Verde Potash Announces Cost Reductions and Mr. Leonardo Moretzsohn's Resignation

Verde Potash (TSX: "NPK") ("Verde" or the "Company") would like to announce that Mr. Leonardo Moretzsohn has resigned from the Board effective immediately for personal reasons. The Company would like to thank Mr. Moretzsohn for his support and contribution, wishing him well in his future endeavors.

In order to reduce costs, Verde will reduce its number of directors to six, five of whom will be non-executive directors.

Over the last few weeks, the Company has been reducing costs as much as possible, including personnel, consultancy, benefits and travel expenses.

President & CEO, Cristiano Veloso, commented: "The Company is expecting to reap the benefits of a highly productive past year with anticipated results in Q1 2014 from a pre-feasibility study, Inova Agro's funding allocation decision, and ThermoPotash agronomic trials. Nevertheless, the Company is taking measures to substantially reduce its expenditures. Also, since IPO in 2007, Verde has issued only 9,114,559 shares and intends to continue protecting its share structure while advancing the project."

About Verde Potash

Verde Potash, a Brazilian fertilizer development company, is focused on advancing the Cerrado Verde project located in the heart of Brazil's largest agriculture market. Cerrado Verde is the source of a potash-rich deposit from which the Company intends to produce both ThermoPotash and potassium chloride (KCl). ThermoPotash is a controlled-release, non-chloride, multi-nutrient fertilizer that is ideally suited for Brazilian soils. In addition, the Company is developing its Calcario limestone project, limestone being a key raw material in the Company's process to produce both ThermoPotash and KCl

About the Cerrado Verde Potash Project

Cerrado Verde is a unique project: 1) its high grade potash rock outcrops and is amenable to strip mining, allowing fast construction of a scalable operation; 2) it is located in the midst of the world's third largest and fastest growing fertilizer market; 3) it connects to Brazil's largest fertilizer distribution districts via existing and high quality infrastructure; 4) it has the potential to supply both ThermoPotash and KCl to Brazil's local agriculture market from its large potash-rich deposit.

Mui coal mining launches today

THE multi-billion shilling coal mining in Mui Basin, Kitui County was launched yesterday after months of anxiety.

Speaking yesterday after a meeting with local leaders and the investor, Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir said that all the issues that had stalled the start of the mining process had been resolved.

Chinese firm, Fenxi Mining Industry won the tender to mine the coal deposits in the Mui basin, which is estimated to be valued at over Sh3.4 trillion. Chirchir said that once the project has been completed, the mineral could provide up to 3,500 megawatts of cheap electricity. The project will also create jobs as well as boot the economy of the county and the country at large.

The local community has complained that the government has kept them in the dark during tendering and negotiation for compensation and relocation of the current land owners. But Chirchir said that all the issues that had been raised by the local community including land adjudication and processing of titles and revenue sharing will be addressed.

Coal deposits have been discovered in four blocks and it is estimated that about 30,000 households who will have to be relocated to pave the way for the project.

Community Liaison committee led by Eric Mutua confirmed that the concerns they had raised had been addressed. During the press briefing yesterday, Governor Joseph Malombe, Senator David Musila and area MP Joe Mutambo and other local leaders were present. Also present was the voce chairman of Fenxi, Yang Wusheng.

The committee was formed for purposes of linking locals with the government and to ensure that local interest were protected.

- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-148285/mui-coal-mining-launches-today#sthash.UrwTbQ1l.dpuf

Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals Linked to Fracking Found in Colorado River

This week, more evidence came in that hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) poses potentially serious risks to drinking water quality and human health.

A team of researchers from the University of Missouri found evidence of hormone-disrupting activity in water located near fracking sites – including samples taken from the Colorado River near a dense drilling region of western Colorado.

 

The Colorado River is a source of drinking water for more than 30 million people.

 

The peer-reviewed study was published this week in the journal Endocrinology.

 

Fracking is the controversial process of blasting water mixed with sand and chemicals deep underground at high pressure so as to fracture rock and release the oil and gas it holds. It has made previously inaccessible fossil fuel reserves economical to tap, and drilling operations have spread rapidly across the country.

 

The University of Missouri team found that 11 chemicals commonly used in the fracking process are “endocrine disrupters” – compounds that can affect the human hormonal system and have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and infertility.

 

“More than 700 chemicals are used in the fracking process, and many of them disturb hormone function,” said Dr. Susan Nagel, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and women’s health at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and a co-author of the study, in a news release.

 

“With fracking on the rise, populations may face greater health risks from increased endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure.”

 

The research team collected samples from ground water and surface water from sites in Garfield County, Colorado, where fracking fluids had accidentally spilled, as well as from the nearby Colorado River, into which local streams and groundwater drain. They also took samples from other areas of Garfield County where little drilling has taken place, as well as from a county in Missouri where there had been no drilling at all.

 

They found that the samples from the spill site had moderate-to-high levels of endocrine-disrupting activity, and the Colorado River samples had moderate levels.  The other two samples, taken from areas with little or no drilling activity, showed low levels of endocrine-disrupting activity.

 

The new findings add urgency to calls for moratoriums on fracking until the risks have been fully assessed and regulations and monitoring put in place to safeguard water supplies and public health.

 

Due to the so-called “Halliburton loophole,” the oil and gas industry is exempt from important requirements under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and states have been slow to fill the regulatory gap.

 

Colorado, in particular, should exercise the utmost caution.

 

According to a report by Ceres, a Boston-based non-profit organization that educates investors about corporate environmental risks, 92 percent of Colorado’s shale gas and oil wells are located in “extremely high” water stress regions, defined as areas in which cities, industries and farms are already using 80 percent or more of available water.

 

Adding contamination risks to the high volume of water fracking wells require – typically 4-6 million gallons per well – argues strongly for a precautionary approach to future development and a pause in existing production until the full range of environmental health risks can be assessed.

 

But Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has said the state will sue any city that bans fracking within its borders.  Indeed, in July 2012, the state sued the front-range town of Longmont, which had issued such a ban.

 

A statement about the new findings of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in waters near fracking sites issued by Concerned Health Professionals of New York, and posted here, concludes with this warning:

 

“These results, which are based on validated cell cultures, demonstrate that public health concerns about fracking are well-founded and extend to our hormone systems. The stakes could not be higher. Exposure to EDCs has been variously linked to breast cancer, infertility, birth defects, and learning disabilities. Scientists have identified no safe threshold of exposure for EDCs, especially for pregnant women, infants, and children.”

And environmental health expert Sandra Steingraber writes in a letter posted at the same site:

 

“[I]t seems to me, the ethical response on the part of the environmental health community is to reissue a call that many have made already:  hit the pause button via a national moratorium on high volume, horizontal drilling and fracking and commence a comprehensive Health Impact Assessment with full public participation.”

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Shares spike at Aquila after Baosteel lifts stake

SYDNEY – Shares of Australia's Aquila Resources briefly rose more than 6% on Thursday after the company said one of China's largest steelmakers, Baosteel, had raised its stake to almost 20%.

The stock climbed as high as A$2.25, or by A$0.13 before falling back. At 03:00 GMT it stood 2% higher at A$2.16.

Baosteel bought 19-million Aquila shares, or 4.6% of all outstanding shares, taking its stake to just under the 20 percent threshold where it would need to declare its takeover intentions under Australian securities rules.

Baosteel initially acquired a 15% interest in 2009 and has a representative on the company's board.

Aquila in a statement said it took Baosteel's move as a "sign of support" for its undeveloped West Pilbara iron-ore project.

China, under its five-year plan, has said it aims to secure half its imported iron ore from mines owned or co-owned by Chinese firms by 2015, up from 15% in 2011.

Aquila's executive chairman, Tony Poli, was not available for comment. A company spokesman said it was not immediately apparent if the stock was acquired by Baosteel on or off market.

Australia to ship more iron-ore as miners shrug off China risks

SYDNEY – Australia raised its forecasts for exports of iron ore and metallurgical coal -- its two top export revenue earners -- reflecting massive expansion work underway to meet demand for raw materials to make steel in China.

despite moves to curb industrial growth rates and close some ageing steel works, China continues to produce more than two-million tonnes of crude steel daily, almost 10 times the rate in the United States.

Australia, the world's biggest producer of iron ore, forecast a 23.3% rise in exports to 650-million tonnes in the 2013/14 fiscal year, data from Australia's Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) showed on Wednesday.

The forecast was raised from an estimate of 615-million tonnes just three months ago.

"The super cycle is not over yet," said Keith Goode, an analyst for Eagle Mining Research in Sydney, referring to unprecedented commodity demand driven by Chinese demand.

"In China, the main demand still appears to be for iron ore."

Australia's troika of big producers are spending billions of dollars to dig more, betting on greater economies of scale to enable them to ride out troughs in the demand cycle

Rio Tinto is preparing to raise output capacity by about a fifth to 360-million tonnes by 2015. BHP Billiton is also boosting production.

Fortescue Metals is in the early stages of setting up its next stage of growth in iron ore production beyond an annualised rate of 155 million tonnes.

China has plenty of its own iron ore. But much of it is so low grade its cheaper to import ore with three times higher iron content from Australia than mine it at home.

Australia's exports of metallurgical coal used in making steel for the year are forecast to increase by 6%to 163.9-million tonnes, according to BREE.

China alone is expected to boost its imports of metallurgical coal by 8% to 99-million tonnes in calendar 2014, BREE said.

CHINA RISKS

The Australian data underscores continuing strength in iron ore shipments and a resurgence in coal, while other major commodities produced in the country wane.

China buys the lion's share of Australia's iron and coal.

China's overall iron ore imports are expected to climb to a record 850-million tonnes next year, up from an estimated 800-million tonnes this year, in step with steel output and demand.

Still, according to Australia & New Zealand Bank, markets for raw materials used in steel making face pressure as higher freight rates and falling steel prices curb Chinese buying leading into the Chinese New Year.

China rebar futures -- a barometer of activity -- hit a 2-1/2-month high last week, though the May 2014 contract has declined more than 2% since then.

And while still above two-million tonnes, China's average daily crude steel output fell for the third straight 10-day period this week and declined 3.7% in the first 10 days of December, data from the China Iron and Steel Association showed.

Also, steel mills in China are facing more shutdowns next year under China's latest economic reform agenda as the government steps up its fight against air pollution.

A slower Chinese economy is also expected to halve the growth pace of steel demand to around 3% next year.

Nonetheless, after falling below $87/t in September 2012, the steel-making mineral now fetches around $134 .

By contrast, rising costs and declining gold prices are cutting or wiping out profits of Australian gold producers.

Exports by Australia, the world's second-biggest gold producer behind China, are forecast to decrease by 4% in 2013/14 to 270 tonnes, BREE said.

Mamba Minerals Ltd to merge with CHAMPION IRON MINES LIMITED

Mamba Minerals Ltd and CHAMPION IRON MINES LIMITED:Says Mamba Minerals Ltd has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement (Arrangement) to effect a merger with CHAMPION IRON MINES LIMITED.Says under the terms of the Arrangement, CHAMPION shareholders will receive 11 Mamba shares for every 15 shares they hold.Says the merged company will remain listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.Says Mamba Chairman Michael O’Keeffe will transition to Executive Chairman of the merged company with an immediate term mandate to progress the development of Fire Lake.Says Thomas Larsen the current Chairman and CEO of CHAMPION will become the CEO of Mamba. 


Read more: Van Oord-GMB JV to Reinforce Dordrecht Island

Patriot Gold pours first gold from Arizona project

Las Vegas-based emerging gold producer Patriot Gold has poured first gold from the Moss project, in Mojave county, Arizona.

The company said that to date, precious metal sales had weighed in at $365 826, based on 270.4 oz of gold and 588.6 oz of silver recovered over recent months from the pilot plant.

The precious metals were sold at $1 326/oz of gold and $22.30/oz of silver. More shipments were undergoing processing for which Patriot was waiting to determine its value.

Patriot Gold's earn-in partner had recently provided a technical update for the Moss project, reporting positive findings. Canada-based Northern Vertex has the right to earn a 70% interest in the Moss property, after which the companies would form a 70:30 joint venture.

Construction of the pilot plant started in early May and was completed at the end of July. According to the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Phase 1 of the project, 91 000 t of ore was to be extracted from the mine.

Mining started in June and a total of 90 199 t had been mined. Leaching began in mid-August, and would continue well into 2014.

Northern Vertex had now gathered enough data from processing to optimise the leach pad design, which could result in increased plant throughput.

"We are delighted to reach this momentous milestone on our project, which has been fast tracked through to production. We look forward to gathering pertinent data over the next year to set the base for transition into Phase 2 operations," Patriot Gold president and CEO Bob Coale said.

The second phase would target an output of 42 000 oz of gold equivalent a year from the end of 2014.