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Officials: Let up on rare earths

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: China Daily       Date: Aug.10, 2017

A worker at the site of a rare earth metals mine in Nancheng county, Jiangxi province. Photo/Agencies]

In 2011, fast-rising prices forced firms out of sector, triggering 5-year slump

China`s regulators are trying to cool down the price rally of rare earth, which has seen a sustained price increase since the beginning of this year, after five years of downturn.

The National Rare Earth Office issued a statement on Aug 8 to the six largest rare earth groups in China, including Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd and China North Rare Earth (Group) Hi-tech Co Ltd, asking them to help stabilize the rare earth market, according to industry insiders.

The statement asks the six groups to promote healthy development of the rare earth market, by strengthening industry self-discipline, maintaining production and operational order and strictly following the production control plan.

Part of the reason for the rapid rise in prices since June has been a lack of co-ordination in price settings and the stocking up of supplies in the rare earth market.

These moves have directly caused the soaring price, said Xu Ruoxu, an analyst from Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, adding that the reasonable rise of the rare earth products since earlier this year attracted the attention of speculators, including traders and manufactures.

"Pursuing high profits, they began to slow down the output rhythm and stockpile products in June. The rare earth prices have seen modest gains of about 15 percent from January to May, due to China`s economy recovery," Xu said.

Another reason for the rising price from January to May is that China has eliminated capacity by closing many illegal factories, said Zhan Sheng, a nonferrous metals expert from JZ Investment.

The statement asks the six rare earth groups not to take the lead in raising prices, but it may still be hard to hold down the rising tendency, Zhan added.

The rare earth prices were still on the rise on Wednesday with average price of praseodymium-neodymium oxide, the iconic rare earth product, at 435,000 yuan ($65,102) per metric ton, compared with 385,000 yuan on Tuesday.

Statistics show that the average price of praseodymium-neodymium oxide has increased 54 percent in 2017, and the price has risen more than 36 percent in the past two months.

At the same time, the listing prices of the six largest groups have also gone up in conjunction with the continued price rise of rare earth.

The monthly listing price of praseodymium-neodymium oxide from the China North Rare Earth is 420,000 yuan per ton in August, an increase of 53 percent from April`s 293,000 yuan per ton and a surge of 27.3 percent month-on-month.

The surging prices of rare earth products may harm the whole industry by squeezing downstream firms, Xu said.

In 2011, surging prices forced many small downstream companies out of the sector and led to a slump in the entire industry for more than five years.

Yuan Hui contributed to this story.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin in September 23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: m.balanzskin.com.

Coal producers report better profits

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Xinhua           Date: Aug.7, 2017

Coal producers in China have reported impressive profits for the first half of this year.

Of China`s 37 listed coal companies, more than half have estimated half-year profits to double in the first half of this year from a year ago.

In its semi-annual report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Henan Shenhuo Coal and Power Co Ltd. said the company`s net profits excluding non-recurring gains and losses increased more than 11 fold year on year to 576 million yuan ($86 million) due to a rise in prices.

Meanwhile, China Shenhua Energy Company, the country`s largest coal miner, announced earlier that its first-half profit jumped 147 percent from the same period last year to 24.3 billion yuan.

The company attributed the huge rise to higher coal prices.

Other coal producers, including Shanxi Xishan Coal and Electricity Power and China Coal Energy Company Limited, also reported hefty gains for the January-June period.

About 111 million metric tons of capacity was forced out of the market in the first half of this year, 74 percent of the annual target, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, China`s top economic planner.

In the first five months, large coal companies registered total profits of 123.4 billion yuan, 120 billion yuan more than the same period last year.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin in September 23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: m.balanzskin.com.

China iron ore falls amid restock rally concerns

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Reuters          Date: Aug.3, 2017

Iron ore futures in China retreated on Wednesday after a three-day rise pushed prices to their highest in more than four months amid doubts a restocking-driven rally would be sustainable.

Chinese steel producers, the world`s top buyer of iron ore, had been boosting stocks of the raw material to increase output in anticipation of demand picking up after the summer lull, but this could leave them with too much iron ore later this year.

The boost has lifted spot iron prices this week to their strongest level since April at above $70 a ton, although analysts at Barclays think this may be difficult to sustain by saying that a drop to "the mid-to-low $50 per ton handle by the fourth quarter is increasingly likely."

"Even if we assume demand conditions remain supportive, we see the price outlook as still under downward pressure," Barclays said in a note.

The most-active iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 0.82 percent at 544 yuan ($80.9) a ton during the afternoon trading, after touching a low of 532 yuan.

The contract rose to 582 yuan on Tuesday, its highest since March 24.

Spot iron ore prices already pared some gains on Tuesday, with the benchmark slipping 0.2 percent to $73.56 a ton, according to price reporting agency Metal Bulletin.

The prices hit $73.70 on Monday, its loftiest since April 11.

But investment bank ANZ said firmer Chinese steel prices should "keep upward pressure on raw material prices in the short term."

The most-active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was last up 0.6 percent at 3,739 yuan per ton.

The construction steel product rose to 3,759 yuan on Tuesday, its highest level since September 2013.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin in September 23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: m.balanzskin.com.

Global iron ore industry rebounds in 2016: UN agency report

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Xinhua           Date: Aug.1, 2017

The iron ore industry saw a marked recovery in 2016 after the slower growth, lower prices and squeezed profit margins suffered in 2015, a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed on Monday.

According to the report, a late surge enabled the iron ore industry to post gains in both production and exports in 2016, despite soft Chinese consumption and low prices during the year.

The resurgence came in a year when concerns about a range of anti-dumping actions taken by the World Trade Organization (WTO) members on imported steel dominated discussions.

The UNCTAD report, however, shows the key indicators of demand and supply, seaborne trade and price, all made gains through the year and it says the market outlook is steady.

"The market for base metals such as iron ore is a yardstick for the global economy, and in recent years it has fluctuated closely with the state of emerging and developing countries` economies," said Yanchun Zhang, Chief of UNCTAD`s Commodity Policy Implementation and Outreach Section.

Although Chinese consumption remained relatively low, and prices did not improve for much of 2016, the market started to improve late in the year with prices exceeding 80 U.S. dollars per dry metric ton (dmt) in December 2016.

Global iron ore production grew 5 percent year-on-year in 2016, according to the report, hitting 2,106 million tons (Mt).

This was primarily driven by an additional 30 Mt of direct shipping ore from Australia, which was the major source of new fine-products entering the Chinese market.

Iron ore exports exceeded 1,500 Mt in 2016 compared with about 1,439 Mt in 2015, and the seaborne market was more or less balanced.

The net increase in global trade was also led by Australia.

Producers of iron ore have reduced mining costs substantially over the past four years, says the report, and the mining industry as a whole now spends 22 U.S. dollars/dmt, which is also less than it was in 2013.

That is due to tightened capital controls, renegotiated contracts and the exit of high cost supply says the report.

Iron ore exploration budgets fell in 2016 for the fourth straight year, with the estimated 685 million dollars expenditure representing a decline of 460 million dollars from the preceding year.

The UNCTAD report attributed most of the fall to Australia and China, which together accounted for almost half of the global decline

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin in September 23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: m.balanzskin.com.

China`s gold output drops in H1

Source: www.chinamining.org         Citation: Xinhua        Date: July 31, 2017

China`s gold output dropped in the first half of this year due to stricter rules on solid waste from production and shrinking reserves.

A total of 206.54 tonnes of gold were produced in January-June, down 9.85 percent from a year ago, according to the China Gold Association. Among the total, 178.46 tonnes were gold mineral, while 28.08 tonnes were a byproduct of nonferrous metal smelting.

The ten top gold producers accounted for 53.24 percent and 39.74 percent of the country`s total refined gold and gold mineral output respectively.

China adopted new rules last year to raise environmental requirements on solid waste from gold prospecting, leading to a wave of gold mine closures and output declines in major producing provinces, including Shandong, Jiangxi and Hunan.

Years of intensive gold mining has resulted in falling reserves and production halts in several areas, including Qinghai and Gansu.

Despite the downturn, gold consumption rose nearly 10 percent year on year to 545.23 tonnes in H1, with surging imports. The consumption of gold bars increased more than 50 percent.

Gold has again become a favorite of investors who are looking for safe assets in fear China`s gold output dropped in the first half of this year due to stricter rules on solid waste from production and shrinking reserves.

A total of 206.54 tonnes of gold were produced in January-June, down 9.85 percent from a year ago, according to the China Gold Association. Among the total, 178.46 tonnes were gold mineral, while 28.08 tonnes were a byproduct of nonferrous metal smelting.

The ten top gold producers accounted for 53.24 percent and 39.74 percent of the country`s total refined gold and gold mineral output respectively.

China adopted new rules last year to raise environmental requirements on solid waste from gold prospecting, leading to a wave of gold mine closures and output declines in major producing provinces, including Shandong, Jiangxi and Hunan.

Years of intensive gold mining has resulted in falling reserves and production halts in several areas, including Qinghai and Gansu.

Despite the downturn, gold consumption rose nearly 10 percent year on year to 545.23 tonnes in H1, with surging imports. The consumption of gold bars increased more than 50 percent.

Gold has again become a favorite of investors who are looking for safe assets in fear of fragile global financial markets amid rising geopolitical uncertainty, the association said.

Global gold prices averaged 1,238.6 U.S. dollars per ounce in H1, 1.43 percent higher than a year ago.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin in September 23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: m.balanzskin.com.

Yancoal gets OK to on-sell 16.6 percent of some Rio coal assets

Source: www.chinamining.org     Citation: Reuters   Date: July 28 2017

Yancoal Australia has been cleared by its Chinese parent, Yanzhou Coal Mining, to sell 16.6 percent of the key assets of Rio Tinto`s Coal & Allied division once it completes the $2.69 billion Coal & Allied acquisition.

Yanzhou said in an announcement that its board had approved a resolution to allow Yancoal to transfer a 16.6 percent interest in the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) joint venture to a "third party" following its acquisition of Coal & Allied.

HVO is regarded as the more valuable of the two Hunter Valley coal complexes, which Yancoal is set to acquire from Rio under the deal.

Rio Tinto shareholders last month approved the sale of Coal & Allied to Yancoal, ending a bidding war with commodities trader Glencore.

Yancoal`s Australia-listed shares were placed in a trading halt on Thursday pending the announcement. Yancoal, which Yanzhou owns 78 percent of, was not available to comment.

HVO is 67.6 percent held by Coal & Allied and 32.4 percent by Mitsubishi Corp. Mitsubishi has agreed to sell its stake to Yancoal.

Glencore was not immediately available to comment on whether it would seek to acquire the 16.6 percent interest.

Glencore is already the world`s largest exporter of sea-traded thermal coal, with interests in 28 mines in Australia, Colombia and South Africa.

It aimed to blend Rio Tinto coal with its existing operations from custom-tailor shipments to power-generating customers in some Asian countries.

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin in September 23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us. For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: m.balanzskin.com.

China reviewing copper scrap imports; may call halt in 2018 - notice

Source: www.chinamining.org Citation: Reuters Date: July 27, 2017

China may ban imports of some scrap metal, including copper, from the end of 2018, according to an industry association notice, which may lead to higher refined copper imports into the world`s largest consumer of the metal.

London copper surged to its highest in two years on Wednesday in reaction to the news and Chinese futures climbed to their highest in more than five months.

The review of copper scrap imports is part of a broader crackdown by China authorities on imports of foreign waste as it looks to cut pollution from heavy industries to clear its skies.

The recycling branch of the China NonFerrous Metals Industry Association said on Tuesday that it had received a notice that at the end of 2018 imports of scrap metal including wire, motors and bulk scrap metal will be prohibited, according to a copy of an informal Association message sent to members of its WeChat group reviewed by Reuters. 

"The market is reacting to the news about China banning scrap cables, scrap motor and other scrap metals from the end of next year, which could block a lot of copper supply into China," said analyst Li Chunlan at consultancy CRU in Beijing.
 

China is the world`s biggest user and producer of refined copper, accounting for about 45 percent of global demand, but must import any additional needs from mines or scrap merchants. A ban on scrap could mean that it must import more refined copper. 

Antaike, a metals research institute under the Association, said that the ban would likely affect less than 1 million tonnes of imports that market participants are speculating could be impacted. That is because the type of scrap affected by the ban only accounted for about 300,000 tonnes of China’s total 3.35 million tonnes of scrap copper imports in 2016, it said in a report. 

China`s overall copper scrap imports were 1.85 million tonnes in the first half of 2017 versus refined copper imports of 1.54 million tonnes, customs data showed. 

LME copper prices on Wednesday rose as much 2.8 percent to $6,400 a tonne, the highest since May 2015. Prices have risen 4.5 percent in the past two days and are up 14 percent this year.

In China, copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rallied as much as 5.2 percent to the highest in more than five months and closed at 50,050 yuan ($7,406) per tonne. 

China`s Ministry of Environmental Protection did not reply to a faxed request for comment. 

($1 = 6.7577 Chinese yuan renminbi)

About CHINA MINING

Since first held in 1999, the scope and influence of CHINA MINING has grown rapidly year by year. As a global mining summit forum and exhibition, CHINA MINING Congress and Expo has become one of the world’s top mining events, and one of the world’s largest mining exploration, development and trading platforms, covering all aspects of the whole mining industry chain, including geological survey, exploration and development, mining rights trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing, mining techniques and equipment, mining services, etc. playing an active promotion role in creating exchange opportunities and enhancing mutual cooperation between domestic and foreign mining enterprises.

CHINA MINING Congress and Expo 2017 will be held at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin in September 23-25, 2017. We invite you to join the event and to celebrate the 19^th anniversary of CHINA MINING with us.  For more information about CHINA MINING 2017, please visit: m.balanzskin.com.

1. Geological conditions due to the existence of the fault makes the 14505 trackway floor changes, three different locations of the anchor anchor position shown in Figure 1. From Figure 1 we can see: (1) due to the existence of the fault, No. 5 coal was lifted, 14505 orbital roadway roof into No. 5 coal seam. (2) right anchor cable all hit in the No. 5 coal seam, the coal seam is soft, is not conducive to the hole. (3) Roadway and the left side of the anchor hole, through the three coal and rock interface, and are in the anchor section. In order to further understand the structure and strength of the roof rock, the structure and strength of the roof rock are observed, and the structure of the coal strata within 9m of the middle roof of the roadway near the fault is observed by electronic drilling peephole. The results show that the roof coal The rock formation joints are relatively developed, as shown in Fig. The average uniaxial compressive strength is 10.42MPa; 2.8 ~ 3.6m is carbonaceous mudstone, black, loose block, high carbon content, fissure development, poor rock formation integrity; 3.6 ~ 4.0m for the No. 4 coal seam; 4 ~ 6.5m for the carbonaceous mudstone, black; 6.5 ~ 9.0m for the mudstone, gray and black, rock integrity is poor. In the process of installation of underground anchor cable, it was found that the right side of the roof of the roadway was inclined at about 4 m, and the resin anchor was difficult to push to the bottom of the hole; or the anchor hole was brushed, and the anchoring agent could not be pushed to the bottom of the hole The anchoring force does not meet the design requirements, and the tension does not increase when tensioned to 30 MPa (corresponding to 120 kN). It can be seen from the above analysis, because the roadway rock strength is low, and the joint fissure development, resulting in the anchor hole after forming too large, so that the cable anchor force can not meet the design requirements, thus affecting the anchor high preload , And ultimately affect the support of the entire anchor cable effect.

2 cable body shape cable cable body is generally made with a certain bending flexibility made of steel strand, coal mine with 1 × 7 shares and 1 × 19 shares 2 (Figure 3), and the surface of the rebar rod body Different, cable body surface without smooth ribs. Rong Guan et al. [5] showed that the anchorage strength was greatly improved due to the obvious effect of squeezing, dilatancy and shearing between the screw and the surface of the rebar. It can be seen that the smooth surface of the cable is another reason for the anchoring force of the anchors in the weak coal strata.

3 resin anchor performance Downhole use of two different manufacturers of resin anchoring agent, in order to study the anchoring properties of resin anchoring agent [4], in the laboratory of resin anchoring agent compressive strength and resistance to force test. According to the test standard, the resin anchors of B and B were made into three groups of 40mm × 40mm cubes. The compressive strength test was carried out. The test temperature was about 22 ℃, the time was 24 h, the compressive strength was less than 60MPa, The test results are shown in Fig. It can be seen from Figure 4, A, B two manufacturers of resin anchoring agent compressive strength there is a certain difference. The compressive strength of the three groups of resin anchors is in accordance with the standard requirements, that is, the compressive strength is not less than 60MPa, the compressive strength of the two groups of resin anchors is more than 130MPa and the other is more than 90MPa; The compressive strength of the two groups was larger than 90MPa, and the other group was less than 40MPa, which was lower than the compressive strength requirement of the resin anchoring agent. For the anchors with different thickness of 125mm, the anchoring time is 2h, the pull-out force shall not be less than that of the steel pipe with the diameter of 30mm, 100kN. The test results are shown in Fig. It can be seen from Figure 5, A, B two resin anchoring agent pull resistance there are significant differences. A group of resin anchoring agent 3 groups of pull-resistance test are greater than 130kN, to meet the standard requirements (pull-resistant should be greater than 100kN), and three groups of anchoring agent resistance is relatively stable, pull-out peak no significant fluctuations; The anti-pull force test curves of the three groups were larger than those of the two groups. The pull-out force of the two groups was less than 82kN (81kN in 1 group and 67kN in 1 group). The anti-pull force of the other group was in accordance with the standard For 120kN. It can be seen that the instability of the resin anchoring agent is also one of the reasons that affect the anchoring force of the anchor cable.