Indias domestic steel prices may see hike for October shipment

As per market reports almost all the Indian steel makers are contemplating an increase in domestic steel prices for shipments in October 2006. The quantum of increase is likely to be announced tomorrow, which would be the first working day of the month.

However the market reports indicate that the average increase for flat products could be in the range of Rs 800 to Rs1000 per tonne while for long products it could be around Rs 500 per tonne.

The price rise is fuelled by strong growth in demand as well as firming up of international steel prices.

Fortune 500 List 5 Indian companies featured

2005 was a banner year for most Global 500 companies. It took $13.7
Fortunes Global 500 list of companies for 2005 raised the bar to get into it to $13.7 billion in revenue up from $12.4 billion in 2004. Profits for the 500 companies jumped 30%. Total revenues for the Global 500 in 2006 add up to $18.9 trillion, a third of the world's GDP.

5 Indian companies featured in the list, with Indian Oil bagging the top spot among Indian companies and SBI just making it by a whisker.

Source Fortune 500
Revenue & profits in $ billion

The Global 500 list is an annual ranking of the world's largest corporations by revenues.

Karnataka to step up drive for steel investments

After Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, the state of Karnataka, riding on rich deposits of iron ore, has seen massive investments totaling to Rs30.600 crores in the steel sector during last two years and plans to catch up with other states.

The Bellary-Raichur-Koppal region accounts for 2.5 billion tonne of the state's 3.5 billion tonne of iron ore deposits and has come on the scanner. About 30 million tonne almost 30.4% of the Indias total iron ore production was extracted from the Bellary-Raichur-Koppal region, making it one of the key producing regions in India.

Other iron ore rich states have announce a string of MoUs with domestic as well as global players but Karnataka was left behind in comparison. Mr Katta Subrahmanya Naidu industry minister of Karnataka said that "The situation has now changed. We will initiate a process to woo mega players by providing them captive mining facility."

So far Bellary district alone has attracted investments worth Rs 14,083 crore, followed by Raichur district with Rs 12,748 crore and Koppal with Rs 3,733 crore. Out of the 100 sponge iron plants sanctioned in the last three years in the state, 74 are located in these three districts with many of them have captive mining facility. Out of the 22 steel mills sanctioned in the state, only two are located outside the Bellary triangle.

According to Karnataka Udyog Mitra, the nodal agency for investments in the state some of the major players in the steel industry include
JSW Steel Ltd (Rs 5,500 crore)
South West Iron Steel Ltd (Rs 3,206 crore)
Kalyani Steels Ltd (Rs 353 crore)
Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd (Rs 174 crore)
Ispat Industries Ltd (Rs 7,144 crore)
Surana Industries Ltd (Rs 562 crore)
BMM Ispat Ltd (233 crore)
Mineral Sales Private Ltd (Rs 2,200 crore)
Kariganur Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd (Rs 25 crore)

Center to give incentive to states for hydel power plants

Indias central government has decided to give all hydro power rich states a monetary incentive of Rs 0.01 per unit of power produced by a hydro project over and above the 12% free power that states receive for hydro power projects. The decision will be applicable in all states, including Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Jammu & Kashmir. This incentive is already being given to Arunachal Pradesh as part of a MoU signed with NHPC, NTPC and Neepco.

Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde union power minister said All firms will have to set aside one paise per unit from hydro electric projects as contribution to a local area development trust." He added that the governments will now have to build homes for the displaced instead of only compensating people whose homes and livelihood have been submerged due to the displacement by hydro projects.

Mr Shinde clarified that the government is not contemplating a similar scheme from thermal projects to benefit states that have coal reserves.

India is promoting hydroelectric plants as these projects prove to be cheaper than those based on coal or gas and are also environment-friendly. India has a total potential to generate 150,000MW of electricity from hydel resources, but the country has so far tapped just about 33,000MW.

Gujarat NREs Zelos Resources to buy oil blocks in Australia

Gujarat NRE Cokes subsidiary Zelos Resources is reported to be in advanced talks to buy 90% stake in a private Australian oil and gas company, which is exploring a 10,000 square kilometer oil block in the Canning basin in North West Australia. As per reports, the deal may be finalized soon.

Zelos will invest about $3.5million as working capital in the two years after the acquisition. The company will then submit the development plan for the block. Zelos is working to obtain required regulatory and environmental clearances are required.

As per reports as there are established oil resources within close proximity of in all four corners of the block under consideration, there is a high possibility of finding oil reserves in the said block.

Zelos has a portfolio of gold, coal, iron ore and base metal projects in Tasmania and South Australia. It has recently acquired the Catamaran coalfield in Tasmania.

MP approves Rs 8,000 crore investment proposal of Sanghi

The Madhya Pradesh government has last week approved proposal of Sanghi Industries Ltd for investing Rs 403 crore in setting up a cement plant of a 3 million tonne capacity with a captive power unit of 60 MW and Rs 7,020 crore in a thermal power plant of 2,000 MW at Satna and Katni.

A government spokesperson said The Project Implementation and Clearance Board had given in principle clearance to the project. The company has been asked to apply for the allotment of coal blocks and limestone deposits.

Sanghi has asked for government support in getting a mining lease in Satna, the allotment of government owned 2,000 acres land, exemptions of electricity duty on a captive power plant for 15 years, permission to draw 10,000 cubic meters of water a day from the nearby sources, 100% exemption on the payment of sales tax and value added tax for 14 years, exemptions from stamp duties and registration charges and equity participation by the Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation and Madhya Pradesh Trade and Infrastructure Facilitation Corporation.

Sanghi has also asked for allocation of virgin coal blocks in the Pench-Kanhan valley and unexplored blocks of the Singarauli coalfields in Chhindwara, Sidhi and Bilaspur of Chhattisgarh.

RINMOI to target Rs 200 crore turnover

Rastriya Ispat Nigam Limiteds Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has signed an agreement with Manganese Ore India Limited in July end to form a 50:50 JV named RINMOI for producing ferro alloys in Vizag. RINMOI would initially have a manufacturing capacity of nearly 60,000 tonnes of ferro alloy per year and would cater to RINLs current requirement of about 40,000 tonnes of silico manganese.

Furnaces will be set up to produce ferro manganese and silico manganese. RINL will supply its surplus power to the company and MOIL will supply high grade manganese ore. Also, it would provide technical skill to the company in its day to day operations.

The approximate turnover of the joint venture company would be Rs. 200 crore per annum. The project cost is expected to be around Rs. 90 crore. The equity contribution by MOIL and RINL would be to the tune of Rs. 20 crore each and the balance would be through external borrowing. The equity contributions by MOIL and RINL would be met through internal resources by the respective companies.

S&P improves long term corporate credit ratings of Japanese steel mills

Standard & Poor's announced last week that it has raised its long term corporate credit ratings for Nippon Steel Corp, JFE Holdings Inc, Kobe Steel Ltd and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd, citing a turnaround in their ability to negotiate prices and their improved financial profiles. S&P has raised its ratings for Nippon Steel to BBB from BBB-, for JFE Holdings to 'BBB from BBB-, for Kobe Steel to BBB- from BB and for Sumitomo Metal Industries to BBB- from BB.

S&P said Consolidation in the steel industry, which suffers from higher risk generally because of fluctuating product prices, has eased competition and enabled the steel makers to regain their price negotiation ability. The Japanese steel makers are also continuing to benefit from their focus on high value added products, which supports their leading positions in the domestic and export markets.

S&P added The ratings may be raised if the companies can improve their business franchises by differentiating themselves from overseas peers that are aggressively expanding, and improve and stabilize profitability and cash flow.

Norilsk sees high nickel prices as unconstructive for producers

Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel feels that global nickel prices have risen beyond the point that they are very unconstructive for producers.

Mr David Humphreys of Norilsk while speaking on the sidelines of a copper price seminar hosted by the Catholic University in Santiago told Dow Jones Newswires that Norilsk is not happy with current London Metal Exchange nickel prices, which are hovering around $28,000 a metric ton. In the middle of the year it was a good price, but right now it's damaging. There's a significant stress on substitution and that doesn't serve the industry's interests as a whole.

LME three month nickel prices peaked at $30,000 per ton on August 23rd from around $18,000-$19,000 per ton in June 2006. This was an all time high and represented a 124% gain since the start of 2006. LME nickel stocks currently stand at 5,172 tons, of which 1,992 tons is held on canceled warrant, indicating it's accounted for and about to be drawn down. This leaves just 3,180 tons of nickel available to the market in warehouses, less than daily global nickel consumption of around 3,500 tons.

Ex bosses of Erdemir & Isdemir plan to set up a new flat steel mill

Turkey's flat product consumption is estimated at about 9 million tonnes out of which about 3 million tonnes is domestically produced and the balance is imported. The domestic supplies are mainly done by Erdemir.

It is reported that several players are eying the flat product market and have firmed up plans to set up steel mills

lakoğlu Group is expected to commence operations of a new production facility in Dilovası soon.

As per reports Kibar Holding has started action to set up a steel mill at an investment of $2 billion in the Filyos Valley of Turkey. Mr Kerim Dervisoglu is the chairman of Kibar Holding Investment Group and as per reports Assan Aluminums GD Mr Atamer Giyici and Mr Recai Berber will also join the move. Mr Kerim Dervisoglu former GD of Erdemir and Mr Atamer Giyici former GD of Isdemir had resigned before the privatization process for Erdemir and Isdemir was done and Mr Recai Berber chairman of Erdemir quit after the completion of its sale to Turkish Army Fund OYAK.

SteelBenchmarker reports huge price drop in US hot band prices

SteelBenchmarker has reported that the US hot band spot price for September 25th fell by $20 to $655 per ton, the largest plunge since SteelBenchmarker was launched April 12, 2006 and the biggest decline since June to July of 2005 when the price fell $60 per ton from $500 to $440.

The world export price for September 25 declined $6 to $539 per ton versus the September 11 report but up $22 per ton or 4% since April.

The Western Europe HRB ex works price was down $1 to $608 per ton but up $10 per ton or about 2% since May.

The Chinese HRB ex-works price increased $8 to $398 per ton from $390 two weeks ago but down $4 per ton or about 1% since April.

SteelBenchmarker publishes steel benchmark prices for hot band, cold rolled coil and twice a month.

EBRD to part finance Tenariss Calarasi steel mills expansion

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will grant a Euro 10 million credit to Tenaris Groups Donasid as partial funding for modernizing and increasing the production capacity of the its steel plant at Calarasi in Romania.

The total cost of the project is estimated at Euro 60 million and the production capacity of the plant will increase to 0.425 million tonnes of steel by 2009 from 0.230 million tonnes.

Donasid's supplies almost 95% of its output to Tenariss Zalau based seam less tube facility Silcotub.

NDRC says that steel production slows down in August

Chinas National Development and Reform Commission has announced that China's iron production slowed in August to 16.6%, 5.9 percentage points lower than the July pace, indicating that government measures to rein in fixed assets investment are taking effect.

The slowing pace comes amid predictions that demand for iron will shrink in the next six months.

Mt Gibsons Aztec takeover to hot up this week

Mount Gibson is expected to go on the offensive this week by announcing an institutional acceptance facility for its bid. The IAF allows institutions to indicate their willingness to accept through a collection agent.

Aztec's biggest shareholder, Cambrian Mining, has already accepted the offer, giving Mount Gibson a relevant interest in more than 32% of Aztec.

Aztec Resources has renewed its call for shareholders to reject the $230 million scrip bid from Mount Gibson Iron, saying the signing of a $65 million equipment finance & lease deal with Komatsu has removed doubts on funding for its Koolan Island iron ore development.

Aztec has also raised the prospect that an alternative to the Mount Gibson offer could emerge after third parties moved through the group's data room in Perth last week. But no promises on that score were made, with Aztec saying only that Mount Gibson's extension of its bid to October 13 provided some time.

The bid is one Mount Gibson share trading at 69 for every three Aztec trading at 22.5 each, valuing Aztec at 23 a share. Aztec has said the bid is inadequate and opportunistically timed in that it comes ahead of the expected December start to production at Koolan Island. In a letter to shareholders, Aztec chairman Ian Burston said that the board was not against consolidation in the Western Australian iron ore industry. He said that the fundamental issue is ensuring a fair outcome for Aztec shareholders."

Gas explosion kills 13 in Tianlong coal mine

Xinhua news agency has reported that a gas explosion at the Tianlong coal mine at Jixi City in Chinas North Eastern Heilongjiang province on Saturday has killed 13 miners.

Xinhua has reported that the explosion had trapped 21 miners working underground but 8 people were rescued.

Investigations into the cause of the accident were continuing at the mine.

Tianlong coal mine produces 90,000 tons of coal per year.

Lundin takes 49% stake in Metropols Ozernoye and Nazarovskoye depositsI

Russian IFC Metropol announced last month that it has sold a 49% stake in the Ozernoye and Nazarovskoye deposits to Lundin Mining Corp for $135 million. Lundin and Metropols subsidiary Eastern Siberian Metals had signed a letter of intent in June to buy a 49% interest in the Ozernoye zinc lead deposit in the Republic of Buryatia. In subsequent talks, the two parties agreed to include a similar stake in the Nazarovskoye zinc and gold deposit.

Sweden's Lundin Mining is to provide 60% of financing of estimated expenditure of $400 million for developing this project. The remaining 40% of financing will be attracted by Lundin and Metropol in proportion to their stake in the venture.

The Ozernoe project is located 250 kilometers northeast of Ulan Ude, the capital of the Republic of Buryatia in the Russian Federation. A preliminary assessment of the project contemplates construction of an open-pit mining operation. Indicated resources are estimated at 157 million tonnes grading 5.2% zinc and 1% lead.

EuroZinc Mining Corporation expects to benefit from a final agreement under which Lundin Mining Corp. will acquire a 49% interest in Russia's Ozernoe zinc-lead project. Mr Colin K Benner vice chairman and CEO of EuroZinc said "After the planned merger between EuroZinc and Lundin Mining, EuroZinc shareholders will have a significant stake in this project, which has the potential to become one of the world's largest zinc mines."

Uncertainties swirl around Dofasco, Weirton and Sparrow

Mittal Steel Mittal trying to win regulatory approval for its merger with Arcelor SA is legally bound by the US Department of Justice to shed Dofasco or Weirton by November 28th in order to resolve anti trust issues. That deadline can be extended by another 60 days.

Mittal Steels first choice is to sell Dofasco to ThyssenKrupp AG but last week said that it will sell one of its US plants either Weirton in West Virginia or Sparrow's Point near Baltimore if it can't dispose of Dofasco by the deadline.

Arcelor bought Dofasco in January 2006 and had hoped that Dofasco would be an entry point into the North American market, when it paid C$5.6 billion for the asset in a bidding war with ThyssenKrupp. While launching the bid for Arcelor Mittal Steel had agreed to sell Dofasco to ThyssenKrupp. During the takeover battle, Arcelor locked it into an independent trust to prevent resale. Arcelor finally yielded to a higher offer of Mittal Steel but the now Dofasco can not be sold till the Dutch trust that now controls Dofasco is dissolved.

Mr Charles Bradford of Soleil-Bradford Research said that "You can almost take a Machiavellian approach to this, because Dofasco's a good company and I'm not so sure that Mittal wouldn't rather have it than Weirton or Sparrow's Point. Weirton and Sparrow's Point are not good plants Dofasco is. If you want to take a back handed approach to it, this could be a way of keeping it."

Analysts also said that the US plants will be a much harder sell. They say companies like ThyssenKrupp are interested in Dofasco because of it is a major steel supplier to the North American auto industry and both Weirton or Sparrow's Point lack that capacity.

Dofasco is currently under a court order to function as if it were independent from Arcelor-Mittal and said it isn't party to any discussions about its future.

Rio Tinto partnering with Afrocentric to increase presence in Africa

Rio Tinto plc and South African investment company Afrocentric Investment Corporation have completed a broad mutual co operation agreement for jointly pursuing selected new exploration and mining initiatives in South Africa and the rest of the African continent. The strategic agreement is designed to take advantage of the relative skills of each party, industry expertise and local knowledge.

The strategic agreement was consistent with AfroCentric's stated intention of partnering with established international companies seeking to pursue new or expanded business opportunities in South Africa.

Rio Tinto's present interests in South Africa lie mainly with copper and heavy minerals with 46.5% interest in South Africa's largest copper mine Palabora, a 50% interest in Richards Bay Minerals producing titanium, a 69% share in Rossing Uranium mine in Namibia, a 78% share in Murowa diamond mine in Zimbabwe and the recently announced 70% owned Chapudi coal project in partnership with Kwezi Mining.

Baosteel to supply pipes to CNPC for Chengdu-Deyang gas project

Baosteel Internationals subsidiary Baosteel Trading has recently won bid for supplying ERW welded pipe to Southeast Branch Company of China National Petroleum Corporation for its Chengdu-Deyang gas line project.

It has been the first time for Baosteel to supply ERW welded pipe to domestic gas line project after it has started to produce ERW welded pipe from last year. Baosteel Trading managed to obtain this bid by improving CNPC's designing project and decreasing the cost.

CNPC has nearly 300 million tonnes of class 3 oil reserves and has constructed 3,000 km oil line. It has now embarked on its first phase project a 350 kilometer Chengdu-Deyang gas line.

World Bank under scrutiny over mining investment by IFC

The World Bank has come under pressure to justify its investment in mining projects as some NGOs charged last month that these investments do little to alleviate poverty and cause major environmental havoc.

UK based Oxfam International in a report handed out at the IMF-World Bank annual meeting said "Mining does not have a good record of contributing to sustainable development or poverty reduction. It referred to one of the Bank's own studies in 2001 which said that countries dependent on mineral exports tend to have lower growth rates and living standards, and higher rates of poverty and income disparity.

The report also mentioned that mining also causes significant environmental damage. It said "Pollution caused by mining can last for thousands of years, destroying forever land and water resources that local communities depend on for their livelihoods.

World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corp, currently releases a broad report on its investments in the mining industry but the NGOs urged it to provide more in depth information to spell out any benefits. IFC, which provides loans and equity investments to the private sector, argues that revenue from the mining industry enables governments to fund programs aimed at reducing poverty.

PT Antam to restart FeNi III furnace by mid October after leak repair

Indonesia's PT Antam plans to restart the furnaces at its FeNi III smelter by mid October after a shutdown to repair a leak from a metal tap hole at the bottom of a furnace. PT Antam said "Based on our previous release, we had expected the repairs to take about three months from July. At this point, the repairs continue, but we are looking to start the furnaces at the plant by mid October.

A company official told Platts "This would not be considered as commercial operations startup, that issue must wait until after the furnace startup process is done and also depends on the works of the Antam contractors. We have no deadline for that yet.

The official said target output for the company in 2006 remained 13,000 to 16,000 tonnes of ferronickel combined from all its three smelters. In the first half of the year, output totaled 6,859 tonnes with about 1,800 tonnes from FeNi III.

Antam's first two smelters have a combined capacity of 11,000 tonnes per year of ferronickel and FeNi III has a capacity of 15,000 tonnes per year.

Zhangji Mine reaches 10 million tonnes coal capacity

It is reported that the 2nd stage of Huainan Mining Group Co Ltds Zhangji Mine project was completed recently and has raised mines annual coal capacity to 10 million tonnes from 7 million tonnes.

Anhui Province based Zhangji Mine was commissioned in mid 2003.

Arcelor Mittals management profile 19 Mr Michael Rippey

Mr Michael G Rippey has been appointed in Arcelor Mittals management committee board last month as CEO USA.

Mr Michael G Rippey was elected in August 2006 as president and chief executive officer of Mittal Steel USA. Previously, he had been the companys executive VP sales & marketing, since April 2005, with direct responsibility for all sales and marketing of light flat rolled and plate products.

Mr Mike Rippey had been executive VP commercial and CFO at Ispat Inland Inc, a predecessor company, since January 2004 and has been an officer of the company since June 1998.

He has a bachelors degree in marketing from Indiana University, Bloomington; a masters degree in banking and finance from Loyola University of Chicago and a master of business administration degree from the University of Chicago.

Allegiance Mining finds nickel deposit in Tasmania

Allegiance Mining NL announced that it has a new nickel sulphide deposit called Saxon near Avebury nickel mine in Tasmania.

As per Allegiance the deposit has two higher grade zones separated by seven meters of moderate nickel grade forming a 19 meter thick intercept averaging 0.8% nickel and may be a new ore system. The intercept included 8 meter averaging 1.2% nickel and 4 meter averaging 1.2%.

NDRC adds P & Zn to list for differential power pricing

China's top planning body National Development Reforms Commission has extended the application of differential power pricing to two more industries phosphor and zinc melting. The policy is to be effective as of October 1st 2006.

The earlier list included electrolytic aluminum, ferroalloy, calcium carbide, caustic soda, cement and steel sectors.

Ukraines ferroalloys production up by 3.3% YoY in 8 months

It is reported that Ukrainian ferroalloys plants produced about 1.040 million tonnes of ferroalloys during January to August 2006 up by 3.3% YoY over the corresponding period of 2005.

The production during this period includes 0.722 million tonnes of silico manganese accounting fro 69% of total ferroalloys output of Ukraine, 0.238 million tonnes of ferro manganese accounting for 23% of total ferroalloys output and 0.079 million tonnes of ferro silicon accounting for 8% share.

The producer wise - product wise status is as under

Quantity in million ones

The overall capacity utilization during January to August 2006 has remained at 45%.

Quantity in million ones

Strike reduces pace of work at New Caledonia project

Inco Ltd last week said that strikes forced it to reduce construction to a minimum at its Goro nickel project in the French controlled South Pacific Island nation of New Caledonia. It comes three months after the project remobilized its workforce following incidents of vandalism, road blocks and threats to staff that shut down work for three weeks in April.

A spokeswoman told DJN that "We had to take the decision today to withdraw the maximum of employees from the construction site, as we cannot feed them all in the best hygienic conditions. Construction works will be reduced at a minimum level, but not stopped.

The decision comes as the majority of workers at Goro's catering and cleaning contractor Sodexho joined industrial action by other labor unions that began Monday. Besides the strike action involving Sodexho, a source at the Rheebu Nuu indigenous group opposing the project said demonstrators started blocking Goro's boat transport from Noumea forcing staff to travel overland.

Mr Ron Renton GM of Garo during an interview said that while security and environmental issues may push up costs they don't threaten the project's survival. He said "I'm absolutely convinced that we will commission this plant around the middle of 2008. The only thing that can stop this project now is a repetition of the sort of lawlessness we saw in April. I don't think we are going to see that again due to security measures put in place after the violence.

$2 billion Goro project is owned 69% by Inco, 21% by Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining and Mitsui Co Ltd and 10% by three New Caledonian provinces.

Sheba Steel to double capacity

Pakistani owned Ethiopian Sheba Steel Mills Plc announced that it is planning to increase its annual production capacity from 10,000 tons to 20,000 tons per annum by January 2007 and has plans to increase it to 50,000 per annum by mid 2008. Future expansion aims are building a steel complex to manufacture all kinds of steel under one roof, which includes iron bars, angles, channels, flat bars, corrugated sheets, nails and other related steel products.

Sheba in a press release announced that that it has allocated 30.4 million birr additional investment for the present expansion of the reinforcement bar manufacturing project and that the majority of the machines for the expansion have arrived on site and civil work is fast nearing completion.

Mechel may buy controlling stake in Moskoks Report

Interfax has reported that the terms of a deal for the Mechels buying of Moscow Coke and Gas Plant will be settled this week.

As per the report, the parameters of a possible deal for Mechel to buy a controlling stake in Moskoks are to be discussed at an executive meeting on October 4th 2006.

Ukrainian scarp export dip by 45% in January to August

Mr Alexander Sheiko deputy director of analysis at Derzhzovnishinforma of Ukraine during 4th annual seminar on price forecasts for 2007 in Moscow reported a 45% drop in scrap metal exports form Ukraine in the first eight months to 0.51 million tonnes.

MSC stabilizes new pickling line

It is reported that the contractual performance parameters of a corrective line of 0.3 million tonnes per annum, a continuous pickling line of 1.1 million tonnes and an acid regeneration plant at Iranian Mobarakeh Steel Complex have been successfully achieved recently.

The pickling line is capable of processing HR Coils in width range of 560mm to 1680mm in thickness between 1.2mm to 5.3mm.

This state of the art processing lines can meets the requirements of cost-effectiveness, improved product quality and an environmentally safe process, combined with minimized maintenance requirements.

US EPA cites Mittal Steel over chemical spill

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has cited the Mittal Steel for failing to report promptly a 1,271 pound release of sodium hypochlorite on April 24. The release was discovered during a routine inspection by a water treatment consultant the company hired.

Mr Dave Allen spokesman of Mittal Steel the company plans on meeting with the EPA to discuss the citation. He said This was about timely reporting of the spill, not about any real hazard to the environment. None of it left our property and it was cleaned up immediately.

According to the EPA, Sodium hypochlorite is a chlorine based liquid or gas, often used as a disinfectant and bleaching agent, which can cause burns to the skin, respiratory tract and eyes. Sodium hypochlorite releases of greater than 100 pounds must be immediately reported.

New Hope posts 30% increase in profits for 2005-06

Coal miner New Hope Corp has posted a 30%increase in net profit last month. New Hope made a full year net profit of $68.7 million as compared to $53.1 million for the previous year. New Hope said that its Australian coal operations were at full capacity over 2005-06, with sales up by b9% to 3.77 million tonnes.

New Hope said that while cost pressures continue, thermal coal prices are staying firm and improved prices have offset higher operating costs.

New Hope, which is majority owned by investment house Washington H Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd, has coal mining operations in south east Queensland, coal handling in Brisbane and exploration in Central Queensland and the Darling Downs.

Update on Skye's Guatemala FeNi project

Skye Resources, after feasibility study of its ferronickel smelting project at its Fenix nickel property in Guatemala, last month has projected a 13.4% internal rate of return with a nickel price of $5/lb. Skye Resources in a statement said that the project would have a 30 year mine life, commencing in 2009 and produce a total of 1.3 billion lb of nickel, from an annual average of 1.37 million mt of ore grading 1.63% nickel. Average annual production during the first 20 years after ramp up is projected at 48.5 million lb. Construction costs are put at $754 million, including $265 million for a new power plant.

In addition, Skye said it had also received the results of a preliminary study for an expansion project using hydrometallurgical processing. That study projected an internal rate of return of 14.2% at a nickel price of $5/lb and a cobalt price of $15/lb. It put construction costs at $858 million and predicted cash operating costs before royalties of approximately $1.38/lb of nickel produced, including refining costs and cobalt by-product credits. This study projected a 20 year mine life commencing in 2012, producing a total of 1 billion lb of nickel and 84 million lb of cobalt from an annual average of 1.76 million mt of limonite grading 1.33% nickel and 0.12% cobalt.

Skye's ferronickel project, which uses conventional smelting technology, involves refurbishing and expanding the existing mine and plant, which produced nickel matte from the project's saprolite resource from 1977 to 1980. Modifications to the plant include replacing the existing oil fired dryer with a larger, coal fired unit, converting the existing oil fired kiln to coal firing, installing a second kiln and adding a ladle refinery to produce ferronickel. The company said the existing electric furnace would be upgraded to 90 MW and a new 150 MW petcoke fired power plant would be installed.