Frik Els, Author at MINING.COM

Outer Harbour 1, Olympic Dam-Jansen 0: BHP gets final approval for $20 billion iron ore expansion

There are "growing signs" that Outer Harbour will take precedence over BHP's massive Olympic Dam project and the greenfield Jansen potash venture in Canada.

Frik Els | May 31, 2012 | 6:29 pm

Xstrata's 'Big Mick' says no retention bonus brings 'unnecessary risks'

Why isn’t this copper miner smiling? He’s getting a $45 million bonus just for staying on

In all $265 million will be doled out to senior management at Xstrata to stop them from jumping ship after a merger with Glencore. The two companies are also paying $200 million to their advisers to push the deal through.

Frik Els | May 31, 2012 | 5:36 pm

Joy Global sinks to year-low, forecasts further US and worldwide slowdown

“Our second quarter reflects both excellence in our execution and concerns over slowing in our markets”

Frik Els | May 31, 2012 | 4:00 pm

China factory data roils copper stocks – Freeport down 9%

China slowdown watch: Graff Diamonds pulls IPO

Graff Diamonds only received half the expected orders. Its announcement comes just one week after China Nonferrous Mining Corp pulled the planned listing of its Zambian copper assets in Hong Kong.

Frik Els | May 30, 2012 | 9:22 pm

Blanchard: Fed overselling rate hike great for gold

Olympic Dam decision pushed to the wire

If the board of the world's largest miner does not make a decision on the giant copper-gold-uranium-silver project in South Australia's outback by 8 December then it would lose all approvals and royalties concessions.

Frik Els | May 30, 2012 | 9:00 pm

Gold traders peer into bear territory before Spanic triggers buying

The raft of US economic numbers out this week and the stream of bad news emanating from Europe saw the gold price swing in a $40 an ounce range on Wednesday.

Frik Els | May 30, 2012 | 8:06 pm

‘A decade of rising commodity prices is always followed by two decades of declines.’ Now you tell us!

Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley, makes one of the most bearish statements yet on the end of the so-called commodity supercycle.

Frik Els | May 30, 2012 | 5:06 pm

De Beers says diamond sales growth to end this year

Losing sparkle: Report says Ekati buyer drops bid

It raises questions about demand for such assets, just as peer Rio Tinto starts work on a potential sale of its diamond division.

Frik Els | May 27, 2012 | 11:27 pm

Big miners playing game of chicken as marginal producers sink below break-even

Smaller miners are waiting for production cutbacks by the market leaders to prop up prices the way Saudi-Arabia comes to the rescue of oil producing nations whenever the crude price begins to flag.

Frik Els | May 27, 2012 | 10:53 pm

Glenstrata takes shape this week

The prospectus giving details of the creation of a $90 billion mining and commodities trading behemoth will find its way to the inboxes of shareholders this week.

Frik Els | May 27, 2012 | 10:04 pm