A Blog for Browsing Mining, Mineral Processing, and Metals Info

The energy harvester from MIT research lab on human energy.

Inside a lab at the #Massachusetts Institute of #Technology (#MIT), Sangtae Kim has been tinkering with a paper-thin device the size of a stamp. Kim is interested in harvesting #Energy from humans (though not the kind that turns people into #Batteries in the movie, The Matrix). He wants to harness motions, such as walking and running, to power sensors and wearable #Gadgets.

Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/04/harvesting-energy-humans-walking-charge-wearables-bending-mithttp://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/04/harvesting-energy-humans-walking-charge-wearables-bending-mit

Beleaguered #AngloAmerican is said to be planning a complete exit from #Brazil, where the company has already put its $1 billion #Niobium and #Phosphate business up for sale.

Read more at: http://www.mining.com/anglo-american-may-fully-exit-brazil-report/

 

The #Swiss-based mining conglomerate #Glencore says it is committed to investing in #NewCaledonia in 2016 despite massive losses last year because of the slump in the price of #Nickel.

Read more at: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/295422/new-caledonia’s-koniambo-holds-on-to-glencore-support

#China, the world’s largest #RareEarth producer and exporter, will complete a major restructuring move by mid-2016 to consolidate the industry, an official said Friday.

The work on forming rare earth blocs will be finished by the end of June to restructure the country’s rare-earth assets, said Xin Guobin, vice minister of industry and information technology, at a symposium.

Read more at: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=318172

#China set two notable records last year in terms of its metals trade with the rest of the world.

It exported record amounts of #Aluminium in the form of semi-manufactured products, a sign of domestic market glut that no-one seems to think is going to end any time soon.

But the country also imported more refined #Copper than ever before, an outcome that was even more surprising given another record year for imports of copper concentrates.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/china-trade-ahome-idUSL8N15C3B0

#Freeport-#McMoRan Inc.’s export license in #Indonesia, allowing the #US #Copper producer to ship concentrates from its #Grasberg mine, has expired without extension, said Bambang Gatot Ariyono, director general of minerals and coal at the Energy & Mineral Resources Ministry.

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-28/freeport-indonesia-s-export-permit-expires-without-extension

The State-Owned Enterprises Ministry is looking to book higher royalty incomes from state-run #Miners this year, despite unfavorable commodity prices that put pressure on the financial performance of mining firms last year.

– See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/01/27/higher-royalties-sought-state-miners.html#sthash.4fC7bxFO.dpuf

#Chile is pushing forward with new policies to develop its vast #Lithium reserves, the government said on Monday, at a time when prices for the battery ingredient have been rising rapidly.

One of the government’s first moves in the mostly private sector industry would be a call to tender the exploration of two salt flats owned by state-run #Codelco, the world’s biggest #Copper producer.

Read more at: http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL2N15915I

The collapse of #ClivePalmer’s #Queensland #Nickel business has compounded fears of civil strife in #NewCaledonia should the #French territory’s key mining customer go under completely.

Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/20/new-caledonia-fears-civil-unrest-after-collapse-of-clive-palmers-nickel-refinery

“It is potentially the beginning of a wave of closures,” says Nicholas Snowdon, an analyst at Standard Chartered. “But that’s contingent on producers moving away from their strategy of waiting for other producers to cut. Not just with #Nickel but right across base metals.”

Almost 70 per cent of nickel producers are making a loss at current prices. In #Aluminium a third are losing money, and in copper the figure is about 22 per cent, according to Australian investment bank #Macquarie.

Read more at:http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/949bf1ce-becd-11e5-9fdb-87b8d15baec2.html#axzz3xn4cldUr