices remained near 4 year lows. European benchmark charge chrome prices were rolled over at EUR 112.5 per lb in Q4, while Chinese domestic spot high carbon ferrochrome prices stood at EUR 83 to EUR 85 per lb. World ferrochrome consumption reached a record level of 9.8Mt in 2012, however, and demand was estimated to have risen by a further 6% to 10.3 MT in 2013. The diverging trends reflected the expansion in the Chinese ferrochrome industry, low ore prices and currency depreciation in leading exporting countries.

China soaks up more ore as domestic ferrochrome output soars;

In 2012, China overtook South Africa to become the largest producer of ferrochrome worldwide. Chinese output of 3.12 MT accounted for 33% of the world total, a rise from 13% in 2005. With low chrome ore reserves and production, growth of 20%py in Chinese ferrochrome output has been based on imported raw materials, mainly from South Africa but also from Turkey, Oman and Albania. Imports from South Africa in the first nine months of 2013 already exceeded the 2012 total, with two thirds comprising UG2 concentrates. Concern over the displacement of South African ferrochrome production by Chinese material smelted from South African ores and concentrates has stimulated debate over the introduction of an export tax or quotas.

Demand for ferrochrome closely reflects trends in the stainless steel sector, which accounts for 80% of consumption. Over the past five years, world consumption has risen by 5%py to an estimated 9.8 MT in 2012.

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Platinum Talks Today Will Seek End to Pay Strike at Mines – by Kevin Crowley, Andre Janse van Vuuren and Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – January 24, 2014)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

South Africa’s government will today mediate talks between union officials and the world’s three biggest platinum producers as a strike that’s crippling mines enters a second day.

Labor Minister Mildred Oliphant will lead talks between Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS), Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) and Lonmin Plc (LMI) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, said Musa Zondi, her spokesman. The discussions were due to begin at 9 a.m. in Johannesburg. The companies should expect “marathon negotiations,” AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa said.

“There are pressures from all sides” to reach an agreement, AMCU Treasurer Jimmy Gama said today by phone. “When you have these pressures, all the parties need to apply their minds constructively to deal with the issue.”

At least 70,000 employees downed tools at platinum mines yesterday in South Africa, home to 70 percent of the world’s production of the metal, causing about $13.1 million of lost revenue on the first day. The police stepped up safety measures as it sought to avoid a repeat of labor unrest that claimed the lives of at least 44 workers near platinum mines in August 2012.

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Unrealistic demands threaten companies, employees and country – Platinum bosses – by Zandi Shabalala and Ed Stoddard (Mineweb.com – January 22, 2014)

http://www.mineweb.com/

The chief executives of Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin, in a rare joint statement, said strikes have cost the companies over $1.15bn in the last 2 years.

JOHANNESBURG (REUTERS) – Bosses of the world’s top three platinum producers accused South Africa’s AMCU union of making “unaffordable and unrealistic” demands on Tuesday ahead of a strike this week which could hit over half of global output of the precious metal.

The chief executives of Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin made the dramatic warning as signs of some divisions emerged in the hardline Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which has called the stoppage for Thursday.

In a rare joint statement that throws down the gauntlet in a bruising standoff between capital and labour, the trio said that “it is of great concern … that employees are being made promises by AMCU that cannot be delivered upon.”

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UPDATE 2-S.Africa minister warns on economy as mines face strike threat – by David Dolan (Reuters India – January 20, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 20 (Reuters) – South Africa’s ailing economy cannot afford more mine labour unrest, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday, as the platinum industry’s main trade union served notice on the world’s top three producers that it planned to strike this week.

A series of sometimes violent strikes in the factory and mining sectors constrained growth to a sluggish 2 percent in 2013, hampering efforts by President Jacob Zuma’s government to create badly needed jobs as it braces for elections this year.

The African National Congress has swept elections since overturning white minority rule in 1994, but the party Zuma now heads faces growing criticism that it has failed to lift millions of blacks out of poverty during 20 years in power.

Platinum producers Anglo American Platinum, Lonmin and Impala Platinum said they had received notice from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) to strike in 48 hours, setting the stage for another crippling wave of unrest.

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NEWS RELEASE: Outokumpu – Proved ore reserves of the Kemi mine significantly larger after new drillings

OUTOKUMPU OYJ – STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE

January 13, 2014 at 4.00 pm EET

Outokumpu has updated its estimates on the proved ore reserves and mineral resources of the Kemi mine in Finland. The proved ore reserves have significantly increased compared to earlier estimates, and are now altogether 50.1 million tonnes instead of the earlier estimated some 33 million tonnes.

The 50% increase in the proved ore reserves is based on new underground drillings made below the old Surmaoja open pit. Based on these underground drillings Outokumpu has made a new excavation plan and started the preparations for the underground production in the Surmaoja ore body. The target is to begin the ore excavation in 2015. This does not require major investments, since the proved ore reserves are within the reach of the current, already expanded infrastructure.

In addition to the proved ore reserves, the updated estimates show that the mineral resources of the Kemi mine are altogether 97.8 million tonnes. The grade of the mineral resources is 29.4% Cr2O3 and that of ore reserves is 26.0% Cr2O3. The mineral resources are estimated to the depth of one kilometer, but seismic measurements indicate that mineralization continues even further downwards.

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Sudbury basin still fertile ground for base metal producer – by Jonathan Migneault (Northern Ontario Business – January 9, 2014)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Sudbury-based Wallbridge Mining has focused its gaze toward platinum group elements (PGEs) in the Sudbury basin.

“We’re almost entirely focused on the projects that have significant potential for PGEs,” Joshua Bailey, the company’s vicepresident of exploration, told Northern Ontario Business at the 2013 Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium in Sudbury.

Bailey estimates approximately 20 million ounces of platinum group elements have been discovered in the Sudbury basin over the last 20 years. PGEs, which primarily include platinum and palladium, are important components for catalytic converters in vehicles and fuel cells.

“These are elements that are basically key for keeping emissions low and keeping smog down in big cities,” Bailey said. “I think demand is pretty strong right now.” South Africa and Russia are the world’s top PGE producers, but Sudbury has turned out to be a North American leader for the metals. Bailey said Sudbury has the advantage of labour and political stability over those two jurisdictions.

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Zimbabwe: Honeymoon Over for Miners – by Martin Kadzere (All Africa.com – January 8, 2014)

http://allafrica.com/

GOVERNMENT has invited mining firms to submit, by Saturday next week, proposals for the establishment of beneficiation facilities as the deadline to ban exports of raw platinum concentrates approaches. The Government gave existing platinum miners two years at the beginning of last year to set up a refinery, but there has been no meaningful progress.

The two years end in December this year, and thereafter, exportation of raw platinum concentrate will be banned. Producers of base metals, mainly nickel and chrome, are also expected to make their proposals.

The settler regime banned exports of base metal ores and concentrates and insisted that all chrome, nickel and copper was refined to at least high intermediate levels in the country.

Chrome was normally refined into bars of ferrochrome, while copper was refined to very high levels of purity during that time. The refineries later closed. In the meantime, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa proposed that companies be levied 15 percent on exports of raw platinum with effect from January 1 this year.

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SA platinum market to remain uncertain during 2014 – by Leandi Kolver (MiningWeekly.com – January 7, 2014)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The South African platinum market is expected to remain unpredictable during 2014, but might not be as volatile as it was in 2013, Deloitte associate director Dr Jacek Guzek said on Tuesday.

He stated that the major issues, which kept the industry in crisis over the past two years, such as the unchanged platinum group metals (PGMs) basket price and the ever-increasing wage bill, still persisted.

“South African production in 2014 is either going to stagnate or decrease further. The platinum industry is in crisis for a second year going and there is no end in sight,” Guzek told Mining Weekly Online.

He explained that the industry crisis impacted negatively on production as it led to the systemic holding back of expansion capital by junior and major PGM producers, while, simultaneously, existing mines were becoming older, deeper and more difficult to mine.

Guzek added that the country would also still be faced with labour issues during the course of the year.

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Friedland raises industry ire over wages claim – by David McKay (MiningMx.com – December 20, 2013)

http://www.miningmx.com/

[miningmx.com] – IVANHOE Mines president and flamboyant mining promoter, Robert Friedland, has raised the ire of his platinum industry counterparts in South Africa following comments to reporters that his company would outstrip wages paid to miners on his company’s Flatreef platinum project in South Africa by an “order of magnitude”.

“In a platinum mine in South Africa today, you have to crawl on your hands and knees on that broken rock for several hundred metres to get to the working phase,” Friedland said at a conference in a report by Reuters.

“It’s pretty claustrophobic, the men are working with muscle power, they are getting silicosis, they are breathing what they are drilling and they are tired of doing it for $12 (R120) a day. I don’t think they are going to do it for much longer, and I don’t think they should.”

“You have heard of blood diamonds for example, or Apple getting criticised for what people get paid, or you see Gap stores get worried for what people get paid in Bangladesh for sewing your clothing. Similarly it is just not viable to pay these workers $12 a day,” he said.

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Turkey imposes restriction on its biggest ferrochrome producer – by Charlotte Mathews (Business Day – December 20, 2013)

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

TURKEY has imposed power restrictions on the country’s biggest ferrochrome producer, Eti Krom, which some analysts hope will help to support prices for one of South Africa’s biggest industries. In 2012, South Africa was the world’s second-largest ferrochrome producer, having lost first place to China largely because of rising Eskom electricity tariffs and power shortages.

South Africa’s biggest ferrochrome producers are Glencore Xstrata in a joint venture with Merafe Resources; International Ferro Metals, which is listed in London; Samancor Chrome; Hernic Ferrochrome; ASA Metals; and Mogale Alloys, owned by Afarak Group (formerly Ruukki Group).

Turkey ranks among the world’s top 10 producers. Ferrochrome is mostly used in stainless steel, whose production is forecast to rise about 5.5% a year for the next few years, as it is closely correlated with global gross domestic product growth. However, ferrochrome prices have been weak recently because of a slowdown in the Chinese economy coupled with growing Chinese production.

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Iron ore, chrome rates under pressure on poor demand – by Sadananda Mohapatra (Business Standard – December 17, 2013)

http://www.business-standard.com/ [India]

Prices of iron ore and chrome ore are witnessing downward pressure on poor demand from within the country, precipitated by stagnated consumption growth of finished steel products, traders and analysts said.

In Odisha, the major iron ore producing state, the rates have been hovering around Rs 5000 to Rs 6000 per tonne for 62 to 65 grade mineral for last one month. “The rates will stay at current levels for next one month or so. Actually it should be coming down as demand for the mineral is not so strong. But supply problems are supporting the rates,” said an official of Altrade Group, which has five iron ore mines in the state.

Major miners such as Essar and Rungta have rolled over the rates of iron ore lumps from November levels in anticipation of weak demand from sponge iron makers, a major user of the raw material.

“The iron ore rates have been trading at similar levels for past one month due to sluggish demand from sponge iron makers as steelmakers are preferring to use imported scrap instead of sponge iron.

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Zimbabwe: Mugabe Uses Zanu-PF Conference to Rage and Threaten [miners] – by Alex Bell (All Africa.com – December 16, 2013)

http://allafrica.com/

ZANU PF’s ageing leader used the party’s conference this weekend to rage against the West, his old partners in government, the country’s economic position, the mining sector and more.

The 89 year old also moved to threaten some players in the country’s platinum and gold sectors, repeating calls to ban raw mineral exports. “We should not continue to send our minerals out in their raw form,” Mugabe told delegates at the party’s annual conference in Chinoyi.

He singled out Zimplats, a subsidiary of platinum-mining multinational Implats, for “externalising” raw platinum ore. “Zimplats has been exporting platinum but we have very little by way of earnings. We don’t know where the money is going. We must have our money back.”

Mugabe also said the government was considering slashing the number of diamond miners operating in the country. “We should be looking at the possibility of rationalising the mining of diamonds,” he said. “We have six companies mining diamonds, but of these six only three are really worth talking about. We would also want greater transparency.”

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