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Turkey is the standout performer in Eurasia’s industrial minerals industry but its economic recession is affecting the wider region. Rose Pengelly looks at what neighboring countries are doing to boost their domestic mining sectors.
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The mineral kaolinite was named after a hillside near the village of Gaoling in Jiangxi province, China, where the clay was traditionally mined to supply the nearby famous porcelain factories in Jingdezhen. Today, as Ian Wilson* and Frank Hart ** discover, China is just as important in the kaolin - and indeed the ceramics - industry.
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The Indian ceramics industry has made steady progress in the past few years on the back of a growing middle class and several governmental schemes to boost the industry, as correspondent Sunder Singh discovered at India’s recent Ceramics Asia event.
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The ceramics industry registered a dip in trade and production following the global economic downturn in 2008. But, as Industrial Minerals correspondent Sunder Singh finds, trade in Asia is now picking up, which is putting renewed pressure on kaolin, zircon, bentonite and other ceramics markets.
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A positive outlook in end markets has fueled a significant investment in BASF’s kaolin business, while the company seeks new uses for the mineral within the industrial sectors.
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India has recorded economic growth of around 7% per year in the past three years. But while it has significant resources of some of the most widely used industrial minerals, this sector has shown only modest growth, as Industrial Minerals correspondent Sunder Singh discovers.
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In the wake of President Trump’s announcement that the US will be pulling out of the 2015 Paris Climate Treaty,
IM looks at the significance of this move and the possible impact this will have on the industrial minerals market.
By Mark Rowe
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Adding metakaolin to cement can improve the strength, corrosion resistance and appearance of concrete, but as Frank Hart* explains, the construction industry is yet to be fully won over by its performance benefits.
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Although kaolin has long been associated with the paper industry, new opportunities are presenting themselves in new markets, such as ceramics. Ian Wilson, Consultant, details how each producing country in the world is responding to new calls for demand.
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As the US Geological Survey prepares to issue a special publication on the mineral resources of Iran, the international business community is kicking its heels in frustration about the snail’s pace of progress towards establishing trade links with the Islamic Republic, Rose Pengelly, IM Correspondent, writes.
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Canada’s most southwesterly province has a long history of industrial mineral mining. George Simandl and Michaela Neetz of the British Columbia Geological Survey at the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines give a detailed over view of its non-metallic mineral activity and potential.
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While technical ceramics may be a growing application for minerals such as kaolin and zircon, the majority of these are still consumed by traditional applications like construction and tiles. Kasia Patel, North American Editor, looks at some recent developments in the sector.
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Growing demand for high quality kaolin in lucrative end markets like ceramics and paints represents an opportunity for India’s kaolin miners, but only a slim proportion of the country’s output is good enough for these applications. Sunder Singh, IM Correspondent, spoke to India’s top producers of the clay about how they intend to secure a share of an expanding industry.
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The eastern Australian state of NSW is home to a large number of highly prospective industrial mineral deposits. Cameron Perks and David Forster* outline how the Geological Survey of New South Wales is producing an updated map of the region’s geology in order to showcase its potential to investors, geologists and the wider community.
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Paper, the largest consumer of kaolin, has seen declining demand in recent years in developing nations, owing to the increase of e-media. However, there are still growth opportunities for the clay mineral in a number of consuming industries, Kasia Patel, North American Editor, finds.
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The UK is actively looking at the potential production of shale gas and, as a result, the country’s extractive minerals industry is looking at the role it can play in providing minerals that could be used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking). One such mineral is silica sand, which is used as a proppant, commonly referred to as “frac sand”. Clive Mitchell, Industrial Minerals Specialist, provides an educated guess as to where this frac sand could come from in the UK.
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The US has long enjoyed a successful fracking industry, having drilled more than a million wells to date. Yet, with plummeting oil prices causing some to question the short-term success of this process, Vasili Nicoletopoulos* provides an executive summary of IM’s latest research report on the US proppants market.
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Changes in regulation and customer preference are driving the emergence of exciting new products in the coatings industry, but behind the headlines many producers are concerned about weaknesses in key consuming sectors.
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With the recent publication of data for 2012, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has 100 years of continuous mineral production data - but what do they tell us about worldwide industrial mineral production? Teresa Brown analyses some of these trends and what they say about the industry as a whole.
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Energy minerals still waiting for battery lift off; chromite market bearish over next 12 months
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Global increases for calcium carbonate and kaolin
Refractory minerals under strain in China
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Although regulatory difficulties in the past may have discouraged foreign investment, South East Asia is being touted as a region ripe for development with many underexploited resources and demand for industrial minerals in a variety of markets including refractories, glass, ceramics, construction and proppants.
Andrew Scogings, IM Correspondant, Kasia Patel, Deputy Editor, and Tran Kim Phuong, Contributor
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The term usually applied to food prepared for domesticated livestock is ‘fodder,’ which is primarily composed of natural organic ingredients such as hay, straw, silage, pelleted foods, oils, grains, legumes and molasses as well as spent grain from breweries and distilleries and DDGS (distiller’s dried grains with solubles), from bio-ethanol production. Frank Hart* looks into the use of naturally-occurring minerals in animal feed.
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Frank Hart* addreses the importance of clays in medicine, including kaolin used to cure stomach upset and the promising future of halloysite nanotubes.
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Bauxite values stable following Q1 price rises; Paper grade kaolin prices increase as costs bite; Rutile “tough” business in China-led market
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Despite slow growth in traditional markets such as Europe, the ceramics industry is expected to be driven by urbanisation and a rebound in housing and construction in key markets such as China and the Middle East, creating opportunities for suppliers of ceramic minerals such as kaolin, zircon and feldspar.
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The ongoing consolidation of the kaolin industry was questioned in 2013 as Imerys’ purchase of the last independent UK kaolin producer, Goonvean, was referred to the Competition Commission (CC).
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It has not been a good year for the industrial minerals industry. There have been some shining lights, of course Ñexploration continues at an astonishing rate in some markets despite falling demand and, consequently, prices - but on the whole producers and suppliers have felt the pinch.
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Fluorspar prices to remain flat to 2016, iodine resists further drop and rare earths halt their decline
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The new age of digital technology has caused a decline paper demand, which is expected to continue to fall. Kasia Patel, Senior Reporter, looks at where this leaves papermakers, and whether there are still opportunities for filler producers which supply them.
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Healthcare reform will bring affordable medical provision to millions of Americans, but the administrative requirements for complying with new regulations is causing anxiety amongst manufacturers, Laura Syrett discovers.
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Frac sand, a specific type of silica sand, is a durable, round grain, crush-resistant material produced for use in the hydraulic fracturing process (more widely known as fracking).
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The ceramics industry may have suffered on the back of bearish demand and flagging construction, but the sector’s major players are eyeing BRIC markets, while making expansions and acquisitions in far flung corners of the world, as Siobhan Lismore, Editor, discovers
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As Chinese thirst for energy continues unabated, its shale oil and gas potential, liberated by hydraulic fracturing (fracking), would appear to be the ideal solution. But, as Vasili Nicoletopoulos asks, how will it overcome numerous legislative, political and environmental concerns?
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Asia is now the leading regional kaolin producer in the world accounting for 28% of output in 2011 compared to 23% in 2007.
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Guangzhou based show confronts a downshift in global economy
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Fillers were first introduced into the plastics industry as a cost-saving device. But, as Ajay Kulshreshtha discovers, their myriad properties perhaps should be more correctly focused on improving performance and driving innovation
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The trend of consolidation of the major kaolin producing companies in recent years continued into 2012 with Imerys’ acquisition of Goonvean and KaMin’s purchase of CADAM SA from Vale.
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Medical applications for minerals might not be the main market driving factor or the biggest consideration for producers, but speciality applications in the medical industry are undeniably important for our everyday lives and advances in healthcare
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November was a month which saw both the long-awaited outcome of the US Presidential election, and also - significantly - a change in leadership in China.
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The wrong choice of proppant for hydraulic fracturing wells can hamper production, wasting time and money for oilfield drillers. But what is the right choice and how should the choice be made?
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In the aftermath of a global economic crisis which refuses to wane, all eyes are on refractories and the industries which support them. For refractory clays — the name given to a group of specific grades of calcined kaolin, fireclay, chamotte and flint clay — however, the outlook is more positive, in the long run at least.
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While the dip in construction has hit sales of glass fibre, the move towards increasing energy efficiency has maintained strong global demand.
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There are three main sectors for production of ceramics in the world: porcelain/tableware, sanitaryware and tiles. In all of these markets, China is the world’s leading producer and consumer and it is just the global ceramic tiles sector that will be considered in the following.
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Vietnam is a country rich in minerals, boasting significant reserves of barytes, bauxite, and clays. Dr Tran Kim Phuong argues the case for foreign investment in Vietnam’s refractory raw materials, outlining their strategic development through to 2020
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‘Resource strategy’ entails more than simply mining and selling products; it encompasses issues such as capacity planning, expansion timing, and political mindset, as Jeff Loehr explains
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India’s ceramics industry has emerged as a modern, world-class sector, ready to take on global competition. Consultant Ajay Kulshreshtha outlines the country’s main ceramic producers and raw material sources
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Supplying the oilfield market is not for the faint-hearted, with the need to have 24/7 ability to cope with sudden changes in delivery schedules or requirements.
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While economic difficulties for Greece continue, Ananias Tsirambides and Anestis Filippidis highlight the wealth of the country’s mineral resources and suggest how they could contribute to assisting its financial future
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