China’s new 5-year plan brilliant news for mining

Ag Journal reports it’s been a hot summer, but the fertilizer market is even hotter, and that has farmers worried about whether they will be able to get what they need at a price they can afford. According to the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, fertilizer prices in 2011 are expected to exceed the previous year by 24 percent. Back in May, the price of phosphate was 31 percent higher compared with the same quarter the previous year, and the price of potash was 20 percent higher. Typically fertilizer prices move higher from August to December, which explains why stocks in big fertilizer manufacturers tend to gain 15 percent, on average, during that period.

Allana Potash Corp. (TSX VENTURE:AAA) ("Allana"or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has awarded a Feasibility Study contract to ERCOSPLAN Ingenieurgesellschaft Geotechnik und Bergbau ("ERCOSPLAN") for its Ethiopian Potash Project. ERCOSPLAN has been involved in Allana's Ethiopian Potash project since 2008 and completed an updated National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant resource estimate for the property in June 2011. ERCOSPLAN is a widely recognized world leader in potash exploration techniques and potash mining and processing. In addition to Allana, ERCOSPLAN's clients include some of the largest potash exploration companies and potash producers in the world.

Commodity markets were hit this week by shock news that the United States created no jobs in August, sparking speculation that the world's biggest economy could be heading for a double-dip recession. Analysts said the data bolstered expectations that the US Federal Reserve could soon decide to implement another round of quantitative easing -- dubbed QE3 by traders -- to help breathe new life into the struggling economy.

EPM Mining, an exploration-stage potash developer with a 100,000 acres project on the Sevier dry lake in Utah, received a boost on Friday when Tata Chemicals via a subsidiary invested $16 million in the company. Tata Chemicals, part of one of India's largest family conglomerates, now controls 30% of EPM Mining after first upping its stake at the end of May. With potash prices surging India, at some 6 million tonnes the largest importer of the crop nutrient, is keen to command new supplies.

CanadaViews reports Saskatchewan NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter announced Thursday an NDP government would create the Bright Futures Fund, modelled on oil and gas revenue funds in Alaska and Norway. The fund will dedicate a portion of Saskatchewans non-renewable resource royalties to invest for the future. This fund would be independently managed, and the government would not be allowed to withdraw money to cover short-term deficits and day-to-day spending. Lingenfelter said that the Sask Party has seen over $10 billion dollars in non-renewable resource revenue flow through their hands and spent on one-time projects or to cover budget deficits.

VANCOUVER, CANADA--(Marketwire - Aug. 31, 2011) - Lithium One Inc. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:LI), is pleased to report the delineation of a new zone (the "North Basin") containing thick halite sequences hosting high grade lithium and potassium brine at the Sal de Vida Project at Salar del Hombre Muerto, Argentina. The five core holes in this new discovery report grades averaging 852 mg/L lithium and 10,181 mg/L potassium within the first 55 metres from surface, with no cut-offs applied. The 50 km² North Basin is adjacent to, but geologically separated from, the 170 km² Central Basin where the Company has previously defined an inferred resource¹ of 5.4 million tonnes Lithium Carbonate equivalent and 21 million tonnes potassium chloride equivalent (1,470M m³ at 695 mg/L Li and 7590 mg/L K).

Potassio do Brasil, partly owned by Canadian merchant bank Forbes and Manhattan, is seeking to renew negotiations with Brazil's government over rights to a potash reserve in the Amazon currently held by state oil company Petrobras adjacent to what it called a 'world class' potash discovery last week. The Potassio do Brasil mine will take $4 billion to develop and follows news earlier this month from Toronto-listed Verde Potash which announced a 1.1 billion tonne resource at its Amazon Cerrado Verde project that is suitable for open pit mining. The discoveries come as Brazil readies a new mining royalty regime – in certain instances doubling the rate – which would be managed by government decree. Mining investment in the world's fifth largest economy is also predicted to accelerate to $68.5 billion through 2015.

A top executive at Saskatchewan PotashCorp says potash producers will not be able to meet the 2011 world supply capability of 61 million tonnes. David Delaney, PotashCorp executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said in a conference call Tuesday that "hitting the target would have required "perfect production, very little downtime. When you're pulling all these operations around the world that hard, it's really difficult to do."

TSX-listed IC Potash is in talks with “quite a few” companies to partner on its Ochoa project in New Mexico, and hopes to have an agreement penned within the next 12 months, CEO Sidney Himmel told Mining Weekly Online.