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

Feb 10 (Reuters) – Vale’s chief executive said on Tuesday that a possible initial public offer of part of its nickel division was off the cards for now due to low prices for the commodity, but that other asset sales could be expected over the coming year.

The Brazilian miner is under pressure to resolve a cash-flow squeeze this year as it wrestles to fund mega-projects in the midst of a price slump in its core product: iron ore.

Read more at: http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/02/10/vale-sa-ceo-idINL1N0VK27J20150210

European stainless steel distributors have held back from placing large orders this year as they fear a further decline in surcharges in the months ahead, Germany-based service center Damstahl said Tuesday.

Distributors will likely continue to purchase material on a hand-to-mouth basis until they think raw material prices have bottomed out, which might happen in February, Damstahl said.

European stainless steel mills are cautiously optimistic for 2015 on the back of more positive PMI data, and also expect anti-dumping duties against Chinese and Taiwanese cold rolled imports to improve the market outlook, it said.

Read more at: http://www.platts.com/latest-news/metals/london/european-stainless-distributors-fear-further-26008499

China exported 1457 tonnes of rare earths in January, down 49 percent from a year earlier reports the Beijing Times.

The report, citing a source at the General Administration of Customs, notes that the total value of rare earth exports in the month totalled 124 million yuan, down 49.5 per cent from a year earlier.

According to previously released data from Hohhot customs in Inner Mongolia, China exported a total of 28,000 tonnes of rare earth in 2014, an increase of 27.3 per cent.

Read more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/chinese-rare-earth-exports-plunge-in-2014/story-e6frg90f-1227214662085

State-run diversified miner Aneka Tambang announced Monday that its newly built chemical grade alumina (CGA) plant in Tayan, West Kalimantan, is now ready to cater to domestic and export markets, particularly Japan.

The new facility is also prepared to start bringing additional cash into the company, up to US$200 million a year.

Read more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/antam-kicks-commercial-operation-its-cga-plant.html

(Bloomberg) — United Co. Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, may seek to refinance the debt it holds in Russian state banks with international lenders at a better rate.

“We are comfortable with the debt as we refinanced it in time, but we are not comfortable with the rate we have under the Russian bank loans,” Chief Executive Officer Vladislav Soloviev said in an interview in Moscow this week. “I don’t see new investment projects as possible in the next couple of years in Russia because of such rates.”

Read more at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-04/rusal-may-seek-to-refinance-russian-debt-with-foreign-banks

Shelby Knowles — THE BATTALION
Alaa Elwany and his team received a grant for $500,000 from NASA in order to pursue research on shape-memory alloys, or “smart metals.”

Shape-memory alloys are popular in a range of industries including aerospace and health, and their development was accelerated last month when NASA awarded a $500,000 grant to the A&M team to study their production. These alloys, sometimes called “smart metals,” are lightweight materials that can be deformed and restored to their original shape when heat is applied.

“These are materials that literally have a memory,” said Alaa Elwany, principal investigator of the team. “If it is subjected to some temperature or some abnormal stress then it regains its original shape.”

Read more at: http://www.thebatt.com/news/view.php/859423/NASA-grant-funds-smart-metals-project

A National Coal Council study released Thursday determined that more funding and other incentives are needed to produce carbon capture technology that would work on a global, commercial scale.

The study, prepared at the request of US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and titled “Fossil Forward – Revitalizing CCS: Bringing Scale & Speed to CCS Deployment,” assessed the progress made by the Department of Energy on the cost, safety and technical operation of carbon capture utilization and storage technology and found it came up short.

The Kemper power plant under construction by Southern Company in Mississippi will be the first integrated gasification, combined-cycle plant with carbon capture geologic storage and will come online in 2016, said Janet Gellici, executive vice president of the National Coal Council.

Read more at: http://www.platts.com/latest-news/coal/houston/more-funding-needed-for-ccs-technology-on-a-global-21920472

NORILSK — Russia’s financial crisis is posing a stark challenge to the country’s largest mining company. How can Norilsk Nickel protect the living standards of thousands of workers cut off inside the inhospitable Arctic while also satisfying its shareholders?

Read more at: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-s-norilsk-nickel-faces-battle-to-protect-workforce-from-rising-food-prices/515178.html