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Western Lithium Hosts Ceremonial Opening of Its Hectatone Organoclay Plant in Fernley, Nevada.

One of his first big achievements, according to the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame, was to develop a process to “roast pelletized nickel sulphide to a granular oxide sinter of less than .5% sulphur.”

Another innovation involved refining a carbonyl process to reduce pollution.

Curlook helped modernize Inco in Sudbury | Sudbury Star.

Iron ore prices may be diminishing but that’s not stopping BHP Billiton’s to be the world’s cheapest supplier.

The Australian-based company, which is currently the third-biggest producer of iron ore, is looking to cut its production costs by more than 25 percent and squeeze more tons from its iron ore mines as it seeks to overtake rival Rio Tinto as cheapest supplier.

Read more at: http://www.miningglobal.com/operations/1192/BHP-Billiton-Aims-to-Overtake-Rio-Tinto-as-Cheapest-Supplier-of-Iron-Ore

MOSCOW Oct 9 (Reuters) – Russian iron ore producer Metalloinvest has begun construction of one of the world’s largest hot briquetted iron (HBI) plants, an estimated $850 million investment to strengthen its position in the European market for intermediate steelmaking ingredients.

Read more at: http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL6N0S43PM20141009

New advances in additive manufacturing using laser solid forming to produce metallic parts.

A Rio Tinto takeover would be harder for Glencore than its 2012 merger with a rival, Xstrata. There’s some logic to a tie-up with Rio Tinto, the world’s second-biggest iron ore producer, but Glencore, a Swiss mining company, will be loath to pay a big premium, and the culture clash would be extreme. Rio is also in a better position than Xstrata to resist.

Read more at:  http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/dealbook/2014/10/07/for-glencore-rio-tinto-takeover-harder-than-xstrata-deal/

(Reuters) – India needs to swiftly remove a tax on iron ore exports, the country’s top private miner of the commodity said, calling the duty an “economic barrier” in the face of falling global prices.

The country’s iron ore shipments have already slowed to a trickle after a ban on mining in key producing states, with a 30 percent tax on exports making it even more difficult to sell to a world market where prices have sunk 40 percent this year.

Read more at: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/10/08/sesa-sterlite-ironore-mining-idINKCN0HX0BM20141008

LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Nickel rose for a third day on Tuesday as investors bet that long-awaited shortages would finally begin to hit the market in coming months, while copper dipped on worries about growth in China.

Nickel has shed 29 percent since touching a 27-month peak of $21,625 a tonne in May after a deficit failed to appear despite a ban on ore shipments from top exporter Indonesia.

Supply from the Philippines has unexpectedly filled the gap, but this may not last, some analysts say.

“There’s clearly a surplus of nickel at the moment, but once we get to November and beyond, you’ll get the seasonal weakness in the Philippines supply combining with an absence of Indonesian ore and the market could look very different indeed,” said Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis.

Benchmark nickel was the top performer on the London Metal Exchange (LME), climbing 1.5 percent to close at $16,950 a tonne after gaining 0.9 percent on Monday.

Read more at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-2783373/Copper-slips-strong-dollar-demand-uncertainty-weigh.html

Glencore Xstrata PLC is laying the groundwork for a potential merger with Rio Tinto Group in the next year that would create the world’s largest mining company, worth about $160-billion, according to people familiar with the situation.

Read more at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/glencore-laying-groundwork-for-potential-rio-merger-sources/article20943651/

Walter Curlook is a man of vision who helped shape the world’s largest nickel producer. Throughout his lengthy career with Inco, he has been responsible for fostering new technologies and products, new working environments and a new era of government and public relations. Aptly described as “an industrial Renaissance man of the 20th century,” he has achieved distinction in mining, metallurgy, environmental protection, and research and development.

Read more at:http://www.republicofmining.com/2014/10/05/in-memory-of-walter-curlook-1929-2014-inducted-in-1997/