Rio Tinto Group (RIO), the second-biggest mining company, is considering a temporary halt to construction work at its $6.2 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia as the government demands a greater share of profit from the mine, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Russia’s palladium reserves have almost run out and sales this year could be as low as three metric tonnes.
The company announced this morning it had encountered high grade nickel sulphides under its existing New Morning deposit
Preliminary estimates showed a 2.7 metre interval with an average grade of 5.5 per cent nickel, including 2.1 metres at 6.9 per cent nickel.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/15951502/western-areas-flags-new-nickel-discovery/
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Xstrata said on Friday its Las Bambas copper project in Peru would cost $5.2 billion, keeping to 2012 estimates as the miner prepares for a merger with Glencore that will see many of its growth projects come under scrutiny.
Vale has suspended work at its $5.9bn potash project in Argentina indefinitely as the world’s biggest producer of iron ore cuts back investment to the lowest level in three years.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3d85149c-65c0-11e2-a3db-00144feab49a.html#axzz2IvFi8YmU
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s biggest mining company, said the high Australian dollar and weak prices are hurting its local alumina and nickel operations, spurring speculation of possible writedowns or asset sales.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – A team of experts from the U.N. on Tuesday began evaluating a proposed nickel mine expansion in the Dominican Republic that has been halted by a court over environmental concerns.
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s Competition Tribunal has approved the implementation of the $33-billion merger between Glencore and Xstrata, subject to a condition limiting post-merger retrenchments.
NEW YORK–Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. ( FCX ) acquired a share in a cobalt refinery in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the company’s continued focus on cobalt production, chief executive Richard Adkerson said.
Japan is ready to start a survey of the Pacific Ocean, hoping to find large deposits of rare earth minerals, below the ocean floor.
Used in everything from electronic devices to electric cars, securing a source of the metals would help Japan rely less on supplies from China.
As the BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from Tokyo, the Japanese are motivated by political as well as economic concerns.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21115519
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