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Frustration at the lack of progress in India’s mining sector was simmering at the annual FIMI meeting in Delhi in September. Sunder Singh discovers how many in the industry believe that, far from advancing, mineral production in India is going backwards.
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Driven by demand from multiple sectors - from construction and horticulture to fire protection and steelmaking - the global vermiculite and perlite market remains in growth mode, underscored by a healthy supply-demand balance, reports Ross Davies.
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New supply from Uganda and Turkey pushed up global vermiculite production in 2017. Meanwhile, prices have increased out of the United States because customers are demanding higher grades.
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Demand for refractory products is evolving, forcing suppliers to upgrade their offers and processes to stay ahead of the game, while Chinese-origin raw materials are appreciating on the back of supply shortages, making productions costlier, Davide Ghilotti, IM Chief Reporter, finds.
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As two niche mineral sectors that have largely lacked innovation, Rose Pengelly, IM Correspondent, considers whether there could be more in store for vermiculite and perlite than tall buildings and tomatoes.
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Agrimineral demand recovery continues as flame retardant chemical price growth stutters; no gains in sight for mineral sands
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Reporter, Antonio Torrisi, and Senior Reporter, Kasia Patel, take a look at the uses of vermiculite and perlite in the horticultural industry.
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The Industrial Minerals Congress launched 40 years ago, in 1974, and was attended by over 400 delegates from 36 different countries. As we prepare for the 22nd Congress, which will be held in Vancouver this month, IM approached several industry leaders and asked each of them the same five questions to get their perspectives on how the market has changed.
Siobhan Lismore-Scott, Editor
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The vermiculite industry has just had one of the most volatile years in history. Jack Elliott discusses new market entrants and asks – what next?
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By March most companies had submitted their end of year accounts with differing forecasts for the year ahead. While a producer is unlikely to emphasise a fall in sales or volume, most seen so far have been relatively bullish when mentioning prices
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With a shift in US environment policy and a global push for a cleaner environment, George Hawley reviews the potential of minerals in waste disposal
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Flawed arguments dog asbestos identification: It’s an issue that continues to hound the industrial minerals market; talc and vermiculite have suffered in recent years. Fifteen years after OSHA ruled that common cleavage fragments ought not to be treated as asbestos, confusion and misinformation persists. John Kelse sets out the facts for nonasbestiform amphiboles, reviews recent cases, and warns against unreasoned decision-making
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THE NORTH-WEST Indian state of West Bengal has a number of industrial mineral opportunities, many of which are still unexploited. The main industrial minerals found in West Bengal are china clay, fireclay, apatite, dolomite, limestone and vermiculite. At the moment only apatite, china clay and fireclay are mined, with 2004-2005 production figures of: 4,950 tonnes apatite, 68,544 tonnes fireclay and 67,099 tonnes china clay.
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Efforts in the cat litter industry are focused on improved litter products using a range of clay and non-clay materials. But it seems that issues outside the litter box could shape the future market
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THE WORLD OF industrial minerals has become dominated by, and highly dependant on China. In almost every sector, Chinese minerals have become the price and quality base line.
In the last decade, China’s exports and minerals production have metamorphosed from basic ‘raw material production’ using very simplistic methods, to ever more production and export of processed minerals. This progression has had profound effects and implications for producers, processors and consumers worldwide.
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The republics of Murmansk and Karelia, in northwest Russia, account for a significant share of Russia’s industrial minerals production, as well hosting the world’s sole source of baddeleyite. Dmitri Magazanik, of Infomine Research Group, highlights these key mineral sources and assesses the region’s outlook
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The ability to expand to several times their original size when heated forces vermiculite and perlite to share many markets. But to what extent do the two minerals differ, and how does this affect their use?
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SMEs are at the core of the EU’s entrepreneurship policy
revamp. Michelle Wyart-Remy, IMA Europe General- Secretary, describes the problems industrial minerals SMEs may encounter when facing the EU health and safety programme.
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