Cash-rich global miners eye India as coal sector opens up for private firms

JSW Steel today said shortage of iron ore had "severely impacted" its production this month and the company was running units at 75% capacity.

TSX-V junior Prophecy Coal was trading up 6% by early afternoon on Thursday after jumping 11% earlier in the day on news that the Mongolian government has given the go-ahead for a power plant at the mouth of its Chandgana mine. Prophecy – which also controls a Yukon platinum explorer – has more than 1.4 billion tonnes of surface minable thermal coal resources at Chandgana and its producing mine Ulaan Ovoo for which it recently signed offtake agreements in Russia. There is renewed interest in Mongolian coal assets and earlier this week an Australia-based firm exploring in the fast-growing country was sold for a 800% profit a mere 18 months after its IPO.

For the second time this year workers have downed tools at one of the world's largest copper and gold mines. The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting thousands of workers at Freeport-McMoran's gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia have begun a month-long strike over a wage dispute: Union spokesman Juli Parorongan said roughly 90 per cent of the Papua mine's 12,000 workers were taking part in the action, which began on Thursday.

As the United States and its allies look back on a weekend of memorials and tributes to the nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11, the country that was struck in retaliation for the 2001 attack on America could become a hotbed of mining. The National reports that Indian firms are bidding billions of dollars for a contract to mine iron ore in a central district of Afghanistan: "A consortium led by the state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) could invest up to US$6 billion (Dh22bn) in the mine, railroads and a steel plant in a race with China to lock in raw materials for two of the world's fastest-growing economies."

Strong interest in the Mongolian resource sector has provided shareholders in Hunnu Coal a 800% gain in only 18 months. Thailand's Banpu announced Tuesday it is taking over the ASX-listed junior for $400 million or $1.80/share – Hunnu went public in February 2010 at 20c. Hunnu may be the first of many firms with Mongolian coal assets to attract bidders with Ivanhoe Mines' SouthGobi and TSX-V junior Prophecy Coal talked about as likely targets and a way in for smaller investors who are not be able to participate in Tavan Tolgoi's $3 billion IPO slated for next year.

Mining investments could reach $2.8 billion in the Philippines this year if Chinese investors proceed with plans to jointly develop mining projects in the country, a senior mining official said Tuesday. There is a good chance that an initial target of $1.4 billion could be doubled if Chinese investors follow through in the last quarter on investments they have expressed interest in, Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Leo Jasareno said.

Newmont Mining Corp.'s Indonesian unit said on Monday it is in talks with a worker union and local government to solve a protest that blocked access to its copper and gold mine last week.

Gold demand, which dropped in the second quarter of this year, is expected to strengthen by the end of 2011, driven by robust jewelry buying in India and China and recovery in investment demand, senior World Gold Council (WGC) officials said.

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.