MOLYCOR GOLD GETS FAVORABLE REPORT FOR NEW MAGNESIUM PROJECT

Edward Lee, President of Molycor Gold Corp.  is pleased to report that Wardrop Engineering, a Tetra Tech Company (Wardrop), has completed a preliminary economic assessment (the "Report") for the Company's 100% owned Tami–Mosi Magnesium Project located in the Schell Creek Range of White Pine County near Ely, Nevada. The NI 43-101 compliant Report will be filed with the Regulators on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release.

The Report suggests an economically attractive opportunity exists to develop the Tami–Mosi Magnesium Project within the United States. The Report demonstrates the ability to exploit the resource in excess of 30 years. The conceptual basis of the Report is for the project's business operations to be performed within the United States, where protective tariffs are in place on imported magnesium metal.

The Report is based upon a Resource Estimate Analysis generated by Mr. Klaus Triebel, CPG, (Wardrop) showing the Inferred Resource estimated by Wardrop to be 412 million tonnes with an average grade of 12.3% Mg for a contained metal content of 111 billion pounds of Magnesium using a 12% Mg cut-off grade. No dilution is incorporated in the Wardrop estimate. The increased tonnage and grade over earlier estimates results from the acquisition of 13 more contiguous claims as well as applying block modeling and surface sampling.

An initial metallurgical assessment study completed by Hazen Research Inc. in 2010, found this dolomite to be high quality and an ideal source for production of magnesium metal, magnesium based refractories, and/or agricultural products. Analyses on a sample from drilling done in 2008 show the dolomite to be almost identical to the National Institute of Standards & Technology Standard Reference Material 88b (for dolomite limestone) but with lower levels of impurities.

It is proposed that the dolomite would be open sided pit mined from the dolomite quarry to be located near Ely, Nevada and transported 210 kilometers (130 Miles) north to the Processing Site ("Facility") at the rate of approximately 800 tonnes per day. The Facility would be located near Wells, Nevada and situated adjacent to the interstate highway, main line railway, natural gas and existing electrical infrastructures. The 150-acre Facility would be vertically intergraded and will contain a magnesium plant, a ferrosilicon plant and a power plant. The magnesium plant is designed to produce 30,000 tonnes annually of 99.9% pure magnesium ingot.

The ferrosilicon plant would produce 75% ferrosilicon and is included in the facility design for quality control and to reduce cost of a critical raw material for the magnesium reduction process. A proposed clean coal power plant utilizing coal gasification and energy recovery would generate 74.5 megawatts of dedicated power for the Facility. Coal will be delivered to the Facility via rail from the Powder River Coal Basin, minimizing raw material transportation. The expected power cost will be significantly lower than that of commercially available natural gas or electricity.

The magnesium plant would produce magnesium metal ingots using conventional thermo reduction method via an updated and automated Bolzano Process. (Comparable magnesium recovery is currently defined at the industry standard of 81%.This area has the strongest potential for improvement). The process is identified not only as the most environmentally friendly, but also as one that has potential for increased efficiency and automation. Currently, Molycor has identified six areas of opportunity that could substantially reduce the cost per pound produced, enhance the efficiencies of all operations and lessen the overall emissions. Molycor is currently pursuing application possibilities for patent protection.

The preliminary financial modeling, on a pre-tax basis, is constructed to describe magnesium production in the United States. The latest negotiated contract tariff spot price in the U.S.A. ranged between US$2.45 and US$2.65 per pound 99.9% Mg (Metal Pages, June 1, 2011). The model uses the lower US Spot price of US$2.45 per pound for all revenue calculations.

Estimated Capital Cost is US$424 million and total Operating Costs is estimated at US$1.28 per pound magnesium recovered. This includes all on and off site operations. The project is expected to employ up to 194 employees for the life of mine before expansions. The strip ratio for the deposit is estimated to be 0.038:1.

The Preliminary Economic Assessment is based on a number of technical costs and other assumptions. These may be changed or lowered in the future as additional information becomes available. The conversion of waste streams into products; increasing plant efficiencies; heat recovery from process streams; alternative feed and/or reagent substitutions or continuous operation options were not included in the operating cost calculations. During the development of the pre-feasibility study these items will be tested to determine probability for lowering the operating cost per pound of magnesium produced and increasing revenues.

Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The analysis includes inferred resources. The preliminary assessment includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary assessment will be realized.

Larry W. Reaugh, Chief Executive Officer and Edward Lee, President agree; "The preliminary economic assessment demonstrates the positive economics needed to develop a new efficient world class primary magnesium producing facility in the US, securing domestic supply and allowing Molycor the opportunity to move the project forward towards the final feasibility."  Further work will consist of drilling, metallurgical testing and process design, geotechnical and environmental baseline studies, magnesium marketing studies, patent applications and a preliminary feasibility study.

The Report was completed by Wardrop and includes significant input from the following sources: a) Mr. James Sever, B.S., M.S., M.B.A. – responsible for concept of the overall facility and the technical process for magnesium production and the costs; b) Mr. Robert Brown – for process operations and markets; c) Mr. Ralph Carter, P. Eng. – for ferrosilicon production and the production costs; d) Dr. Fred Buckingham, Ph.D., P.E. – for coal gasification technology, operations and costs; and e) Dr. Neale Neelameggham, Ph.D. – for technical review, research and patent development.

MAGNESIUM-LITHIUM ALLOY HAS BEEN REDEVELOPED

As metalmaterials go, the new magnesium-lithium alloy developed by Santoku Corp. lives up to its reputation as a dream alloy. Lighter than magnesiumand easy to shape and otherwise process, Santoku's new alloy has everything that attracts makers of cars and electric machinery to the promise of this material, plus it does not have the problems with corrosion that have limited its practical application to date.  "It looks like regular iron, but you can easily lift it with one hand," explained chief developer Takayuki Goto, pointing to an ingot of magnesium-lithium alloy that looked as heavy as an iron rod.

The ingot was cast at Santoku's Miki factory in Hyogo Prefecture from an alloy of magnesiummixed with lithium, a rare metalbest known now for its use in lithium ion batteries. Lithium has a specific gravity of 0.53, which is half the density of water, so it can float.  Santoku's magnesium-lithium alloy has a specific gravity of 1.36, so an ingot the size of 10 0.5-liter PET bottles would weigh just 6.8kg. That is one-sixth the weight of iron, half the weight of aluminum and over 20% lighter than magnesium, the lightest of the metals. "It is as light as plastic and also very strong. In fact, it is the lightest metalmaterial in the world at this time," Goto said with pride.

Santoku first began development of this alloy material six years ago. Goto at the time was conducting research on the use of lithium for the positive electrodes of high-performance batteries, but ended up applying that research toward the magnesium-lithium alloy. Success was not guaranteed and was by no means easy. Truth be told, magnesium-lithium alloys are as old as the U.S. space program, with NASA first developing the alloy in the 1960s for research and military applications.

But magnesiumreadily oxidizes and lithium has poor corrosion resistance, so a mixture of the materials yields an alloy that has poor stability and limited applications anywhere but the oxygen-free vacuum of space. Back here on Earth, the alloy begins to oxidize within eight hours of its creation and is no longer usable after 24 hours.

Despite the critical problem of durability, the tremendous promise of this lightweight material persuaded companies like Sharp Corp. and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. to try their hand at developing practical formulations of the alloy around a decade ago. But no company managed to find a way to mass-produce the material, which is why it gained the name "dream alloy."

Santoku was successful where others failed "because of the proprietary casting technologies we have developed for hard-to-handle rare-earth metals," Goto explained, giving by way of example the patents the company holds for manufacturing neodymium magnets.

Even so, it took Santoku three years to develop an alloy with sufficient durability for practical applications. The company prepared and evaluated more than 300 prototypes, each time changing such factors as the order in which the molten ingredients were mixed and the temperature for casting in the mold. And it then took the company another three years to establish a method for mass production.

But all the effort may end up proving well worth the trouble, since the range of applications in which weight is a factor is broad. One promising use of the new magnesium-lithium alloy is for the outer casing of telephones, information terminals and other electronic devices. The alloy can also help automakers lighten and thereby improve the fuel efficiency of their cars.

In addition to be lightweight, the new alloy can also be pressed into shapes at room temperature. This is another reason why makers of cars and electronic devices have such interest in this alloy. The problem that remains is cost. At current prices, the new magnesium-lithium alloy is as much as double the price of conventional magnesiumalloys, which makes it expensive for use in volume-retail models of cell phones and the like. To bring the cost down, Santoku will need to boost its production capacity above the 50,000 metric tons a month that it can now make. But interest in the material is undeniably there, according to Santoku, which claims that several companies have already made inquiries.

NEW MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE PRODUCTION STUDY TO BE PERFORMED

Karnalyte Resources Inc. today announced that it has selected Lyntek Incorporated ("Lyntek") to perform a NI 43-101 compliant pre-feasibility study on magnesiumchloride(MgCl2) process streams at the same facility Karnalyte intends to construct for potash production. This potash facility is expected to initially produce 500,000 tonnes of potash per year and ultimately increase to 2 million tonnes of potash per year.

The solution mining process we intend to use to extract potash resources also recovers magnesium resources, which represents an opportunity to produce magnesium products as a second product line," said Robin Phinney, President and CEO of Karnalyte Resources Inc. "Karnalyte has recognized this opportunity, and this pre-feasibility study is the first step to determining the potential and cost to process this magnesium stream."

Under the terms of the contract, Lyntek will delineate the magnesium chlorideproduction process flow, determine the equipment requirements and provide a capital and operating cost estimate for the production stream. Karnalyte anticipates the pre-feasibility study will be completed prior to December 31, 2011.

Magnesium compounds, made from the magnesium chlorideare used in a very wide range of applications, including raw materials for steel and cement industry refractories and for the chemical, petrochemical and detergent industries; as well as a mineral supplement for livestock, additives and fillers for rubber and other polymers, and in the pulp and paper industry.

Karnalyte is engaged in the business of exploration and development of high quality agricultural and industrial potash and magnesium products. Karnalyte intends to develop and extract a carnallite – sylvite mineral deposit through a known solution mining process at competitive costs and with minimal environmental impact. Using a staged approach to potash plant construction, the Corporation plans to operate a solution mining facility that will initially produce 500,000 tonnes of potash per year, increasing to 2 million tonnes of potash per year.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON ADVANCED MAGNESIUM LIMITED ACQUIRING MAGONTEC

AML and Magontec have well developed growth strategies to further develop the capabilities and synergies of the new group and further its ambition to become the most profitable vertically integrated magnesiummanufacturing business in the World.  Deal Structure AML will pay A$5.6m/US$6.0m for all the shares in Varomet Holdings Limited, the Cyprus registered holding company for the Magontec operating businesses. AML will make a 15% placement of shares to SMM, the owner of Varomet at a price of A$0.055 (40,499,167 ordinary shares). AML has also issued to SMM Convertible Loan Notes (CLNs) for the balance of the sum owing; A$3,368,047. The CLNs will carry a zero coupon and are redeemable at AML’s option for a period of 12 months (until 4 July 2012). Thereafter the CLNs will be convertible at SMM’s option. The CLN is issued with the condition that conversion to equity is subject to shareholder approval which approval is intended to be sought to the 2011 Annual General Meeting of the company. It is the intention of AML to redeem these CLN’s prior to 4 July 2012. AML will detail a capital raising initiative to enable the Company to fund ongoing working capital requirements and retire debt associated with this acquisition.

Operational Structure Mr. Nicholas Andrews will continue in his role as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Magnesium Limited. Mr. Andrews will retain overall responsibility for AML and group strategy and corporate activities. He will also remain Executive Chairman and CEO of AML’s 53% owned joint venture, HNKWE.

Mr. Günter Franke, the current Managing Director of Magontec, will become the Managing Director of AML and join the Board of AML with immediate effect. Mr. Franke will have overall responsibility for the global operational activities of Magontec and AML, including AML’s technology and surface treatment divisions. Mr. Franke was appointed Managing Director of Norsk Hydro Magnesiumgesellschaft GmbH in 1996. In 2007 he became the CEO of the Magontec Group following the sale of its magnesiumassets and the establishment of the new Magontec brand. He has been a magnesiumindustry professional since joining Norsk Hydro in 1975. Mr. John Talbot will continue in his current role as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. Mr. Talbot will continue in his current role as Chief Financial Officer of HNKWE and continue to serve as a Board member of HNKWE. Reporting to Mr. Franke and Mr. Talbot will be the senior financial officer at Magontec in Germany, Mr Patrick Look.

The entire senior executive staff of Magontec, including Mr. Xunyon Tong (General Manager of Magontec China), Mr. Christoph Klein-Schmeink (Head of Sales and Marketing) and Mr. Martin Tauber (Head of Strategy and Business Development), will continue in their current roles in Magontec with three-year employment contracts. The management of HNKWE will remain unchanged.  Magontec started (1953) in Germany as Magnesiumgesellschaft. In 2007 Straits Resources Limited acquired the company from Norsk Hydro. Magontec has a long and profitable history as a leading magnesiumalloy manufacturer and the largest magnesiumanode manufacturer in the World.

AML, through its operating subsidiaries, will have a combined manufacturing capacity of 60,000 (mtpa). In addition to the manufacture of new magnesiumalloy in Xi’an and at HNKWE (AML’s 53% owned Chinese joint venture), the company has installed recycling capacity of 19,000 mtpa. This will rise to 25,000 mtpa in 2012 as the new Romanian recycling plant comes on stream in Santana.  In addition to magnesiumalloys the Santana facility will also produce 2,000 mtpa of anodes. The combination of new alloy and recycling capacity in both Europe and China provides a broadly based and comprehensive supply offering to customers in the automotive and 3C industries. Recycling in particular offers relative independence from volatility in the raw materials markets and the opportunity to generate higher gross profit margins.

The business combination will also offer customers the broadest range of existing and new technology magnesiumalloys for use in the automotive and 3C industries. Both organizations have committed significant resources to bringing lightweight applications to market, particularly for the automotive industry as it seeks to improve environmental and emissions performance. In addition to the manufacture of high quality generic alloys, already widely used by automotive manufacturers, the new company has an unrivalled offering of high technology magnesiumalloys for current and future.

NEW PRESIDENT/CEO OF DEAD SEA MAGNESIUM IS NAMED

Mr. Meir Mergi, has been appointed President & CEO of Dead Sea Magnesium (DSM) a world leader in the production of pure magnesium and magnesium alloys. DSM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Israel Chemical Industries Ltd, one of the world’s largest fertilizer and bromine producers. 

Mr. Mergi brings extensive experience to DSM, having participated since 1994 in the construction, start-up and operations of the state-of-the-art and fully integrated DSM magnesium electrolytic smelter in Sdom, Israel. He has held a variety of positions including Plant Manager, Vice President-Operations and stand-in CEO/President of DSM.  Mr. Mergi was Plant Manager of DSM in 2009 when the use of SF6 was discontinued and replaced with HFC134a .  DSM had an estimated annual emission reduction of 273,616 tCO2e

Mr. Mergi (48) is married and the father of three.  He lives in Omer and is based at Dead Sea Magnesium’s headquarters in Beer Sheva, Israel. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering and an MBA, both from Ben Gurion University in the Negev.   

HIGH PURITY MAGNESIUM FROM BITTERN

India based Council of Scientific and Industrial Research filed patent application for process for the preparation of high purity magnesia from marine bittern. The inventor is Chitta Ranjan Panda Niva Nayak. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research filed the patent application on March 16, 2004. The patent application number is 473/DEL/2004. The international classification number is C02F1/52.

According to the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, "The present invention reports an improved process for the recovery of refractory grade magnesium from marine bittern through desulphation route comprising formation of magnesiumchlorideduring the process of desulphation by the addition of stoichiometric quantity of calcium chloride to bittern. As a result, sulfate ions are removed in the form of gypsum which is filtered out. The desulphated bittern is again treated with stoichiometric amount of ammonia and ammonium carbonate thus forming magnesium carbonate. The purity of MgO is 99.3% and CaO/SiO2 ratio is also favourable. There is no boron contamination and the bulk density is 3.355 gm/cc. The process is not energy intensive and does not involve any boron removal steps. The high pure magnesia thus obtained in this process is suitable for manufacturing high quality magnesia bricks for industries."

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) established in 1942 is an autonomous body and India's largest Research and Development (R&D) organization. CSIR promotes the development of indigenous technologies and resources. Includes features on special projects and business.

LARGEST MAGNESUM NOTEBOOK AND CELL PHONE CASE PRODUCER TO EXPAND

Catcher Technology Co, which makes metalcasings for Apple’s  MacBook,  Air and HTC Corps Smartphone’s, yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$10 billion (US$345.57 million) to expand production capacity in Taiwan to cope with rising clients orders.

Meanwhile, HTC, the worlds No. 5 Smartphone maker, reiterated yesterday that its third-quarter revenues would be about NT$137 billion, with shipments rising to 13.5 million units. Gross margin is expected to be 27.5 percent to 28.5 percent this quarter, the company said.

The two companies were among several listed firms invited by the Taiwan Stock Exchange to hold conferences to improve market sentiment and boost investor’s confidence. Catcher corporate finance vice president James Wu said the company purchased three plots of land in Tainan this year that span more than 27,000 ping (89,257m2), and investments would exceed NT$10 billion if all the projects came to fruition.

The projects are being planned because some clients requested it to set up production facilities here to tap the complete supply chain, he told reporters on the sidelines after yesterday’s conference. However, Wu said those investments could be hampered by a lack of local manpower willing to engage in labor-intensive jobs.

Catcher expected its production facilities to be busy as more and more consumers buy tablet PCs, Smartphone’s and Ultrabooks next-generation super-slim, powerful notebooks with tablet-like features. And these gadgets will use metalcasings in some parts for sturdier exteriors, thinner and sleeker designs and for better heat dissipation, he said. Tablets and Smartphones are the best-selling gadgets this year and Catcher is in the right field, MFC Global Investment Management (Taiwan) assistant equity investment vice president Stevie Chou said. Its solid business momentum should continue into the second half, with more offerings to debut in the consumer market, Chou added.

Catcher, one of Taiwan’s largest manufacturers of magnesiumalloy parts, is the industry’s biggest light solution provider, operating 10,000 sets of computer--numerically-controlled (CNC) machines. And the number of CNC machines will increase to 12,000 sets by December, Wu added. The company adjusted upward its capital expenditure to more than NT$7 billion in April from NT$3 billion in January.

Catcher reported NT$2.37 billion in earnings in the second quarter, up 183 percent from the same period last year and a rise of 24 percent from the January-to-March period. Earnings per share were NT$3.43, compared with NT$1.26 in the second quarter last year and NT$2.87 in the first quarter. Second-quarter revenue was NT$8.9 billion, up 69 percent from last year and up 25 percent from the first quarter.

As for HTC, the company told investors yesterday it would triple its China outlets to 2,000 by the end of this year from the current 650. The company said it also had made provisions for continuing patent disputes with Apple and expected no significant impact on its business. Shares of Catcher closed up 3.4 percent at NT$258.5 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday before

DOEHLER DIE CASTING AWARD MADE 

Daniel Twarog will receive the Herman H. Doehler Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the advancement of the die casting industry, the art of die casting as represented by technical achievement, advancement in plant operation and other activities. In August of 1995, Daniel Twarog became the executive vice president of the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA). His primary mission was to implement the Association’s Strategic Plan and provide products to the membership that helped them run their companies more effectively. In his time at NADCA, Twarog has worked with his staff to develop and improve many NADCA products and services to assist the die casting industry. In June, 1999, Twarog was promoted to president of NADCA. 

Mr. Twarog has spent 34 years in the metal casting industry and has received numerous awards for research results in process capabilities, investment casting technology, lost foam emission characterization, tramp element effects in aluminum and copper alloys, alternate reuse technology of foundry waste sand and development of replacement alloy for lead in copper castings. He has also spoken to numerous private groups and government agencies on the methodology of association/industry/university research. The Award will be presented on Tuesday, September 20, at the Die Casting Industry Gala in Columbus, OH.

DOW TO LICENSE POLYPROPYLENE TECHNOLOGY TO CHINESE GROUP

The Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co. has selected UNIPOL™ Polypropylene Process Technology from The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) for its new 160 KTA polypropylene unit. The unit will provide polypropylene as part of Qinghai’s integrated magnesium metal project to produce homopolymers, random copolymers and impact copolymers.

“We’re excited to have Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co. as a new licensee,” said Tracy Cleckler, global commercial director, Dow Polypropylene Licensing and Catalysts business. “The plastics market in China is expanding and this new license confirms the interest in using advanced polypropylene process and catalyst technology to produce differentiated resins for a variety of applications.”

Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co. license is eighth licensee of UNIPOL PP Technology overall in China. Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co. is the largest salt lake resources development enterprise and potassium chloride base in China with a wide range of products including potassium carbonate, potassium nitrate and potassium metal. As part of the magnesium metal project, it will utilize coal as feedstock to produce ethylene and propylene through coal gasification, then use the ethylene and propylene as feedstock for the polypropylene unit.

“With UNIPOL PP Process Technology we are able to meet growing market demand for polypropylene in China,” said the project director of polypropylene for Qinghai. “We have chosen UNIPOL because it’s one of the licensors with the most advanced propylene process technology available and offers the ability to produce the broadest spectrum of products in the world.”  Installation at Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co. is scheduled to start in 2012, with start-up expected in the second half of 2013.

THE QINGHAI SALT LAKE GROUP IS READY TO START PROJECT SUBSIDIARIES

On 17th Aug, Salt Lake group announced that it is about to start four subsidiaries, of which two are wholly owned, the other two joint ventures.  The two wholly owned subsidiaries, namely Qinghai Muli Coal Development and Energy Co., Ltd and Qinghai Salt Lake Tianshi Mining Co., Ltd are going to have an investment of 50 million Rmb and 30 million Rmb respectively.

Salt Lake Group will put 25 million Rmb in each of the two joint ventures, namely Qinghai Salt Lake Shengbang Non-Standard Equipment Manufacturing and Qinghai Salt Lake Electric Equipment Manufacturing, holding half shares of the venture. Qinghai Muli Coal Development and Energy Co., Ltd will be operating on the mining and sales of coal; Qinghai Salt Lake Tianshi Mining Co., Ltd on the mining, processing and marketing of limestone.

Salt Lake Group said that the purpose of the move is to ensure the supply of raw materials of calcium carbide and coke for the magnesium integrated project.

NEW MELTING FURNACE LINE TO BE AT DIE CAST SHOW

We had a note from Frank Smith of Rayteq telling us that they have modernized and upgraded a new melting furnace line.  RAYTEQ LLC, located in the heart of California's Sonoma wine country, will display its new line of high-powered, compact electric resistance melting furnaces with unique hybrid digital/analog controls for melting aluminum and magnesium alloys right at the die casting machine, thereby eliminating substantial energy losses from hot metal transporting, launders and holding furnaces in central melt systems.  Advantages over conventional fuel fired melting include higher energy efficiency, less metal loss; fewer scrap castings, no air quality issues, no operator heat stress, and no noise.

High furnace melting rates in a compact space are made possible by Rayteq's unique high power density heating elements featuring new life-enhancing materials technology.  Rayteq also supplies exact heating element replacements incorporating this new technology for other electric furnace makes.

Rayteq's new DC Series electric furnaces are available in six standard sizes ranging in capacity from 700 lbs. to 3,250 lbs. aluminum, and are supplied ready to operate with Rayteq's Fleet CommanderTM interactive demand management system (IDMS) which achieves additional utility cost savings by minimizing electric furnace fleet kW demand without impairing production rates or casting quality.  Rayteq's Fleet CommanderTM software operates with all Rayteq electric melters as well as conventional electric furnaces equipped with Fleet CommanderTM retrofit kits.

Three new Rayteq DC Series electric furnaces and an older Dynarad electric furnace, retrofitted to accommodate Rayteq's Fleet CommanderTM IDMS, are currently operating under the control of Fleet CommanderTM IDMS software at A & B Die Casting, Hercules, California.  Frank B. Smith, President & CEO of Rayteq, Bob Dathe, President of A & B Die Casting, and Matthew Smith, Exec. VP & Engineering Manager of Rayteq will give a technical paper describing all the new technology entitled Bringing Back Electric Melting at the 2011 NADCA Congress & Tabletop Exhibition, September 19 to 21 in Columbus, Ohio.

ALLEGHENY TECHNOLOGIES PRODUCING TITANIUM

In the 2011 second quarterly report, ATI reported that the Rowley, UT premium-titanium sponge facility has produced over 5 million pounds of sponge for the first six months of  2011. “This sponge is being used to produce industrial titanium products. Our primary focus is to continue the orderly production ramp and begin the program to achieve standard-grade qualification for Rowley sponge. We expect to complete this qualification by early 2012. We will then begin the premium-grade qualification program. Our new PAM (Plasma Arc Melt) premium-titanium melt furnace in Bakers, NC has begun melt trials. These new investments are important to ATI as we expect strong demand growth to continue for our titanium mill products and titanium forgings and castings.”

The general manager of Allegheny Technologies new $460 million titanium plant at Rowley, Steve Knight,  has 28 years experience in the aluminum industry and comes to Rowley from Whitefish, Mont., where he managed an aluminum plant for 11 years. He’ll oversee the operation that will combine magnesium from nearby US Magnesium with titanium tetrachloride to form titanium — for use in various industries — and magnesium chloride, which will be returned to US Magnesium for producing more magnesium..  ATI feels that the relationship with US Magnesium will make the operation profitable.

“We would not have located in Tooele County, Utah, if it wasn’t for the presence of US Magnesium,” said Knight, while speaking at a Tooele Chamber of Commerce luncheon a while back. “If something should happen to them we would remain viable, but our profitability would be in question.”  The relationship between the companies is also expected to help the demand side of US Magnesium’s business, which has been hard hit during the 2008 recession.

“ATI will be a substantial customer for US Magnesium,” said Tom Tripp, technical services manager for the Rowley-based magnesium producer. “Our major market right now is the aluminum industry and automobile manufacturers. But we do have a long-term agreement with ATI and when they start production it will be very beneficial to us.”  At full capacity, the Allegheny plant is expected to produce 24 million pounds of titanium per year. However, the plant was designed to be expandable to produce another 18 million pounds of titanium per year.  One pound of titanium requires one pound of magnesium.

WORLD MAGNESIUM PRICE COMMENTS  Metal Pages

The domestic prices for magnesium metal grade 99.9% have dropped to RMB17,400-17,900/tonne, down from RMB17,500-18,000/mt seen last week.  A Shaanxi based smelter told Metal-Pages that the company is now offering at RMB17, 500/mt, but some material has been said to have been traded at RMB17, 400/mt.  “But it will be hard for magnesium metal to decline much further, as prices of ferro-silicon have remained quite firm over the past few days,” the smelter source added.  The export prices for magnesium metal have remained holding at $3,010-3,210/mt FOB, without dropping further. “Enquiries from overseas buyers have increased. I think the export market will be better in the coming month of September as the orders are expected to increase slightly,” a trader in Shanxi noted.

European spot magnesium prices are at $3,325-3,375/mt basis delivered in-warehouse Rotterdam. Longer term business for delivery in Europe in the second half of this year, however, has been settled at some $3,150-250/mt basis delivered.

"Prices have dropped in China and that is expected to affect Chinese export prices in the next few weeks," one dealer said.  "However, Chinese production may also be cut in the coming months due to environmental measures by local authorities."  The Shanxi province government is planning to limit or halt production at about 150 local plants, such as magnesium smelters and die-casters, to cut pollution in time for the National Day, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the International Marathon Race in Taiyuan area, according to recent reports.

Metals production cuts in China, which supplies more than 80% of annual world magnesium supply, have happened occasionally in recent years due to a persistent government drive to curb power consumption and cut emissions in heavy industry, such as energy-intensive metals production.

CHINA MAGNESIUM PRODUCTION IS DOWN IN JULY 2011

According to the statistics of CNIA, in July 2011, China’s output of primary magnesium was 56.3 kt, down by 8.8% from 61.7 kt of June 2011. Among the output, Shanxi’s output was 24.5 kt, down 15.52% month by month; Shaanxi 21.8 kt, down 4.39% month by month; Ningxia 7,900 tons, down by 2.47% month by month. July and August are the traditional slack seasons for magnesium, for which many producers chose to fix machines. All production areas produced less than other period, especially in Shanxi.

RUSSIAN MAGNESIUM PRODUCTION INCREASED IN 2011

In January-July 2011 Russian magnesiummanufacture rose by 20.1% yoy, however magnesiumalloys output fell by 33.1%. On July 2011 magnesiumproduction rose by 26.3%, compared to thecorresponding period of 2010, magnesiumalloys: 36% down. Comparing to June 2011 magnesiumoutput grew by 12.4%, its alloys: 36% up. Source:MetalSupply and Sale Magazine

ANTI DUMPING ORDER REVIEW RESCINDED   26 August 2011 Department of Commerce Documents

SUMMARY: On June 28, 2011, the U.S. Department of Commerce ("the Department") published a notice of initiation of an administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure magnesiumfrom the People's Republic of China ("PRC"). /1/ The review covers one manufacturer/exporter of subject merchandise from the PRC, Tianjin Magnesium International Co., Ltd. ("TMI"). The period of review ("POR") is May 1, 2010 through April 30, 2011. Following the receipt of a certification of no shipments from TMI, we notified all interested parties of the Department's intent to rescind this review and provided an opportunity to comment on the rescission. /2/ We received no comments. Therefore, we are rescinding this administrative review. /1/ See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation in Part, 76 FR 37781 (June 28, 2011) ("Initiation").

CHINA JULY 2011 EXPORTS MIXED         CMIMB

China exported 19,422 mt of unwrought magnesium with a minimum 99.8% magnesium content in July, up 2.4% from a year earlier, but down 7.7% from 21,038 mt June, Chinese customs data showed last week. Magnesium alloy exports in July were 9,544 mt, up 31.5% year on year, and also up 30.4% from 7,319 mt in June. China exported about 8,852 mt of magnesium powder, granules and chips in July, down 13% from 10,180 mt a year ago. That was also down 3.9% from the 9,206 mt exported in June. China exported 779 mt of wrought magnesium in July, more than double the 341 mt exported in July 2010, and also up 71.2% from 455 mt exported in June.

Exports of magnesium articles totaled 1,474 mt in July, down 25.8% from 1,986 mt a year ago, but up 34.7% month on month. In January-July, unwrought magnesium exports totaled 21,605 mt, up 15.5% year on year, and magnesium alloy exports hit 62,290 mt, up 25.3%. Exports of magnesium powder, granules and chips through July totaled 54,257 mt, down 2% year on year, while exports of wrought magnesium were 8,183 mt, versus 2,339 mt a year earlier. China also exported 6,716 mt of magnesium articles through July, down 32.8% from 9,986 mt a year earlier.

OBITUARY FOR  ARIEH SUDAK  (We missed this earlier this year and apologize for the oversight)

On Monday January 10, 2011, 5th of Shevat 5771, Arieh Sudak,  President and CEO of Dead Sea Magnesium passed away, after a four month battle with cancer. Arie had worked at Israel Chemical Industries for 34 years. He started as a cargo handling engineer at the Bromine compounds plant, two years later was promoted to manager of technical services and later became logistics manager then Spectrum plant manager and general manager of the Bromine compounds plant.

In 1999 he was sent to manage the Bromine chemical plant in Holland and then managed the Sinobrom plant in China with much success.

Arie returned to Israel in 2004, to manage some projects in Dead Sea Bromine and in 2007 was appointed president and CEO of Dead Sea Magnesium (DSM). As CEO of DSM he succeeded to pull the company through many business palpitations, changes in ownership and the world financial crisis. He succeeded in positioning the company as a reliable western magnesium supplier, in directing large projects such as the change to the use of natural gas and other significant investments in the fields of environmental quality and safety. In addition he also succeeded in stabilising the company's financial situation.

His rare qualities, which included modesty, nobility, tolerance and patience will be missed by his co- workers and his professionalism and management experience will be sorely missed by the company. Arie is survived by his family, his wife Miri, sons Adi, Eran and Ravid and his six grandchildren.

LATROBE MAGNESIUM MOVING AHEAD ON MAGNESIUM METAL PRODUCTION

Latrobe MagnesiumLimited is pleased to announce that it has today entered into a Technology Agreement with Ecoengineers Pty Ltd whereby they will jointly apply for an International Patent for the hydrometallurgical process developed by Ecoengineers for converting brown coal fly ash into a form suitable for subsequent conversion into magnesiummetal. Latrobe will have the exclusive worldwide license to use and exploit the technology and any improvements for magnesiummetalproduction. This Technology Agreement replaces the previously announced Heads of Agreement dated 31 August 2009 and subsequent extension. Previously in 2009, Ecoengineers had lodged an Australian Provisional Patent application for this process.

On 25 August 2011, a New International Patent Application for “Process for Magnesium Production” in the name of Ecoengineers Pty Ltd and MagnesiumInvestments Pty Ltd, a 100% owned subsidiary of Latrobe MagnesiumLimited, was filed.  The Company has now received a detailed report from its Chinese technology provider for its pre feasibility study and is currently reviewing this information. It therefore believes that it is on track to complete its pre feasibility study by the end of September 2011.