Comprehensive news

China's largest steel maker agrees with Vale on 2008 iron ore benchmark price
Baosteel, China's largest iron and steel maker, said on Friday it has agreed with Brazilian iron ore supplier Vale on a 65 percent price rise in 2008.

Nation to Tap More Domestic Minerals to Meet Demand
The nation is stepping up its efforts to further tap domestic mineral resources to meet the huge appetite of its blistering economic growth in the wake of soaring global resource prices.

Iron ore price rise could force China steel rationalization
China imports almost half of the world's seaborne iron ore, making it the largest iron ore consumer in the world, but it has become a price-taker for this basic input for steel -- perhaps because it waited too long to negotiate with major suppliers.

Search for iron ore accelerates
The search for domestic reserves of iron ore will be accelerated in the wake of soaring global prices, a senior official said Wednesday.

Policy

China suspends coal export shipment
To tackle the problem of tight supply of power coal, ensure coal transportation and meet the domestic demand, the Ministry of Communications (MOC) recently issued a circular, requiring commuication department at various levels to pay high attention to transportation of such key materials as coal, grain and agricultural products, and urging timely transshipment of coal.

China resource tax and charge policy to favor less developed areas, ministry
China's resource tax and charge policy will be biased toward less developed areas, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Market

China Baosteel chairman predicts iron ore talks to end by February
China's largest steel company, Baosteel Group, is likely to conclude talks on iron ore prices this month, Monday's China Securities Journal reported, amid reports that Japan's Nippon Steel had agreed a 65-percent price rise with one of the three main suppliers.

Prices of alumina, electrolytic aluminum to go opposite direction
Electrolytic aluminum price is likely to go up due to supply shortage and alumina price may face pressure from oversupply in the near future, industrial experts forecast. Heavy snowfalls in the southern China early this year led to large-scale power cuts and compelled local electrolytic aluminum smelters to stop production.

Mines found

China discovers massive bentonite deposit

A massive bentonite deposit with proven reserves of 610 million tons has been discovered in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, officials said. China discovers five major gold mines in 2007: China's gold prospecting efforts made a series of significant findings, with five major gold mines discovered, in 2007, according to the China Geological Survey Bureau (CGS).

Chinese geologists make uranium, coal find in Xinjiang
After 17 years of work, Chinese geologists have made a minerals breakthrough: they discovered the country's first 10,000-ton level leaching sandstone-type uranium deposit in the Yili basin, which is in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China's latest round of survey finds 800 mineral mines
China's latest round of national resources survey, which has been going on for nine years, has found over 800 new mineral mines, with over 60 being large- and medium- scale mines.

Uranium Reserves Sufficient: China Nuclear Body
China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), the leading domestic nuclear power conglomerate, told Xinhua on Wednesday that it had verified the largest uranium ore deposit in the Ordos Basin in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Official: China has 60.7 bln tons of proven iron ore reserves
China, the world's biggest steel producer and consumer, has 60.7 billion tons of proven iron ore reserves, a senior official said in Tianjin Wednesday.

Mine safety

Fears over new mine accidents
The country's top work safety agency has warned of a new wave of accidents as collieries that were forced to close because of the severe cold start operating again.

Merge and acquisition

Chinalco-Alcoa MOU exposes odds of stake increases in Rio Tinto
Chinalco and Alcoa recently signed an MOU in Australia saying they would buy at most 14.9 percent stake in Rio Tinto, accounting for 10 percent plus of Rio group's total stock capital, which will give them enough weight to have a say in company affairs, China Business News reported Friday.