Group items tagged

MOSCOW - In what would be one of the biggest mining deals in Russia this year, the metals tycoon Mikhail D. Prokhorov announced on Tuesday that he would sell 16.6 percent of the Arctic mining giant Norilsk Nickel to his former business partner, Vladimir O. Potanin. The two tycoons agreed last year to divide their holdings in Norilsk, a Russian factory founded by Stalin, whose value soared along with high commodity prices. Norilsk is the world's largest producer of nickel, a key alloy in stainless steel. Under the terms, as laid out in a statement from Mr. Prokhorov's investment company, Onexim, Mr. Potanin agreed to pay $10 billion for the 16.6 percent, in $6.5 billion cash and 35.2 percent of the shares in another mining company, Polyus Gold. The deal valued Norilsk Nickel at $315 a share, well above Monday's closing price of $216, and despite a recent drop in nickel prices, concerns of an economic slowdown and diminished demand for stainless steel.

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Australia's Minara Resources Ltd (MRE.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday it had to defer its Australian $300 million ($273.5 million) nickel expansion plan due to high costs and reported an 80 percent drop in profits for the first half year. Minara, Australia's second-largest nickel miner after BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), posted a net profit after tax for the half year to 30 June 2008 of $50.9 Australian million, down from $245.9 Australian million in the same period in 2007.

China will allow tax-free imports of copper, nickel and cobalt concentrate from Feb. 1, as long as the finished products are re-exported, and will also allow duty-free exports of refined copper, unwrought nickel and semi-finished aluminium products.

The battery technology for plug-in HEVs and EVs (both fixed and removable) has evolved tremendously over the last decade with the introduction of lithium-based batteries complementing lead-, nickel- and sodium-based technologies. These technologies will all continue to have a significant impact on electro-mobility as they may give cost and/or performance advantages for specific applications, for example as start-stop and hybrid solutions. The selection of a technology depends on the requirements for performance, life and cost for a given application. Given the diversity of possible operating modes, there is no one battery system or technology that covers the entire range of application needs sufficiently. On the contrary, different battery energy storage technologies exist and each of them has a role to play in the future as the best solution to the needs of a system depending on their specific attributes: * Lead-based: for start-stop micro application, up to mild HEVs * Nickel-based: for HEV applications only * Lithium-based: for HEV, plug-in HEV and full EVs * Sodium-based: for Plug-in HEV and full EVs

"Cuba, the world's sixth largest nickel producers and one of the top 10 nickel mining countries, is experiencing a sudden, but still modest, investment rush triggered by an ongoing reconciliation between the Caribbean nation and the U.S."

Companies wishing to develop the world's third largest Udokan copper deposit have requested the tender be postponed for a month. All requests will be accepted by mid-June, and the tender's results announced on August 14. According to off-the-record reports, this was mostly done in the interests of an alliance between the state-owned defense industry super-corporation Rostekhonologii, nickel giant Norilsk Nickel and one of Russia's fastest growing mining and metallurgical holdings Metalloinvest because they have so far failed to coordinate joint operations.

LONDON - Nickel hit a two-year low Friday as worries about \ndemand from stainless steel mills mounted, while copper managed to end in \npositive territory despite growing fears of a global economic slowdown.

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Mining group Xstrata posted a 1.1 percent fall in first-half mined copper output and a 6.1 percent fall in mined nickel production on Wednesday.

Russia"s metals giant Norilsk Nickel and the world"s largest mining company BHP Billiton have formed a joint venture to explore for minerals in Russia.

Aluminium and nickel are expected to struggle under the weight of high inventories, and even when a recovery finally kicks in, perhaps later this year, prices will be slower to pick up than other industrial metals. Faced with the bleak prospects of a sharp global economic downturn, producers and downstream users of these two metals may be keener than most to consolidate to try to ride out the storm.

MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's prime minister signed on Wednesday a resolution to completely eliminate plain nickel and cathode copper export duties, but kept 10% duties in place for refined copper and copper alloys, a government spokesman said.

It was reported that Zhejiang Hailiang Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of copper semi fabricated products, intends to acquire a 1.12% stake in the Chinese copper and nickel producer, Jinchuan Group. Hailiang expects to invest RMB800M (US$126M) into the producer company as it readies for its upcoming IPO in China. The move toward greater upstream copper processing exposure was attributed to risks associated with Hailiang's high dependence on copper products fabrication and Jinchuan's experience in managing overseas assets.

"The new material - made from nickel, titanium and copper - shatters previous records and is so resilient it could be useful in artificial heart valves, aircraft components or a new generation of solid-state refrigerators."

Suspected Communist rebels attacked Xstrata Plc's $3 billion Tampakan mine in the Philippines, which may be Southeast Asia's largest untapped copper deposit, according to the military and project partner Indophil Resources NL. The group burned a drill rig and police are investigating, the Melbourne-based company said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. No one was injured in the assault, which took place around midnight on July 20, according to the statement, which did not identify the attackers. The rebels, probably from the New People's Army, ``tried to extort money from the owners of the mine, but they declined to pay the so-called revolutionary tax,'' Armand Rico, a military spokesman, said today by phone from Davao City. Insurgent attacks may undermine the Philippines' drive to develop the nation's mining industry to exploit gold, copper and nickel. Indophil, which also reported an attack on Jan. 1, is the subject of takeover bids from Xstrata Plc, which owns 62.5 percent of the mine, and a rival management group.