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Nickel Laterites

10 years after takeover, Vale predicts ‘bright future’ for Sudbury mines (CBC News Sudbury – October 26, 2016)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Glencore declines to comment on 10th anniversary since Falconbridge purchase

Despite low nickel prices and rising costs, Vale is forecasting a bright future for its Sudbury mines. This week marks 10 years since the Brazilian iron ore company took over Sudbury-based Inco.

Stuart Harshaw is now Vale’s vice-president of Ontario Operations, but he started his career with the old Inco.He says his company has been good for Sudbury over the last decade and is quick to list off $4 billion in investments in local infrastructure, that he says would have been more difficult for a smaller company.

Most of the last decade has seen gloomy times for the mining sector, with slumping metal prices and rising costs with miners going deeper and deeper into the earth.But Harshaw predicts a rosy future for Vale operations in Sudbury, while acknowledging that changes lie ahead.

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Suspended Philippine nickel miner mounts first legal challenge to govt crackdown – by Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters India – October 26, 2016)

http://in.reuters.com/

MANILA – A suspended Philippine nickel miner said on Wednesday it has sued government environment agencies for a nearly four-month stoppage of its operations, in the first legal challenge to the state’s environmental crackdown on the mining sector.

The Philippines is the world’s top nickel ore supplier and an environmental audit that has halted a quarter of its 41 mines plus the risk that 20 more may be shuttered has fuelled a rally in global nickel prices.

Benguetcorp Nickel Mines Inc’s (BNMI) mine in Zambales province, north of the capital Manila, is among 10 suspended for environmental infractions in a government clampdown on damage from mining in July and August.

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Sherritt widens loss as output slows; lowers Ambatovy FY guidance – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – October 25, 2016)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Canadian diversified miner Sherritt International Resources has, for the second time this year, cut the nickel guidance at the 40%-owned Ambatovy mine, in Madagascar, citing a tailings pipe blockage and total shutdown that occurred in June and July, followed by weak output in August.

The Toronto-based Sherritt, which produces nickel, cobalt, mixed sulphides, oil and gas, and electricity, lowered Ambatovy’s 2016 nickel guidance by 2 000 t from July estimates to between 40 000 t and 42 000 t. This is down 8 000 t from the initial 2016 nickel guidance of between 3 300 t and 3 800 t.

CEO David Pathe told Mining Weekly Online that Ambatovy, which accounts for about 27% of the company’s third-quarter revenue, experienced slower-than-expected ramp-up in July and August following the shutdown. He expects the operation to again reach nameplate capacity of 60 000 t/y sometime in 2017, noting that achieving the upper 20% of capacity is a complex endeavour, comprising many moving parts, which the company is working on mastering.

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BHP Sees Imminent Turning Point in Nickel With Deficit Looming – by Rebecca Keenan (Bloomberg News – October 20, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, sees the nickel market swinging into deficit because of supply threats in the Philippines and growing demand from electric vehicles and stainless steel.

“There are signs that this year could be finally the turning point for nickel with many expecting the market to be in deficit and so starting the much needed re-balancing process,” Eduard Haegel, asset president of BHP’s Nickel West unit, said at a conference in Perth Thursday. “The welcome return to balance over the next few years should see further recovery in nickel prices.”

Nickel has rebounded more than a third from the intraday low in February this year, which was the cheapest in more than a decade. Prices have been buoyed as the market awaits the final results from a nationwide audit in the Philippines, the world’s largest producer, which was ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte to ensure suppliers aren’t flouting environmental rules.

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PHL nickel supply to depend on government mining policies – by Cai Ordinario (Business Mirror – October 21, 2016)

THE Philippines’s nickel supply in the next few years will depend on mining policies implemented in the country, the World Bank said.

In its latest Commodity Markets Outlook, the World Bank said the suspension of operations of several mining firms by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has already resulted in economic losses for the country. Nickel prices, the World Bank added, surged 16 percent due to strong stainless-steel demand, which the Philippines missed out on due to the suspensions.

“The nickel market had already moved into deficit with falling production output in the Philippines due to depletion, and declining NPI [nickel pig iron] production in China,” the World Bank said. The suspension of mining permits has effectively suspended 55 percent of the country’s nickel production, equivalent to over 10 percent of global supply, the bank added.

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Philippines minister wants to ban new mines as clampdown deepens – by Enrico Dela Cruz and Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – October 14, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – The Philippines’ mining minister wants to prolong a ban on new mines and will review all environmental permits previously granted to the minerals industry, ramping up a campaign to clamp down on damage from the sector in the Southeast Asian nation.

Miners criticized the proposals made on Friday by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Lopez, saying she seemed determined to put the “industry to sleep”.

The Philippines is the world’s top nickel ore supplier and an environmental audit that has halted a quarter of its 41 mines, and the risk that 20 more maybe shuttered has spurred a rally in global nickel prices. “I want to put a moratorium on any new mining,” Lopez told a media briefing.

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Stronger stainless steel output seen sustaining nickel prices – by Pratima Desai (Reuters U.S. – October 12, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 12 Nickel’s rally is expected to be sustained by robust demand from China’s stainless steel mills, a significant factor behind recent price gains which many think are mainly due to worries about supplies from the Philippines.

Stainless steel contains nickel and chromium which slows the rate of corrosion significantly. Normal, or carbon, steel without nickel or chromium rusts easily. It is used in infrastructure such as bridges and structural beams, household items such as cutlery, drums for washing machines and kitchen sinks. Oil pipelines and medical equipment are also made out of stainless steel.

Demand has been growing due to Chinese infrastructure investment and higher living standards mean stronger consumer demand for domestic goods made out of stainless steel.

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Indonesia unlikely to relax ban on nickel ore and bauxite exports – by Wilda Asmarini and Fergus Jensen (Reuters U.S. – October 12, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA – Indonesia will “almost definitely” keep in place a ban on nickel ore and bauxite exports, the country’s mining minister said on Wednesday, just days after it had considered lifting the restriction to raise extra cash in an overhaul of mining rules.

Indonesia banned metal ore exports in early 2014 to encourage miners to build smelters to create jobs and shift exports from raw materials to higher-value finished metals.

But the government has been comprehensively reevaluating the domestic mineral processing requirements, amid concerns that the current deadline for full processing of all minerals by 2017 may not work for certain metals.

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COLUMN-Stainless steel surge impacts nickel and ferro-chrome – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – October 11, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 11 Global steel demand will rise by a meagre 0.2 percent this year, according to the World Steel Association (WSA). Next year won’t be much better with a forecast of just 0.5 percent growth. But it could have been worse. The WSA has upped its forecasts from April, when it was expecting demand to fall by 0.8 percent this year.

The improvement is all about China, where production and demand have been lifted by the government’s latest stimulus package, another push of the infrastructure and construction buttons. Within the steel universe, however, one sector is faring much better.

Stainless steel production rebounded strongly in the first half of this year, thanks again to China. And that has implications for two of the metallic inputs into the stainless production process, nickel and ferro-chrome.

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Chinese Smelter Assails Indonesia Over U-Turn on Ore Exports – by Yoga Rusmana (Bloomberg News – October 11, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

A plan by Indonesia to allow shipments of raw mineral ores would inflate local smelting costs and threaten the existence of small producers, according to the head of a Chinese-Indonesian venture, who called the move unwise and said it contradicted promises by the nation’s president.

Easing the export ban would mean local processors would have to compete with foreign buyers for supplies, raising the price of nickel ore, according to Alexander Barus, chief executive officer of Tsingshan Bintangdelapan Group. The company, partly owned by China’s Tsingshan Holding Group, may surpass PT Vale Indonesia this year as the largest nickel producer in the country.

The government could allow 15 million metric tons a year of low-grade ore exports because the material is hard to process locally and the money will help fund the building of local smelters, according to Teguh Pamudji, secretary general at the Energy & Mineral Resources Ministry.

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Philippines to cancel environmental permit of nickel miner as crackdown continues – by Manolo Serapio Jr (Reuters U.S. – October 10, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – The Philippines will cancel the environmental permit of a nickel miner that began operations this year, a minister said, as the government intensifies a campaign to punish mineral producers harming natural resources.

The Southeast Asian country is the world’s top nickel ore supplier and an environmental crackdown that has halted a quarter of its 41 mines, and the risk that 20 more maybe shuttered has spurred a rally in global nickel prices.

But the nickel mine now threatened with a shutdown, in southern Davao Oriental province and run by private-owned Austral-Asia Link Mining Corp, was not among those suspended or recommended for suspension.

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UPDATE 1-Indonesia eyes 15 mln T nickel ore exports in 2017 – by Wilda Asmarini (Reuters U.S. – October 7, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

Oct 7 Indonesia could export up to 15 million tonnes of nickel ore in 2017 if it amends a ban on unprocessed ore exports, a mining ministry official said on Friday.

Indonesia banned metal ore exports in early 2014 to encourage miners to build smelters to create jobs and shift exports from raw materials to higher-value finished metals. Indonesia’s nickel ore exports had increased sharply before the ban was implemented, hitting about 60 million tonnes in 2013.

But the ban cost Indonesia – once the world’s top nickel ore exporter and a major supplier of bauxite for aluminium – billions of dollars in lost revenue. To get smelters built, though, these rules now need to be changed again, said Teguh Pamudji, secretary general at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, amid ongoing discussions of a mining policy shift.

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Miners May Avoid Shutdowns in Philippine Audit as Nickel Drops – by Cecilia Yap (Bloomberg News – October 4, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

A mining audit in the world’s top nickel supplier that’s threatened mass closures may see producers prevail, with companies signaling their confidence shutdowns can be avoided as they race to remedy problems flagged in the nationwide Philippine checkup. Futures dropped.

Nickel Asia Corp. said its Hinatuan Mining Corp. unit, among those slated for closure unless it fixes shortcomings, remains in operation a week after the audit’s findings and it’s expected to stay that way, according to a statement on Tuesday. Separately, OceanaGold Corp. said its Didipio copper-gold mine is also still in business and talks with officials have been constructive.

“I am highly confident that our Didipio operations will continue to operate without interruption,” OceanaGold President and Chief Executive Officer Mick Wilkes said in an exchange release on Tuesday. Talks include discussions with Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, who’s led the checkup, and the company said it was sticking with full-year production guidance for the site.

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Small Tasmanian nickel mine symbol of hope in uncertain market – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – October 4, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, AUSTRALIA – It’s not often that jobs get exported from the developing world back to a developed country, but this is likely to be the case with nickel, the Philippines and Australia.

The new Philippine government of President Rodrigo Duterte has roiled global nickel markets by suspending 10 nickel mines and threatening the closure of at least 12 more, citing environmental violations.

The suspended mines and those at risk represent nearly 60 percent of output in the Philippines, the world’s largest producer of nickel ore and top supplier to top buyer China.

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Indonesia expects mining rule overhaul within weeks – by Fergus Jensen and Wilda Asmarini (Reuters U.S.- October 4, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA – Indonesia is finalizing an overhaul of its mining rules that could give companies up to five more years to build smelters, and reopen exports of nickel ore banned since 2014, the country’s mining minister said on Tuesday.

The proposed changes provide a way around a 2017 deadline for full domestic processing of mineral ores, potentially pushing completion of that aim to 2022, but also possibly undermining investor confidence.

“We will provide an opportunity to companies building smelters, in the form of a relaxation … in accordance with their smelter development progress,” Mining Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said.

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