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

Power Japan Plus’s electric-car battery does not use any conductive metals, including rare-earth metals, common to traditional lithium ion batteries. Its “dual carbon” technology is based on cotton fibre – the material Thomas Edison used to make carbon fibres in his light bulbs.

A limited supply of the raw materials used in electric-car batteries has long threatened to cap growth in the industry. Some of those raw materials – the rare-earth metals – are produced primarily in China, which at one point attempted to effectively stop exporting the stuff.

If this action spurred the initiative to find alternative technologies, then China may pay a high price for trying to corner the rare-earth market.

“As a Saudi prince once explained in the 1970s to compatriots who wanted to cut oil output and drive prices higher: if a country with a precious resource limits supply too ruthlessly, it risks encouraging mass investments in alternative sources of energy”.

Read more at:  http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1523699/china-shot-itself-foot-trying-corner-rare-earth-market

Although 2013 was a strong headline year for metal 3-D printing, the dynamics of General Electric acquiring Morris Technologies may have artificially inflated the segment’s growth rate. At the same time, large-scale manufacturers are building out their 3-D printing footprints to make better of the technology within their operations. Going forward, investors should monitor 3-D metal printer sales at 3D Systems, ExOne, and Arcam to get a better sense of how the metal 3-D printing market is developing and which technologies are most favored.

Read more at:  http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/05/30/understanding-the-3-d-metal-printing-boom-of-2013.aspx

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) – New Caledonian authorities will allow mining giant Vale to restart nickel mining activities as early as Friday after suspending operations at the $6 billion plant more than three weeks ago due to an effluent spill.

Youths angry about the spill and the reaction from Kanak tribal elders in the South Pacific island torched vehicles and buildings at the Goro mine site, blocked roads and injured three policemen in violent protests that followed.

Read more at:  http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/30/vale-sa-caledonia-spill-idINL3N0OG1GS20140530

May 29 (Reuters) – It’s hard not to have a grudging respect for Brazil’s Vale when it comes to the company’s Goro nickel project in New Caledonia.

Others would surely have walked away from what must be one of the most problematic start-ups in the history of base metals.

Over-budget and years late even before the plant was first switched on in 2010, it has since been plagued by technical set-backs, unscheduled closures and, now, violent attack by locals.

Vale has remained commendably undaunted throughout.

Read more at: http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/29/home-nickel-idINL6N0OF2Y12014052

 

JAKARTA, May 28 (Xinhua) — The Indonesian energy and mines minister said here Wednesday that his ministry is looking for signing deals on contract renegotiation with 17 mining firms next month, a move that will add the total number of mining companies reaching the deal to 45. In March, as many as 25 mining companies signed the deal on the contract renegotiation with the ministry. Energy and Mines Minister Jero Wacik said that all the 17 companies are engaged in mineral ore mining.

Read more at:  http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=221094

SYDNEY May 28 (Reuters) – London nickel firmed on Wednesday as unrest at a New Caledonian mine kept supply threats in focus amid expectations for a supply deficit as soon as next year, while London copper drifted from near three-month peaks.

Read more at:  http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFL3N0OE0FG20140528

Dozens of rioters have caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to vehicles, equipment and buildings at Brazil’s Vale (NYSE:VALE) nickel plant in New Caledonia, as anger boiled over at a chemical spill into a local river.

Earlier this month the country’s government ordered Vale to shut down its US$6 billion nickel facility at Goro, in southern New Caledonia after an estimated 100,000 litres of acid-tainted effluent ended up in a creek, killing thousands of fish.

Read more at:  http://www.mining.com/vales-new-caledonia-nickel-plant-under-siege-up-to-30m-in-damage-83354/

SYDNEY May 27 (Reuters) – Global miner Vale does not have plans to shut its nickel operations in New Caledonia amid social unrest caused by an effluent spill, the company said to a local newspaper.

Peter Poppinga, an executive director at Vale, said he estimated damages to the mining site to be at least $20 million to $30 million, including the destruction of trucks and mining equipment.

New Caledonia’s southern provincial government ordered an immediate halt to operations early May and has yet to communicate as to when Brazil-based Vale can resume its activities.

 

Source:   http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFS9N0NL01A20140526

SYDNEY, May 27 (Reuters) – Rioters torched vehicles, equipment and buildings at Vale’s nickel mine in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia over the weekend, as anger boiled over about a chemical spill in a local river.

The $6 billion Vale plant at Goro in southern New Caledonia was closed earlier this month after some 100,000 litres of acid-tainted effluent leaked, killing about 1,000 fish and sparking renewed protests at the mine site.

Read more at: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/27/vale-sa-newcaledonia-spill-idUKL3N0OC3DN20140527

Six new critical raw materials bring the European Commission’s list up to 20, posing a “major challenge for EU industry,” the EC announced May 26. An update to the original 2011 collection, the set now includes borates, chromium, coking coal, magnesite, phosphate rock and silicon metal. No longer included is tantalum, now considered to have a lower supply risk.

Read more at: http://resourceclips.com/2014/05/26/eu-names-six-new-critical-materials-warns-of-industry-challenges/