JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The newly merged Glencore Xstrata group on Monday posted combined first-quarter 2013 production results, which saw the metals and minerals division delivering solid results, despite some softening in prices towards the end of the quarter.
JM said it believed there might be some residual sales of metal in 2013 but at much reduced levels of around 100,000 ounces. That low level is likely to leave the market in a structural deficit, potentially pushing prices higher.
MANILA – The Philippines next month will send a team to China to secure Beijing’s commitment to assist Manila in the development of rare earth elements (REE), the so-called “metals of the future” because of their use in weapons and space-age technologies.
LONDON (Reuters) – China’s antitrust authorities removed the last obstacle to Glencore’s $30 billion (19.6 billion pounds) takeover of miner Xstrata on Tuesday after the commodities trader agreed to sell a $5.2 billion mining project to ease its grip on copper.
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining magnate Clive Palmer said on Friday that Queensland Nickel would invest some A$1-billion in an infrastructure upgrade for its Yabulu refinery.
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/palmer-bets-1bn-on-nickel-2013-04-19
Cortec Mining Kenya Limited (CMK) has today announced the award and gazettment of a special mining licence for the exploration, development and mining of high grade Niobium and associated Rare Earths metals by the Mines and Geology Department, clearing its way to start commercial exploration on the 142-hectare site on Mrima Hill in Kwale County.
http://www.fountainmedia.co.ke/stage-set-for-the-mining-of-niobium-in-kenya/
Current nickel prices of a little more than $7 a pound are comparable to $2.50 a pound a decade ago, creating huge challenges for Sudbury’s largest nickel miner.
http://www.northernlife.ca/news/localNews/2013/04/16-vale-strong.aspx
LONDON (SHARECAST) –Xstrata has announced that its Koniambo Nickel project in New Caledonia has gone into production after producing its first metal this week, a key milestone for the five billion-dollar greenfield project.
http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id=20819933
BHP Billiton is understood to have made a substantial copper discovery in the remote West Australian outback, in a move that could finally help open up the potential of the West Musgrave region.
Industry sources told The Australian that recent drilling by BHP at the Succoth prospect had returned broad intersections of copper mineralisation at relatively high grades.
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s Exxaro expects to start mining iron ore in the Republic of Congo this year, with an eye to producing up to 10 million tonnes a year, as the miner diversifies beyond its traditional reliance on coal.
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/exxaro-aims-to-mine-iron-ore-in-congo-this-year-2013-04-10?
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