Europe Mining – Page 55 – Republic of Mining

Norilsk Nickel expands mining along border to Norway – by Atle Staalesen (The Barents Observer – September 29, 2016)

September 30, 2016

Two new mines to be opened over next three years in Pechenga, the company’s hotbed in the Kola Peninsula.

Kola MMC, the regional subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, is preparing for an extension of activities in the borderlands to Norway and Finland. That includes the opening of two new mines by year 2019, and the annual provision of an additional 2,5 million tons of ore to the company’s local processing plants.

The expansion is a key part of the company’s development strategy in the Kola Peninsula, company General Director Igor Ryshkel says to corporate newspaper Kolsky Nikel.

One of the new projects, the «Sputnik», will be developed as an open pit. It holds nine ore bodies and will deliver an annual 1 million tons of ore. It is located 16 km east of the town of Nikel and is to be opened for production in year 2019, the company informs.

French Mining Company In Trouble – Bailout, Whatever It Takes – by Andreas Meyer (Seeking Alpha – September 29, 2016)

September 30, 2016

http://seekingalpha.com/

Eramet SA (OTC:ERMAF) is, after Vallourec (OTCPK:VLOUF) (see article here), an additional French company that looks kind of interesting. Of course, it is another distressed story with event-driven character that appears on my screen with non-negligible risks. Nevertheless, there are a few interesting points for ERMAF I would like to present.

Eramet is a multinational mining and metallurgy company headquartered in Paris, France and listed on the Euronext Paris. The corporation produces non-ferrous metals and derivatives as well as nickel alloys and superalloys. The product portfolios is rounded off by special high-performance steel.

The historical developed company (founded in 1880) has a few subsidiaries with a large mining operation in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory and further mines around the world in Africa, Argentina, the US and mainly Europe (France & Norway).

NEWS RELEASE: ALROSA discussed the impact of synthetic diamonds on the diamond market

September 21, 2016

http://eng.alrosa.ru/

Hong Kong, September 20, 2016 – PJSC ALROSA, the world leader in diamond mining, held a meeting with the Company’s clients and partners at the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair.

The Company presented its vision for the development of the diamond market with an increased focus on the possible impact of the increased manufacture of synthetic diamonds on the natural diamond market. At a panel discussion, key market participants exchanged opinions on the risk of illegal mixing of synthetic and natural diamonds.

Representatives of international gemological laboratories and largest world jewelry retailers, diamond market analysts, heads of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, Diamond Federation of Hong Kong, Diamond Producers Association, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, World Diamond Council, Israel Diamond Exchange, and Antwerp World Diamond Centre participated in the working meeting.

Nickel Advances on Supply Concerns as Mining Shares Surge – by Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – September 19, 2016)

September 20, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Nickel jumped the most in two months after the Philippines said it may suspend more mines as part of a nationwide audit that’s due for release this week. Glencore Plc and other mining shares also advanced.

Nickel has climbed 15 percent in 2016 as the Philippines shutters sites for failing to meet environmental standards, threatening supplies from the nation, the top supplier of the mined metal. The government could tell more mines to stop operating, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday after similar comments to Reuters.

“As much as 150,000 tons of nickel, or 8 percent of global supply, could be at risk of closure,” Anton Berlin, head of analysis and market development in Moscow at GMK Norilsk Nickel PJSC, one of the two largest producers of the metal, said by e-mail on Monday.

Russia’s Nornickel sees nickel price stabilizing at $10,000/T – by Polina Devitt and Diana Asonova (Reuters U.S. – September 15, 2016)

September 16, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MOSCOW – Russian mining giant Nornickel, previously known as Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM), expects nickel CMNI3 prices to rise to about $10,000 a tonne by the end of the year and flatten out around that level through 2017, its chief operating officer said.

The stainless steel ingredient has been a top performer on the London Metal Exchange this year, with prices up about 30 percent since February lows to $9,730 a tonne.

Its climb has mainly been driven by concern over supplies after mine closures in the Philippines and Indonesia’s 2014 ban on nickel ore exports. “Everyone is keeping an eye on the development in the Philippines and Indonesia,” Nornickel’s Sergey Dyachenko told the Reuters Russia Investment Summit.

Germany’s dirty little coal secret – by Tom Morton (Australian Broadcasting Corp. – September 14, 2016)

September 14, 2016

http://www.abc.net.au/

Germany’s reputation as a pioneer of clean, green energy seems a far cry from the reality on the ground in the village of Atterwasch. It’s been called one of the greatest social experiments in German history, comparable with the process of reunification after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

That social experiment — known as Energiewende, or “energy transition” — is a living reality in the centuries-old village of Atterwasch, in the eastern German region of Lusatia, close to the Polish border.

Next to the village church, which dates back to 1294, the rectory roof sports an impressive rack of solar panels. The solar array recently won an “Ecumenical Environmental Award” from the Ecumenical Council of Berlin-Brandenburg.

Norilsk’s 1942 nickel plant gone but far from forgotten – by Andy Home (September 13, 2016)

September 13, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – Norilsk Nickel, or Nornik as it has just rebranded itself, has just completed the decommissioning of the nickel refining plant in its far-flung Polar operations in the Arctic north of Siberia. It was known as the 1942 Plant because that’s when it was first commissioned and it has been operating ever since.

The closure is part of a radical overhaul of the company’s nickel operations, with refining operations being refocused on the metallurgical complex on the Kola Peninsula in the west of Russia and the Harjavalta refining complex in Finland. It is decidedly good news for the inhabitants of the city of Norilsk itself.

Located with Soviet practicality within the residential confines of the city, the plant emitted 380,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide every year, representing around 25 percent of total sulphur emissions in the city.

Russian metals firm admits spillage turned river blood red (The Guardian – September 12, 2016)

September 13, 2016

https://www.theguardian.com/

Norilsk Nickel insists the temporary problem will not affect people or wildlife, but environmental activists say it is too early to tell

Russian metals giant Norilsk Nickel has admitted a spillage at one of its plants was responsible for turning a local river blood red.

Russia’s environment ministry last week launched an investigation into the incident after images showed the Daldykan river near Norilsk in the far north of Russia flowing bright red, with local activists blaming the nearby Nadezhda metallurgical plant.

After initially refusing to confirm a leak, Norilsk Nickel – the world’s biggest producer of nickel and palladium – on Monday said heavy rain on 5 September had resulted in water flooding over a filtration dam at the plant and into the river.

Lone Norwegian mayor accuses Russian oligarch of fouling the Arctic: When will Oslo follow? – by Anna Kireeva (Bellona.org – August 23, 2016)

August 24, 2016

http://bellona.org/

KIRKENES, Norway – Following a gathering of politicians and citizens in this town earlier this month, calls from its mayor to forbid travel to a Russian oligarch for his hand in polluting Northern Norway have intensified.

Norilsk Nickel, produces a third of the world’s nickel with facilities on the Kola Peninsula, which Norwegian and other scientists have said are responsible for extremely high concentrations of sulfur dioxide on their side of the border, something Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s official government environmental watchdog has long denied.

But Rune Rafaelsen, mayor of Kirkenes told Bellona in an interview that he’s tired of watching as nothing is done to solve the 26-year-old crisis, and is appealing to Vidar Helgesen, Norway’s Minister of Climate and the Environment to hit Norilsk Nickel where it hurts.

Tin mining – Cornish dreams and Myanmar reality – by Andy Home (Reuters/Daily Mail – August 22, 2016)

August 22, 2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) – Hope springs eternal in Cornwall when it comes to reviving tin mining in this southwestern corner of the United Kingdom. Canada’s Strongbow Exploration is the latest to try to rekindle the dying embers of what once was one of the world’s largest tin-mining hubs.

It has just bought out of administration the South Crofty mine, which was the last Cornish tin mine to close in 1998. Many others have tried and failed to get South Crofty producing again. There is still plenty of tin in the area, albeit submerged beneath the water that has flooded the mine since closure. The real issue is price.

Low prices laid the Cornish tin industry low in the 1990s. And although the current London Metal Exchange (LME) tin price of around $18,500 a tonne is much higher than back then, it is a far cry from the peak of $33,600 recorded in 2011.

Russia’s Fertilizer Tycoon Says Potash Glut May Last a Decade – by Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – August 18, 2016)

August 18, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, whose fertilizer company is investing more than $6 billion in potash mining, said it could take at least a decade for the potash market to work off the excess because of the past “disruptive” actions by the largest sellers.

Potash prices have collapsed since 2013, when a trade pact between Russian and Belarusian producers, which helped prop up the market, fell apart. At the time, Canpotex Ltd., a Canadian potash exporter, and Belarusian Potash Co. controlled about 80 percent of global exports.

Their tactics kept prices at high levels, which encouraged new investment from other companies and led to excess supply, said Melnichenko, who owns EuroChem Group AG and is Russia’s eighth-richest man, according to estimates from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Potash fell to a decade low of about $220 to $230 a ton this year on continued oversupply. In 2008, it reached above $900 a ton.

Northern exposure: Life in Norilsk, Russia’s most polluted city – by Andrei Iskrov (Russia Beyond the Headlines – August 16, 2016)

August 17, 2016

https://rbth.com/

Almost completely shut off from the outside world, the city of Norilsk in northern Siberia is a surreal place dominated by the world’s largest nickel plant. Pollution from the enterprise and the harsh climate make life hard for those who work here, but there is also a pride in surviving in such an inhospitable environment.

In the northern part of Siberia’s vast Krasnoyarsk Territory, not far from the Arctic Ocean, lies the city of Norilsk. It is often referred to using superlatives – the northernmost city in the world with more than 100,000 inhabitants, the most polluted city in Russia, one of the coldest cities in the world, and the home of the world’s most northern railway.

Snowdrifts on the streets of Norilsk may not melt until the following winter, the numbers on buildings are two meters big so that they can be seen during a blizzard and real summer here usually lasts for only one week. Temperatures in the city frequently drop to -50 degrees Celsius (-58 degrees Fahrenheit) and below in winter.

Zinc deficit looms, prices up, but output restarts unlikely – by Pratima Desai (Reuters U.K. – August 16, 2016)

August 16, 2016

http://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 16 Zinc’s sharp rally and looming market deficit has fed speculation that major producers such as Glencore may reverse output cuts, but analysts caution that is unlikely to happen soon.

Only when stocks of concentrate and metal sink to levels where higher prices can be sustained will large producers look at restarting capacity, they say. Benchmark zinc on the London Metal Exchange has climbed nearly 60 percent from January’s multi-year lows to around $2,300 a tonne, its highest since May 2015.

Many zinc mines have been shut or mothballed over the past couple of years, but prices did not really take off until this year when deficit expectations intensified with the closure of the Century mine in Australia and Lisheen in Ireland.

K+S braced for full-year earnings slump as potash prices tumble (Daily Mail/Reuters – August 12, 2016)

August 15, 2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

VIENNA/FRANKFURT, Aug 11 (Reuters) – K+S, one of the world’s biggest potash producers, said its full year core profit would collapse by as much as three quarters and warned of further uncertainty and falling dividends on Thursday.

Profits of fertilizer producers have tumbled in recent months because of falling prices, weak currencies in importing countries such as Brazil and excessive supply. K+S, which is also the world’s biggest salt producer, blamed tumbling European potash prices, production disruptions and weak demand for de-icing salt as it reported a slump in quarterly earnings.

“2016 is a challenging year,” finance chief Burkhard Lohr told analysts during a conference call after the German company’s second-quarter results.

Inside Ukraine’s ‘amber mafia’ – by Dan Peleschuk (Al Jazeera.com – July 4, 2016)

August 15, 2016

http://www.aljazeera.com/

Amber trade booms in northwestern Ukraine, but a shadowy criminal network largely benefits over thousands of miners.

Klesiv, Ukraine – Trundling along the decrepit roads of this remote corner of northwestern Ukraine, past dreary villages and decaying bus stops, few would suspect that the ground beneath is abundant with amber, a gemstone valued around the world as jewellery.

In reality, the business here is booming – but the profits are whisked away into the shadows. The vast majority of the poorly regulated industry operates outside state control, funnelling hundreds of million dollars each year into the hands of illegal miners, smugglers and, critics say, the politicians and armed gangs who run the racket.