Industrial Minerals

Africa

• Nationalisation not viable, says South African mining minister Tuesday, February 07, 2012

  Susan Shabangu welcomes ANC’s report results on mining nationalisation Read More

• Global oil and gas exploration up 9% in January Tuesday, February 07, 2012

  US continues to drive global rig count, boosting demand for oilfield minerals Read More

• IM Global Lithium Roundup: 27 January - 3 February Friday, February 03, 2012

  A brief look at the rest of the week’s lithium stories in the news Read More

• IM Global Rare Earths Roundup: 27 January - 3 February Friday, February 03, 2012

  A brief look at the rest of the week’s rare earth stories in the news Read More

• Baltic Dry Index crashes to 25-year lows Thursday, February 02, 2012

  Further falls mean charter rates drop below operating costs; China bans Valemaxes Read More

• Zimbabwe boosts graphite output in 2011 Thursday, February 02, 2012

  Africa’s only natural graphite producer increases output by 80% on world shortage Read More

• “Africa could become continent of the future for raw materials” Tuesday, January 31, 2012

  But better governance & smarter investment needed to boost mineral production Read More

• Morocco’s OCP phosphate output unaffected by strike in Safi Monday, January 30, 2012

  Trade union “warning” to phosphate giant; but union “against blocking production” Read More

• Energizer Resources adds DRA Mineral Projects to team Monday, January 30, 2012

  Further drilling required for high grade graphite resource in Madagascar Read More

• IM Global Rare Earths Roundup: 20-27 January Friday, January 27, 2012

  A brief look at the rest of the week’s rare earth stories in the news Read More

• Amcol’s Q4 2011 operating profit grows 64% to $18.1m Friday, January 27, 2012

  Pet sales hit, but price increases drive 80% of mineral division’s gross profit Read More

• Beleaguered shipping rates decline further Thursday, January 26, 2012

  Fall in Baltic Dry Index continues, despite Vale lifting flooding force majeure Read More

• Ilmenite prices more than tripled in last 12 months – Kenmare Thursday, January 26, 2012

  Mineral sands group says contracts secured at $300-400/tonne for first half of 2012 Read More

• Price Briefing – 20-26 January 2012 Thursday, January 26, 2012

  Ilmenite prices triple year on year; Uralkali forecasts potash to remain high in ‘12 Read More

• Industrial Minerals Prices February 2012 February 2012

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• Price Briefing: New Year, new price - minerals respond to fluctuating world markets February 2012

  The start of the year saw many mineral grades increasing in value as producers upped their prices to cope with hikes in energy, freight and tight global market fundamentals Read More

• Sintoukola Potash February 2012

  Elemental Minerals Ltd (EML), an Australian company operating from Johannesburg in South Africa, is developing the Sintoukola potash deposit in the Republic of Congo (ROC) on the African continent Read More

• People and places February 2012 February 2012

  Gordon Stollery, Canada Fluorspar; Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Solvay; Akiva Mozes, Israel Chemicals; Ron Bryan, Compass Minerals; John A. Clarke, Great Quest Metals; Mario Juarez, Lithium One; Daniel Greenwell, Tronox Read More

• Fertilisers feel the pressure of economic uncertainty February 2012

  The fertiliser industry, which healthily headed back to pre-crisis levels during 2011, is starting to experience the effects of the global economy weakened by the European debt crisis, the slowdown in China and the recent downgrade of US debt in addition to major markets such as India pushing downwards pressure on prices Read More

• Projects in the Pipeline: Kaolin bounces back February 2012

  It has been a difficult couple of years for kaolin as the global recession spread to its end user markets, but a recent recovery in demand has also encouraged a surge of new operations and exploration projects Read More

• Gulf Industrials completes Uganda vermiculite production run Tuesday, January 24, 2012

  But suffers early setbacks from power failure and rain; looks to expand capacity Read More

• Global steel production rose 6.8% in 2011 driven by China Monday, January 23, 2012

  Turkey, South Korea and Italy show robust growth; signs of slowdown at year-end Read More

• IM Global Rare Earths Roundup: 13-20 January Friday, January 20, 2012

  A brief look at the rest of the week’s rare earth stories in the news Read More

• Baltic Dry Index sinks to three-year lows Thursday, January 19, 2012

  Shipping rates drop 40% in 2012, no recovery seen until after Chinese New Year Read More

• Rio Tinto increases Q4 borates, TiO2 feedstock output Tuesday, January 17, 2012

  Minerals production up marginally in fourth quarter and full-year 2011 Read More

• Allana targets up to 2m tpa potash following PEA Tuesday, January 17, 2012

  Group eyes total development expenditures of $796m; feasibility study ongoing Read More

• Palabora undertakes study to double vermiculite production Monday, January 16, 2012

  South African group looks to pounce on strong demand, but output falls 48% in Q4 Read More

• IM Global Lithium Roundup: 6-13 January Friday, January 13, 2012

  A brief look at the rest of the week’s lithium stories in the news Read More

• Fairbreeze minsands start-up set back a year January 2012

  South Africa’s Exxaro Resources Ltd is planning to start up its Fairbreeze mineral sands mine in KwaZulu-Natal during H2 2014, a year later than it previously expected. Read More

• Price Briefing: Energy costs drive up soda ash prices December 2011

  Soda ash prices continued their march upwards as European-based market participants placed the price at a €10/tonne premium to levels seen in the last quarter. Read More

• Diary Dates December 2011 December 2011

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• High purity limestone quest December 2011

  Reconnaissance assessments are one of the first steps in identifying new commercial mining projects. Clive Mitchell outlines the British Geological Survey’s recent evaluation of high purity limestone deposits worldwide, including in the Middle East Read More

• Calcium carbonate’s polymer promise December 2011

  Mineral fillers offer cost reduction – and sometimes enhanced properties – to polymer formulations. Siddhartha Roy outlines ground calcium carbonate’s changing role in the growing polymer market Read More

• Rio Tinto to expand global minsands business December 2011

  Rio Tinto Plc plans to expand capacity across its mineral sands business to take capitalise on a strong outlook for the titanium dioxide (TiO2) industry, delegates at the TZMI Congress 2011 in Hong Kong were informed. Read More

• Nkob talc and calcite November 2011

  Reuben Associates is developing its talc and calcite Nkob deposit, situated 80km west of the city of Ouarzazat, Morocco Read More

• Supply Situation Report: Fluorspar producers eye vertical integration November 2011

  Global fluorspar production recovered to pre-recession volumes in 2010, with output surging to 6.01m. tonnes from 5.55m. tonnes the previous year Read More

• Exxaro minsands assets to Tronox November 2011

  South African minsands producer Exxaro Resources is to sell all its mineral sands assets to US titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment producer Tronox in return for a 38.5% stake in its newly-formed company Read More

• WTO is no quick fix for rare earths October 2011

  World Trade Organization is no short term solution for rare earth supply crisis Read More

• Natural graphite faces battle for Li-ion's share October 2011

  Debate continues over whether to use natural flake or synthetic graphite in lithium-ion batteries Read More

• Imerys tipped as potential Palabora buyer October 2011

  French conglomerate Imerys and Greek perlite producer S&B Industrial Minerals tipped as most likely buyers of South African vermiculite miner Palabora Mining Co. French group rumoured suitor but warnings over sale struggle Read More

• Decision time for South Africa’s chromite strategy October 2011

  South Africa’s chromite industry is at a crossroads as talks between the industry and government aim to thrash out a strategy to safeguard the country’s chromite mining and ferrochrome (FeCr) industries Read More

• Colluli potash August 2011

  South Boulder Mines Ltd plans to produce 2-10m. tpa potash within the next five years at its Colluli deposit in Eritrea, East Africa Read More

• Eramet and Mineral Deposits form jv for Senegal project August 2011

  Australia’s Mineral Deposits Ltd (MDL) plans to form a joint venture with French metal alloys group Eramet to develop its Grande Cote mineral sands project in north-west Senegal Read More

• North African phosphate supply remains fragile August 2011

  North African crisis brings concern about phosphate supply in the region. Tunisia at 30% capacity but Morocco’s output unaffected Read More

• Gulf Industrials to “regenerate” European vermiculite supply July 2011

  INTERVIEW: Gulf Industrials’ CEO Vic Fitzmaurice talks to IM about Gulf’s 55m. tonne vermiculite project in Uganda and taking steps towards the production of 130,000 tpa vermiculite by late 2013 Read More

• Global vermiculite prices soar on tight supply June 2011

  Prices for vermiculite sourced from South Africa have soared in 2011 driven by higher demand and a global shortage in coarse grades, industry sources told IM. Read More

• Serina Trading May 2011

  Born out of the demise of Serina Kaolin, Jenny Jay, marketing director at Serina Trading, talked to IM of its role as a global kaolin trader and recent expansion into other minerals Read More

• Cabinda phosphate project May 2011

  Minbos Resources Ltd, an Australian explorer, is targeting the production of phosphate in Angola in the next three years. Read More

• Kenmare looks to positive 2011 market after setback of 2010 May 2011

  Ireland’s Kenmare Resources Plc admitted it has had a tough year in its 2010 preliminary results, released in late April, but said the outlook for 2011 was “very positive”. Read More

• Palabora feels squeeze from diminishing vermiculite resource May 2011

  Leading global vermiculite producer Palabora Mining Co. (PMC) is struggling to meet demand for its vermiculite as its resource diminishes Read More