Short news minerals
January 10, 2013 Category Automotive Metals & Minerals, Short news minerals
- A Hunan company has invested USD20 million in an open-pit gold mining project in North Korea. The Hunan Weijin Investment Group announced that it had joined in building the country’s first five-star hotel in order to get Pyongyang’s approval to develop the project in Unsan county. It is the first Hunan company to invest in the country.
- China’s Shenhua Group has held talks with Australia’s Whitehaven Coal about a potential corporate or asset deal. Shenhua, China’s biggest coal producer, recently discussed taking an equity stake in Whitehaven in return for Shenhua’s Watermark coal assets in New South Wales. Whitehaven said it routinely has talks with other coal companies about opportunities, including corporate and asset transactions. Whitehaven has been under pressure after its biggest shareholder, Nathan Tinkler, scrapped a USD5.5 billion bid to take Whitehaven private last year.
- China abolished a price ceiling on power-station coal on January 1, 2013 as rates have fallen this year amid increased supplies. Prices will have to be negotiated between miners and power plants, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
- Metallurgical Corp of China said the unit running its Cape Lambert magnetite project in Australia will withdraw most of its Chinese staff as it struggles with rising costs. MCC Australia will close its office in Perth by the end January, leaving no more than five people in a smaller location to maintain its Australian mining license.
- The Ministry of Land and Resources allocated CNY26.8 billion from central government and provincial funds to mineral resources exploration in 4,674 projects between 2006 and 2011. A total of 585 new mineral deposits were found during the period, including the discovery of a uranium mine in Inner Mongolia. In 2011, CNY8.5 billion was invested, with funds in mineral resources exploration taking up 86.3% of the country’s total fiscal investment in exploration that year.
- The Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth (Group) Hi-tech Co will continue to suspend rare earth roasting and smelting separation operations, which began on October 23, for another month, the company said in a statement filed in late December to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. “The rare earths market recovered a bit in the past two months but did not improve fundamentally,” the firm said.
- The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced the first round of rare earth export quotas for 2013, which will be 15,501 tons, about half the quota set for all of 2012. Of the total, 13,563 tons are allocated for light rare earths, while 1,938 tons are for medium and heavy rare earth metals. Twenty-four companies will share the quota, including Inner Mongolia’s Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co, the country’s largest rare earth producer. China usually issues the quotas in two batches. China supplies more than 90% of the world’s demand for rare earths, but holds only 23% of the world’s rare earth reserves. China exported 13,014 tons of rare earth ores, metals and compounds in the first 11 months of last year, less than half of the full-year quota.
- The Guizhou provincial government plans to close 2,100 mines by 2016 and cap the number of operating mines at 4,000. Most of the mines slated for closure are small privately owned operations, with outdated equipment and poor safety records. The government expected the restructuring would strengthen large state-owned mines and reduce the frequency of accidents.
Recent News
- KURT VANDEPUTTE (UMICORE) APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FLANDERS-CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (FCCC)
- Webinar: “Knowing Your Chinese Partner” – May 26, 2021, 10 am – 12 am
- EMA starts rolling review of CoronaVac, WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use
- The Global Times warns not to politicize the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)
- Hainan to become biggest duty-free market in the world