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.
“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
The urbanisation of #India and its swelling middle class will step in to fill the breach as #China’s economic growth slows, according to the resources minister, Josh Frydenberg.
Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/20/india-will-step-up-as-chinas-economy-slows-says-josh-frydenberg
#Indonesia is eyeing the investment and industrial relocation that is likely to flow from #China because of the country’s transformation from being an investment-based economy into a consumption-based one.
– See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/01/18/indonesia-eyes-capital-flight-china.html#sthash.XPjxtSt9.dpuf
The #Chilean state-owned company is implementing an ambitious $22 billion multi-year investment plan to open new mine projects, like #Ministro #Hales, and revamp older ones such as #ElTeniente.
Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-codelco-copper-idUSKCN0UT2CR
#BHP Billiton has written down the value of its #US #Shale assets by $7.2bn (£5bn) as a result of the dive in oil prices.
Read more at: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35320918
Expansion has flipped to contraction for #Chinese #Miners as the global #Commodities glut overwhelms demand and the ability of the mainly state-owned companies to pay.
From #Africa to #Australia there is evidence of retreat as #Mining projects are abandoned in a rush to go home which is almost as hectic as the rush to expand during the commodities boom.
They experimented with a wearable sensor Bao invented that monitors #Human body temperature. This sensor consists of a plastic that is made up of tiny, #Spiky #Nickel particles. These particles were coated with #Graphene, a layer of #Carbon that is only the thickness of a single atom. The particles were then embedded in a polyethylene film, which was attached to a battery electrode.
Read more at: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stanford-lithium-ion-battery-wont-catch-fire/
With China’s growth targets in doubt, #India will stand out for being the only economy in the #World to expand more than 7 per cent, according to surveys of #Bloomberg economists. #China, on the other hand, is enduring the slowest growth in a quarter century and is forecast to expand 6.5 per cent this year.
Read more at: http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/india-seen-edging-out-china-from-top-growth-spot-in-2016-20160113-gm4rvx.html
The #Russian company that vies with #Vale as the biggest producer is budgeting for an average of about $9 000 a metric ton in 2016, said two people familiar with the situation.
The figure is 24% lower than the average rate of $11 890 a ton in 2015, and shows #Norilsk is planning for the possibility that prices for the #Nickel will fail to recover after plunging by 47% in the past year to the lowest level since 2003.
Read more at: http://www.mineweb.com/news/base-metals-and-minerals/top-nickel-producer-said-to-budget-for-24-lower-price-this-year/
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