Freeport and Newmont have refused to pay the export tax as they say it is in breach of their work contracts with the government. Both are engaged in talks with officials to resolve the impasse, although Freeport is reportedly planning to build a smelter within three years, according to the Jakarta Post.
Read more at: http://www.bnamericas.com/news/metals/indonesia-may-ease-taxes-on-concentrate-exports
SHANGHAI, Feb. 26 (SMM) – Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co.’s net profit increased by 2.73% year-on-year in 2013 on more sales.
The world’s largest lithium metal producer made a net profit of 71.55 million yuan ($11.67) or 0.47 yuan per share last year, the company told Shenzhen Stock Exchange today.
The company raised 482.68 million yuan by issuing 25.47 million shares in a private placement in December, 2013, it said in the exchange filing. Jiangxi Ganfeng plans to use the money in three lithium product projects, SMM reported earlier.
Canadian exploration companies are targeting scores of rare earth projects in the country and around the world and with help from the federal government are making a concerted effort to loosen China’s grip on the industry.
At the moment China produces some 90% of the world’s rare earths, but the country’s REE industry is beset by problems including illegal mining, smuggling due to export quotas, environmental devastation and a lack of global competitiveness as a result of weak research and development.
The Canadian REE industry players has ambitious goals to secure 20% of global supply by 2018 and lead research and development in the field.
Read more at; http://www.mining.com/investors-pile-into-north-american-rare-earth-juniors-64717/
Rare earth mining companies aren’t exactly setting the investment world on fire, but for that same reason, prepare to hear about more electronics andautomotive manufacturers seeking ways to “mine” these and other precious metals out of end-of-life or discarded products—everything from mobile phones to wind turbines to spent batteries.
One notable example is Honda’s move last year with Japan Metals & Chemicals (JMC) to start reusing rare earth substances in used nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in new ones—after announcing its intention to do so in 2012. The automaker is using molten salt electrolysis to pull the materials out of an oxide extracted from the batteries: removing about 80 percent of what’s in the original. Those substances are being supplied to a battery maker, which is using them for negative electrode materials in hybrid vehicle batteries.
Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherclancy/2014/02/25/rare-earth-recycling-takes-on-new-luster/
Newmont Mining Corp. said constructing a smelter in Indonesia, a measure being pushed by the country as it tries to eliminate the export of unrefined metal, doesn’t make economic sense.
“Because of the supply of smelting capacity in places like China, the economics of running a smelter just aren’t there,” Chief Executive Officer Gary Goldberg said yesterday.
Read more at: http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-gold-news?oid=230514&sn=Detail
Nickel will climb significantly in 2015 and may advance to more than $20,000 a metric ton in the next few years because of Indonesia’s ban on ore exports, said Vale SA (VALE5), the world’s second-biggest producer.
The restrictions that Indonesia put in place last month probably won’t be eased, Peter Poppinga, executive director for base metals at the Rio de Janeiro-based company, said in a Feb. 21 interview. Big price movements are unlikely this year because of the high level of stockpiles in China, he said.
“Next year I see the nickel price jumping quite significantly,” Poppinga said in the interview at the mine. “It is about Indonesia today, everybody knows that. The ore ban is in place and it’s holding, and I think the authorities in Indonesia are very reasonable and very serious about that.”
Read more at: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-02-25/nickel-exceeding-20-000-for-vale-after-indonesia-s-export-ban
China’s rare earth industry – responsible for almost 90% of global output – suffered a sharp drop in profits last year despite modest revenue growth reportsXinhua.
Industry revenue was close to $12.6 billion (77 billion yuan) last year, up nearly 8%, but profits slumped 28% to less than $1.3 billion, as prices for the elements a variety of industries including green technology, defence systems and consumer electronics, continued to fall, according to China’s Ministry of Information and Technology.
China has been cracking down on the industry for years to curb illegal mining, smuggling and environmental devastation, but progress has been slow.
Read more at: http://www.mining.com/chinas-rare-earth-profits-fall-98385/
Feb 24 (Reuters) – Sergei Chemezov, the head of Russian state conglomerate Rostec and a powerful ally of President Vladimir Putin, may join the board of world No.1 potash producer Uralkali and could become its chairman, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Chemezov, Putin’s colleague during his posting with the KGB security service in East Germany in the 1980s, has built up a state-owned empire that includes the world’s biggest titanium maker, Russia’s largest carmaker, and one of the world’s biggest arms exporters.
Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/24/russia-uralkali-idUSL6N0LT2YA20140224
Wolfram contributed a 7.4 per cent hence brought in $24million whereas Cassiterite brought in $50.5 million because of a value increase of 13% and therefore a 9.7 increase in price per kg. To date, Rwanda has three minerals which are predominantly mined and traded in the country, these being Cassiterite, Woltramite, Colombo- tantalite and some gold.
This report indicated that the government had set different strategies which can help bring in more international investors and help it develop the sector.
Read more at: http://www.busiweek.com/index1.php?Ctp=2&pI=658&pLv=3&srI=54&spI=100&cI=11
Jakarta. Freeport Indonesia has filed a recommendation from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry for a permit to export concentrates.
“We have made the request, but it is yet to be issued,” Freeport president director Rozik B. Soetjipto said on Monday, after a meeting with Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat.
Separately, the management of Newmont Nusa Tenggara warned that it may be forced to suspend mining activities should its warehouse become full in May.
Read more at: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/freeport-indonesia-requests-exemption-as-newmont-warns-of-stockpiling/
A Blog for Browsing Mining, Mineral Processing, and Metals Info 