HIGH-GRADE NI-CU-PT-PD-ZN-CR-AU-V-TI DISCOVERIES IN THE "RING OF FIRE"

NI 43-101 Update (September 2012): 11.1 Mt @ 1.68% Ni, 0.87% Cu, 0.89 gpt Pt and 3.09 gpt Pd and 0.18 gpt Au (Proven & Probable Reserves) / 8.9 Mt @ 1.10% Ni, 1.14% Cu, 1.16 gpt Pt and 3.49 gpt Pd and 0.30 gpt Au (Inferred Resource)

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Babjak1

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China Steel in talks with potential partners on further inv't

posted on Jun 09, 2011 08:44PM

It sure sounds like they are talking about Cliffs Natural Resources.... When I read both articles ..one after the other I think to myself that the watching eyes the big fish watched Cliffs (a little fish) swallow up Freewest and Consolidated Thompson.

Cliffs is now like a fattened up Turkey with a bright red bandana around his neck strutting around during the Thanksgiving season, just ripe for the pickins'.

The dark meat of course comprised of coal and chomite.

China Steel in talks with potential partners on further inv't

(China Knowledge)
Updated: 2011-06-09 09:42
Counter: 23

Taiwan's China Steel Corp, the island's largest steelmaker by revenue, has discussed with several mainland steelmakers and a Japanese steelmaker to jointly invest in overseas iron ore and coking coal mines, sources reported.

China Steel is currently in talks with mainland China's Shougang Group, Baosteel Group Co, Angang Iron & Steel Group Co. and Wuhan Iron & Steel Group Co on potential acquisition of mines in overseas markets, said China Steel Executive Vice President David K.L Du, without elaborating details on the cooperation.

The company is also in talks with a Japanese steelmaker for similar investments. However, the name of the Japanese company was not disclosed. Another unnamed executive of China Steel said Australia and Brazil are the ideal places for iron-ore investments, while Canada and Indonesia would be good choices for investments in coking-coal resources. It costs a single company a lot to acquire a mine. Most steelmakers are considering cooperating with others to share the cost and risks, the executive added.

China steel, which recorded revenue of NT239 billion last year, has 9.9 million metric tons of steel output capacity in 2010.

The company expects to boost its capital through cooperating with one or more partners for future acquisition of mines, with effort to secure raw material supplies

==============================================================

Cliffs–Consolidated Thompson Deal – A Shake Up for the Global Iron Ore Market?

by admin on May 10, 2011

The Cliffs Natural Resource Inc

announcement that Chinese regulators approved its purchase of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Ltd may appear innocuous to some at first blush, but if we lift the skirt a little we see some enormous implications for the global iron ore market. To begin, did anyone doubt whether China would approve this deal? Of course not – China’s Wuhan Iron and Steel (a state-owned entity) owns nearly 19 percent of Consolidated Thompson,

according to this story. And we all know how aggressive China has become to secure long-term supplies of key raw materials, particularly for those in which it relies upon essentially, an oligopoly. We find the deal intriguing for a number of reasons.

First, it puts Cliffs on the Asia map (not that they weren’t there already), a place dominated by the ‘Big Three’ of Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. But that represents only one part of the story. Wuhan Iron & Steel received a “support agreement” from Cliffs as part of its equity stake in Consolidated Thompson. We can only speculate that this “support agreement” involves some sort of long-term supply arrangement with a price mechanism pre-negotiated. Wuhan potentially gains a competitive source of supply, taking a bite (though small) out of the negotiating clout of the Big Three.

China laid out its strategy to become less dependent on the Big Three as part of its latest five-year plan. A recent Business Spectator article described China’s raw material sourcing strategy for iron ore as follows: “China’s plan involves a massive increase in domestic production, gaining control over offshore iron ore deposits and a substantial consolidation of its steel-making sector to try to gain improved negotiating leverage.” Though the Business Spectator piece noted a tone of doubt as to China’s ability to “reduce its reliance on the Big 3,” we’d argue the Cliffs-Consolidated Thompson deal represents a win. With the addition of Consolidated Thompson’s 580 million metric tons of proven iron ore reserves, and Cliffs’ announcement that it seeks to sell half its production to Asian export markets, the deal remains noteworthy, at a minimum.

And though many, including the author of the Business Spectator piece, believe China’s SOEs (state-owned enterprises) will struggle “to acquire high quality resources in developed resource economies,” Wuhan has proved that assumption might not hold true.

The deal also has ramifications for North American steel producers. As we earlier hypothesized, iron ore still trades at a steep discount in the US vs. China. If Cliffs succeeds in selling iron ore at a higher price in Asia than it does in its home market (with a potential 25 percent-per-ton price delta, the theory appears at least plausible) that could force steel producers based in the US to pay more for iron ore.