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

#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.

Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timtreadgold/2016/01/14/going-home-chinese-mining-companies-losing-billions-of-dollars-as-they-retreat/#2715e4857a0b7b9a066570dd

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/

#Canada’s #Sherritt International Corp and #Japan’s #Sumitomo Corp said on Wednesday they would book more than $1.7 billion of losses on their #Ambatovy #Nickel mine in #Madagascar, as prices at 12-year lows wreak havoc among miners.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/sumitomo-nickel-idUSL3N14X2Q620160113

A good example of this can be found in the case of #Molycorp, a #RareEarth miner that has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This company was so desperate for cash in 2014 that it promised #Oaktree a huge premium to borrow more money so that it could finish upgrades on its mine in #Mountain Pass, #Calif.

The deal included Molycorp’s borrowing $250 million on paper but receiving only $198.7 million of the cash. In addition, the miner would have to fork over about $374 million — almost twice the amount of money it received — if it sought to repay the debt before it matured in five years.

But wait, there’s more! Oaktree also stood to get paid back in full, including that extra penalty for prepayment, before any other bondholders saw a dime in the event that the company filed for bankruptcy, which is exactly what happened.

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-01-11/oaktree-plays-heads-i-win-tails-you-lose-with-molycorp

#Molycorp Inc. bondholders won the right to trade their debt for company assets, clearing the way for an auction of the bankrupt mining company in March.

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-08/molycorp-sets-march-asset-auction-after-talks-with-creditors

#Mining presents a unique opportunity to stimulate #NorthKorea’s economy.

Unlike many of the economic avenues the nation has travelled down – drugs, arms, statues, and outsourcing its own citizens as a cheap labour force – tourism and mining are legally providing a development path unaffected by the existing #UN sanctions.

Read more at: http://www.australianmining.com.au/features/north-korea-mining

#Lithium miner #Galaxy Resources has emerged as one of a series of bidders for assets of the failed US rare earths producer #Molycorp, which collapsed in mid-2015 with debts of an estimated $US1.7 billion.

#Aluminum Corp. of #China, which is a #US-traded mining company based in #Beijing and known commonly as #Chalco, offered to pay more than $US700 million Molycorp’s non-U.S. assets, sources close to the negotiations said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/galaxy-resources-may-bid-for-molycorp-assets-20160106-gm07mz.html#ixzz3wTDNZAJ0