i am in again, page-3

Heres a nice artical about Brazil.




Brazil Metal Rush: Boom ahead in gold, copper, iron ore mining

The soaring price of metals in the commodity markets has made Brazilian firms and foreign players to invest heavily in Brazilian mining sector which has started a ?Metal Rush? worth $70 billion; one of the largest in the world!



Firms like Anglo American, Vale, CSN and many others are queuing up to initiate projects in Brazil that would fetch them multibillion dollar returns.



Given the potential, it is expected that the country would be able to produce metal and mineral ores in multiple amounts of the current figures by 2015.



Who rides the rush?



Following are the details of a few companies involved in the rush:



1. VALE: - The world?s largest Iron Ore producer to invest $10.2 billion by 2014 to expand its iron ore mine Carajas Serra Sul, Carajas. The company would invest $3 billion to develop additional railway network for transportation.
2. ANGLO AMERICAN: To invest $4.3 billion by 2015 in Nickel mining at its Greenfield Jacare site.
3. ANGLO FERROUS / ANGLO AMERICAN: To invest $3.2 billion by 2015 in iron ore mines in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.
4. CSN: The Steelmaker will invest $2.8 billion by 2015 to expand its iron ore mines in Conghonhas.
5. SAMARCO: - This privately owned Brazilian company is about to invest $2.7 billion by 2014.
6. POTASSIO DO BRASIL: -The company will invest $2.5 billion by 2014 to develop its potassium assets.



Copper and Iron ore boom



By 2015, the iron ore production in Brazil is expected to get doubled and Copper production to get tripled from current figures.



Investment to the tune of $68.5 billion is expected for the 2011-15 period when compared to earlier estimates of $62 billion.



The iron ore production is expected to be 772 million tons by 2015, from 372 million tons whereas formerly, the mining ministry pegged figures at 585 million tons; a huge surpassing by many standards.



?Even with the slowing down of the economy, the (iron ore) supply is well below the demand that exists around the world, the developing countries like China and others have sustained this strong demand," Ibram, Head, Brazil's mining institute was quoted by Reuters as saying.



Meanwhile, the Copper output would increase to 662,000 tons by 2015 which is three times higher than present.



For 2011, the Brazilian output of Iron Ore is expected to be between 400,000 and 410,000 tons and copper to be in the range of 210,000-220,000 tons, said a media report.



Golden era



The demand for gold, this year has been remarkable and the frenzy has charted unbelievable heights. (The price of Gold had hit $1900 an ounce on Monday).



Brazil stands to ride the gold wave as well, though currently on a small scale.



Brazil?s gold output was around 61 tons in 2010. The investors investing in gold mining expects output to touch 94 tons in 2015.



It has to be noted that around 2,500 known gold occurrences are within the country, signaling a huge potential.



For 2011, the gold production is expected to be slightly higher than 2010 that is 65 tons.



Effect of political conditions



The political conditions in a country can make or mar the industrial growth. Brazil has a good political environment and also great resources which is supporting the mining sector.



This is in sharp contrast to South Africa, another potential ?golden hub?.



It was expected that South Africa would enter gold rush on the current gold market but the unsuitable political environment and lack of skilled laborers and poor infrastructure has made them stay back.



Once, the South Africa was the leading gold producer in the world; now it has been over taken by China as growth in technology, enhanced political conditions and availability of skilled labors changed course.



Forecast for 2030



For 2030, the Brazilian production of gold, iron ore and copper could more than triple from the present figures. The total production is expected to be above 2500 million tons; the metals include aluminum, nickel, copper, gold, raw steel, iron ore.



Nonetheless, the mining sector is facing difficulties as the environmental regulations keep the approval process slow and erratic. Once the processes get stream-lined, further impetus can be expected.