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MELBOURNE, May 14 (Reuters) – BHP Billiton is in talks to sell its Australian nickel business, the top global miner said on Wednesday, in line with its aim of simplifying the company.

The push towards a sale comes as nickel prices have surged 50 percent this year on the back of a ban on nickel ore exports from Indonesia, which has seen the value of some nickel miners nearly double.

BHP said it was examining all options for Western Australia-based Nickel West, including the sale of all or parts of the business, which includes the Mt Keith, Cliffs and Leinster mines, the Kalgoorlie smelter, Kambalda concentrator and the Kwinana refinery.

Read more at:   http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/14/mining-bhpbilliton-nickel-idUSL3N0O01OB20140514

Indonesia’s export ban on nickel is here to stay, analysts at Citi say.

Nickel prices are up more than 50% this year, thanks to Indonesia’s decision to stop exports of the ore mined on its islands, which threatens to send the market into deficit by the second half of the year. Prices for the metal rose 6% on Monday alone, to close at $20,925 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, as investors worry about tightening supplies.

All three parties in the country’s election have said they won’t repeal the law if they win, Citi analysts wrote in a note to investors.

Read more at:  http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-530352/

An Ames Lab research group, which included Slowing, Kapil Kandel, Conerd Frederickson, Erica A. Smith, and Young-Jin Lee, first saw success using bi-functionalized mesostructured nanoparticles. These ordered porous particles contain amine groups that capture free fatty acids and nickel nanoparticles that catalyze the conversion of the acids into green diesel. Nickel has been researched widely in the scientific community because it is approximately 2000 times less expensive as an alternative to noble metals traditionally used in fatty acid hydrogenation, like platinum or palladium.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-05-multifunctional-nanoparticles-cheaper-cleaner-biofuel.html#jCp

Jinchuan’s supply contract with Western Areas runs out at the end of the year, while BHP closed its Perseverance nickel mine in Western Australia in October and needs to source new supply to feed its Nickel West smelter, Western Area’s Managing Director Dan Lougher said in an interview by phone.

“We can give them more if they pay the right dollar,” Lougher said May 9. “Jinchuan is always keen to talk about life-of-mine contracts. The competitive tension that you can get around the smelters is quite important for us.”

Nickel, used to make stainless steel, rose to a two-year high this month on concern that Indonesia’s ore export ban is reducing global supplies. Nickel may rise to more than $30,000 a metric ton next year, according to Citigroup Inc. It traded at $20,760 at 3:35 p.m. Sydney time.

Read more at:  http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-12/jinchuan-may-have-to-compete-with-bhp-to-secure-nickel-supply

Indonesia forecasts that nine nickel-processing plants may be completed this year after the largest mined producer banned raw ore exports in January, spurring a rally in refined prices to the highest level since 2012.

The plants comprise two ferronickel and seven nickel-pig-iron smelters, according to data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. One chemical-grade alumina plant is also scheduled to be completed this year, the data showed.

Read more at:   http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/nine-nickel-smelters-planned-indonesia-year-ban/

Muscat: Vale’s operations in Oman has received its 50th Valemax vessel, the world’s largest iron ore carrier, at its deep water jetty in the Port of Sohar, recording a total shipment of 25 million metric tonnes of iron ore since commencing its operations in Oman in 2011.

Created to integrate the global logistics strategy of the company to generate customised solutions for its clients in Asia and raise the competitiveness of its products, the Valemax is a new concept category ore carrier with a capacity to transport 400,000 metric tonnes and has alone been responsible for the delivery of 80 per cent of the iron ore shipments to Oman from Brazil.
Read more at:   http://www.timesofoman.com/News/33663/Article-Vale-receives-largest-iron-ore-carrier-in-the-world

Nickel rallied to a two-year high, exceeding $20,000 a metric ton, as a plant closure in New Caledonia by Vale (VALE5) SA, the second-biggest producer, exacerbated global supply concerns fueled by Indonesia’s ore-export ban.

The contract for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange added as much as 5.6 percent to $20,500 a ton, the highest level since February 2012, and was at $20,370 by 4:02 p.m. in Tokyo. The metal, used to make stainless steel, rose 12 percent this week, the most since April 2009.

Read more at: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-05-08/nickel-set-for-biggest-weekly-gain-since-2010-as-vale-plant-shut

RIO DE JANEIRO–Brazilian mining giant Vale SA said late Thursday it doesn’t know when nickel production in New Caledonia will resume, after an acid leak forced an outage at its mine and processing plant there and prompted intervention by local authorities.

The shutdown, which began Wednesday, caused a spike in nickel prices on supply concerns. The government of New Caledonia’s Southern Province described the incident as “serious” and called for “emergency” measures.

A Vale spokeswoman said in an email statement Thursday that “a small quantity” of the acidic solution leaked into a nearby river. She added that an investigation to identify the cause of the accident and its potential impact on the environment was underway.

Vale’s nickel facilities in New Caledonia, a former French territory in the South Pacific, have struggled with operational problems in recent years but posted one of their best quarters ever at the beginning of 2014, churning out 4,100 metric tons of nickel.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140508-720314.html