China Mine Blast Toll Tops 100

The number of workers killed by a gas explosion at a mine in northeastern China has risen to more than 100.

The official Xinhua news agency said at the time of the pre-dawn blast at the Xinxing mine in Heilongjiang province on Saturday, there were 528 workers in the colliery, and 420 of them had been rescued by Sunday night.

The authorities said 104 were dead and four more were still missing or unaccounted for, believed to be trapped about 500 metres underground.

Some 300 rescue workers were working round-the-clock in search of the missing men but Chinese media said dense gas and collapsed tunnels made the effort slow-going.

There were reports quoting an unnamed employee as saying that the mine's director, deputy director and chief engineer had been fired after the incident.

But Zhang Jinguang, a spokesman for the mining company, told reporters it was an act of nature, and not caused by human error.

"There was no sign that this accident might happen. If there had been, we could have controlled it. On top of that, as I just said, it was a huge and sudden coal and gas explosion like a bomb," he said.

"Development is important, but the growth of GDP shouldn't be achieved at the price of miners' blood"

Li Zhanshu, Heilongjiang provincial governor

Still, Saturday's incident at the nearly 100-year-old mine near the Russian border once again highlighted how heavy demand for power-generating coal in the world's third-largest economy has sometimes come at a high human cost.


Li Zhanshu, the provincial governor, urged officials to better manage coal mines.

"Development is important, but the growth of GDP shouldn't be achieved at the price of miners' blood," he said.

The deadliest accident in China's mining industry in two years was a blow to the central government's efforts to improve safety in the world's deadliest mine industry.

Hundreds of smaller, private mines have been shut down or absorbed into state-owned operations.

Compared to other manual jobs, Chinese coal miners can earn relatively high wages, tempting workers and farmers into rickety and poorly-ventilated shafts.

In the first half of the year, 1,175 people died in officially recorded coal mine accidents across China, a fall of 18.4 per cent compared to the same time last year, according to the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety.

Quoted from: Al-Jazeera.net

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Industrial News

Clariant to Close Plants and Cut Jobs

Swiss speciality chemicals company Clariant said it will close plants at several sites as part of its restructuring programme to cut costs and address overcapacities.

Clariant has nominated its sites in France, the UK, Mexico and parts of two plants in Germany as part of its 'Global Asset Network Optimization' (GANO) project.

The restructuring will cost an estimated $147m (CHF150m), and the proposed closures are expected to affect 570 jobs worldwide, Clariant said.

The initial GANO proposal, including transferring production to other Clariant sites, is expected to be completed between 2011 and 2013.

Shaw to Provide Purification Technology to Yanchang's Olefins Unit

China's Yanchang Petroleum Group has selected The Shaw Group to provide purification technology and design services for its deep catalytic cracking (DCC) unit in Shaanxi province, China.

Shaw will license its proprietary refinery offgas (ROG) purification and recovery technology and supply process design services for Yanchang's 1,500kt/y DCC unit.

The unit, owned by Yanchang's subsidiary Yulin Energy and Chemical, produces ethylene and propylene from heavy oil feedstock.

The ROG technology will enable the unit to produce an additional 270,000t/y of ethylene and 320,000t/y of propylene.

Shaw will also provide the technology for two ultra selective conversion furnaces and other proprietary equipment, as well as technical support during basic and detailed design, commissioning and startup of the DCC unit.

Quoted from: Chemicals Technology

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WACKER Starts Production at China

WACKER starts production at China´s largest dispersible polymer powder plant in Nanjing

Today, WACKER, the Munich-based chemical group, officially opened its new dispersible powder and vinyl acetate ethylene dispersion plant in Nanjing, China. With an annual capacity of 30,000 metric tons of dispersible powder, the Nanjing plant is the largest of its kind in China. The aim of this investment project is to secure sufficient long-term VINNAPAS® polymer-powder capacity and to guarantee Asia-Pacific customers consistently high delivery reliability and product quality in the future, too. WACKER ranks among the world’s largest producers of dispersible polymer powders for the construction industry.

Located in the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park, the new WACKER Nanjing site covers an area of 100,000 square meters. First phase investment of this fully integrated world-class production complex which serves the entire product line from vinyl acetate ethylene dispersions to dispersible powders is over 50 million euros. WACKER already has a staff of nearly 100 employees at its Nanjing facility. Along with WACKER’s dryer plant in Burghausen, Germany, the Nanjing plant is the largest of its kind in the world.WACKER has been producing polymer powders and dispersions for the construction industry for more than 50 years. VINNAPAS® polymer powders are thermoplastic, plasticizer-free polymers derived primarily from vinyl acetate and ethylene. It was in 1957 that WACKER chemists first succeeded in industrially manufacturing the first powder binder as an additive for dry-mortar mixes. Today, WACKER POLYMERS is a global market and technology leader in the field of vinyl acetate-based copolymers and terpolymers.China’s growing demand for VINNAPAS® dispersible polymer powders is chiefly due to the need for dependable, lightweight and energy-efficient building materials. Increasingly, Chinese houses are being lined with exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS).

VINNAPAS® is a major component of the specialty mortars used in these systems. The dispersible polymer powder ensures that the individual layers which make up such systems are bonded together permanently.“A secure and high quality supply of polymer powders is essential for the further development of China’s fast growing construction industry and for China’s tremendous efforts to save energy”, explained Auguste Willems, Member of Wacker Chemie AG’s Executive Board. “This new site will not only provide a reliable supply chain backbone for WACKER POLYMERS in China over the next years with an increasingly competitive cost position and flexibility to better meet the local market demands. It will also enable us to provide our customers with first-class locally manufactured products and solutions, helping them to address the needs of their respective customers even better than in the past”, Willems said.In addition to EIFS, the dispersible polymer powders can be used in diverse building applications such as tile adhesives, self-leveling flooring compounds, plasters, repair mortars, water-proofing cementitious sealing slurries. They enhance important properties in the end product, such as adhesion, cohesion, flexibility and flexural strength. Water retention, processing properties and weatherability also benefit from VINNAPAS®. In China, from the Disney Land in Hong Kong to Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou, from the National Stadium in Beijing to Yincheng Dong Yuan Residential building in Nanjing, VINNAPAS® dispersible polymer powders are widely used in modern architectures.

Quoted from: New Kaznak

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Rio Tinto signs Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement - 2

Rio Tinto today signed an Investment Agreement with the Government of Mongolia for the development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold complex in Mongolia's South Gobi region. Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd, the development partners for the project, will now move forward with the government to address the conditions precedent and commence the development phase. Production is expected to commence in 2013, with a five year ramp up to full expected production of 450,000 tonnes of copper per year and 330,000 ounces of gold.

Bret Clayton, chief executive of Rio Tinto's Copper and Diamonds group, said that Oyu Tolgoi is consistent with Rio Tinto's strategy of investing in large, long life, low cost ore bodies.

"While the size and grade of the existing Oyu Tolgoi ore reserves and mineral resources are already world class, we are also excited by significant exploration upside that still remains," he said. "We plan to be a partner here in Mongolia for decades to come."

Mr Clayton said that the Oyu Tolgoi project holds great potential, both for the parties investing in its development, and for the people of Mongolia. " We believe Oyu Tolgoi will bring far reaching benefits for employees and communities directly linked to the mine, as well as for the people and industries indirectly connected to our operations."

Under the terms of the Investment Agreement and associated Shareholders' Agreement, the Government of Mongolia will own 34 per cent of Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia Inc LLC, the license holder of the Oyu Tolgoi Project. Key terms include a stable operational and tax environment, provisions dealing with the Government's equity participation and financing arrangements.

Rio Tinto initially made a US$303 million investment in a 9.95 per cent shareholding in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd in October 2006 under the terms of a Placement Agreement, and has the obligation to invest US$388 million for a further 9.95 per cent holding at the conclusion of an unconditional investment agreement with the Mongolian government (Tranche 2). Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe have recently agreed to a short term, month by month extension of the October 27 deadline for completing Tranche 2.

Under its current agreements with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd, Rio Tinto has the right to acquire up to 43.1 per cent of Ivanhoe's shares under fixed price options, with a right to further increase that interest to 46.65 per cent through on-market purchases.


Ivanhoe Mines Limited is a Canada-based international mining company with operations focused in Central Asia and the Asia Pacific region. The assets of the Company include Oyu Tolgoi Copper and Gold Project in southern Mongolia, its Cloncurry Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold Project in Queensland, Australia and its Bakyrchik Gold Project in Kazakhstan.

Ivanhoe Mines also owns 80.5% of SouthGobi Energy Resources (SouthGobi). SouthGobi is developing the Ovoot Tolgoi Coal Project in southern Mongolia.

Quoted from: NEW KAZNAK

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Rio Tinto signs Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement

RIO TINTO and Chinalco have begun talks about jointly investing in Mongolia, only months after falling out over one of the largest and most acrimonious non-deals in corporate history.

The preliminary talks concern Oyu Tolgoi, in Mongolia's Gobi Desert, which is touted as the world's largest undeveloped copper and gold resource.



Earlier this month Rio Tinto, Canada's Ivanhoe Mines and the Mongolian Government signed an investment agreement that should lead to construction commencing in the northern spring. But the project is only 200 kilometres from the Chinese border and will require Chinese infrastructure, logistics and marketing co-operation.

"Chinese investment is inevitable," said an investment banker who advises Chinese companies on Mongolian and other investments.

"Rio Tinto needs China to make or transport the mining machinery, connect the electricity and water, build the rail link and of course to buy all the product," the investment banker said.

Chinalco, which is still Rio Tinto's largest shareholder despite the recent collapse of a $US19.5 billion ($21.4 billion) investment deal, is considered the most likely possible Chinese investor in the Oyu Tolgoi project.

It is understood to have got in first to register its interest with the National Development and Reform Commission, the agency responsible for trying to co-ordinate China's outward investment forays.

Sources close to both Chinalco and Rio Tinto confirmed that the companies are proceeding cautiously with early discussions about investment and co-operation at Oyu Tolgoi.

Any involvement by Chinalco in Oyu Tolgoi will be acutely politically sensitive, given Rio Tinto's present low standing in China and China's political and public relations problems in Mongolia.

In July a Chinalco spokesman, Lu Youqing, reportedly told a Chinese newspaper that Rio had "no business credibility" and that it was "not surprising" that executives such as Stern Hu were suspected of breaching the law. He later denied making the comment.

And Mongolia has bitter collective memories of Chinese imperial rule which are now overlaid with anxieties about economic annihilation. A well-placed Mongolian official told the Herald that his government rejected a request by China's Premier, Wen Jiabao, to visit earlier this month.

"We have something in our blood about China," the official said. "It will be very difficult for Chinalco to come into Mongolia."

The Oyu Tolgoi investment agreement says additional investors cannot be brought in without the consent of all parties, notably the Mongolian Government.

Alternatively, Chinalco could gain exposure to Oyu Tolgoi by seeking to invest directly in Ivanhoe Mines.

Rio Tinto holds its interest in Oyu Tolgoi through a 19.7 per cent stake in Ivanhoe and has options to raise its stake to 43 per cent.

Ivanhoe this week demonstrated its good relations with potential Chinese investors when its subsidiary SouthGobi Energy Resources issued a $US500 million convertible note to China Investment Corporation, China's main sovereign wealth fund, to develop an adjacent coal resource.

And the Mongolian official said China Shenhua Energy, China's largest coalmining company, is one of two front-runners to develop Talvan Tolgoi, the world's largest undeveloped coking coal resource.

Shenhua is leading a consortium to build a rail link up to the Mongolian border that could haul coal and copper concentrate from Oyu Tolgoi and Talvan Tolgoi into China.

China's presence in global mining investment is proving a headache as well as an opportunity for many countries in the region. But in many African nations China is the preferred investment source.


Rio Tinto may end up requiring Chinese co-operation to revive its other world-class mining prospect, the Simandou iron ore field in Guinea. Last year the Guinean Government tried but failed to hawk half of Rio Tinto's iron ore tenement to Chinalco, instead handing it to Israeli diamond miner Benny Steinmetz.

"Benny has been in Beijing trying to find a Chinese company to dig the mine and build the infrastructure," a Chinese resource company executive told the Herald.

Exacerbating the uncertainty, Guinea's minister for mining said last week he was negotiating up to $7 billion of mineral and oil deals with an opaque Hong Kong-listed company called China International Fund.

It is unclear whether those rights purport to pertain to assets controlled or recently appropriated from major mining companies in the area, such as Rio's.

Quoted From: NEW KAZNAK

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IPIC’s Links to Europe Grow Stronger with Agreement

Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) agreed to share ownership of its Nova Chemicals unit with the Austrian petroleum company OMV, deepening its long-standing relationship with the European firm in which it holds a 19.6 per cent stake.

Under an agreement struck about a month ago, Borealis, an IPIC-OMV chemicals joint venture based in Vienna, would acquire 24.9 per cent of Nova from IPIC. The deal received regulatory clearance from the European Commission last week.

“IPIC is currently reviewing synergies between us and its other portfolio companies with the objective of creating a new global polyolefins leader,” Nova said earlier this month. “In this context, IPIC and OMV have decided to share control of us similar to their successful joint ownership and control arrangements for Borealis.”

IPIC on July 6 acquired Nova, which has its headquarters in the US city of Pittsburgh and produces plastics and other commodity chemicals in North America and Europe, for about US$2.3 billion (Dh8.44bn) including debt. The deal came after Nova ran into financial difficulties during the global recession.

The transaction gave IPIC, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, an entry to the North American petrochemicals market as well as boosting its European assets.

OMV is IPIC’s major partner in the European chemicals sector. Borealis is 64 per cent owned by IPIC and 36 per cent by OMV. The two firms also jointly own AMI Melamine International, an Austrian fertiliser and chemicals venture.

For more than a decade, OMV has also been a partner with IPIC and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in Abu Dhabi’s main domestic chemicals ventures.

In addition, IPIC and OMV are partners in a Pakistani oil refinery and have plans for joint ventures in oil and gas production.

Now they must also jointly attend to helping Nova weather the economic slump that continues to grip much of North America and Europe. Nova’s seven-member board would include four directors nominated by IPIC, two by OMV and one by Borealis.

Nova had estimated its July and August revenue at $742 million, down 48 per cent from $1.42bn for the comparable period last year. “Margins have improved during 2009, but have not yet recovered to levels experienced prior to the economic slowdown that began in the fourth quarter of 2008,” the company said.

quoted from: NEW KAZNAK

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