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| HOME >> Topics List >> February, 2010 >> 10 (Wed) |
| Major Events In Jan 2010 Over Ferrous Raw Materials (3) |
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Jan. 18: <FerrAus Discovers new orebody at Mirrin Mirrin prospect in Eastern Pilbara> Australian iron ore explorer and developer FerrAus Limited that is advancing the Davidson Creek and Robertson Range iron ore projects in eastern Pilbara, Western Australia announced January 14 that it has obtained favorable results from its drilling program conducted for approximately one third of the total Mirrin Mirrin Prospect, located two kilometers northwest of Python Resource and is the closest of the FerrAus prospects to the Jimblebar rail head (approximately 30 km to the west), in the Pilbara region, Western Australia. Drill results have confirmed discovery of substantial iron mineralization with significant intercepts of up to 76 meters at 60.3% Fe. Maiden resource is expected to be confirmed during the first quarter 2010, and further drilling on the remainder of the Mirrin Mirrin trend is planned for the second quarter of 2010. Jan. 19: <Australian Centrex obtains PIRSA consent to Bungalow Magnetite project in South Australia> Australian mineral resources exploration company Centrex Metals Limited ("Centrex") announced January 15 that it has been advised by PIRSA A/Register that the A/Executive Director, Minerals and Energy Resources gave consent to the Centrex / Baotou Agreements. Centrex and Baotou Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. ("Baogang") signed a series of formal transaction agreements to formalize the terms and conditions of the Bungalow Magnetite Joint Venture between the companies on August 27, 2009. Australian and South Australian government consents and permits, such as those of FIRB, required under the conditions precedent to the Baotou Agreements as well as Chinese government approvals have already been granted to date. <Evraz 2009 crude steel production down 13.5% y-o-y at 15.284 Mt> Russian steelmaking and mining company Evraz Group S.A. announced January 15 its operational report for 2009, which shows pig iron and crude steel production during the period resulted in two-digit falloffs year on year due to plunged production in the first half associated with the Lehman Shock in September 2008. Crude steel production dropped 13.5% to 15.284 Mt. Concentrate output was up 56.2% year on year at 5.648 Mt, and pellets up 4.0% at 5.515 Mt. <Ferrexpo's 2009 iron ore production 28.547 Mt> Ukrainian iron ore producer Ferrexpo announced its iron ore production report for 2009, showing iron ore and concentrates slightly increased from the previous year, with iron ore up 2.8% at 28.547 Mt and concentrate up 1.0% at 10.565 Mt. Pellet output was practically flat at 8.609 Mt. Ferrexpo continued to produce at full capacity throughout the fourth quarter 2009 since March 2009. Approximately 86% of sales in the fourth quarter were made to existing portfolio of long-term contract customers, with the majority of the balance to strategic customer trials in Japan, Western Europe and India. Jan. 20: <WA EPA recommends approval of Grange's Albany Port Expansion Project> Australian iron ore developer Grange Resources Limited announced January 18 that the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has recommended that the Albany Port Expansion Project receive environmental approval. The published EPA bulletin will now be considered by the West Australian Minister for the Environment for the final ministerial approval process. This, Grange says, is another significant milestone for the Company and its Southdown project near Albany in Western Australia. The Albany Port Expansion Project will allow the port to cater for Capesize vessels, supporting the proposed export of iron ore concentrate from Grange's Southdown iron ore mine. Jan. 21: <BHPB's CY 2009 iron ore production sets record high 128 Mt> According to the Production Reports for October to December 2009 announced by BHP Billiton on January 20, production of Western Australian Iron Ore on a 100% interest basis increased 9.4% year on year to 34.921 Mt and sales rose 9.1% to 34.033 Mt. Both production and sales were new quarterly records. As a results, production in calendar 2009 of Western Australian Iron Ore was up 0.6% year on year at 128.156 Mt, and sales down 1.5% at 128.674 Mt, each representing the first and the second highest in the Company's history, respectively. <BHPB, ArcelorMittal kick off talks about combining African iron ore assets> BHP Billiton announced January 19 that it has entered into preliminary discussions with ArcelorMittal about potentially combining the two companies' iron ore interests held in Liberia and Guinea into a single joint venture. The combination of these interests together with each firm's execution capabilities and financial strength, its says, would provide an excellent platform on which to build an iron ore business in West Africa of world-class scale and scope and bring meaningful benefits to the region. The partners will continue to assess the merits of a potential joint venture and will work with the respective governments of Liberia and Guinea to seek their support. It is anticipated that this will take several months. <Ansteel's 2009 iron, steel output surpasses 20 Mt each> According to the announcement of China's leading steel company Anshan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp ("Ansteel"), production (before consolidation) in calendar 2009 of pig iron, crude steel and steel products has reached 20.5095 Mt, 20.1266 Mt, and 18.9979 Mt, respectively, with all these representing the Company's historical records, and pig iron and crude steel output first exceeding 20 Mt each. Ansteel informs that the record setting has been significantly contributed by iron and steel output at Bayuquan steelworks that surpassed 5.0 Mt in 2009. Jan. 22: <Vale to officially sponsor Brazilian pavilion at 2010 Shanghai Expo> Vale will be the official sponsor of the Brazilian Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China. The Company sees that participating in this big event is a natural choice for Vale, given its long-term partnership with the largest nation in the Far East. <BHPB poised to launch ipon agricultural potash business> BHP Billiton announced January 20 that approval has been given for US$240 million (BHP Billiton share 100%) of capital expenditure to support the development of the first stages of the Jansen Potash Project in Saskatchewan, Canada. This pre-approval expenditure will facilitate the early stage work for the establishment of the production and service shafts. The Jansen project is being designed to produce approximately 8 Mt/a of agricultural grade potash, and represents BHP Billiton's first production of potash. The funding will be used to start the required ground freezing to allow safe and effective shaft sinking to take place, as well as completing detailed engineering, equipment and materials commitments and other elements that will allow the shaft sinking to begin once full environmental permits are in place, anticipated in mid-2011. The Jansen project is in the final stages of pre-feasibility study and is expected to move to feasibility phase in mid-2010, with a full investment decision expected in late 2011. |
| last modified : Tue 16 Feb, 2010 [10:07] |
