Indian domestic secondary billet prices have risen by at least 800 rupees ($12) per tonne this week on rising demand for finished long products such as rebar, Metal Bulletin heard on Friday May 25.Prices on Friday for Indian domestic secondary billet, mainly produced via induction furnaces, were 36,600-36,800 rupees ($535-538) per tonne ex-mill, up by 800 rupees per tonne compared with last week's...Read More

Some 101 diamonds (18.57 cts), the largest of which was 1.38 ct, were recovered last month from the treatment of the first evaluation samples taken from the BK16 kimberlite pipe, which forms part of the Orapa kimberlite field, in Botswana. Diamond explorer Tsodilo Resources’ (Tsodilo) sampling programme involves large diameter drilling (LDD); the processing and concentrating of the LDD sampl...Read More

Nexus says it expects to raise a further C$1.5 million through a "follow-on" placement of six million 25c units due to surplus demand for the initial share allotment.The company's share price finished up 4.76% Thursday at 33c, capitalising Nexus at C$4.82 million. The stock was trading at C$2.15 September 5, 2017.The 20 million new 15c shares, and 25c-priced follow-on units, have attached warrants...Read More

Turkey's election angst, geopolitical risk and collapse of the lira is driving up demand for goldTurkish lira has collapsed versus gold and now the lowest on record (see chart)Significant demand for gold coins in Turkey and central bank has repatriated gold and added to gold reserves"Having the gold physically at home allows countries to feel like they are in control of their reserves" Dr Brian...Read More

Global ferrous scrap prices softened during the week ended Friday May 25, with falling Turkish scrap prices and the country's weaker lira muting trade activity both within the country and internationally.The fall in the value of the lira reduced the number of cargoes booked this week, leading to weaker offer prices. The markets in the United States and India both stagnated as a result of the Turki...Read More

Lucara Diamond Corporation is pleased with the progress and developments it has made during the year to date, with the company doing significant work in Botswana and remaining consistent in quality- diamond production. “We are on track to produce the 2018 production estimate, which is 270 000 ct to 290 000 ct a year,” says Lucara CEO and director Eira Thomas. Following the recovery of...Read More

The UK light iron scrap market was stable over the past week, for the seventh week in a row, but downward pressure is expected to come in the near term after a fall in export prices, industry sources told Metal Bulletin on Friday May 25.The market has been steady since mid-April, since which time sterling has fallen in value against the dollar - by about $0.10 to $1.338 on May 25. This has shored...Read More

Speaking at ResourceStocks Sydney 2018, CSA Global's Mark Allen said there had been a fairly consistent deficit in zinc since the 400,000 tonne per annum Century mine in Queensland closed in 2015.Read More

Mining and engineering company Pan African Minerals says it attended the 2018 Mining Investment Botswana Conference, which was held in Gaborone from April 10 to 11, to create partnerships, networks and take advantage of the business matching prospects.The company’s attendance has already yielded some significant opportunities, says Pan African Minerals CEO Nkululeko Mhlaba. “As a resul...Read More

Global direct-reduced iron (DRI) output increased 14.86% year on year in April 2018, according to new statistics published by the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) on Friday April 25.Total output was 7.11 million tonnes in April 2018 compared with 6.19 million tonnes a year previously, an increase of 920,000 tonnes. Production was...Read More

SHANGHAI, May 25 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals, except for SHFE tin, rose across the board on Friday May 25. SHFE nickel led the increases with a gain of 1.8%. SHFE zinc and aluminium gained over 1%, lead and copper inched up,Most ferrous metals closed higher. Hot-rolled coil rose close to 1%, rebar and coke nudged up. Coking coal and iron ore dipped.Copper: The SHFE 1807 contract rebounded from...Read More

SHANGHAI, May 25 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals, except for SHFE tin, rose across the board on Friday May 25. SHFE nickel led the increases with a gain of 1.8%. SHFE zinc and aluminium gained over 1%, lead and copper inched up,Most ferrous metals closed higher. Hot-rolled coil rose close to 1%, rebar and coke nudged up. Coking coal and iron ore dipped.Copper: The SHFE 1807 contract rebounded from...Read More

SHANGHAI, May 25 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals, except for SHFE tin, rose across the board on Friday May 25. SHFE nickel led the increases with a gain of 1.8%. SHFE zinc and aluminium gained over 1%, lead and copper inched up,Most ferrous metals closed higher. Hot-rolled coil rose close to 1%, rebar and coke nudged up. Coking coal and iron ore dipped.Copper: The SHFE 1807 contract rebounded from...Read More

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker on the morning of Friday May 25, down between 0.2% and 0.6%, with copper down by 0.6% at $6,872 per tonne. Zinc was the single exception, up by a marginal 0.1%. Volume on the LME has been average, with 6,612 lots traded as of 7.34 am London time. This follows a general day of firmness on Thursday, when all th...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 7 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures moved slightly lower following release of April Durable Goods Orders at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop of 1.4% versus gain of 2.7% in March. Actual was a drop of 1.7%. Excluding transportation, April Durable Goods Orders were expected to increase 0.5%. Actual was an incr...Read More

SHANGHAI, May 25 (SMM) – To improve air quality and regulate pollution for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, Shandong province, environmental protection authorities in Shandong and Jiangsu will undertake inspections from May 30-June 11. All of Shandong province will subjected to the probes while just Xuzhou and Lianyungang in Jiangsu will be affected. The ef...Read More

SHANGHAI, May 25 (SMM) – Nickel ore inventories across all Chinese ports increased 170,000 wmt from last Friday to 8.12 million wmt as of Friday May 25, SMM data showed.The increase translated to 67,000 mt in metal content, up 2,000 mt from last week. Nickel ore stocks across seven major Chinese ports grew 120,000 wmt from the previous week and registered 5.45 million wmt.  Fo...Read More

Indian domestic secondary billet prices have risen by at least 800 rupees ($12) per tonne this week on rising demand for finished long products such as rebar, Metal Bulletin heard on Friday May 25.Prices on Friday for Indian domestic secondary billet, mainly produced via induction furnaces, were 36,600-36,800 rupees ($535-538) per tonne ex-mill, up by 800 rupees per tonne compared with last week's...Read More

NANNING, May 25 (SMM) – Stricter environmental policies in China are likely to weigh on the zinc die-casting industry, said Ren Lixing, an analyst at Leekee Group in Hong Kong.The industry faces pressure from policies such as production cuts, regulations around dust and explosions and environmental taxes, Ren told delegates at the SMM Lead Zinc Summit on Friday May 25 in Nanning, G...Read More

Only one-third of the 15 - BHP, Zijin Mining, KAZ Minerals, Norilsk Nickel and Anglo American - reported positive production growth for the first three months of 2018.As a result, the top 15 companies' quarter-over-quarter production fell by 136,548 tonnes, or 4.8%.However, on year-on-year basis, production rose by 14.8%, or 345,725t, over the period, though the result was skewed by the interrupti...Read More