Cobalt

Katanga Mining announced on Friday it has secured $635.5 million in new loan facilities from parent Glencore International to fund the expansion of its Democratic Republic of Congo copper-cobalt mine. The Toronto-listed firm wants to bump copper production to 270,000 tonnes per annum and thereafter bump it up to 310,000 tonnes from cash flow. The company is already ramping up copper production with financials results also out on Friday showing year to date copper in ore mined was 157,658 tonnes, a 96% increase over 2010. Cobalt produced fell 30% to 593 tonnes, but that was in line with expectations. Katanga says with the expansion the DRC complex it could become Africa's largest producer of copper and the world's number one cobalt mine.

A temporary production stoppage by China's largest rare earth exporter makes the creation of an American rare earth stockpile more likely, according to a report by dealReporter that appeared in yesterday's FT. The stoppage was a "wake-up call" for the US Department of Defense because the rare earth elements are needed for a variety of defense applications, writes dealReporter, citing a congressional source. The article quotes congressional sources and three rare earth companies saying that "the creation of a US rare earth strategic reserve is more likely to get the go-ahead after (Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth (SHA:600111)) halted production. Such a move would create another source of demand for the metals, likely aiding a rebirth of the US rare earths industry."

Stock in Formation Metals (TSE:FCO) plunged 13% today after a European bank decided to terminate its loan agreement with the Vancouver-based company. The $79.5 million loan from BNP Paribas was to go towards construction of Formation's Idaho cobalt mine. Formation said the credit facility was terminated without the closing of the subject financing.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. has approved a US$850 million expansion to the Tenke Fungurume mining operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lundin Mining, a partner at the mine with FCX, made the announcement in a press release on Tuesday night. The phase two expansion, targeted for completion in 2013, will increase copper production by 50% to about 195,000 tonnes of copper cathode and 15,000 tonnes of cobalt in hydroxide. Funding will be split 70:30 between the mines two partners, FCX and Lundin Mining. The companies expect that capital costs will be funded by surplus cash from Tenke Fungurume operations.

A mining industry consultant says the high processing costs and level of expertise required in bringing rare earth mines into production means most of them will fail. In an interview with Reuters, Jack Lifton, founder of Technology Metals Research, said of the 244 companies hoping to extract REEs, less than 4% will be profitable: "The choke point for all the companies is the question of what they can do with the concentrated REM ore once it's above ground. You can extract the rare earths together, but then you have to separate them...the world's REM separation capacity is 99 percent Chinese and they have unused capacity," Lifton said. "The Chinese overwhelmingly control this and that is the key to the rare earth industry. Without separation capacity, all you have is a loss-making ore concentrate company."

A new minimally-invasive procedure that can safely and effectively treat brain aneurysms without open surgery by implanting an FDA-approved device consisting of a flexible braided mesh tube made of platinum and nickel-cobalt chromium alloy directly into the artery has been chosen by research facility Cleveland Clinic as one of the top 10 medical innovations for 2012. The 90-year old multispecialty academic medical center which has pioneered among others coronary artery bypass surgery and performed the US's first face transplant also included a new Concussion Management System for Athletes, Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Reduce Disease Threat and Wearable Robotic Devices in the top 10.

Canada's number one coal producer and world-leading nickel miner, Sherritt jumped 10.2% on Wednesday after reporting a doubling of quarterly net earnings and good progress at its massive Ambatovy project in Madagascar. Sherritt will start production at Ambatovy in the first quarter of next year. The company has already spent more than 90% of the planned $5.5 billion to build what will be the world's biggest nickel mine with the capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes of nickel and 5,600 of cobalt a year. Sherritt and its Asian partners have made the largest investment in the island's history and will make nickel the country's number one export for the next 27 years.

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Molycorp (NYSE:MCP), the only rare earth producer in the Western hemisphere, announced on Thursday that it plans to spend $114 million to accelerate by three months the start-up of its rare earth processing facility. Molycorp's stock slid on Thursday after the news. After hitting a high of $40.45 on Wednesday, the stock dropped as low as $36.59 before recovering to close at just under $38. The company's estimated 2012 production will rise by 3,500 metric tons to between 8,000 and 10,000 metric tons annually. The new spending will help the company achieve full phase one production of 19,050 metric tons per year of rare earth oxide equivalent three months earlier than previously planned.