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| Major Events In Apr 09 Over Ferrous Raw Materials (1) |
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Apr. 1: <Atlas Iron completes first Capesize shipment of Pardoo ore> Australian Atlas Iron Limited announced March 30 that the first Capesize shipment of iron ore from its Pardoo Project in the Pilbara, Western Australia completed loading over the weekend at Fortescue Metals Group's (FMG) Herb Elliott Port in Port Hedland and has now departed for China. The shipment, comprising 149,026 wet metric tonnes of iron ore from the Bobby deposit at Pardoo, represents the first ore delivered under the long-term contract signed in December 2008. Atlas has previously completed two shipments totalling 124,454 wet metric tonnes of lower grade material from the Connie Channel Iron Deposit since the commencement of operations at Pardoo in October 2008. <NML files resource estimate report on SEDAR> Canadian New Millennium Capital Corp (NML) revealed March 26 that it has filed on SEDAR the technical report stating the results of the Mineral Resource estimate from 2008 drilling of its 100% owned DSO Project located near Schefferville, Quebec. The estimate of Mineral Resources was established by SGS Geostat Ltd of Montreal, Quebec, with reviews made by others having expertise critical to some aspects of the Project. As announced by the Company on February 11 2009, a summary of the Mineral Resource estimate, based on current drill results, are summarized in the table below. This demonstrates approximately 56.0 Mt of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources at an average 59.0% Fe on a dry basis, plus an additional 5.8 Mt of Inferred Mineral Resources. Apr. 2: <Nippon Steel to effect temporary close of its five production bases> Nippon Steel that is carrying out production cuts due to reduced steel demand has decided to introduce a once or twice per month close of its five production bases including Muroran Works with a view to responding to the current unprecedented operational crisis. Besides Muroran; Kamaishi, Sakai, Tokyo and Hikari Pipe and Tube Division will be the objects of the temporary close. At the same time a 16% cut will be introduced in the remunerations for directors. <FIRB, Federal Treasurer give OK to FMG - Valin capital alliance> Australian Foreign Investment Review Board ("FIRB") and Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan have granted clearance to China's Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group Company Ltd ("Valin") to become a major shareholder in Fortescue Metals Group ("FMG"), FMG announced on March 31. This will permit FMG to issue 260 million new shares to Valin, at a purchase price of A$644.8 million. The combination of the share placement and the previously announced purchase by Valin of 275 million shares from an existing shareholder will increase Valin's stake in FMG to 17.4% of the Company's equity capital. This remains below the 17.55% standstill maximum shareholding agreement reached between FMG and Valin as part of the original Share Subscription Agreement. <LKAB extends stoppage of mining, pellet plant operations> Sweden's state-owned mining and resources company LKAB has extended the planned summer production stop in mines and pelletizing plants, temporarily closing all iron ore production for eight weeks in summer and two pelletizing plants for one year, the Company announced March 31. The reason is attributed to the persisting decline in demand for iron ore products. Apr. 3: <2009 iron ore price talks to definitely take long time> The new fiscal year in Japan has started without any progress made with respect to 2009 iron ore pricing talks. In the Japanese market, no concrete time table appears to have been set up as to when to commence the negotiations between major iron ore suppliers and steel mills. Steel makers in China, Japan, and South Korea have reportedly called for a price reduction to the levels of fiscal 2007 and been awaiting responses from suppliers, but they have not seemingly shown any responsive attitude so far. <Canadian CLM, Chinese WISCO to forge capital alliance> Canadian Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd (CLM) announced March 30 it has signed a letter agreement with China's Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp (WISCO) on WISCO's strategic investment in CLM. The agreement provides for WISCO to make a total investment of US$240 million in CLM, and CLM will issue its 29,748,897 common shares, which represents 19.9% of the issued and outstanding CLM shares post transaction. In addition, WISCO will receive not less than a 25% interest in a new company that is to be incorporated to operate the Bloom Lake mine, and will commit to purchase a similar proportion of iron ore production over the life of the mine. WISCO will also be entitled to other long-term off-take rights at fair market value from both the initial production and future expansion of the Bloom Lake project as well as from CLM's Lamelee and Peppler Lake projects. The agreement is conditional on approval by the Chinese Government as well as approval of regulatory authorities in both countries, WISCO completing due diligence and the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements, which CLM anticipates occurring before May 1, 2009. <BHP Billiton taking safety measures for Pilbara operations> BHP Billiton announced April 1 that it is taking the following actions: (1) Reducing site access, (2) Improving contractor management, (3) Enhancing existing strategies to prevent excess working hours, (4) Moving rail operations from the Mine Safety and Inspection Act to the Rail Safety Act, (5) Enhancing traffic management standards, and (6) Suspending all non-essential work outside daylight hours. According to the Company, there have been five fatalities at its operations in the Pilbara since July 2008. Apr. 7: <Brazilian MMX's 2008 iron ore production reaches 5. 0 Mt> Brazilian iron ore resources company MMX Mineração e Metálicos S.A. ("MMX") has announced its operational results for the December quarter of 2008. Having put in production in a very short period of time the two iron ore projects of Sudeste and Corumbá during 2008, the Company's iron ore production in 2008 from these two projects totaled 4.988 Mt, comprising 3.402 Mt from Sudeste System and 1.587 Mt from Corumbá System. At the outset, MMX expected production to total 6.2 Mt, but the global financial crisis that commenced in the fall of 2008 has prevented it from fulfilling this target. MMX is producing and marketing iron ore in the states of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul. In addition, the Company is about to launch out into Chile, having acquiring an exploration right in an iron ore deposit in the northern region of this country. Apr. 9: <Cape Lambert begins drilling at Marampa Iron Ore Project> Australian resources company, Cape Lambert Iron Ore Limited announced April 7 that Air Core drilling of the historical tailings located at the Marampa Iron Ore project in Sierra Leone, West Africa has commenced. The initial air core program comprises approximately 150 holes for a total advance of approximately 1,500 meters. The results from the Air Core drilling program will enable the preparation of a JORC compliant mineral resource estimate for the tailings, which is scheduled to be completed in the September quarter of 2009. Air Core drill samples will also be used to prepare a representative bulk tailings sample for bench scale metallurgical test in Australia. Apr. 10: <CISA rejects Rio Tinto-proposed temporary price> China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) announced that it has rejected by April 9 Rio Tinto's offer to fix a temporary price by applying a 20% price reduction from current (2008) price level. CISA has it that such a small cut will not help mitigate steel mills' financial hardships at all when steel prices are largely falling. Before Rio Tinto offered the above, some Chinese mills had called for a 40% cut from the fiscal 2008 price as for the temporary price. |
| last modified : Wed 13 May, 2009 [10:18] |
