Posted on

British Mining Tech for Iran

British mining and mineral processing technology company Alexander has executed a commercial and technical partnership agreement with Turkish specialist mineral processing consulting company Proses.

The agreement covers the potential application and use of Alexander’s proprietary processing technologies and know-how (MetaLeach Technology) in the Middle East, including Turkey and Iran, London-based financial market website ADVFN reported.

The agreement covers the terms and conditions of the use of MetaLeach Technology and appropriate partnership success fees, where due, for introductions made by Proses.

Martin Rosser, Alexander’s CEO, said, “We are delighted with this partnership agreement with Proses. Proses is a highly regarded mineral processing consultancy with a strong presence in a part of the world that is highly prospective for our technology. We very much look forward to working together for mutual benefit.”

Proses and Alexander will, on a best efforts basis, investigate commercial opportunities for the use of MetaLeach Technology in the target regions. Proses proposes to design and construct a Strategic Information Systems Planning (approx. 100,000-300,000 tons feed per year) either in Turkey or in Iran subject to securing the necessary funding. Zinc oxide projects, especially in the Hakkari and Kayseri regions of Turkey and in Iran, are a particular focus but copper projects are also of interest. Any such SISP would be built and operated with material input from Alexander.

Proses has offered to explore a possible SISP at the world class Mehdiabad zinc (lead and silver) project in Iran where it has a role in development planning.

Mehdiabad is a mixed oxide/sulfide deposit (split 40%/60% respectively), with some sulfide sections containing zinc carbonates in the host. It is potentially one of the world’s largest zinc mines, which the state-owned Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization expects to bring on stream in the next four years.

In March 2017, IMIDRO said it had signed a deal with a consortium of six private companies, led by Iran’s Mobin Mining and Construction Company for the project’s development. Mehdiabad has 154 million tons of proven reserves, according to IMIDRO, with an exploration target of 700 million tons.

Managing director of Mehdiabad Mine said back in November that the first phase of zinc concentrate production at Mehdiabad is scheduled to be completed by the end of the next fiscal year (March 2019).

“This mining complex will reach [its full] annual production capacity of 800,000 tons each for zinc and lead concentrate respectively in four years and three stages,” Amin Safari was quoted as saying.

Alexander will receive a gross sales revenue royalty on the value of the SISP product. Subject to the results of the SISP, Alexander will negotiate with the project owners a technology license agreement for the use of its MetaLeach Technology. The agreement would be on Alexander’s standard commercial terms and should include a gross sales revenue royalty on all commercial scale metal or high value-added processing plant product.

In addition, Proses may, on an independent best efforts basis and from time to time, make introductions to potential mining companies or projects in the target regions that may be of commercial interest to Alexander.

If so, where Alexander has agreed that a potential opportunity is of interest (allowing for certain exclusions), Proses will provide material input to the review by Alexander of the opportunity, to determine whether or not Alexander wishes to negotiate a technology license agreement with the opportunity owner(s).

Where both parties mutually agree, each party may provide technical consulting services, either separately or jointly, to third party owners.

MetaLeach Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alexander Mining plc and was formed to enable the commercialization of its proprietary hydrometallurgical mineral processing technologies. These technologies have the potential to revolutionize the extraction processes for many base metals deposits by reducing costs, and hence enhancing operating margins, at the mine site, according to Alexander’s website.

Proses was established in Turkey in 1997. The main objective of the founders of the company was to provide the Turkish market with engineering and consulting services, especially in the base metals and precious metals production sector. In addition to Turkey, Proses has been active in various base metals and precious metals sector projects in Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia.

Source: https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-business-and-markets/82377/british-mining-tech-for-iran

Posted on

Russia and Iran to revamp Fordow nuclear facility

Russia’s Ambassador to Iran, Levan Dzhagaryan, announced Sunday that his government offered some support so that the Middle Eastern country revamps the Fordow nuclear facility, located near the northern city of Qom.

In an interview with Russia’s news agency TASS, Dzhagaryan said a delegation from the state-run nuclear agency Rosatom visited the Iran and discussed “certain practical aspects of the project to reconfigure the Fordow reactor.”

These recent Moscow-Tehran conversations are taking place within the framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Tehran’s nuclear program, which was signed in Vienna in the summer of 2015 and involves Iran, Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

According to the deal, the Persian nation should produce no weapons-grade plutonium and reduce its stockpiles of enriched uranium in return for the removal of international sanctions. After Iran implemented its obligations, former US President Barack Obama lifted sanctions. However, following his announcement of a new strategy towards Iran, President Donald Trump refused to certify the agreement on January 13, 2018 and later on said that Washington would withdraw from it unless the accord’s “disastrous flaws” were fixed.

The US President’s position is a cause of concern in both Tehran and Moscow, the Russian ambassador told TASS. “There are reasons to understand our European counterparts also worry about this, as they had applied much effort to reach the deal,” he said.

As part of the plan, Iran also agreed to convert the Fordow facility into a technology and science center and to give inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency access to the site. Early in 2017, IAEA verified the removal of excess centrifuges and infrastructure from the plant. According to NPO Nuclear Threat Initiative, 1,044 gas centrifuges remain installed in one wing of the facility, with IR-1 cascades installed separately for stable isotope production.

Sunday also marked the 39th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and amid pro and anti-government rallies, some protesters burned a white sheet reading “Barjam,” the Farsi acronym for the JCPOA.

Source:http://www.mining.com/russian-iran-revamp-fordow-nuclear-facility/

Posted on

LOOK-AHEAD 2018: Bright outlook for UAE economy

A partial recovery in oil prices coupled with an ongoing all-out diversification drive and the landmark tax reform, will help the UAE economy to gain increased momentum in 2018 to register 3.3 per cent growth.

After an expected slowdown to 1.7 per cent in 2017, such a vibrant pace of growth predicted for 2018 signifies a virtual turnaround for the economy with a two-fold growth, driven by a rebound in gross domestic product by Dubai and Abu Dhabi, analysts and economists said.

While the ongoing fast-track diversification aimed at further reducing reliance on crude oil revenues will better place the UAE to entrench itself from further volatility in oil fortunes, a five per cent value added tax will help boost state revenues by Dh12 billion per annum, adding about 1.5 to two per cent to GDP.

VAT, which represents a major shift in tax policy, will impact all segments of the economy, leading to a fundamental change in the way businesses operate across around the region.

James Mathew, group CEO at Crowe Horwath (UAE and Oman), said VAT would bring in transparency, which will help the financial sector to differentiate between genuine businesses and suitcase operators. “Obtaining credit facility from banks will become easier for small and medium enterprises in the UAE after the implementation of VAT as companies will have to maintain their books from next year. The genuine SMEs will be able to get more finance because their turnover will not be questioned by the lenders as their records will be clean.”

Mathew said the UAE has been known for its tax-free status and a move towards introducing tax may need a significant overhaul of how the business operates in the region especially for the unorganised SME sector.

“SMEs are going to face challenges implementing the new tax laws as compared to larger organisations which are normally operated with proper operating policies and structures. SMEs are the backbone of the Dubai economy, representing 95 per cent of all establishments in the emirate. Almost half of SMEs in the UAE are in Dubai [45 per cent], while 32 per cent are in Abu Dhabi and 16 per cent in Sharjah. The other emirates account for seven per cent.”

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, said that the outlook for the economy is brightening despite regional and global macroeconomic challenges. “With two years into Expo 2020 Dubai, the economic growth momentum is expected to pick up on the back of a vibrant non-oil sector as the country remains on track to establish a diverse knowledge- and innovation-driven economy,” he said.

Most forecasts show that Abu Dhabi’s GDP growth is expected to pick up in 2017 to 3.9 per cent and 4.7 per cent in 2018 – outpacing the overall UAE’s GDP growth rates over the same period respectively, analysts at Knight Frank said in their UAE Market Review and Forecast 2018.

In Dubai, as the economy diversifies in line with Dubai Plan 2021, GDP growth is expected to grow 3.2 per cent in 2017 and begin to strengthen in 2018 to 3.5 per cent. Hafez Ghanem, World Bank vice-president for the Middle East and North Africa, said Dubai is a good example of how an oil exporter should diversify.

Resilient to global and regional headwinds, the UAE economy has already outpaced the rest of the GCC in economic growth in 2017 by making slow but steady progress. Forecasts by the International Monetary Fund and other institutions endorse the optimism shared by analysts.

The IMF said in its latest outlook that better days are ahead for the UAE with the economy right on track for a rebound with a 3.4 per cent surge in 2018.

Jihad Azour, director of the Middle East and Central Asia at the IMF, projected a 1.3 per cent growth in the UAE’s real GDP in 2017, while the overall GCC growth is expected to bottom out at 0.5 per cent this year, the lowest since the 0.3 per cent growth recorded in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis.

A forecast by the Institute of International Finance said the UAE would continue to be the best-managed economy in the region. The UAE possesses large financial buffers – estimated at around $670 billion – on top of its renowned safe-haven status, excellent infrastructure and a relatively diversified business-friendly economy. All these advantages will help the economy cope with the prolonged low oil price environment, the IIF said.

The UAE is firmly on course to be one of the best performers among Middle East and North African economies over the next five years as its vibrant growth continues to be driven by trade and tourism. Garbis Iradian, chief economist at the IIF, said despite predictions of a slowdown in economic growth elsewhere in the region, the UAE’s economic performance would improve in 2017 and 2018 with firming oil prices, an improvement in global trade and the expected easing pace of fiscal adjustment. But headline growth (oil and non-oil combined) will decelerate to 1.5 per cent in 2017 due to oil production cuts under the extended Opec agreement.

The country’s bold and decisive diversification into tourism, non-hydrocarbon trade and financial services will continue to mitigate the adverse impact of low oil prices. At present, hydrocarbon GDP accounts for only 30 per cent of total GDP and oil exports for slightly less than 40 per cent of total exports.

The IIF expects non-oil real GDP growth to accelerate to three per cent in 2017 and 3.5 per cent in 2018, supported by investment and non-oil exports of goods and services. Several high-frequency economic indicators, including the purchasing managers’ index, retail sales and number of tourist arrivals over the first nine months of 2017, suggest improvement in sentiment and private sector activity. The UAE is also pressing ahead with its drive to improve the business environment and competitiveness, even from an already high global ranking by the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

The PMI averaged 55.8 in the first three quarters of 2017 as compared with 53.8 during the same period of last year (a 50.0 threshold separates expansion from contraction). Non-oil activity in Abu Dhabi is improving after a challenging two years during which deep government spending cuts slowed activity. Key projects, such as the construction of nuclear plants and airport expansion, are progressing, albeit with delays.

In the banking sector, which is well-regulated and supervised, the UAE will witness annual credit growth recovering from 1.7 per cent at end-2017 to about five per cent in 2018.

As the UAE continues to weather the effects of low oil prices and the moderation in non-oil economic activity, inflation is forecast to remain subdued as the continued decline in rents offsets higher imports prices while inflationary pressures from the introduction of VAT early next year will be partly offset by further declines in rents, analysts pointed out.

A joint report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and Oxford Economics says that the UAE will record an accelerated growth in 2018 to 3.6 per cent from 1.7 per cent in 2017. The momentum will further gain pace in 2019 to post 3.6 per cent growth.

In the latest World Competitiveness Ranking of 63 countries by the IMD World Competitiveness Centre, issued in May 2017, the UAE rose to 10th place, making it the only Arab country to find a place among the super league of the global top nations.

In the most recent edition of the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018, issued by the WEF, the UAE topped the Arab world and ranked 17th globally in the global competitiveness ranking.

Source:https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/economy/look-ahead-2018-bright-outlook-for-uae-economy