Oilfield Minerals & Markets Forum 2017 Review This year there was definitely something to smile about, and we are not just referring those intrepid delegates braving the “bucking bronco” at the Monday reception (more on that later). The oilfield minerals industry is feeling its way out of the doldrums of 2015/16, as drilling activity recovers, [...]
Industry heads to MagForum 2017 Kraków for answers and latest outlook Fusing magnesia in Dashiqiao, Liaoning province; production has been dramatically reduced owing to pollution inspections in the province, prompting shortages in supply for export and domestic markets. Accounting for about 70% of world magnesite production and just over 60% of world magnesia production, [...]
Imerys' Wrens, Georgia, 500m lbs/yr ceramic proppant plant acquired from Pyramax Ceramics in 2012, idled in 2015 owing to the market downturn. Courtesy PayneCrest Electric & Communications The phrase “building on sand” has an unfortunate ring of reality to those ceramic proppant suppliers striving to attain some purchase on the wave of recovery [...]
A fleet of Weatherford pump trucks attends to a hydraulic fracturing pad in the Marcellus, Pennsylvania, soon to be part of the huge new OneStim joint venture between Weatherford and Schlumberger announced in March 2017. As the year’s First Quarter reports start to roll in it is already clear that 2017 is going [...]
Dr Kayode Fayemi, Minister of Mines and Steel Development said that the government was likely to commence substitution or ban importation of barite for oil companies to patronise barite produced locally, according to the Premium Times of Nigeria. Nigeria’s barite sector is hoping to enter a new era of development that will enable [...]
Courtesy Port of Ghent The importance of logistics in transporting industrial minerals from mine to market came under the spotlight last week at IMFORMED’s Mineral Logistics Forum 2017, 10-11 April 2017, held at The College Hotel, Amsterdam. This is the third Mineral Logistics Forum by IMFORMED which uniquely brings together leading players in [...]
The Year Dot: a plethora of oil wells exploiting the Permian Basin populate Eddy County, New Mexico. Google Earth 2017 The oilfield minerals industry is emerging from the doldrums of 2015/16 with renewed vigour and expectations of rising demand during the next two years at least. Increased E&P spending and drilling activity in [...]
Mineral Recycling Forum 2017 Review Rotterdam was again the setting for IMFORMED’s second Mineral Recycling Forum last week, 7-8 March 2017, bringing together leading players in the fast evolving secondary raw materials sector. A real buzz was felt among the delegates as they listened to experts presenting on a range of topical subjects followed by [...]
Shipping Outlook | Kaolin from Brazil | New Silk Way | Mineral Inspection | Fertiliser Minerals Completion of the new sea lock is expected end-2019; 500 metres long, 70 metres wide, and 18 metres deep. The outline of the new lock is now becoming clearly visible from the air (inset). Construction commenced in 2016, [...]
Andalusite slipping through the fingers: Processing andalusite at Andalusite Resources' plant, Maroeloesfontein, Limpopo province, South Africa. And the winner is…the Competition Tribunal of South Africa, plus consumers of andalusite for refractories: no mixed up envelopes in this drama. The Appeal Court in South Africa today ruled in favour of the Competition Tribunal and [...]
