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

Apr 03, 2014 (Menafn – M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) –Tokyo, Japan, and Ludwigshafen, Germany — BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, and TODA KOGYO CORP . , one of the industry leaders in the development and manufacture of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries, have announced that they will enter exclusive negotiations to form a joint venture for cathode active materials (CAM) based in Japan.

T he proposed joint venture will focus on the production, marketing and sales of a broad range of cathode materials including NCA (Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide), LMO (Lithium Manganese Oxide) and NCM (Nickel Cobalt Manganese) in Japan.

Read more at: http://www.menafn.com/fee44fba-7e0a-4718-a87f-06e3fff4b404/BASF-and-TODA-KOGYO-CORP-enter-negotiations-to-form-a-joint-venture-for-cathode-active-materials-in-Japan?src=main

Former Xstrata boss Mick Davis could raid his old firm for assets after raising up to £2.25billion to build a new mining company.

Davis struck out on his own to create private miner X2 after he gave way to Glencore boss Ivan Glasenberg during the merger with Xstrata.

X2 has secured £1.5billion of funding from investors and could raise £750million more, as the company looks to build a major miner

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2593725/Former-Xstrata-boss-Mick-Davis-eyes-raid-Xstrata.html#ixzz2xjFutTc0

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – BHP Billiton  is weighing a range of options to simplify its portfolio of assets, including a possible spin-off of unwanted businesses such as aluminum and nickel into a separate company, the top global miner said on Tuesday.

“We continue to actively study the next phase of simplification, including structural options, but will only pursue options that maximize value for BHP Billiton shareholders,” the company said in a statement.

Read more at: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bhp-billiton-weighs-spin-off-083948938.html

This notice is being issued as a Request for Quotations (RFQ) for 2500 KG, Nickel Alloy 718 Additive Manufacturing/Laser Sintering Powder. MSFC is requesting that the Nickel 718 Alloy Powder shall be the same as the attached specifications.

Read more at: https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d3e6aece56e04188e644b39d2fa5f937&tab=core&_cview=1

Burundi has become the latest country to show its commitment to minerals due diligence by implementing the ITRI Tin Supply Chain Initiative (iTSCi).

The move will see the country follows in the footsteps of two of its neighbours, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which have already engaged in activities to boost traceability and due diligence of the mining and processing of the ‘3Ts’ – tin, tungsten and tantalum.

Read more at: http://www.miningenvironmental.com/enviromine/burundi-commits-to-becoming-conflict-free?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=print_friendly

There is mounting speculation that BHP Billiton is getting close to jettisoning its unloved nickel and aluminium businesses.

A possible demerger of the two divisions from BHP’s mainstays led by Pilbara iron ore would have major ramifications for thousands of WA workers employed at the Nickel West in the Goldfields and bauxite and Worsley alumina operations in the South West.

Read more at: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/22299850/bhp-may-dump-nickel-aluminium/

Brazil’s Vale has warned for the first time that it may lose its entire investment in the ill-fated Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea pending a review by the government of the west African country.

BSG Resources, the mining arm of Israeli tycoon Beny Steinmetz’s family conglomerate, sold a 51 per cent stake in its Guinean assets to Vale in 2010 in a $2.5bn deal, under which $500m was paid upfront by the Brazilian miner.

Read more at: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1eba1d3a-b8f0-11e3-a189-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=intl#axzz2xftcDAid

Santo Domingo.- Members of the Xstrata Nickel Falcondo Mine Workers’ Union Tuesday morning visited Rafael Calderón, head of the Senate Committee that studies the bill to create Loma Miranda National Park, to request another visit of the area and provide some further information.

Union Finance secretary Rafy Bueno said some 1,400 Falcondo workers have been laid off, which in his view has rocked the economic foundation of the town Bonao, with losses of payroll as high as 40 million pesos.

Read more at: http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2014/4/1/51048/Xstrata-Nickel-workers-ask-senators-to-revisit-planned-mine-site

(Reuters) – Private equity firms, which have been showing an increased interest in investing in the mining industry, will have a hard time even if they are betting on recovery in the longer term, the bosses of Anglo American and Glencore Xstrata said on Tuesday.

Private equity firms such as Warburg Pincus have hired executives from the mining industry to start investing in the sector and some top industry veterans such as Vale’s former chief executive Roger Agnelli and Mick Davies, head of Xstrata before its takeover by Glencore, have also lined up funding for new ventures.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/01/mining-private-equity-idUSL5N0MT4A120140401