| The TEX Report Topics < Iron Ore > | |
| HOME >> Topics List >> May, 2009 >> 11 (Mon) |
| Major Events In Apr 09 Over Ferrous Raw Materials (2) |
|
Apr. 10: <MMX announces Serra Azul's updated mineral resources> Brazilian iron ore resources company and Toronto Stock Exchange-listed MMX Mineração e Metálicos S.A. ("MMX") announced April 6 a new Technical Report on the mineral resources of Serra Azul deposit that along with Bom Sucesso, constitutes the Company's Sudeste System. The Report was prepared in accordance with National Instrument NI-43.101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), which requires this reporting of this kind from mining companies listed on it. Apr. 13: <China's iron ore imports in March set new monthly record> According to China's Customs Statistics (preliminary) for March 2008 announced by the country's Customs General Administration April 10, iron ore imports into the country during the period totaled 52.08 Mt, a new monthly record. The imports amounted to US$4,199,443 thousand. <Australian DMC Mining begins metallurgical testwork of Mayoko iron ore sample> Australian DMC Mining Limited announced April 9 that it has commenced a sighter metallurgical testwork program for its 80% owned Mayoko Iron Ore Project in The Republic of The Congo ("ROC"). The testwork will provide a preliminary appraisal of product characteristics of the iron mineralization defined in the current Inferred Mineral Resource estimate, which totals 33 Mt at 56% Fe. In May 2008 DMC Mining announced the result of initial JORC resource estimate conducted at the Mayoko Iron Ore Project to the following effect: (1) Total Inferred Mineral Resource estimate of 33 Mt at 55.5% Fe (cutoff grade: 50% Fe), (2) Geological modelling of the Project has outlined an exploration target of 110 - 135 Mt of hematite enrichment at 55 - 58% Fe, and 750 - 800 Mt magnetite at 35 - 45% Fe. Independent research confirms ROC as one of the lowest risk countries in Africa. The Mayoko Iron Ore Project is located near the border of Gabon,. A railroad ("Comilog railroad") is currently in use and runs through the Mayoko licence area from the western side to the north eastern corner of the licence. The rail connects to the second largest city in the country of Pointe Noire on the Congo (Brazzaville) south west coast. Direct discussions between DMC and the Minister of Mining indicate the rail is accessible by DMC subject to normal commercial terms. <NML provides updated scheduling for DSO, Taconite Projects> Canadian New Millennium Capital Corp (NML) announced April 13 an update on the status of its three iron ore development projects: Direct Shipping Ore (DSO), LabMag and KéMag Taconite projects. Apr. 15: <MMX announces Sudeste port construction granted environmental license> Brazilian MMX announced April 13 that its group company LLX Logística S.A. (LLX), through its subsidiary LLX Sudeste Operações Portuárias Ltda (LLX Sudeste) obtained a preliminary environmental license for the construction of "Port Sudeste", a port terminal with a capacity of 50 Mt/a of iron ore. Located in the municipality of Itaguaí, 80 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro, and only 4 km away from MRS railway network, Port Sudeste will handle the production from MMX's Sudeste System (MMX Sudeste) mines located in the state of Minas Gerais, comprising Serra Azul and Bom Sucesso deposits. A long-term contract for land lease and iron ore handling at Sudeste Port has already been executed with LLX and will serve all the exporting requirements of MMX Sudeste. Apr. 16: <Four state-owned Tianjin steel makers to be consolidated into one> National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in the Chinese government will take up further measures to promote restructure and consolidation of the steel industry. Incorporating additional consolidations for such steel companies in different regions as Baosteel Group, Anben Group and Wugang Group to form new steel groups with crude steel production capacity of or over 50 Mt/a, NDRC will promote consolidation of steel mills operating in Tianjin Special Economic Zone and Shanxi Province as the precedents already realized in the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Guangdong, etc. Restructure and consolidation driven by NDRC will give birth to super-large steel companies that are capable of producing 50 Mt/a or over of crude steel, and large steel companies capable of producing between 10 and 30 Mt/a of crude steel. NDRC aims to have five top ranked newly born steel companies to have a combined crude steel production share reach 40% in the total. Specifically, the four steel companies operating in Tianjin Special Economic Zone of Tianjin Tiantie Metallurgical Group Corp, Tianjin Tiangang Group Co Ltd, Tianjin Pipe (Group) Corp, and Tianjin Metallurgy Group Co Ltd, will be consolidated into one sole steel mill having a crude steel production capacity of 23 Mt/a. <Rio Tinto's Jan - Mar iron ore production down 14.9% to 39.8 Mt> Rio Tinto announced April 15 its operational results for the January to March quarter of 2009. Iron ore production was down 14.9% from the previous corresponding period to 39.8 Mt. Operations were adversely impacted by the large-scale production cuts being practised by world steel companies, resulting in significant reduction both in production and sales across Western Australian, Canadian and Brazilian operations. Apr. 17: <New large iron ore deposits discovered in Anhui Province, China> New large iron ore deposits were discovered in the central southern area of China's Anhui Province. According to CISA, a recent geological survey of the province has resulted in the discovery of a super-large magnetite deposit and a pyrite ore deposit in the valley of Nihe River, Lujiang, with a proven reserve of 120 Mt for the former and more than 30 Mt for the latter. The combined potential economic value reaches in excess of 40 billion RMB. <Mineral resource estimate for Mauritanian Lebtheinia Project revised> Australian Sphere Investments Limited announced April 16 an updated JORC Code compliant Mineral Resource of 2,533 Mt for the Company's 100% owned Lebtheinia Iron Ore Project in Mauritania. The resource includes 2,179 Mt of Indicated Resource and 354 Mt of Inferred Resource. Compared with the previous Resource estimate of 2,311 Mt announced in Dec. 2008, total Resource has increased by 222 Mt and the proportion of Indicated Resource in the total Mineral Resource has increased from 76% to 86%. Apr. 20: <Vale sells all Usiminas shares to four companies incl. Nippon Steel> Brazilian Vale announced April 16 that it concluded the sale of all of its 14,869,368 shares issued by Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S/A (Usiminas) and bound by the current Shareholders Agreement of Usiminas, corresponding to 5.89% of Usiminas common shares and 2.93% of its total capital (5th largest shareholder), to a group of current Usiminas' shareholders (Nippon Steel, Camargo Correa, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Votorantim). The price was R$40.00 per Usiminas common share and the transaction totaled R$594.7 million. As a result, Vale no longer holds any participation in the Usiminas capital, and therefore is no longer part of the controlling group. Back in January this year Vale reached an in-principle agreement with Nippon Steel and Japan Usiminas on the sale of its 5.89% shares. |
| last modified : Thu 14 May, 2009 [10:33] |
