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Indosmelt, a smelter and refinery company, plans to break ground on the construction of its $1.5 billion copper and gold smelter and refinery in February.

“We expect in early 2017, it [the smelter and refinery] can begin operations,” Indosmelt president director Natsir Mansyur said on Thursday.

Indosmelt, owned by local investors, plans to build a smelter with an annual capacity of up to 120,000 metric tons of copper cathode; 300,000 tons of slag — one of the raw materials in cement making — and 200,000 tons of anode slag — a key ingredient in the gold refining process — according to a document from the company.

Read more at:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/indosmelt-set-to-start-as-govt-plans-ore-ban-2/

Sales of palladium stockpiles secretively held by the Russian government could end by 2014 according to top Russian precious and base metals miner Norilsk Nickel.

Read more at: http://www.ibtimes.com/secret-russian-palladium-stockpiles-dwindle-may-disappear-near-future-supporting-prices-1498298

Privately-held SRE Minerals on Wednesday announced the discovery in North Korea of what is believed to be the largest deposit of rare earth elements anywhere in the world.

SRE also signed a joint venture agreement with the Korea Natural Resources Trading Corporation for rights to develop REE deposits at Jongju, North Pyongan Province in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the next 25 years with a further renewal period of 25 years.

Read more at: http://www.mining.com/largest-known-rare-earth-deposit-discovered-in-north-korea-86139/

China Minmetals Rare Earth Co. halted operations at two rare earth separation plants in Jiangxi province in accord with government’s order to consolidate the industry.

Read more at:  http://www.metal.com/newscontent/55434_china-minmetals-rare-earth-closes-two-seperation-plants-per-government-order

The Southeast Asian nation has said it will ban unprocessed ore exports from January 2014, but is rethinking it in order to keep export revenues flowing in. On Thursday lawmakers rejected a government bid to water down the planned ban.

A ban on ore exports from next month will boost China’s demand for refined metal by hurting output of cheaper substitute nickel-pig-iron. Higher imports of spot refined nickel by the world’s biggest user of the metal could support global prices that have fallen nearly 20 percent this year.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/05/china-nickel-idUSL4N0JK0SV20131205

SHANGHAI, Dec. 5 (SMM) – All illegal rare earth mining operations in Ganzhou have been shut down, the Ganzhou Mineral Resources Management Bureau (GMRMB) announced. The government of Ganzhou, Jiangxi – a major rare earth producing region in China, set up a special team to crack down on illegal rare earth mining.

Read more at: http://www.metal.com/newscontent/55410_all-illegal-rare-earth-mines-in-ganzhou-closed

OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel (GMKN), the world’s largest nickel producer, advanced the most in more than a month after Indonesia said it will ban nickel-ore exports in 2014, signaling the price of the metal may rise.

Norilsk climbed 2.3 percent to 5,078 rubles by 2:52 p.m. in Moscow, the biggest jump since Oct. 25. The number of shares traded was equivalent to 65 percent of the three-month daily average. The stock added 2.3 percent to $15.40 in London.

Read more at: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-12-05/norilsk-gains-most-in-month-on-indonesia-ore-ban-moscow-mover

NEW YORK — Vale SA has touted a policy of “value over volume” as the mining company looks to idle unprofitable projects in the wake of $1.5 billion in capital spending cuts for 2014.

Peter Poppinga, Vale’s executive director of base metals and information technology, said that while capital expenditure cuts would affect base metal operations to the tune of $800 million, a combination of cost reductions and operational ramp-ups would result in “higher value” for the Rio de Janeiro-based company.

Speaking at the company’s 11th annual Vale Day at the New York Stock Exchange Dec. 2, Poppinga said its North American plans include “idling some non-profitable mines in the short term and (medium) term,” while optimizing projects in northern Ontario’s Sudbury Basin and surrounding areas.

Read more at: http://www.amm.com/Article/3285782/Nonferrous/Vale-outlines-2014-strategy-for-base-metals.html

The head of Rio Tinto’s global aluminum business says it will complete the modernization of its Kitimat smelter in British Columbia but will pull back on capital spending around the world.

Rio Tinto plans to cut capital spending by at least 20 per cent in each of the next two years. For 2014, spending would fall to US$11 billion from $14 billion this year. By 2015, it will be reduced to $8 billion.

Read more at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/kitimat-smelter-survives-capital-spending-cuts-at-rio-tinto-1.2449516