Expanding the scope of the Kimberley Process (KP) to include issues related to human rights and labour relations, as is being advocated by the World Diamond Council (WDC), will help create conditions in which Sub-Saharan Africa's artisanal diamond miners can meet their economic potential, and so support the development of their countries' economies, says WDC executive director Marie-Chanta...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Central African Republic (CAR) is trying to entice large diamond-mining companies to set up operations in thecountry, as part of its effort to reform the sector and meetKimberley Process (KP) regulations. The government has already contacted both De Beers andAlrosa, President Faustin-Archange Touadera said in a speech to the Antwerp trade Monday. Allowing established companies...Read More

Aim-listed Botswana Diamonds has completed the intensification drilling programme on the Frischgewaagt and Hartbeesfontein farms, which form part of its Thorny River diamond dyke project, in South Africa.The intensification drilling programme comprised 33 holes and 1 282 m of drilling which, together with previous work, has resulted in a total drilled depth of 3 299 m in five areas on th...Read More

Turkish steel producers remained silent in the scrap market for a third day on Thursday April 4, making no purchases of deep-sea cargoes while continuing to look for political clarity, sources told Fastmarkets.Mills continued to await official confirmation of the results of Turkey's countrywide mayoral elections, which were held on March 31.The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has c...Read More

LONDON – The story of how two prospectors, down to their last nickels, discovered diamonds in Canada’s frozen north is the stuff of legend.Back in 1982, Chuck Fipke and Stewart Blusson laid low in a pup tent by day while their competitor De Beers hauled 45-gallon drums of rock samples to a nearby outpost for transport to South Africa. Using the long hours of summer sunlight north of th...Read More

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) plans to ship its first cargo of the high-grade iron ore concentrate product from its Iron Bridge Magnetite Project in Western Australia by mid-2022.The project will be able to produce iron ore at a rate of 22 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) per year or 20 million dry metric tonnes (dmt) per year once it reaches full capacity within the 12 months to mid-2023, the miner...Read More

Physical iron ore prices were range-bound on Thursday April 4 after spikes earlier in the week, with China entering a long weekend from Friday to Sunday for the Tomb Sweeping Festival.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $92.90 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.18 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $92.02 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down by $0.18 per tonne.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $95.53...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified mining company Anglo American hopes to have a truck running on hydrogen in the next 12 months, Anglo American technical director Tony O’Neill said on Wednesday, when he spoke of foreseeing the company’s installed diesel fleet one day being replaced by an electrical alternative.  To test the departure from the use of carbon fuels...Read More

Seaborne coking coal prices were steady on Thursday April 4 ahead of a holiday in China.On the Global Coal trading platform, a May-laycan cargo of premium hard coking coal in the premium segment was offered at $205 per tonne fob Australia during the day, while bids were made at $195 per tonne fob. A day earlier, a similar cargo was traded at $198 per tonne fob Australia. Elsewhere, a...Read More

The official end of the winter heating season in China - the world's largest iron ore consumer - a few days ago has coincided with a pick-up in market interest in the price spreads between different grades of the steelmaking raw material.On Monday April 1, a total of 350 lots of the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) 65% Fe iron ore cfr China futures contract were cleared and traded. The following day, 2,...Read More

China's hot-rolled coil exporters maintained their offers amid domestic price gains on Thursday April 4, despite low demand among overseas buyers.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,890-3,900 yuan ($580-581) per tonne, up 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Tianjin): 3,840-3,860 yuan per tonne, up 50 yuan per tonneDomestic prices continued to receive support from the strengthening iron ore market ups...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange edged lower during morning trading on Thursday April 4, hindered by poor risk appetite among European investors while a slump in German industrial production continues to indicate economic uncertainty. Over the March period, German industrial orders fell by 4.2% which is the sharpest fall since January 2017. Concerns over the health of the German eco...Read More

Global Atomic's 'transformational discovery' changes everythingSPONSOREDglobal atomic corp"Tshisekedi would be a relatively positive figure for mining investment"SPONSOREDverisk maplecroftAlkane maps own path to world-class critical metals producerSPONSOREDalkane resourcesWestern Atlas drill-ready in NunavutSPONSOREDwestern atlas resourcesCEO Ivan Arriagada said the full proj...Read More

Zinc prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange outperformed with an increase of 1.1% during morning trading on Thursday April 4 amid optimism over US-China trade talks and the metal's solid fundamentals.Hopes of an imminent trade deal between the United States and China had boosted sentiment across commodities markets, including those for the base metals, on Wednesday. "Sentiment in the base metal s...Read More

"Tshisekedi would be a relatively positive figure for mining investment"SPONSOREDverisk maplecroftHow to monitor and manage your Tailings Storage FacilitySPONSOREDisometrixQuality emerges at Galan's blue-chip lithium addressSPONSOREDgalan lithiumCEO Alberto Lavandeira said Atalaya had delivered the majority of its key performance indicators ahead of or in line with expectations, whic...Read More

With the annual Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) conference kicking off on Tuesday April 9 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Fastmarkets looks at the price moves in the minor metals complex since last year's conference. There is a general bearish mood in the minor metals complex heading into the conference this year in contrast to last year's multi-year highs set in most of the markets. Most of the min...Read More

Cobalt market participants have been keeping an eye out for potential non-industrial buying, such as stockpiling from China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB), since global metal prices slid to two-year lows at the beginning of this year.A spotlight has been cast on the Chinese bureau ever since it carried out extensive research into major Chinese producers' products and output in the first quarter of t...Read More

Eastern promise for PolarXSPONSOREDpolarxThe key to this transformation is deploying the incline block-cave mining method in the relatively modest-sized Papamono mine.Read More

Cobalt trade log including business, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb on an in-warehouse basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets' price assessment for standard-grade cobalt, in-warehouse, $ per lb Click here for Fastmarkets' price assessment for alloy-grade cobalt, in-warehouse, $ per lb In light...Read More

Metals traders in Switzerland are feeling the brunt of a pullback from trade financing activities by banker Credit Suisse, after a 2018 deal turned sour and left the bank less keen to be exposed to the high-risk, low-margin commodities business.The Zurich-based bank is a principal supplier of financing to Switzerland's commodities trading community, from crude oil to copper concentrates to alumini...Read More