Nickel Laterites – Page 41 – Republic of Mining

4 Nickel Miners Set to Soar On Philippines Crackdown – by Daniel Shane (Barrons – August 30, 2016)

August 30, 2016

http://www.barrons.com/

The prospect of stricter mining laws could threaten supplies from one of the world’s biggest nickel producers.

Drug pushers aren’t the only victims in a crackdown by hardline Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte. The Southeast Asian archipelago’s freshly-minted government has taken aim at miners, telling them to shape up or shut down. That could be a boon for nickel miner stocks elsewhere in the region, which should benefit from any disruptions in supply.

Tough guy Duterte, elected in a landslide vote this summer, has made no secret of his “big problems” with the Philippines’ mining industry, who he accuses of skirting environmental rules and “destroying the soil of our country.” That could cause a global supply crunch for the metal – which is mainly used in making stainless steel – as the Philippines makes up a fifth of global output.

It sells most of it to China. Filipino authorities have closed several mines already with more to shutter soon, helping lift nickel prices by around 20% to $5 a pound.

Nickel merry-go-round: Indonesia ferronickel replacing Philippine ore – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – August 25, 2016)

August 25, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, AUSTRALIA – Is nickel’s current rally sustainable or is the metal merely having a strong run because market participants are more focused on the environmental crackdown in top ore miner the Philippines, rather than on the surge in Indonesian ferronickel exports?

No doubt nickel is one of the strongest commodity performers this year, with benchmark London futures rising 13.3 percent from the end of last year to the close on Wednesday.

The bulk of that rally has come in the past three months as new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his hard-line environment secretary Regina Lopez cracked down on alleged environmental abuses by the mining industry.

China Nickel Trade Shifts as Ore Imports Drop, Ferronickel Rises (Bloomberg News – August 24, 2016)

August 24, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

China’s imports of nickel ore and refined metal dropped in July, while overseas purchases of an intermediate form of the raw material surged, signalling the shifting mix of shipments into the world’s top stainless-steel producer.

Inbound shipments of ore were 3.29 million metric tons, down 34 percent from about 5 million tons a year earlier, while imports of refined metal dropped 41 percent to 27,129 tons, according to Chinese customs data Wednesday. Overseas purchases of ferronickel jumped 56 percent to 92,240 tons, the second-highest on record, as Indonesian shipments rose more than fivefold.

Refined nickel in London has advanced 16 percent this year amid speculation a mining clampdown in the Philippines will encourage Chinese buyers to seek other forms of the metal as ore shipments from the top producer decline.

Miners slam demolition campaign, blame illegal small-scale mining – by Manolo Serapio Jr and Enrico Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – August 24, 2016)

August 24, 2016

http://www.gmanetwork.com/

MANILA – Miners claim the government’s environmental crackdown is a “demolition campaign” against mineral producers and are seeking to meet with President Rodrigo Duterte amid a spate of shutdowns stemming from the probe, an industry official said.

Duterte’s seven-week old government has so far suspended 10 mines, eight of them nickel, for environmental infractions, sowing fear among large-scale miners in the world’s top nickel producer that more shutdowns may follow.

The mining industry expects to push ahead with $23 billion worth of new investments from this year through 2020, but this “spirit of optimism is being shattered by … a very unstable policy outlook,” Benjamin Philip Romualdez, president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, said at an industry conference on Wednesday.

We Did It, You Should Too: Ore-Ban Talk Gathers Pace in Asia – by Jasmine Ng (Bloomberg News – August 22, 2016)

August 23, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The Philippines should follow Indonesia’s lead and prohibit the export of raw metal ores, according to National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, who said he was a big supporter of the curbs imposed by his country and results so far have been a success.

The restrictions have helped to spur the local manufacture of greater-value products, the former finance minister said in an interview in Singapore on Monday. Although some revenue was lost in the near term, the policy means there’ll be much a better result in future, he said.

Indonesia halted the export of ores from 2014, roiling the nickel market, and some Philippine lawmakers are now weighing a similar move as President Rodrigo Duterte conducts an audit of the industry to ensure its compliance with environmental standards.

Make or break: Philippine lawmaker says ban ore exports or shut shop – by Manolo Serapio Jr and Enrico Dela Cruz (Daily Mail/Reuters – August 23, 2016)

August 23, 2016

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

MANILA, Aug 23 (Reuters) – A Philippine lawmaker has revived a proposal to ban exports of unprocessed minerals to spur domestic processing, in a move that may tighten global nickel supply and make it an even tougher business environment for miners in the world’s top producer.

The Philippines has vast but largely untapped mineral resources, limiting the contribution of mining to its economy to less than 1 percent. The sector is now facing a tough regime under the government of firebrand President Rodrigo Duterte who has suspended some miners causing environmental destruction.

Without an industry that will process mineral ore, the Philippines may be better off shutting its mining sector given its modest contribution to the economy and the environmental harm it causes, Congressman Erlpe John Amante said.

Philippine Miners Optimistic Over $34 Billion Project Pipeline – by Norman P Aquino (Bloomberg News – August 22, 2016)

August 22, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The Philippines’ mining crackdown will separate good companies from bad ones and the industry is optimistic over prospects for $34 billion in projects to be developed in the next six years.

Most of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines’ 20-plus members meet international standards and comply with the country’s environmental regulations, Executive Vice President Nelia Halcon told a briefing in Manila on Monday.

In terms of the pipeline, “these projects have been approved and it’s only a matter of pushing their development,” Halcon said, referring to ventures that include the $5.9 billion Tampakan copper-gold project in South Cotabato province and Philex Mining Corp.’s $900 million Silangan project in Surigao del Norte. “We’re always hopeful,” she said.

Philippine villagers claim victory over nickel mining firm (Catholic News Service – August 18, 2016)

August 19, 2016

http://www.catholicregister.org/

MANILA, Philippines – Residents of a small island in the central Philippines hailed a government order that stopped one of the country’s largest mining firms from removing nickel ore stockpiles from their village. The removal of the ore was ruining local ecosystems, the residents said.

“We thought we’d see our island waste away first,” Rebecca Destajo, a village leader on Manicani Island off the coastal town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province, told ucanews.com Aug. 18 after the government announced its decision.

Opposition to mining operations on the island had been ongoing since the Hinatuan Mining Corp., an affiliate of Nickel Asia Corp., acquired rights to mine in the village in 1987.

Top Chinese Nickel Producer Says Bull Market Just Beginning – by Alfred Cang (Bloomberg News – August 17, 2016)

August 18, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Nickel’s rally is only just getting started, making the metal an attractive bet for investors, according to Jinchuan Group, China’s biggest producer of the refined metal.

Tightening global supplies because of a mining clampdown in the Philippines and rising demand from the stainless steel industry in China will push prices higher even after they climbed 35 percent from February lows, Chairman Yang Zhiqiang wrote in a statement on the company’s website. China consumes about half of the world’s supply and the Philippines produces a fifth of it.

“Nickel’s advance is just the beginning of a long bull run, with current prices still around multi-year lows, making the metal a promising investment,” Yang wrote.

Mining is not a sunset industry – expert – by James Konstantin Galvez (The Manila Times – August 17, 2016)

August 18, 2016

THE mining industry will always remain a major pillar of the Philippines economy, a management consultancy firm specializing on mining said.

Challenging President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent remark that minerals development sector is already a sunset industry, the president and CEO of Amdgy Consultancy, Deogracias Contreras, said that there will never be a sunset in the local mining industry.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion at Lido, Contreras cited the country’s increasing need for both metallic and non-metallic resources to keep the economy moving forward. “Since the dawn of time, we have been mining. Mining is not just metallic, it also includes non-metallic and energy,” he pointed out. President Duterte had vowed to limit mining operations in an effort to preserve what is left of the country’s natural resources.

UBS Makes a Bugle Call for Nickel Bulls on Crackdown, Demand (Bloomberg News – August 15, 2016)

August 15, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Rising demand, deficits and a crackdown in the Philippines are combining to make nickel one of its most-preferred commodities, according to UBS Group AG, which said the full impact of mine shutdowns in the Southeast Asia nation may be felt only next year when exports fail to ramp up as usual.

The government’s audit of standards in the mining sector is a front-of-mind risk that’s already shut down about 2 percent of world supply, analysts including Daniel Morgan wrote in a note. Ore shipments from the top supplier could fall to 314,000 metric tons next year from 410,000 tons last year, it said.

Nickel has been the best-performing base metal in the second half, rallying to its highest level in a year Aug. 10, on speculation that the Philippine crackdown led by President Rodrigo Duterte will crimp supplies. Prices have also been supported as rising stainless-steel output boosts consumption, the UBS analysts said in the Aug. 12 report.

The Key Challenge To Tesla’s Growth – by Michael McDonald (Oil Price.com – August 12, 2016)

August 15, 2016

http://oilprice.com/

Tesla’s increasingly ambitious plans to rule not only the electric vehicle space but also the solar energy space are likely to become more difficult to achieve over the next year. It has been widely reported in recent weeks that Tesla’s gigafactory is facing some challenges in becoming fully operational.

What is perhaps less well understood is the magnitude of the supply chain challenges that will face Tesla and its gigafactory. Tesla’s goal is to produce 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018. The company has accelerated its production time table in large part due to the enormous amount of demand the company saw for its Model 3 sedan.

The firm announced almost 375,000 preorders for the vehicle. To fulfill this demand plus new demand that the company will likely see for its products over the next couple of years, Tesla needs to produce more lithium ion batteries in 2018 than the entire world produced in 2013. That’s not an impossible feat given the size of the gigafactory, but it is challenging.

Philippines suspends two more mines in environmental clampdown – by Enrico Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – August 11, 2016)

August 11, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – The Philippine government has suspended operations at two more mines due to environmental violations in an ongoing audit of the country’s mining sector, officials said on Thursday.

The move raises the number of suspended mines to 10 – eight of them nickel ore producers – since the Southeast Asian nation launched a review of all mines on July 8.

The closures and the threat of more mines getting hit in the world’s top nickel ore supplier lifted prices of the metal to a one-year high of $11,030 a tonne on Wednesday. [MET/L]

Philippine ‘shock and awe’ mine crackdown rattles nickel markets – by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Enrioc Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – August 5, 2016)

August 5, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – As the Philippines’ tough-talking new president ratchets up a campaign against irresponsible mining, the suspension of a quarter of the country’s nickel mines and the risk of more action to come is spooking global nickel markets.

The Southeast Asian nation is China’s biggest supplier of nickel ore – used to make stainless steel – and with few alternative suppliers available, the crackdown pushed nickel prices up 13 percent last month.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who swept to power on June 30 with a vow to crush crime by targeting hundreds of suspected drug dealers, warned miners this week to follow tighter environmental rules or shut down, saying the country can survive without mining.

UPDATE 1-Philippines suspends seventh nickel miner in environmental crackdown – by Manolo Serapio Jr and Enrico Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – August 4, 2016)

August 4, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA, Aug 4 – The Philippine government has suspended the operations of a seventh nickel miner, Claver Mineral Development Corp, a minister said on Thursday, deepening an environmental crackdown that has caused jitters in global nickel markets.

The Philippines is the biggest supplier of nickel ore to top market China and the suspension of some mines and the risk of more closures sent global nickel prices to an 11-month high of $10,900 a tonne on July 21.

“Today we are suspending Claver Mineral. We will audit all the mine sites of Mindanao,” Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez said, referring to the nickel-rich southern Philippine island. Claver runs a mine in the Surigao del Norte province in Mindanao.