• Covering global developments in the heavy bulk sector,
including mining, minerals, iron and steel, cement, chemicals, ports and
terminals, shipping and power generation.
FLSmidth comments on Ludowici
Denmark. Following FLSmidth's recent announcement of its entry into an agreement with a view to acquiring the shares of Australian company Ludowici, it has emphasised the conditions attached to the agreement.
The statement follows comments in the Australian media regarding FLSmidth's ability to raise the indicated offer price per share, if it should wish to do so, under Australian takeover regulation.
The agreement gives FLSmidth certain exclusive rights, ensuring that Ludowici cannot recommend any competing proposal until it has firstly given FLSmidth the opportunity to provide a matching or superior offer.
FLSmidth stress that if it indeed decides to make a binding offer, there is no intention to make or increase any such offer at a price above the AUD 7.20 per share quoted, even though it reserves the right to do so.
It goes on to say that no formal or final offer has been made and no certainty that an offer will be made. Current moves include a due diligence investigation and no decision will be taken until this investigation is completed.
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21:20 31/01/2012
Negotiations to acquire Australian company
Denmark. FLSmidth has entered into an agreement with Australian listed company Ludowici Ltd with the intention of acquiring all of Ludowici's shares.
Ludowici, a leading provider of coal centrifuges, vibrating screens and complementary wear resistant products and services for the minerals sector, is headquartered in Brisbane.
The company has a strong presence in major mining countries like Australia, South Africa, India, China, Chile, Peru and the US and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The acquisition is subject to a number of conditions and regulatory approvals.
The move is seen as part of FLSmidth's strategy to become a market leader in every major minerals processing segment, with coal, copper and iron ore three of the prioritised segments. The Ludowici acquisition will allow FLSmidth to complete its coal processing flow sheet and improve its copper and iron ore offerings with leading technologies and brands.
With some 450 employees and approximately 65 per cent of its turnover in Australia, Ludowici will significantly expand FLSmidth's presence in this important mining region. It will also support FLSmidth's aspiration to expand its customer services offering - around 60 per cent of Ludowici's turnover relates to this activity, including spare parts and consumables. The move is also expected to lead to a number of sales and cost synergies.
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23:47 22/01/2012
Equipment
for copper mine expansion
FLSmidth has been awarded contracts worth approximately $85m for equipment supplies to a copper mine expansion in South America.
The order includes gyratory crushers, apron feeders, cyclones, flotation cells, concentrate thickeners, and tailing thickeners.
Group CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen: "Latin America is the largest producer of copper, but there is also growing activity in Asia, Africa, North America and Australia. FLSmidth sees opportunities in the upgrading and expansion of existing plants as well as in being able to provide for new plants, such as our recent announcement of an order for a complete copper concentrator plant in Mongolia".
09:01 17/01/2012
Crushing
equipment for Venezuela
Venezuela. Metso has signed a contract with Camargo Corrêa and Hydrologic Company to supply equipment to a new crushing and screening plant. The new plant is part of the TUY-IV project, which includes construction of a dam to supply water to Caracas.
In addition to equipment, the contract includes supervision services. Total order value is around €10m. Metso will supply a complete stationary crushing and screening plant as well as spare parts and automation systems and will supervise assembly. Delivery is scheduled for the first quarter of 2012 with start-up expected in the same year.
The order comprises two C140 jaw crushers, two HP4 cone crushers, HP400 cone crusher, TS2.2 and Vibraline 60"x72" screens, two TS5.2 screens, two TS6.2 screens, two Barmac vertical shaft impactors, three belt feeders, a structure for stationary crushing plant for HP400 cone crusher, and several belt conveyors. Nominal production capacity will be 800tph.
Camargo Corrêa Group is one of the largest private business conglomerates in Brazil, operating in 18 countries and employing approximately 58,000 professionals.
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09:59
16/01/2012
Two cement schemes
Brazil. FLSmidth has signed a contract for two cement projects worth $132m with Cimpor Cimentos do Brasil Ltda in Brazil.
Equipment is for the Caxitu project, a new greenfield cement plant in Paraiba State, and a new kiln line project at the Cezarina cement plant located in Goias State.
The Caxitu project includes circular limestone storage, a longitudinal storage and reclaimer system for raw materials and a similar system for additives. In addition there is longitudinal storage for petcoke, an Atox raw mill, Tirax coal mill, in-line calciner preheater system and Rotax kiln and SF cooler.
The Cezarina project comprises a complete pyro line including an Atox raw mill, CF silo, in-line calciner preheater system, Rotax kiln and FLSmidth Cross-Bar cooler.
FLSmidth will also supply air pollution control systems for the two projects, featuring the latest pyro technology for burning and utilising waste fuels.
With the World Cup and the Olympic Games on the horizon, Brazil is investing heavily in development projects, supporting these events and providing housing and infrastructure. Commissioning is due in 2013.
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22:25 02/01/2012
Material handling project
Australia. FLSmidth has signed a contract worth approximately $50m with BIS Industries Ltd, a company of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, to supply material handling equipment to Gindalbie Metals Ltd's iron ore mine 200 km east of Geraldton in Western Australia.
The award comprises an iron ore tailings stacking system which includes a RAHCO® 2850 tph mobile stacking system. The technology introduces a process whereby dewatered tailings material is conveyed and stacked rather than pumped. This enables the client to utilise a smaller footprint, decrease environmental exposure, re-use much of the process water and reduce operating costs.
FLSmidth's Group CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen said that the solution addresses local environmental concerns faced by the client.
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10:54 08/12/2011
Mine hoist order
Australia. ABB has won a $24m order to supply a complete ore hoisting solution for Xstrata Zinc's George Fisher Mine (GFM) located near Mount Isa in north west Queensland. It will help increase production by 30 per cent per year by 2013.
Xstrata Zinc's resources in the area are estimated to be the world's largest resource, around 600mt of ore and 36mt of contained zinc metal.
ABB will design, supply and commission all electrical and mechanical equipment for the ground mounted hoist system. Working at speeds of 16m per sec, the hoist will raise ore at 600t tph from a depth of 1,135 m. ABB's ACS 6000 drive system, powering a 9,000 kW synchronous motor, is designed to minimise impact on the surrounding power network.
In addition, ABB is to provide the bottom dump ore skips with inspection platforms, rope deflection sheaves and a skip dumping system. An AC800M industrial controller will manage and control the entire mine hoisting system, from loading conveyors to the surface ore dump station.
Completion is scheduled for the second half of 2013.
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10:47 01/12/2011
Biggest gear driven mills
Latin America. FLSmidth has been awarded a contract worth approximately $70m for the supply of equipment to an as yet unnamed copper mine in Latin America.
The
contract includes delivery of a 76,000 t per day grinding circuit made up of two large SAG mills and two ball mills, thought to be the largest gear driven mills of their type in the world.
The order, won against keen competition, is seen as a sign of FLSmidth's strong commitment to this important market sector and strengthens its competitive position as a leading supplier to the industry.
"FLSmidth's
image as a leading quality supplier of big mills as well as our ability to offer local support were fundamental elements of the decision making process to favour FLSmidth on this delivery of the largest gear driven mills in the world", commented Group CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen.
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20:37 20/11/2011
Lime plant project
Uruguay. FLSmidth has signed a contract worth approximately $35m with Cementos del Plata SA, for equipment and technology for their lime manufacturing facility located near Treinta y Tres.
The project, which covers a complete 500 t per day lime manufacturing plant, reckoned to be the largest capacity lime plant in the country, covers equipment ranging from primary crushing to packing and loadout as well as material handling equipment and control systems.
Cementos del Plata SA is a partnership between Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcohol y Pórtland de la R O del Uruguay and Argentinian company Loma Negra CIASA, who market and distribute cement, clinker and other products made by the Portland Cement Division of ANCAP.
FLSmidth's a long relationship with the ANCAP group dates back to 1956 and an upgrade project for the client's Paysandú cement plant is currently underway. FLSmidth Group CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen said that the order confirmed its close relationship with the group and underpinned the successful merging of its cement and minerals operations. Commissioning is due in 2013.
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22:05 04/11/2011
Mine project development
Australia. BHP Billiton is developing the Caval Ridge Mine project and expanding the Peak Downs Mine in the northern Bowen Basin in Central Queensland.
The initial project will add 8mt per year capacity in export metallurgical coal, with the expectation of expansion to 10mt per year – the additional 2mt per year will only require the addition of mining equipment. Total investment in the initial project is $4.2bn, of which BHP Billiton’s share is $2.1bn.
The new Caval Ridge Mine will have the capacity to produce 5.5mt per year whereas Peak Downs Mine will expand production by 2.5mt per year. Investment includes construction of a new coal handling and preparation plant at Caval Ridge to process production from the Caval Ridge Mine and Peak Downs expansion. Coal from the Peak Downs expansion will be transported by conveyor to the new plant.
Caval Ridge Mine will be an open cut dragline and truck and shovel operation, with coal railed to the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) Hay Point Coal Terminal.
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10:13 01/11/2011
World's
largest sizer station
Mexico. FLSmidth has won a contract to supply a semi-mobile sizer station to Minera Peñasquito SA de CV, owned by Goldcorp. The Peñasquito gold mine is located in the state of Zacatecas.
The contract includes design and supply of the minerals processing station with a capacity of 12,500 tph making it the largest sizer station in the world. A test station has been supplied to validate the technology and all process equipment will be designed and manufactured by FLSmidth.
The new system is said to lower costs compared to traditional hard rock crushing plant technologies and enables the client to make savings on total life cycle costs.
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08:34
19/10/2011
Railcar dumper technology
Canada. Metso is to supply railcar dumper technology to Westshore Terminals Ltd Partnership, operators of the Roberts Bank coal storage and loading terminal in British Columbia, Canada.
The terminal is the largest coal export facility and
the largest dry bulk terminal on the west coast of the Americas.
The project will raise throughput capacity to an anticipated 33mt of coal per year.
Metso's delivery for railcar unloading lines includes three new wire rope positioners and a new rotary railcar dumper and replacement rotary railcar dumper. Both include new hoppers, feeders and gates and the contract involves design, supply, installation and commissioning of all equipment.
Tim Sexton, Manager, Product Support, Metso says: "What makes the project
special for us is that this will be the first Gemini positioner system
with positioners on both the exit and entrance ends of the dumper. In this
way the system can automatically index trains with mid-train locomotives.
Each line will be able to handle 64 cars per hour."
Delivery will be completed during 2012.
| 08:58 12/10/2011
Cement order
in Russia
Russia. FLSmidth has received a €150m contract for a complete cement plant from Russian company Kaluga Cement Plant LLC, located some 300 km south west of Moscow.
The new production line will have a kiln capacity of 8,500t per day, equivalent to around 3 mt per year, making it the biggest new kiln in Europe. Equipment to be supplied includes three OK vertical roller mills for clinker and slag grinding as well as primary crushers. The OK mills are the first to be sold in the Russian market.
FLSmidth says that the order underlines its ability to accommodate the customer's need for a one source supply and includes provision of equipment, engineering, supervision, training, transportation and spare parts. A complete electrical, automation and control equipment package will also be provided by FLSmidth.
Group CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen says: "FLSmidth has a long standing local presence in Russia and the order from Kaluga, which was won against keen competition, underlines our continued strength as a preferred supplier to this important market, which is showing signs of recovery after the crisis." Commissioning is set for 2014.
| 10:41
12/09/2011
Agreement on
future co-operation
Russia. FLSmidth is expected to sign an agreement on future co-operation with the Russian company JSC EcoInvest, tying in with a state visit by the Queen of Denmark to the country.
The agreement covers equipment and services for a complete greenfield cement plant and is thought to be worth more than €100m.
| 07:42 07/09/2011
Coal
handling project
India. FLSmidth has been awarded a contract worth approximately €25m by Jhabua Power Ltd for supply and installation of the first phase of a 1,800 tph coal handling plant for their upcoming power plant project at Jhabua in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. The client is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avantha Power & Infrastructure Ltd.
The order is the first phase of the project and FLSmidth has also received a letter of intent for phase two that has an additional value of around €10m.
The contract includes design, engineering, manufacture, fabrication, supply, testing and transportation to site on a turnkey basis. Involved in the order are wagon tipplers, apron feeders, stackers and reclaimers, a belt conveyor system, ring granulators, vibrating grizzly feeders and trippers. Also included are electrical and air pollution control equipment with a dust suppression and extraction system to meet pollution control requirements.
"All core equipment supplies are FLSmidth's own products and the order reinforces the strength of FLSmidth as a One Source supplier of complete solutions", said Group CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen. FLSmidth is currently engaged on a coal handling plant contract for Avantha Power awarded in 2010.
| 22:59 26/07/2011
World's
largest bulk carrier
China. Murilo Ferreira, CEO of Vale, one of the
world's largest iron ore suppliers, has attended the launch of its first
China-built 400,000-t bulk carriers. The vessel was built by China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group
Holdings Ltd. .
Vale China is the first of twelve mega-vessels with a contract value of $1.6 bn. China Rongsheng currently has orders for 16 VLOCs (Very Large Ore Carriers) on hand, with the other four placed by Oman Shipping Co.
As a major supplier of iron ore, Vale contributed 20 per cent of the iron ore imported to China. The delivery of the vessels enables Vale to address the issues presented by the long voyage from Brazil to China with the ability to ship cargo to China and other regions in Asia with a fleet offering stronger economies of scale, thereby reducing transportation costs.
| 20:45
12/07/2011
Minerals
industry contract
FLSmidth has been awarded a significant contract for equipment supplies to a copper mine for an unspecified country in Latin America.
The contract includes the delivery of a grinding circuit made up of the largest single line SAG mill in the world and multiple ball mills. The company says that the order signifies its strong commitment to the important copper sector and continues to strengthen its competitive position as a leading supplier in this industry.
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09:09 04/07/2011
Phosphate industry order
Morocco. Moroccan company OCP Office Chérifien des Phosphates has placed an order worth approximately €90m with FLSmidth covering equipment for a phosphate terminal at the Jorf Lasfar port on the Atlantic coast, south of Casablanca.
The project includes engineering, design, fabrication of steel structures and mechanical parts, procurement of components, erection and commissioning. The equipment list includes two sulphur shiploaders, each with a capacity of 2,000 tph, two fertiliser shiploaders, each with a capacity of 2,000 tph, two sulphur screw unloaders each with a capacity of 2,300 tph, and two sulphur grab unloaders, each with a capacity of 1,500 tph.
All equipment will be supplied complete with belt conveyors and FLSmidth will also supply miscellaneous auxiliary equipment such as electrical equipment, a fire fighting system and dust suppression equipment.
Phosphate's
strong position in the commodity league table, swelled up by a buoyant fertiliser sector, has been boosted by the fact that it remains independent from the cyclical fluctuations of the metals market.
Jørgen Huno Rasmussen, FLSmidth's CEO, confirmed this saying: "This order demonstrates our increasingly strong position as a preferred provider of material handling equipment to the minerals industries. It also confirms the great opportunities within the phosphate industry, which is not cyclical".
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16:50 29/06/2011
Further investment in Jansen
Canada. BHP Billiton has approved $488m of further investment for its Jansen Potash Project in Saskatchewan.
This will fund site preparation and procurement during the project's feasibility study and enable development of the first 350m of production and service shafts should Government approvals be received. The company's investment in Jansen will rise to $1.2 bn in creating a world class potash business in the province.
On site exploratory drilling has been undertaken for the production and service shafts and, based on the current schedule, Jansen is expected to start producing saleable potash from its 3.370 mt resource in 2015. Ultimate production levels will be 8mt per annum of agricultural grade potash with an estimated 70-year mine life.
BHP Billiton also continues to study other potential projects in the Saskatchewan potash basin. Drilling started at Melville in July 2011 and the Boulder and Young projects continue to progress as do other studies in the area. The belief is that the Saskatchewan potash business could reach an annual production capacity of more than 16mt per annum.
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09:49 27/06/2011
Major cement project
Nigeria. Nigerian company BUA International Ltd has commissioned FLSmidth to supply a complete 6,000 t per day cement plant in southern Nigeria.
The order is a complete solution including equipment supplies, engineering, supervision and training. Equipment includes crushers for raw material preparation, mill for raw meal grinding, pyro system consisting of a five-stage in-line Calciner preheater, kiln, mills for cement grinding and four packing plants as well as FLSmidth's latest design Cross-Bar clinker cooler.The contract value has not been disclosed.
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11:22 22/06/2011
Mobile harbour cranes
Canada. Demag Cranes has received an order to supply two mobile harbour cranes to Canada. The two identical four-rope grab cranes are for bulk handling tasks.
Vale Inco Limited (Vale), the mining and metals conglomerate, are a new Demag Cranes customer and will be using the units to handle nickel and limestone at the Long Harbour terminal, southeast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
“The bulk market offers tremendous
potential and has, for some years, been a focal point in our Port
Technology segment,” emphasised Thomas H Hagen, Member of the Management
Board of Demag Cranes AG and COO.
“Around a quarter of the Gottwald harbour cranes sold last year are for professional bulk handling. The considerable strategic importance to Demag Cranes of the bulk-handling market is also reflected in the acquisition of the UK company DB Controls. That company has renowned capabilities in software and advisory services in the field of automating bulk-handling equipment.”
The two new G HMK 6407 B Gottwald cranes for Vale are designed for high end use, able to handle rates up to 1000 tph and capable of servicing bulk carriers up to Capesize. They will enter service in 2012.
The machines will be fitted with the Visumatic® crane management system, active anti-dust system, customised propping system and a high tower. Four large grabs, an automatic spreader and a fixed spreader will also be supplied.
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14:28 16/06/2011
Driverless truck
fleet
Australia. Rio Tinto is to double its fleet of driverless haul trucks at its iron ore operations in Western Australia and deploy them at Yandicoogina, the largest mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The move follows a two-year trial of Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) technology on trucks at the West Angelas mine, which is said to have performed well above expectations.
Trucks will dump ore for the first time, a major step in the evolution of the project towards full operational deployment. Previously the trucks only dumped waste product.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore Pilbara Operations president Greg Lilleyman said that it is the first operational deployment of this technology in Australia, or anywhere on this scale, helping to grow the business towards a 333 mt per year capacity.
The AHS project has been underway at West Angelas since December 2008, operating around the clock for more than two years, moving in excess of 42mt of material in approximately 145,000 cycles, and travelling more than 450,000 km. Using GPS and secondary navigation, the trucks use pre-defined courses and navigate autonomously from loading units to dump locations, including waste dumps, stockpiles and crushers.
Five Komatsu 930E trucks fitted with Komatsu’s Frontrunner AHS system, will be moved from West Angelas to the Yandicoogina mine, combining with five new 930E trucks.
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10:06 08/06/2011
Crushing equipment
Australia. Metso is to supply crushing equipment worth an estimated €34m to Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, one of the world’s largest producers and traders of iron ore. Delivery will be completed by May 2012.
The order comprises 13 units of MP1000 secondary cone crushers. Three units will be delivered to Fortescue’s Christmas Creek iron ore site and another ten units will go to the Solomon iron ore mine site. Both sites are located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Crushers will be supplied in pre-assembled, modularised form and Metso will also provide installation and commissioning assistance.
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20:33 05/06/2011
Minerals
processing equipment
Russia. Metso is to supply minerals processing equipment and services to Russian Copper Company ZAO (RMK) for its copper operation in Chelyabinskya region. The service contract runs for 6 years and includes a team of more than 130 Metso on-site personnel and service parts supply. The order is worth around €200m.
Under the equipment contract, Metso will supply a primary gyratory crusher, three cone crushers, two semi-autogenous grinding mills, three screens and three ball mills for the new Mikheevsky GOK copper concentrator. Also included are on-site supervisory services for installation and commissioning, and on-site training for the client's operating personnel.
Metso's life-cycle service contract includes maintenance, planning and operational assistance, process and product support services, as well as wear and spare parts and components for the comminution circuit. Metso will also maintain auxiliary equipment for the whole comminution circuit from the gyratory crusher to the hydro-cyclones.
The equipment value is worth approximately €75m of the total order and deliveries will be completed within the third quarter of 2013. Mikheevsky GOK is a greenfield project by ZAO Russian Copper Company (RMK), Russia's third largest copper producer, and planned annual production is 18mt.
The equipment package includes a primary gyratory crusher with a capacity of 4,000 tph and two comminution lines, each with a design capacity of 1412 tph. The comminution lines consist of two large semi-autogenous mills, two large ball mills, heavy duty cone crushers for pebble crushing and a pebble grinding ball mill as well as double deck screens.
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09:32 26/05/2011
On the acquisition trail
USA. Joy Global Inc, worldwide leader in mining solutions, has entered into an agreement to acquire LeTourneau Technologies Inc from Rowan Companies Inc for $1.1 bn.
LeTourneau's business is in equipment for the mining and oil and gas drilling industries, as well as a leader in the earthmoving equipment industry since the 1920s.
The mining products business is a global
manufacturer of large wheel loaders for surface mining, providing the
industry's largest model sizes and payload
capacities.
The drilling products business side designs offshore jack-up drilling rigs as well as manufacturing primary components for the rigs. It is also a major manufacturer of drilling equipment for large land and offshore rigs and speciality steel products.
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19:03 16/05/2011
Plant modernisation project
Russia. FLSmidth has won a contract worth approximately €55m from Russian company Novoroscement to supply equipment and supervision for modernisation of its Proletariy cement plant, located at Novorossijsk, near the Black Sea.
The order covers an upgrade of an existing production line, taking it from its current capacity of 1,740 t per day to a future capacity of 6,000 t per day. Modernisation of the line is also designed to make it a more environmentally friendly and energy efficient operation.
Equipment to
be supplied includes a raw mill, preheater, modification of an existing kiln shell, new filters, Cross-bar cooler, clinker storage and new control system. The existing plant was erected by FLSmidth in 1914.
FLSmidth CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen said that the company sees a great market in Russia for modernising existing cement plants and there are prospects for other major expansion projects in the region, especially with regard to the 2014 Winter Olympics.
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12:33 12/05/2011
Minerals processing equipment
Sweden. Metso is
to supply more minerals processing equipment and project services to Northland Resources for its two process lines in Kaunisvaara. The contract complements a previous order announced by Metso for the company in February 2011, the value of the two orders exceeding €200m.
Northland is a mining company with a portfolio of iron ore projects in Northern Sweden and Finland, the Kaunisvaara project exploiting magnetite iron ore deposits, feeding a single, multi-line processing facility in Sweden.
The total project delivery, including what was announced in February, comprises: two 1200-tph primary gyratory crushers; two 761-tph autogenous/semi-autogenous grinding mills, each with 34 x 18.75 ft dimensions; seven vertical grinding mills rated at 3,000 hp each; and six 200 sq m flotation cells.
The equipment package also includes several conveyors, screens and feeders, as well as equipment for magnetic separation and pressure filtration. Metso will also supply plant service equipment, electrical and automation work, project management, engineering, site management and erection services for the process plant.
| 15:04 18/04/2011
Rotary railcar dumper
Australia. Metso is to supply a single tandem rotary railcar dumper to Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, member of Rio Tinto Group, for its Cape Lambert, Port B iron ore operation in North Western Australia. Order value has not been disclosed.
The unit will be the latest and most advanced available in the Metso line and will feature a novel single tandem configuration, providing lower maintenance and higher, more efficient material output flow. There are also improvements in the ease and safety of maintenance through a reduction of overall components.
| 23:29 30/03/2011
Multimillion dollar material handling project
Indonesia.
FLSmidth has signed a $135m contract in Jakarta with
PT Adaro Indonesia , subsidiary of PT Adaro Energy Tbk, to supply material handling equipment to its coal mine in the Tanjung district of South Kalimantan.
Equipment will be part of Adaro's expansion of its mining operations and will decrease the average hauling distance of the overburden trucking operations as well as reducing oil dependency.
The contract comprises an out-of-pit overburden crushing and conveying system, consisting of FLSmidth ABON sizers, RAHCO overland conveyors and RAHCO mobile stacking conveyors, with a system capacity of 12,000 tph and an annual overburden volume of 40m bank cu m. The contractual elements including construction, supervision and management, as well as field service, will be supplied by FLSmidth Indonesia.
"This material handling contract is the first in Indonesia and reflects a growing market in the region, particularly in the minerals sector where mining companies are expanding,” said FLSmidth Group CEO Huno Rasmussen. The project is expected to act as a catalyst for other potential orders in the region for the company with its participation in the continued expansion of Adaro's mining activities.
Adaro has increased its production every year since 1992 and is now among the top five exporters of thermal coal in the world - and all from just one site. Overburden mining and haulage is one of our biggest challenges facing the company and FLSmidth’s equipment will increase the efficiency with which this large amount of overburden is transported.
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09:29 25/03/2011
Well
equipped for 2011
Germany. HeidelbergCement ended the 2010 financial year successfully despite the challenging global economic environment. This was attributed to cost cutting measures implemented at an early stage, in some cases before the outbreak of the financial crisis. Savings of more than €300m have been achieved so far with its FitnessPlus 2010 programme.
During 2010 two new cement mills with a total capacity of 1.5mt were commissioned at the Cirebon plant in Indonesia. An agreement signed with Forrest Group means that HeidelbergCement now holds the majority share of its cement activities with a capacity of 500,000t in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A majority share was also acquired in CJSC Construction Materials which operates a modern 2-mt cement plant in the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan.
Construction work on the new Tula 2-mt cement plant in Russia is
progressing and destined to supply the Moscow market. There was also
expansion of capacities at the Górazdze cement plant in Poland, due for
completion in 2012.
Further afield, a 0.8-mt cement mill is currently being constructed in Bangladesh as well as a project to expand capacities in central India by 2.9mt. The total expansion programme in place for the company, which started in 2008, involves capacity increases of around 20mt by 2012.
The
company anticipates an upward trend in energy and commodity prices as well as rising inflation, particularly in emerging countries. The plan is to offset the rise in costs by implementing cost saving measures and targeted price increases as well as fuel surcharges in individual markets.
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14:35 19/03/2011
Fluidised
bed raises efficiency
Germany. Uhde Services has signed a framework agreement with RWE Power to use its fluidised bed lignite drying technology with internal waste heat utilisation.
“It
is a major step towards the global marketing of our fluidised–bed technology developed in Niederaussem, Germany,” said Dr. Johannes Heithoff, Head of Research and Development at RWE Power. “The aim is to use this technology in the future at lignite fired power stations as well as for coal gasification and liquefaction projects”, he added.
The technology
is expected to increase the efficiency of future lignite fired power stations from approximately 10 to over 47 per cent and slash CO2 emissions by several thousand tonnes a year. In the process, the raw lignite's water content is reduced from 55 to around 12 per cent and the heat used to dry the coal is largely recovered and reutilised.
In February 2009 RWE Power commissioned a €50m project for a prototype fluidised bed dryer, the world’s largest lignite dryer in Niederaussem, producing 110 tonnes of dry lignite an hour and currently the most efficient of its kind in the world. Using the prototype dryer, CO2 emissions were cut by more than 250,000 tonnes a year. RWE Power invested €50m in the project.
| 11:38 08/03/2011
Lime
calcining system
USA. Metso Corp is to supply a 900 t per day lime calcining system to Martin Marietta Magnesia Specialties in Ohio, USA. The order is worth around €11m and delivery will be completed before the end of the year.
Included in the project are a preheater rotary kiln with cooler, coal firing system and a complete dust collection and air handling system, as well as a control system. The new kiln will be the fourth installed by Metso in the Woodville Ohio plant.
Martin Marietta Magnesia Specialties, wholly-owned subsidiary of Martin Marietta Materials Inc, provides magnesium oxide, chemically precipitated magnesium hydroxide and dolomitic lime products.
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23:05 01/03/2011
Sale of
subsidiaries
Italy. Italcementi Group subsidiary Ciments Français is selling its Set Group Holding and subsidiaries for a total amount of €290m to Limak Group, a diversified Turkish Group with interests in construction, infrastructure, cement, energy, transport and tourism.
Set Group Holding, part of Italcementi’s network in Turkey, operates three cement plants, one grinding centre and 13 ready-mixed concrete facilities. In 2010, the Group generated a €130m turnover.
Afyon Çimento, a listed Turkish company majority owned by Ciments Français, is not included in the transaction. With an annual cement production capacity of approximately 70mt, Italcementi Group is the world’s fifth largest cement producer.
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11:38 26/02/2011
`
Offer for talc business
UK. Rio Tinto has received a binding offer from Imerys to acquire its talc business for $340m. A period of exclusivity with Imerys has been agreed, and Rio Tinto will respond to the offer following consultation with relevant European works councils. The deal is also subject to regulatory approvals.
The talc business employs around 1,000 employees at 24 locations in Europe, North America, Australia and Asia. Guy Elliott, Rio Tinto’s Chief financial officer, said: "The successful sale of our global talc business would deliver good value to our shareholders and remains aligned with our strategic focus on large scale assets. As a leading supplier of industrial minerals, Imerys is well positioned to enable the ongoing success of the talc business."
Since 2008, Rio Tinto has completed more than 18 divestments in excess of $11 bn. Its mining and minerals processing activities span aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt and talc) and iron ore and are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.
Imerys is active in 47 countries through more than 240 industrial and commercial sites and achieved sales of more than €3.3bn in 2010.
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22:44 23/02/2011
Construction materials tie-up
UK. Anglo American, one of the world’s largest mining companies, and Lafarge, a global leader in building materials, are to combine their UK cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and contracting businesses.
The 50:50 joint venture will create a leading UK construction materials company, delivering substantial synergies of at least £60m per annum through increased operational efficiencies, improved logistics and the introduction of value-added products across a wider geographic reach, as well as other opportunities. The two businesses have combined sales of £1.8bn.
Cynthia Carroll, Anglo American’s chief executive, said that the agreement would unlock significant value, although the ultimate objective is to divest its interests in the joint venture over time. Bruno Lafont, Lafarge chairman and chief executive, said that the move illustrates the company’s strong commitment to the UK market.
Both company’s operations will continue to operate independently until obtaining regulatory approvals. Lafarge UK currently has five cement plants with a network of 14 depots and terminals, and on the aggregates side, 38 quarries, 19 depots and 20 recycling sites. In addition there are 100 ready-mixed concrete plants and 9 asphalt plants.
Tarmac UK has one integrated cement and lime plant and three depots, 118 quarries and 40 recycling plants, 180 ready-mixed concrete plants and 69 asphalt plants.
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23:22 18/02/2011
Satisfactory results
Denmark. FLSmidth has posted its annual results for January to December 2010, delivering satisfactory results in line with expectations due to a solid order backlog - orders increasing 56 per cent in 2010 to DKK 20.780m (2009: DKK 13.322m). However, there was a 13 per cent decrease in revenue in 2010 to DKK 20.186m (2009: DKK 23.134m).
India was its prime cement market, accounting for 35 per cent of global new contracted cement kiln capacity in 2010 (excluding China). Overall activity was primarily in the developing countries of Asia, Africa and South America. During 2010, the global market for new contracted cement kiln capacity (again, excluding China) was 65mt per year (2009: 45mt per year).
The company’s minerals processing
activities were influenced by the record highs in mineral prices,
having a positive effect on mining company investments
and increasing considerably in 2010 compared to 2009.
In its outlook for 2011, the company predicts the global market for new
contracted cement kiln capacity (excluding China) to be approximately 65mt
per year, of which India will account for about 20mt. An increasing order
intake for major cement projects in 2011 is expected compared to
2010.
The company
stated that rising investment in the minerals sector would lead to an increasing intake of both small and large orders and that materials handling would see a positive development and become a growth market for it.
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09:32 17/02/2011
Acquisition proceeds
Denmark. FLSmidth’s conditional offer to acquire ESSA Australia Ltd in December 2010 resulted in 90 per cent of the company's shareholders accepting the offer. The statutory process of compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares is now to proceed.
ESSA's world leading sampling and sample preparation equipment will mesh with FLSmidth’s existing product portfolio, said CEO Jørgen Huno Rasmussen, strengthening minerals offerings and local presence in Australia.
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08:21 17/02/2011
Potash project advances
Canada. BHP Billiton is to take the Jansen Potash Project into its feasibility study phase, highlighting the Group’s commitment to the Province of Saskatchewan and Canada. Drilling and site preparation for the ground freezing process, required prior to the sinking of the production and service shafts, has commenced.
Jansen is expected to
start producing saleable potash from its 3,370mt resource by 2015 and
ultimately produce around 8mt per annum of agricultural grade potash over
an estimated 70-year life span.
The project has the potential to become one of the world’s premier potash mines and the platform for a significant and scalable potash business for BHP Billiton, said Graham Kerr, President of BHP Billiton Diamonds and Specialty Products.
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20:40 16/02/2011
Another record for commodities
Australia. Mining conglomerate BHP Billiton has reported record half year profits of $10.7bn up to the 31 December 2010 and a growth plan to invest around $80bn over the next five years.
Robust operating performance was achieved across the company’s portfolio, with three commodities and five businesses achieving production records in the half year to December 2010 in tight and growing commodity markets.
Notable achievements included iron ore shipments from Western Australia rising to an annualised rate of 148mt per annum in the December 2010 quarter and the Hunter Valley coal project starting production. Major projects, including those in iron ore and metallurgical coal, are at an advanced stage and are expected to result in a substantial increase in capital expenditure.
In going forward, the company remains cautiously optimistic on the short term outlook for the global economy, given the continuation of robust growth in emerging markets and positive signs of a sustainable recovery in major developed economies such as the US.
With the increase in core commodity prices in the latter half of 2010, the effects of adverse weather in encouraging stronger prices for core commodities such as coal, iron ore and copper, the company expects a slowdown in the growth rate of global commodity demand in calendar year 2011. Although they add that the economic environment still underpins a robust near term outlook for their products. In addition, China's twelfth five-year plan in March 2011 is expected to have important implications for commodity demand in the medium term.
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20:33 16/02/2011
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Growth in the East
Indonesia. Cement company PT Semen Gresik Tbk predicts that the year’s profit growth will reach 10 to 15 per cent. Its CEO, Dwi Sutjipto, said that in spite of stagnant revenue, the company in 2010 successfully implemented efficiency programs which improved its net income by 5 percent to 10 percent, compared to 2009.
Profit growth this year is expected to
happen because of improvements in production with the completion of two
new cement making plants in Tuban, East Java and Tonasa, South Sulawesi
which have a combined production capacity of 5mt per
year.
It is hoped that production capacity can be improved to 25mt per year from the 18.5mt produced in 2010. Stagnant revenue growth in 2010 was down to a number of natural disasters in the country.
In addition to the construction of two new cement plants, the company is preparing to build another new cement plant in Sumatra with a 2.3 – 3mt production capacity per year.
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22:27 07/02/2011
Massive investment in 2011
Brazil. Vale, the Brazilian mining giant, has announced an investment budget of $24bn for 2011 targeted at sustaining existing operations, R&D and project execution.
The figure represents a massive increase of 125.1 per cent over the $10.662bn invested in the last twelve-month period up to September 2010 and reinforces the focus on organic growth - 81.3% per cent of the budget will go to finance R&D and greenfield and brownfield projects.
Confidence
in long term global fundamentals will see the development of a large number of world class projects, fifteen of which have already been approved. Sizeable investments are to be made in the company’s railroads, maritime terminals, shipping and power generation.
During
2010 - 2012, eighteen large projects will come on stream and production is
expected to grow at a fast pace. Although iron ore and nickel remain the
largest operations, significant expansion will be seen in fertilisers,
copper and coal, ensuring a diversified portfolio of assets composed of
bulk materials, base metals and fertilisers.
Coal output is expected to reach 42mt in 2015 and potash and phosphate rock will also be boosted,
to 3.4mt and 12.7mt respectively. Iron ore production is planned to reach 522mt in 2015, copper production estimated to reach 691,000t and nickel output will rise to 381,000t.
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10:51 07/02/2011
New potash
powerhouse
UK. In an exciting new deal, Sirius Minerals, the globally diversified potash development company, has acquired York Potash Ltd, a private UK company with extensive onshore and offshore mineral rights between Whitby and Scarborough in North Yorkshire. The region also hosts the Boulby Mine which has been producing potash since 1973 and is known to have extensive deposits of high grade material for use in fertiliser.
York Potash Ltd has been analysing the potential to develop a new world-class potash project and is at the early stages of exploration and assessment, but the scheme’s potential is considered to be significant. It is estimated that the project has one of the world’s largest deposits of polyhalite at mineable depth, a valuable source of potassium sulphate which trades at a significant premium to conventional potash as it doesn’t contain chlorine which can limit certain fertiliser applications.
The company is now working with its advisers to rapidly progress the project through the various stages of development to determine the viability of the enterprise.
Strategically, the project is near road and rail networks, allowing access to the port of Teeside, lying north, and the port of Immingham, which lies south. Part of the analysis will be to assess how best to utilise the existing infrastructure to efficiently access both domestic and international potash markets.
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15:18 24/01/2011
Cement mill order
Brazil. FLSmidth has been awarded a $32m contract by Brazilian Votorantim Cimentos for the supply of six cement grinding mills which will be installed with new pyro lines also purchased from FLSmidth.
The contract includes main equipment, process engineering and site advisory and commissioning services for four OK 33-4 mills and two OK 36-4 mills and an option on a seventh OK mill. The mills will feature gear reducers supplied by FLSmidth MAAG Gear and takes the total number of FLSmidth OK mills sold in Brazil to thirteen.
The mill design is known for its exceptional efficiency and reliable performance, matching Votorantim's ongoing expansion of production capacity and commitment to reducing its overall energy footprint. Commissioning is set for mid-2013.
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11:24 12/01/2011
