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With the consumption increasing faster than production in the global market for zinc, market participants' anxiety about the global supply-demand imbalance of zinc is deepening. Zinc is used in brass.

Silver-zinc battery chemistry is currently poised to move into the commercial marketplace for use in consumer electronics. This new silver-zinc battery chemistry uses the latest in advanced polymers, nano-technology, power electronics and processing methods to create a battery that surpasses other rechargeable batteries for notebook computers, mobile phone and consumer electronics applications.

Korea Resources and LG International Corp will resume operations at Rapu Rapu copper and zinc mine in the Philippines after the mine received environmental approval.

Heightened concerns that China's devastating earthquake will curtail the country's massive metals output helped aluminum, zinc and other base metals extend a two-day rally Friday.

Doe Run Peru, the country's fourth largest metals exporter, said on Tuesday it will halt all operations at its sprawling La Oroya smelter on Wednesday because financial and environmental setbacks have prevented it from buying concentrates. The plant, hobbled by financial woes since March, processes lead, zinc and copper. Its work permits could be canceled if it does not meet an October deadline for an environmental cleanup.

According to Antaike, Zhejiang Fuyang Kalaite Metal Products Co., a brass bar and lead brass producer, will develop a copper and zinc project in the Yugan Industrial Park at an investment cost of RMB100M (approximately US$15.7). The combined production capacity of the project is expected to reach 200,000t/y and the operation will employ around 100 staff.

Air batteries, which create electricity from a reaction between oxygen in the air and a zinc negative electrode, can store five times as much electricity as a similarly sized li-ion battery, although there are problems before they can be commercialised

Already the world's deepest copper and zinc mine, the latest project will extend the mining zone at Mine D from 9,100 feet to 9,500 feet, improving the production profile from the mine through the addition of 3.4 million tonnes of ore to the mining plan and extending the mine life by one year to 2017.

While the prices of zinc, copper and other base metals are fixed at the end of frenetic five-minute sessions in the 'ring,' situated in the LME's centre, it is a sense of caution which is ultimately prevailing among traders.

Forecasters may be overestimating the global supply of base metals, particularly zinc, Octagon Research said on Thursday, suggesting that hard-hit metal prices may rebound sooner than expected

Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended an obscure clean water regulation that restricted use of aluminum in automobiles because of a potentially harmful byproduct created in the manufacturing process. Car makers treat aluminum to increase protection from corrosion in multiple ways, but the cheapest is an adhesive bonding process that uses zinc phosphate.

Plans have fallen through by an Australian company to reopen a zinc and copper mine at Parys Mountain on Anglesey.

The world's metals producers are still looking to China as the panacea for all ills with the often expressed hope that the country's need to support the domestic metals smelting, refining and steel industries will be the saviour of this sector and supply sufficient demand to support prices in the West. Consequently Chinese data are followed intensely and the latest information suggests that copper, iron ore and steel demand are holding up well - indeed increasing substantially - while aluminium is flat and zinc and lead suffering. But Chinese data requires interpretation and can be misleading as pointed out by Macquarie's Bonnie Liu in her latest China Commodities Weekly research note, and she concludes that there has to be some doubt that the latest extremely strong figures can be maintained. The notes below are abstracted from Macquarie's latest China Commodities Weekly and give us some considerable food for thought.

Purchases by China's State Reserve Bureau of aluminium, copper, nickel, tin and zinc have been made to increase stockpiles and support domestic industry. SRB purchases and Chinese merchant restocking have triggered a rally in copper prices, with China's imports during February and March hitting record highs of 329,000 tonnes and 375,000 tonnes respectively.

BOSTON - There's gold in the sea floor. Silver, copper, zinc and lead, too. The problem is, it's a mile or two underwater and encased in massive mineral deposits that layer a dark, mysterious world. But new technology and worldwide demand have combined to make mining for these metals economically feasible for the first time. A breakthrough project is moving forward in New Guinea, and new rules to govern deep ocean mining will be set by an international authority this spring.

During the inaugural address, P Parvathisem, former president, IIM and former CMD of NALCO and also Hindustan Copper Ltd, said that India remained unaffected by the global meltdown mainly because of various regulatory and control mechanisms and by nature being conservative in our approach. India was expected to grow at about 7 per cent. India witnessed substantial growth, progress in Zinc and Copper production and have to progressively invest in exploration and mining. In case of Aluminium, India was endowed with rich deposits and required R&D efforts for making Alumina. In case of lead, we should strive to develop it in a big way, he said.

CHINA will not approve new aluminum plants or expansion projects for the next three years as part of a plan to revitalize the nonferrous metals industry. The government also aims to create three to five major nonferrous metals companies by 2011, with the top 10 domestic players controlling 90 percent of copper production, 70 percent of aluminum, 60 percent of lead and 60 percent of zinc in their respective markets, the State Council, China's Cabinet, said yesterday. A draft of the nonferrous sector rejuvenation plan was unveiled in February when it was approved.