http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/japans-nuc...

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/japans-nuclear-fallout-hits-promising-producers/story-e6frg9ex-1226024978078


Potash looking up

POTASH seems an altogether more optimistic place to be.

Bloomberg reports Uralkali, the Russian-based fertiliser giant, expects potash prices to rise strongly this year. It plans to hike prices 18 per cent (to $US530 a tonne) to Brazil and 22 per cent (to $US450/tonne) to India.

Uralkali lifted its price to China -- the world's largest consumer of potash -- in January by 14 per cent, to $US400/tonne.

Meanwhile, fertiliser prices are rising fast in the US. And farmers can now afford to pay higher fertiliser prices.

New York corn prices have climbed by 77 per cent in the past year and wheat traded in the US has risen by 43 per cent.

Peter Strachan at Stock Analysis says the food supply disruptions caused by the Queensland floods and the unrest in North Africa will become a regular occurrence. He is, of course, talking the global food shortage story, and how the world cannot feed all its 7 billion people.

Strachan notes that the potash price has risen 20 per cent over the past 12 months and the other fertiliser feedstock, phosphate rock, is up 50 per cent.

Phosphate hopeful Minemakers (MAK) had a stream of news during the week from both its Northern Territory and Namibian projects, and strong gains on Wednesday and Friday, closing at 49c. Strachan says that, with the rock phosphate price recovering towards $US200 a tonne, he can see the MAK share price moving closer to $1.

He's a little more iffy about the potash favourite South Boulder Mines (STB), which gained 13 per cent on Friday to close at $4.51. "StockAnalysis is not prepared to accept the political risk that comes with a small company operating in Eritrea, despite the nice geology and indicated high grade of potassium mineralisation," Strachan told clients.

During the week we saw General Mining Corp (GMM) raise $1.21 million, the money to be split between its Mongolian potash and lithium brine project and drilling in WA for manganese.

Within the next two weeks, we should see an initial resource statement from Elemental Metals (ELM) regarding its Sintoukola project in Congo-Brazzaville. On Friday, the company reported further high-grade intercepts which, it said, confirmed the shallow mineralisation. A second phase of drilling totalling 12,000m will start in the second quarter.