World

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  Does every cloud have a silver lining? – recent developments in Australia’s mining sector

  Mr Mills previously worked with Skills Australia, an Australian government agency where one of his key responsibilities was to assess demand for skills from Australia’s mining sector
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  Trends in Commodity Prices

  We are currently in an era of extreme volatility in terms of commodities, where we can experience the swiftest growth in value, and one of the sharp drops, all within a few weeks of one another (Australian Mining August 2016).
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  Price slump makes North Korea step up mining output

  The sharp fall in global commodity prices is starting to have an impact on North Korea, a state that relies heavily on exports of minerals to keep its economy afloat — and its gargantuan military funded. It’s becoming more and more difficult to earn foreign currency, as last year minerals trade decreased by about 10 per cent by volume and about 15 per cent by price.
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  Coal conversion projects to worsen global warming

  At about 8:30 on a chilly winter morning, a factory outside the desert city Ulin in China is already getting busy. Its five-story office building is almost fully occupied. Trucks drive in with coal and drive out with construction waste. And if you look closely, you can see workers wearing helmets, climbing up and down on giant pipes. In front of the office building, a row of colorful flags reads, “Fighting for success in 2015”.
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  No halt to slide in Chinese coal imports in 2015

  Oversupply continues to weigh on the performance of thermal and metallurgical coal exports into China, according to Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Jonathan Sultoon. The causes of oversupply stemmed from an earlier market enthusiasm for coal that peaked in 2010 and 2011.
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  Largest coal mine in Russia opens

  A new 167-year-life coal mine has opened in Russia. The Arshanovsky open cut mine, in south eastern Siberia, has set a goal of two billion tonnes of coal extracted over its mine life, at a rate of around 10 million tonnes per annum.
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  Despite 8% output jump, Alrosa sees only moderate growth in 2015

  Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s top diamond producer by output in carats, says its fourth-quarter output climbed 8% to 10.6 million carats.
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  Gazprom cuts gas purchases from Central Asia

  Russia’s Gazprom plans to reduce the volume of gas purchases from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan by nearly 10 billion cubic meters and replace these volumes with its own gas in 2015.
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  Russia could become world’s second biggest gold miner this year

  Not content with its Central Bank being this year’s world’s largest gold purchaser, Russia looks like it might be moving into second place in the world gold mine production table, overtaking Australia
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  Shenhua concedes environmental demands in Ordos project

  The Shenhua Group is to stop extracting groundwater for their flagship coal to liquid project in Inner Mongolia’s Ordos, an area struggling with severe water shortages affecting farmers and herders.