This week on Industrial Minerals TV we report on Imerys’s results, which showed a 2.3% increase in profits for 2012. CEO Gilles Michel commented that he did not expect 2013 to be easy, and that the company faced “persistent uncertainties” through the early part of the coming year.
Following its end of year results, Rio Tinto’s new CEO, Sam Walsh has said that he will have “an unrelenting focus on pursuing greater value for shareholders” after the company posted a $3bn loss for 2012.
In other news, First Bauxite has signed Letters of Intent with refractory manufacturers in North America and Europe for 70,000 tonnes per annum of sintered bauxite from the company’s Bonasika project in Guyana. The company is also looking into the oilfield minerals sector by engaging consulting firms with expertise in manufacturing of proppants for the US oil and gas industry.
The global graphite market has also disagreed on pricing movements for flake graphite; and Russia’s Magnezit Group has confirmed that it is operating as normal after its fused magnesia production facility close to the city of Chelyabinsk was caught in a meteorite shower over the Urals.