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Wednesday February 14, 6:44 PMNew Caledonia law to leave ore exports unchangedBEIJING, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The French territory of New Caledonia is unlikely to change nickel ore export regulations under a new minerals law that will be brought to a vote in the next few months, government officials there said on Wednesday.The minister in charge of industry had sought to further limit exports of saprolite ore under a new law that devolves power from Paris, but was overruled by regional officials in mining areas, sources in New Caledonia said. New Caledonia, home to a quarter of the world's known nickel reserves, does not allow exports of saprolite ore with a nickel content of more than 2.5 percent, in order to reserve it for its own smelters. That cap is likely to stay, but the draft law no longer lowers the ceiling for exports as an earlier version had proposed. The new law will also leave untouched exports of lower-quality laterite ore, which is increasingly sought by Chinese importers in order to make nickel pig iron for sale to stainless steel firms, a senior government official said. Nickel pig iron has a relatively low nickel content of about 4 percent, and has been profitably produced by former Chinese steel mills as nickel prices have soared to historic highs. The minerals law was developed as part of a transfer of more regulatory authority from Paris into local hands, following the Noumee accord of 1998. A cabinet vote is tentatively set for March 22, after which the parliament must vote on the law and specific regulations. New Caledonia exports saprolite ore with about 32,000 tonnes of contained nickel to Japan. South Korea's Posco will begin construction in May on a ferronickel refinery in Kwangyang, South Korea. Posco is in a joint venture with New Caledonian miner Societe Miniere du Sud Pacifique SA (SMSP) for the refinery and a nickel mine in New Caledonia, that would export saprolite ore containing 30,000 tonnes a year of nickel over 30 years. Chinese nickel pig iron producers have so far mostly sourced their laterite ore from the Philippines. But SMSP has an agreement with Chinese firm Xin'anjiang Ferro-Alloy Works to produce ferro-nickel from laterite ore exported from New Caledonia. The government of Jiande, in Zhejiang Province, last year authorised Xin'anjiang to upgrade its 80,000 tonne per year ferronickel plant, according to a government website. |
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