Nickel Laterites – Page 41 – Republic of Mining

Indonesia draft rule could ease export ban on nickel, bauxite: paper (Reuters U.S. – December 19, 2016)

December 19, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Indonesia’s government is drafting a regulation that could ease a looming export ban for not only copper concentrates, but also partly processed or raw nickel and bauxite, the Jakarta Post reported, citing a draft regulation.

Under the draft, unprocessed gold, silver, tin and chromium would remain on the export ban list, the paper said. Energy and Mining ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment, but a spokesman last week said the ministry was in talks with the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs to try to reach a solution on easing the ban.

The ore shipments ban, which requires miners to build smelters to process ore locally and halt mineral exports from next month, was implemented in January 2014, although last minute amendments were made to ease its impact.

Philippines’ No. 2 nickel miner to appeal canceled permit for undeveloped mine – by Enrico Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – December 16, 2016)

December 16, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc, the Philippines’ second-largest nickel miner, vowed on Friday to appeal an “unlawful” government decision to cancel the environmental permit for its newly acquired Ipilan mining project.

The company said its Ipilan Nickel Corp (INC) unit has not violated any law or condition under the permit, and chided the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for making a decision “without procedural due process”.

Concerned at the environmental impact of mining, the world’s top nickel ore supplier has already halted the operation of 10 mines and another 20 face suspension, stoking supply concerns and spurring a rally in global nickel prices.

Nickel supply shock, ad-hoc – by Tim Treadgold (Mining Journal – December 14, 2016)

December 14, 2016

http://www.mining-journal.com/

From less than US$4 a pound just before Christmas last year the nickel price has risen by more than 30% to around US$5.13/lb with a recent peak of US$5.24/lb earlier this month.

But, if you look at a graph of the nickel price over the past 60 days it is obvious that traders are uncertain whether to bid the metal higher, or push it lower, with US$5/lb the price around which they’re circling while politicians in the Philippines (and Indonesia) decide whether to encourage or discourage nickel exports to China.

As might be expected when it comes to political factors investment banks are uncertain which way nickel will move when the Philippines Government releases the delayed final audit of its mining industry, perhaps as soon as tomorrow (December 15).

New Caledonian miners seek to ramp up nickel ore exports to China – by Melanie Burton , Cecile Lefort and Gus Trompiz (Reuters U.S. – December 24, 2016)

December 14, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, PARIS – New Caledonia’s nickel ore miners have applied to increase shipments to China after an environmental crackdown on Philippine mine supply this year has caused prices to spike, four sources familiar with the matter said this week.

Two miners, Societe Metallurgique Le Nickel (SLN), owned by France’s Eramet, and Societe des Mines de la Tontouta (SMT) have applied for permits to export more ore to China in 2017, the sources said.

China is demanding new sources of nickel ore to feed its vast stainless steel industry after the Philippines, the world’s biggest ore exporter, halted production at some mines for environmental violations. China’s steel industry has boosted production this year to meet construction demand amid a domestic property boom.

COLUMN-Crunch time coming for Philippines nickel ore exports – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – December 9, 2016)

December 9, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Dec 9 Crunch time is coming for the flow of nickel ore from the Philippines to China. The market is awaiting news of how many more nickel mines might fall foul of a sweeping clamp down on what the Philippine administration terms irresponsible mining.

Eight nickel mines have already been suspended. Another 14 have been put on notice. Between them they account for around half of the country’s production, putting at risk China’s nickel pig iron (NPI) producers who have become increasingly reliant on Philippine supply for their raw material input.

But the truth of the matter is that Philippine ore exports are going to slow dramatically over the coming months whatever the outcome of the current mine audit. They always do at this time of year because of the rainy season.

China’s Virtue Dragon joins Indonesian nickel rush – by Jack Hewson (Asia Nikkei.com – December 7, 2016)

December 7, 2016

http://asia.nikkei.com/

Top executive confident policy will continue to support investment

JAKARTA — Andrew Zhu admits that when he arrived in Indonesia in 2014, he was a little headstrong. He had come in a hurry to set up local operations for Chinese metals producer Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry, founded by Dai Guofang, his father-in-law.

At 29, Zhu is notably young to be president director of Virtue Dragon Nickel Industries, a company managing a $1 billion dollar investment. He is also refreshingly candid.

“You know it was brave for our company to come here, and slightly reckless,” he told Nikkei Asian Review in his office in downtown Jakarta. “We just didn’t have time to conduct thorough due diligence.”

Philippines third quarter nickel ore output drops 16 percent as Duterte’s green clampdown bites – by Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – December 5, 2016)

December 5, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – The Philippines’ output of nickel ore fell 16 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, government data showed on Monday, after the world’s top supplier of the metal suspended some mines in a clampdown on environmental violations.

The Southeast Asian nation has already stopped work at 10 of its 41 mines in a campaign, backed by President Rodrigo Duterte, against what the government says is irresponsible mining. A group of a further 20 more faces possible suspension.

Output of nickel ore for direct shipping fell to 9.34 million tonnes in July-September from 11.09 million tonnes in the same period last year, data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau showed.

Glencore sees nickel shortage as electric vehicle demand burgeons – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – December 2, 2016)

December 2, 2016

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified mining and marketing company Glencore sees a shortage in nickel arising as a result of burgeoning demand from electric vehicle (EV) production.

Batteries used in EVs are consuming about 100 000 t of nickel demand and if 10% of the world’s vehicle fleet transitions to electric power, 400 000 t of nickel would be required on current yearly production of 1.95-million tonnes.

“We see a shortage in nickel,” Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg said in response to BNP Paribas analyst Sylvain Brunet during a conference call in which Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online took part.

UPDATE 2-More Philippine mine suspensions on the way in boost for nickel – by Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – December 2, 2016)

December 2, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA, Dec 2 The Philippine government will suspend more mines in a fight against environmental degradation, the minister in charge of mining said, a move that could put future supply from the world’s top exporter at risk and lift nickel prices.

Nickel on the London Metal Exchange recovered nearly 1 percent from Friday’s lows on the potential for supply disruption after the minister’s comments.

The Southeast Asian nation has already halted 10 of its 41 mines in a campaign backed by President Rodrigo Duterte against what the government says is irresponsible mining. Twenty more are facing possible suspension and the agency in charge of the review may issue a ruling next week.

UPDATE 2-Indonesia to cut royalty for processed nickel to 2 pct -official – by Wilda Asmarini (Reuters U.S. – November 22, 2016)

November 22, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

Nov 22, 2016 – Indonesia will cut the royalty charged on sales of processed and refined nickel to 2 percent, a mining ministry official said on Tuesday, part of a revision of government rules on non-tax revenue from the coal and minerals sector.

The revision is needed to encourage more miners to develop smelters, said Coal and Minerals Director General Bambang Gatot, referring to a government drive to develop downstream industries and increase returns from Indonesia’s mineral resources.

The royalty, paid by miners to the government, is currently 4 percent of each sale. “If it’s 4 percent it’s as if it gives no incentive for processing and refining. It gives no stimulus to companies to (build smelters),” Gatot told parliament.

French loan averts New Caledonia plant demise (Radio New Zealand – November 18, 2016)

November 18, 2016

http://www.radionz.co.nz/

The Brazilian mining conglomerate Vale says a $US200 million loan from the French state has reduced the risk of it shutting its multi-billion dollar nickel plant in New Caledonia.

The funding offer was announced by the French prime minister Manuel Valls at the beginning of last week to help shore up the territory’s economy which is reliant on nickel production.

The head of Vale New Caledonia Darius Khoshnevis said the loan has reduced the risk of the plant’s closure but not eliminated it. The plant in Goro in the territory’s very south, which employs about 1,400 people, has been running at a loss which this year is expected to amount to $US150 million.

INTERVIEW-Sherritt sees Cuban nickel venture returning to profit in 2017 – by Sarah Marsh (Reuters U.K. – November 17, 2016)

November 18, 2016

http://uk.reuters.com/

HAVANA – Nov 17 Sherritt International Corp’s joint nickel venture in Cuba will return to profit next year if prices for the metal sustain themselves at the current level, the Canadian mining company’s head said in an interview.

Speaking at Sherritt’s office in Havana on Wednesday, Chief Executive David Pathe said the price, which has risen around 20 percent this year from multi-year lows, could even improve given global nickel supplies were expected to swing into a deficit.

“If prices can sustain where we are now, we will be EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) positive at these prices with some upside in 2017,” Pathe said. “It looks like the nickel market… is moving into deficit, with forecasts of deficit for few years, and we are optimistic it will be positive for pricing going forward,” Pathe said.

Green dreams: Duterte and the Philippine mining industry – by by Robert Veldhuizen (Global Risk Insights – November 7, 2016)

November 7, 2016

Throughout its history, the Philippine mining industry has been defined by its diverse set of political risks relating to governance, inequality, elitism, foreign export and absent contribution towards the country’s overall economic growth. President Duterte’s nomination spells a radically different future for the industry; unprecedented opportunities may lie ahead for foreign investors, however they are not without risk.

Pervading problems

Since the 1500s, mining has played a critical part in the economic development of the Philippines. Despite the abundance of chromite, copper, gold and nickel deposits, the industry has been marred, since the 1980s, by issues of volatility, and defined to a realm of ‘potential’—rather than direct opportunity.

Issues that have and continue to plague the industry range from matters of foreign ownership, corruption, obdurate and unforced regulatory laws, environmental incidents, murky issues of land rights, militant attacks, as well as disastrous weather conditions.

[Vale takeover of Inco] The great Canadian mining non-disaster – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – November 4, 2016)

November 4, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Sudbury’s experience of high wages and continued prosperity should quell fears about foreign acquisitions of Canadian mining assets

SUDBURY, ONT. – A couple of dozen men in hard hats and orange coveralls are gathered in a brightly lit, mud-splattered room, chatting about the type of topics we all chat about at work – the Leafs’ prospects, a daughter’s coming wedding, a deer someone saw on the drive in.

What makes these men different from pampered folks like you and me is that they are getting ready to drop more than half a mile into the earth. Once underground at Vale SA’s Totten Mine in Sudbury, Ont., they will operate giant scoops and haulers in dim, sweltering tunnels that have the capacity to kill the unwary or the unlucky.

“We’re lucky here because the depth and the ground conditions are pretty favourable for less seismic activity,” mine manager Gilbert Lamarche says nonchalantly as we prepare for the “cage,” or elevator, that will take us down to working depth. “But in other mines, the ground conditions are a much bigger factor.”

It’s a thought that tends to linger in the mind as men crowd into the narrow metal cage, the door rattles shut and we descend into the darkness at 1,700 feet a minute. Whatever else a mine may be, it’s fundamentally an operation rooted deep in a specific piece of the earth – which may be why the mines around Sudbury have become a powerful symbol for the territorial battle between local allegiances and global businesses.

Challenging times ahead for Philippine mining companies – by Ronnel W. Domingo (Philippine Daily Inquirer – November 4, 2016)

November 4, 2016

http://business.inquirer.net/

Prospects for mining over the next several years have been described as “challenging” by no less than the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) itself. Within the industry, particularly for many, if not most of the public players (in the Philippines or bourses elsewhere), the pervading mood is uncertainty, although there is a counterpoint of buoyancy.

The MGB’s mineral economics, information and publication division—the parent agency of which recently announced that the operations of 20 more metallic mines are recommended for suspension—observes that the audit of existing mines, along with a moratorium on new mines, is “responsible for industry prospects remaining to be challenging.”

“The suspension of another two nickel mines in Palawan is expected to further contribute to the overall sluggish performance of the metallic sector in 2016,” the MGB says. The bureau refers to the Berong nickel project (DMCI’s Berong Nickel Corp.) and Toronto and Pulot nickel projects (ORE’s Citinickel Mines and Development Corp.).