Indonesian export ban threat breathes new life into nickel price

Indonesia plans tax or quota on ore exports

Reuters reports Indonesia may impose a tax or quota on mineral ore exports ahead of a planned regulation to ban all exports of raw minerals by 2014, the industry ministry said on Wednesday. The planned ban is part of a mining and coal law introduced in 2009 that requires miners to process minerals into higher value products before exporting them. The move would negatively impact copper miners Newmont and Freeport as currently only 30% of output is processed domestically and comes on top of news that workers at Freeport's massive Grasberg mine in the Papua province plan a second strike next week after wages negotiations broke down.

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Frik Els | September 7, 2011 | 8:44 pm
Norilsk Nickel mill mining

Russia RUSAL rejects Norilsk buyback offer

The board of the world's top aluminium producer UC RUSAL said on Monday it had unanimously rejected a $8.75 billion offer by mining giant Norilsk Nickel to buy back its shares. The $306 per share offer for a 15 percent stake, which represents a 20 percent premium to the weighted average market price for the past six months, was approved by Norilsk's board and was valid until 1400 GMT on Sept. 5. Norilsk said that it plans now to make a buyback offer to other shareholders.

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Reuters Africa | September 5, 2011 | 3:00 pm

Foes sue to stop mine in U.P.

Traverse City Opponents of a planned nickel and copper mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula have mounted a last-ditch legal effort, asking a judge to put a state-issued permit for the project on hold ahead of initial blasting expected this month. Four

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Detroit News | September 2, 2011 | 5:14 am

Cobalt is the king of critical metals

Most people don't know or care about cobalt. But, as with a number of metals we seldom hear about, we would certainly miss cobalt if it were not available for use in many cutting-edge applications. In this exclusive interview with The Critical Metals Report, Rick Mills, editor of Ahead of the Herd, talks about the supply and demand for critical metals and tells us why cobalt is the "King of Critical Metals."

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The Gold Report | August 31, 2011 | 6:10 am

Nortec (NVT) Signs Agreement for $20.5 Million Option of the LK Project, Finland

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 30, 2011) - Further to the press release dated July 27, 2011, Nortec Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:NVT)(PINK SHEETS:NMNZF)(FRANKFURT:WMQ) ("Nortec" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has signed an Option and Joint Venture Agreement ("OA") with Otterburn Ventures Inc. (CSNX:OTB) ("Otterburn"). The OA gives Otterburn the option to earn up to an 80% interest in Nortec's Läntinen Koillismaa project, a 100 % owned palladium-platinum–gold–copper-nickel property ("LK Project"), located in north central Finland.

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Marketwire - Mining and Metals | August 30, 2011 | 1:00 pm
Aluminum maker Alcoa opens 4Q earnings season on a positive note

Rusal’s profitability drops 20.5% due to increased debt charges and decrease in net share

UC Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer, said on Monday that it had net profit of US$1.085 million for the first half of 2011, a decrease of 20.5% compared to net profit of US$1.365 million for the first half of 2010, due to certain non-cash items, mainly increase in the effective interest charges on restructured debt and decrease in net share in results of Norilsk Nickel. Revenue increased by 18.8% to US$6.323 million in the first half of 2011, as compared to US$5.321 million for the first half of 2010, mainly due to increased prices and improved product mix.

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Michael Allan McCrae | August 29, 2011 | 3:44 pm