Atlas Consolidated Reports Q1 Profit

Carmen Copper is Key To Turnaround

Philippines copper and nickel miner, Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation, has reported a profit of P164 million in the first quarter of this year, compared to a loss of P393 million for the same quarter in 2009.

The firm said the improved result is due to the improved performance of the company’s majority-owned subsidiary, Carmen Copper Corporation (CCC).

The Carmen copper mine processed over 2.5 million tons of ore during the quarter with production rates expected to exceed 38,000 tons per day during the third quarter of this year.

Total revenues for the quarter were P2.20 billion with net income from operations of P382 million. Five shipments of copper concentrate were made during the quarter amounting to approximately 24,500 dry metric tonnes.

However, Atlas’ nickel-producing subsidiary Berong Nickel Corporation (BNC), reported a loss of P26 million due the continued suspension of operations although the company is continuing to pursue long-term sales in China and Japan.

Last week CCC completed of its seventh shipment of copper concentrate this year by CCC with the delivery of 5,235 wet metric tons of copper concentrate loaded destined for the Jinlong Copper smelter in China.

The copper concentrate is estimated to contain 28.19 percent copper, 2.83 grams of gold per ton and 24.88 grams of silver per ton. The shipment has an estimated value of $9.2 million.

Twenty shipments have been made by CCC – all to China - since the start of commercial operations in September 2008. Approximately 98,520 dry metric tons have been shipped.

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Orissa To Release Mining Policy Plan

5% Royalty Likely To Be Imposed

The government in the Indian state of Orissa government is to release policy guidelines regarding mining in the state.

The policy, which is aimed at developing and regulating the local mining industry, will focus more on the non-ferrous sector and comes at a time when issues such as illegal mining and land acquisition have come to the fore.

Industries to be affected by the guidelines are expected to below volume, high value non-ferrous minerals like gold, nickel, platinum and beach sand, however, the ferrous sector is likely to be affected by guidelines on the profitable use of low grade ores by using state-of-the-art technology in the benefication, sintering and pelletising process.

The state government has decided in principle that a royalty of 5% will be used for the development of people living mining areas. A committee has been formed to formulate the policy for the implementation of this decision.

Orissa has 17% of India’s total mineral reserves with 174 million tonnes of nickel ore, 82 million tonnes of beach sand minerals, 1,802 million tonne of bauxite, 180 million tonnes of chromite, 5,305 million tonne of iron ore and 65,353 million tonne of coal. There are also deposits of cobalt, copper ore, dolomite, lead & zinc ore, limestone, tin ore.

Solomon Islands Nickel Tender Due Next Week

Japanese Firm Expected To Bid

The Solomon Islands government is set to publish an international tender for a nickel mine in San Jorge and Takata, in the islands’ Isabel Province towards the end of next week.

Minister for Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification, David Day Pacha revealed this yesterday during a presentation to the government by the Sumitomo Metal Mining of Japan.

Mr Pacha said his officers are now finalising the papers and the tender for the nickel mine operations in Isabel will be announced and opened for bid on the 15th April.

Ichiro Abe of Sumitomo, said his company will submit a bid during the tender but he appealed to the government to ensure the tender conditions be fair. He said it should consider the capability of the successful company as well as what they are expected to offer to the people.

Sumitomo has been exploring for nickel-ore deposits in Isabel and Choiseul provinces since 2006 and plans to construct a High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) plant that can process a low grade nickel ore into high grade ore. According to Mr Abe, Isabel and Choiseul have a lot of low grade ore.

“With the technology we have, we can develop these low grade ores into something valuable,” he said

He added that SMM is one the few companies to have this technology.

Jinchuan, Panoramic Extend Nickel Supply Deal

Australian Firm Will Supply Nickel for Further 10 Years

China’s largest nickel producer, the Jinchuan Group, has signed a supply agreement with Australia’s Panoramic Resources to buy nickel ore concentrate from the Australian company for a further 10 years.

The two companies first signed a deal for a five-year term in 2005. It was Jinchuan's first overseas project and laid the foundations for the Chinese firm to explore the overseas mining market.

The Jinchuan Group previously said that it plans to produce 130,000 metric tonnes of nickel and 6,000 tonnes of cobalt in 2010, largely unchanged from 2009.

Jinchuan Makes Offer For Canada's Crowflight

Chinese Mining Giant In $150m Cash Bid

China’s Jinchuan Group has made a $150 million cash offer for Canadian nickel producer Crowflight Minerals.

Crowflight Minerals recently restarted production at the Bucko Lake Nickel Mine in Manitoba, and has a number of platinum group metals, nickel and copper projects in the Sudbury Basin and Thompson Nickel Belt in Ontario.

Jinchuan is become a global mining giant that controls mining, processing, refining and other metal processing and manufacturing lines. It production of nickel ranks fourth in the world; its production of cobalt ranks second in the world; and its mining and processing technology ranks third in the world.

Jinchuan has made a partly-diluted offer of 22 cents per share. By 3.30pm local time on Tuesday Crowflight Shares stood at 21.5 cents, a rise of 26.5%.

Sumitomo Metal Mining To Resume Production At Harima Smelter

Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd announced on Thursday that production at its Harima zinc and lead smelter will resume from May 6.

The company has been carrying out maintenance at the plant since 18 March, the company said.

The company also announced a number of other closures for some of its smelters and refineries.

The Niihama Nickel Refinery will be shut for four days in May and four days in November for regular maintenance.

The Hyuga ferronickel smelter will be closed for 21 days during May and June for repairs on one production line and for 25 days in November for repairs on a second production line. The renewal of a line of double furnaces, which has been ongoing since February 2010, is scheduled to finish at the end of August. Production will resume then.

Earlier this month, the company said it has no regular maintenance and repair work planned for 2010/11 at its Toyo Smelter & Refinery.

Ontario Lowlands Set For Mineral Boom

Significant Mineral Development In Ontario's Ring of Fire

The provincial government of Ontario has announced plans to develop the James Bay Lowlands in the north of the province.

More than 20 mining companies are hoping to cash in on an area believed to contain high-grade deposits of nickel, copper, zinc, gold, chromite and palladium.

The government plans to build a railway, roads and processing facilities in an area known locally as the Ring of Fire.

James Bay Lowlands is an extremely wet area on the edge of Canada’s boreal forest, some 300-400km from any existing permanent infrastructure; however investors are concentrating on a 12 km area with the Lowlands region. Currently, access to the general area is by float plane and helicopter.

Significant preparatory work, such as environmental assessments and feasibility studies will be needed before the real work can begin. Whatever infrastructure is built will depend on the nature of the mineral projects, however it is thought that winter roads on ice and snow would probably suffice for most projects, which can be adapted to seasonal production. However, there are plans for a 320km rail line which will link Nakina, north of Lake Superior, to chromite mines in the Ring Of Fire. This is because, unlike some other mineral projects in the area, chromite mining is expected to be a year-round activity.

Canada Chrome has staked mining claims along one possible route in order to secure a right-of-way. “We’re in the early process of evaluating the project,” says Nels Ojard, the firm’s group manager for special projects. Mr Ojard added that the project is probably five to seven years from becoming a reality.

Frank Smeenk, president of Canada Chrome’s parent company, KWG Resources, said it is too early to tell whether processing facilities such as smelters and concentrators will be built at the Ring of Fire or elsewhere. This depends largely on the consistency of an electricity supply.

“In the fullness of time there will probably be a (power) line along the railroad,” Mr Smeenk said. “With the economic downturn in Ontario the demand for electricity has fallen out a bit, so there’s lots of power in Ontario. The problem with it is the price is very high.”

Production Resumes At Zambian Nickel Mine

Zambia's only nickel mine, the Munali Nickel Mine, re-opened on Friday following an opening ceremony by Zambian President Rupiah Banda.

The mine was bought by China's Jinchuan Corporation last June after its previous owner, Albidon Ltd of Australia, halted operations following a fall in prices. The mine resumed operations on Friday and is expected to reach an output of 750,000 tons nickel ore in 2010.

President Banda attended a ceremony to mark the resumption at the mine, about 85 kilometers south from the Zambian capital city Lusaka and praised efforts made by Jinchuan, the largest nickel producer in Asia, in taking over the mine, which had led to unemployment for over 1,000 miners.

"I am pleased to know that the mine planned to increase the number of employees once the mine boosted its output," the president said.

The mine is planning to upgrade the mine from the current 750, 000 tons per annum of ore to 1.2 million tons of ore by 2011.

Ore production at Munali in the first two months of 2009 was 74,000 tons, below the forecast 87,000 tons, mainly due to a lack of equipment

Yang Zhiqiang, president of Jinchuan Corporation, said that Jinchuan will experience a prosperous development in Africa via combination of advanced technology from the Chinese side with the rich resources of the Zambian mine, which has proven reserves of 100,000 tons of nickel metal.

Vale To Restart Production At Sudbury

Brazilian miner Vale is to bring in outside workers at its strike-bound Sudbury nickel and copper mining operations. Last week, 90 per cent of workers at the mine rejected the company’s offer of a new contract in a dispute that began last July.

Copper mining at Sudbury re-commence last September while the nickel smelter resumed production in January, processing nickel stockpiles using employees from other parts of the company. Nickel mining began in February using workers from an outside contractor.

In February, the company said it planned to resume nickel mining at its Coleman and Creighton mines in Sudbury using workers from an outside contractor.

Mined nickel will be smelted and shipped to the company's refinery in Wales, which will be running at full capacity by April, producing 3,600 tonnes per month of nickel.

Falcon Minerals Raises Capital For Collurabbie Project

Australian miner Falcon Minerals has announced the completion of a A$4 million capital raising through Bell Potter Securities Ltd. The funds will fast track exploration activities at Falcon’s 100% owned Nickel-Copper-PGE Collurabbie Project in Western Australia.

The raising, which is the maximum under the company's 15% capacity, will be applied to drilling campaigns at Collurabbie, the first of which is scheduled to commence late April 2010.

Proto Puts Forward Case For Barnes Hill Nickel Mine

Sydney-based Proto Resources has released the results of soil tests from 112 holes at a site at Barnes Hill, in bushland behind Beaconsfield, northern Tasmania.


Intersections have continued to build the strength of the database with 14 intersections at 1% Ni or greater (using a 0.5% Ni and 2m minimum intercept and maximum 3m internal dilution as cut-offs).

A 12.1 million tonne JORC-compliant indicated resource at 0.83% nickel and 0.07% cobalt is currently defined at the site. The drilling also uncovered the iron ore potential of the project, which would seem commercial grade in line with other small-scale operations in Tasmania close to the BHP Temco smelter.

However, conservationists have raised objections to the plan. The local Conservation Trust has raised concerns that the mine would wipe out an endangered flowering shrub known as Shy Susan. Proto Resources says it is developing an Environmental Management Plan, which will be submitted to the Environment Protection Agency and the Federal Government soon.

Jinchuan May List Cobalt Units

The chairman of Jinchuan Group, Yang Zhiqiang, has said that his company may list its cobalt units on the Shanghai bourse. However, Mr Yang ruled out listing his company’s nickel assets. Jinchuan is Asia’s largest nickel producer.


“We may finish preparatory work within the year”, he said, adding that the company is looking for underwriters.

The company plans to start nickel exploration in Tanzania in the first half of this year and will invest with Canadian company,Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corp., to develop nickel assets in the north west of the country.

Mr Yang denied reports that Jinchuan will build a nickel/copper project in China’s Guangxi province.

Losses Increase At Beowulf Mining

AIM-listed Beowulf Mining has announced a 30 per cent increase in unaudited losses for the year to 31 December 2009. The company, which is exploring mineral deposits in northern Sweden, announced losses of £520,096 – up from £398,664 in 2008.

The company also announced that ongoing metallurgical tests at its Ruoutevare Iron Titanium Project have to date produced a final high grade product of sponge iron containing 95% iron and 1.5% titanium.

During the year the company signed a new earn-in joint venture agreement signed with Energy Ventures Limited (EVE) for its Ballek joint-venture, replacing Agricola Resources Plc. EVE have commenced a 1,600m drilling programme at the Ballek joint venture with results anticipated by the end of April of this year.

Beowulf also acquired Agricola's Swedish assets, comprising a package of five highly prospective gold, copper, nickel and uranium exploration licences at Geddaur in northern Sweden as well as securing an exploration licence for Sweden’s largest molybdenum deposit at Munka. The company is said to be looking for other assets to complement and extend its project portfolio.

Commenting on the results Clive Sinclair-Poulton, Executive Chairman of Beowulf said:"Despite a challenging backdrop of global economic uncertainty, Beowulf made significant progress during 2009 and now has an enhanced project portfolio and a new joint venture partner in the form of EVE. Demand for commodities has recovered strongly and we look forward to reporting further progress during 2010."

During the year the company raised £500,000 in working capital via a share placement at a price of 2p per share.

No dividend will be paid.

Ursa Major Reopens Shakespeare Nickel Mine

Canada’s Ursa Major Minerals Incorporated reports it has started shipping nickel ore from its restarted Sahakespeare open pit to Sudbury for processing at the Xstrata Nickel plant.

Ore shipments began in mid-February after the company's contractors began mining at the beginning of the month.

CEO Richard Sutcliffe said “We are extremely pleased with the quick and efficient start up that has been achieved at the Shakespeare Mine. Our team at Ursa Major has worked diligently to accomplish this task.”

He added “We are also very pleased to be in a position to benefit from the significant recent improvement in nickel and copper prices. In addition to the mining operations, we are planning an active exploration program in 2010 and the improved prices will further enhance these plans.”

Plans are to move 200,000 tonnes by truck to Sudbury in 2010 at a rate of about 1000 tonnes a day.

The company also announced a second private placement of financing consisting of the issuance of 6,800,000 common share purchase units at $0.10 per unit for gross proceeds of $680,000. The proceeds will go to general working capital and for certain costs associated with re-starting the Shakespeare mine.

Ursa Major has two nickel sulphide projects containing significant 43-101 compliant nickel/copper reserves and resources. The company has an option to earn a 70% interest in the past-producing Nickel Offsets mine, a 100% interest in the Shining Tree nickel deposit, and it has also acquired PGM exploration properties in the Thunder Bay area of Ontario.

China Non-Ferrous Metals Output Up 4 Per Cent In 2009

China’s non-ferrous metal output rose by 4 per cent in 2009 to hit 26.05 million tonnes, according to figures from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.

Refined copper output was 4.11 million tons while virgin aluminium production stood at 12.85 million tons; in addition there was output of 3.71 million tons for lead, 4.36 million tons of zinc, 164,800 tons of nickel, 134,500 tons of tin, 165,800 tons of antimony, 500,800 tons of magnesium and 61,500 tons of titanium sponge.

However, the trade in non-ferrous metals fell in 2009 as a result of the crash in global commodities prices. Trade stood at US$83.2 billion, down 11.27% year on year.

Between them, ten regions of China, including Henan Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Anhui Province, each produced more than one million tonnes of non-ferrous metals. Total output for these ten regions amounted to 18.78 million tonnes, 72.1% of the national total. Zhejiang Province plans to have five nonferrous metal producers with annual sales revenue exceeding RMB 10 billion each in the next three years.

Berong Nickel Looking To Reopen Paladan Nickel Mine

Philippine miner Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. is hoping to reopen its Berong Nickel joint venture in Palawan, Southern Luzon later this year to take advantage of a rise in nickel prices. Atlas is also looking at setting up a processing plant.

Berong is a joint-venture between European Nickel Plc, Atlas Consolidated, and Toledo Mining Corp but the mine closed last February, laying off more than 600 workers after to a fall in nickel prices. But with prices up over 35 per cent over the past year Chairman Alfredo C. Ramos is hopeful that production will begin again soon and that it would sell to its traditional markets in Japan, South Korea and China.

Mr. Ramos said that if Berong Nickel Corp. resumed operations, the miner would still ship nickel ores to traditional markets like Japan, South Korea and China.

Berong Nickel has a supply agreement with BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, for the shipment of 500,000 MT of nickel ore per year until 2013. The mine is the world’s fourth-largest nickel laterite resource with a resource of about 275 million MT of nickel ores.

Atlas is also to study the viability of putting up a nickel processing plant to be able to supply a value-added product. This will mean a significant investment for the miner estimated at over P2 billion ($US 40 million) and finance officer Martin Buckingham has admitted that the company may end up having to find strategic partners for the project.

Meanwhile Berong shareholder European Nickel has decided to merge with Australia’s Rusina Mining NL to be able to spend $498 million for a nickel leach plant at the Acoje mine in Zambales.

China Imported 34 Per Cent More Nickel Ore In 2009

According to customs statistics released last week China imported 16.575 million tonnes of nickel ore in 2009, up by 34% YoY compared with 2008.


The main sources into China were: Philippines 8,783,000 tonnes, up 2.18 times from 2008 and Indonesia: 7,237,000 tonnes. New Caledonia was the third largest source of nickel ore for China in 2008 but China bought no nickel from New Caledonia in 2009 as its supplier, SMSP, is exporting its production to a new joint venture with POSCO of South Korea to produce ferronickel at a new refinery in South Korea.


The average unit prices for 2009 were Philippine ore: at USD 31.7 per tonne CIF and Indonesian ore: at USD 44.8 per tonne CIF. On the basis of these unit prices on material base, nickel contained in these two ores has been presumed to be 1.5% to 1.75% for Philippine ore and 1.7% to 2% for Indonesian ore.

Hazelwood Resources Starts Pilot Tests At Big Hill Tungsten Deposit

Australian tungsten producer Hazelwood Resources has started pilot milling tests on bulk samples from the Big Hill Tungsten Deposit in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Approximately 30 tonnes of excavated material and 40 tonnes of large diameter metallurgical core have been collected to provide feed for pilot scale processing test work for the definitive feasibility study.

Hazelwood is focused on becoming Australia’s only Tungsten producer with 2-3% of world production commencing in 2010.

The company’s iron ore and nickel projects are located in the same Cookes Creek region in the eastern Pilbara and offer significant potential for the delineation of resources in the near future.

Philippines Nickel Miner In USD281 Million Reverse Takeover Deal

Philippines miner Marcventures Mining and Development Corp. is to take over the Manila-listed property company AJO.net Holdings, Inc. during the first half of the year in a reverse takeover deal worth P1.3 billion (US$281 million). Marcventures shareholders will eventually control 97% of the combined company according to Augusto Serafica, Jr., executive director of Asian Alliance Investment Corp. who are advising the transaction.

Marcventures will then assume AJO’s stock market listing.

Marcventures Mining is a Butuan City-based nickel miner owned by local businessman Mario G. Vijungco, and has an estimated value of P1.49 billion (US$322 million).

AJO.net Holdings was founded in 1957 as an oil exploration and drilling firm, but became a holding company in 1996.

Mr. Serafica said Marcventures Mining and AJO.net Holdings would spend P200 million ($43 million) on commercial mining operations this year and will stockpile between 30,000 and 50,000 metric tons of nickel ore before releasing its first shipment. In its first year the enterprise is expected to produce 600,000 MT of nickel ore. This will rise to 800,000 MT in the second year and 1.2 million MT in year three. The company claims to have signed a contract with a Japanese firm for annual shipments of 1.2 million MT of nickel ore.

Marcventures has spent P300 million exploring and developing a 4,799-hectare nickel mine in Surigao in the Mindanao islands. One 120-hectare area in the property has an estimated resource of 19.08 million MT of high-iron limonite and 4.47 million MT of high-nickel saprolite ores that can be extracted within 20 years.

Talvivaara To Investigate Uranium Recovery

Finnish nickel mining company Talvivaara is to investigate the recovery of uranium as a separate product from its ore body

Talvivaara is to investigate the recovery of uranium as a separate product from its ore body in a project costing approximately EUR 30 million.

Talvivaara Mining Company Plc is planning to initiate the recovery and exploitation of uranium, obtained as a by-product of other metals, in the form of a uranium intermediate, yellow cake.

Natural uranium is a commonly occurring element which is also present in low concentrations in the Talvivaara ore body.

The Company plans to recover the uranium from its main leaching process by using a safe and technically simple solvent extraction process which is widely applied to metals recovery. This process modification will not alter discharge levels or other environmental impacts of the operations,

The bedrock and nickel ore in the Talvivaara area naturally contain uranium although surveys conducted by the Geological Survey of Finland have not revealed any abnormal radiation levels.

Annual production costs are estimated at approximately EUR 2 million and the annual production volume is estimated at approximately 350 tonnes. The extraction plant is expected to employ around 20 people directly and some 50 people indirectly.

The uranium oxide generated in the solvent extraction process will be packaged in airtight steel containers and transported for further processing, subject to appropriate supervision.