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It’s a remarkable U-turn for the #Gelncore, which runs one of the largest commodities trading operations, after it had to suspend dividends and sell shares in late 2015 to raise cash. With its business turnaround complete, the company is looking to grow.

In #Sudbury, Glencore operates #Nickel Rim and Fraser mines, a mill and a smelter. Operating under the name of Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations, Glencore employs about 1,300 people in the city.

Read more at: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2017/02/23/glencore-records-199-billion-profit

After months of negotiations with its partners, #Sherritt International Corp. is still considering a complete exit from its costly joint venture in #Madagascar as it struggles to reduce its huge debt burden.

The #Toronto-based company owns 40 per cent of the #Ambatovy #Nickel and #Cobalt mine in Madagascar, which cost more than $5-billion (U.S.) to develop. Last year, it announced a $1.6-billion (#Canadian) write down of the value of its stake in the mine, where it is also the operator.

Read more at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/sherritt-considering-full-exit-from-madagascar-mine-project/article34060053/

The #Bolivian government plans to set up a state #Lithium mining company, part of President Evo Morales’ bid to industrialize the #Andean country’s commodities-dependent economy.

The new company will have the power to sign JV contracts with local and international private companies to produce lithium batteries, lithium carbonate, chloride, sulfates and hydroxide, in addition to potassium chloride, sulfate and nitrates, Comibol said.

Read more at: https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/privatization/bolivia-steps-up-efforts-to-monetize-lithium-resources/

#Glencore Plc agreed to a $960 million deal with #Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler to buy out his holdings in two #Congolese #Copper and #Cobalt mines, ending a decade-long relationship in which both built up key mining assets in the country.

Read more at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-13/glencore-said-to-agree-on-gertler-buyout-in-960-million-deal

The reactor of Rossi uses #Nickel powder, which is heated and then there is the reaction of cold fusion and, say, a few hundred grams of nickel powder allows to heat a large house for a dozen years. Can you imagine what huge energy is? The same systems can be put on a vehicle, anywhere. With the appropriate investment of effort and money, Catalyzer Rossi could transfer all the energy on cold fusion.

Source : https://realnoevremya.com/articles/1184-modern-power-systems-of-nikola-tesla

The iPhone 8 will also apparently have a thin sheet of graphite to protect its new 3D Touch sensor from the heat generated by wireless charging.

The wireless charging component inside the phones which creates a lot of heat and #Apple has had to add a new #Graphite layer to protect the 3D Touch sensor behind the screen. Apple has additional thermal challenges with the #iPhone X as well because the swap to an ‘All Glass’ design reduces heat dissipation compared to #Aluminium.

Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2017/02/09/iphone-8-iphone-7s-wireless-charging-price/#5186afaf6231

According to the #WallStreetJournal, a #Swiss investment fund linked to #Russian-born billionaire #Vladimir Iorich is part of a buyout group that has made an offer to take over Mountain Pass.

Read more at: http://agmetalminer.com/2017/02/08/russian-born-billionaires-group-bids-on-mountain-pass-rare-earths-mine/

As #China moves stealthily on the world’s #Cobalt and #Lithium supplies to feed an unprecedented #US$360-billion renewable energy push, watch what happens next in #Chile, where #Chinese investors are talking about a mega $2-billion battery factory to rival #Tesla.

Tesla in January switched on the power at its #Nevada battery #Gigafactory—and we’re just getting started here. Battery factories are popping up all over #Europe as well.

#SGF Energy is planning a gigafactory in #Sweden. Later this year, two are expected to open: #BMC’s in #Germany and #LG Chem’s in #Poland. #Samsung is also eyeing a gigafactory in #Hungary next year.

Cobalt supply is even more elusive than lithium supply, and the industry currently uses 42 percent of global cobalt production with the remaining 58 percent going to diverse industrial and military applications.

Read more at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/electric-car-showdown-china-tesla-130000905.html

#Australian and #Chinese researchers have made progress in understanding the mechanical properties of a new class of materials for use in molten salt reactors (#MSRs). The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (#ANSTO) said that NiMo-SiC alloys – prepared from #Nickel #Molybdenum metal powders with added #Silicon #Carbide particles – have superior corrosion resistance and radiation damage resistance.

Read more at: http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Molten-salt-reactor-research-develops-class-of-alloys-08021701.html

This material—#Nickel-doped #Lanthanum #Strontium #Manganite (LSMN)—is a member of the perovskite family, a recently discovered group of electrochemically active materials that are also causing a stir as potential #SolarPanel materials. “The high intrinsic electrical conductivity of LSMN means that carbon is not needed as additive for conductivity enhancement,” Zong says.

By alternating the ratio of nickel to manganese in the material, Zong was able to tune the perovskite’s performance. The best-performing formulation, containing 10 per cent nickel, matched the electrocatalytic performance of palladium on carbon, the current benchmark electrocatalyst. Yet, without the carbon, the stability of the material was greatly enhanced. The team tested LSMN over 300 electrochemical cycles and saw negligible performance degradation.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-02-carbon-key-battery-component-enable.html#jCp