China’s Iron Ore Mines Keep Digging Despite Losses

About three-quarters of Chinese iron ore mines are in the red, according to remarks on Friday by Yang Jiasheng, chairman of the Metallurgical Mines Association of China, with operating rates as low as 20 per cent of capacity.

Shi Zhenglei, iron ore analyst at Mysteel, reckoned that about half of China’s estimated 1,500 iron mines would be forced to close this year, removing 20 to 30 per cent of national capacity. Many Chinese mines produce low grades of ore.

“Some miners will sell out, but the problem is that it will be hard to find buyers,” he said. “It is also difficult for state-owned companies to acquire small mines due to reasons pertaining to capital and local government.”

While many smaller, private iron ore miners may be willing to sell or at least mothball production, state-owned mines are locked into contracts with mills and may come under pressure to keep going.

Local governments also generally oppose closures that might raise local unemployment rolls. State-owned metals trader Minmetals, for example, has been unable to get permission to close a costly mine in northern China, in spite of the availability of cheaper imported ore.

“Many of the iron ore mines have signed contracts with steel factories,” said Wang Lin, analyst at Lange Steel Information Resource Center in Beijing. “Many are still operating because they want to make sure they have stable supplies for steel factories.”

The drop in prices has also hit higher-cost international miners including Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group, once hailed by the Chinese for its potential to break the market dominance of BHP Billiton and Rio. Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, Fortescue founder and chairman, this week called for a cap to help revive prices.

China’s flagship steel producer Baosteel has joined Rio Tinto in rejecting that suggestion.

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Funnel-Web Spider Silver Bullion Coin 2015 Perth Mint

Australia has more than 40 species of funnel-web spider which fall into two genera: Hadronyche and Atrax. Australian funnel-web spiders are medium to large in size and vary from one centimeter to 5 centimeters in length.

The male funnel-web is more lightly built than the female. Both sexes have a body color that can vary from black to brown, but the hard carapace covering the front part of the body is always sparsely haired and glossy.

Not all species are known to be dangerous, but several are renowned for their highly toxic and fast-acting venom. Funnel-webs make their burrows in moist, cool, sheltered habitats—under rocks, in and under rotting logs, some in rough-barked trees (occasionally metres above ground). They are commonly found in suburban rockeries and shrubberies, rarely in lawns or other open terrain.

This 1oz silver bullion coin is issued as legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965.

MINTAGE: The Perth Mint will release no more than 1,000,000 of these coins worldwide in 2015.

REVERSE: The coin’s reverse features a large funnel-web spider, displaying its sprawled legs and hairy body. The design also includes the inscription AUSTRALIAN FUNNEL-WEB SPIDER, the 2015 year-date, the coin specifications, and The Perth Mint’s traditional ‘P’ mintmark.

OBVERSE: The coin’s obverse depicts the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the monetary denomination.

PACKAGING: These bullion coins are presented without capsules in protective tubes of 25 coins. There are 20 tubes to a box. Each tube is sealed with The Perth Mint’s tamper evident security seal.

Last year saw the debut of a new series of bullion coins from collector favourite, the Perth Mint. Released much earlier in the year that it’s usual triumvirate of semi-numismatic silver bullion coins (Koala, Kookaburra, Lunar), and with a considerably higher fixed mintage at one-million units, the first coin depicted one of Australians best-known threats to human life, the Saltwater Crocodile. It was a hit and the mint sold out in just a couple of months.

Fast forward to 2015 and yet another of Australia’s menagerie of psychotic killers gets its own coin, the Funnel-Web Spider. Growing up to 5cm in length (the spider, not the coin…), these quite beautiful creatures are capable of inflicting a particularly nasty bite, and doing it in your own garden. Nice. The fangs in particular are an arachnophobes worst nightmare, along with their ability to walk along the bottom of your water-filled swimming pool for a couple of days while still being able to attack you.

The coin follows last years quite closely in design concept, a clean representation of the animal on a clean background, with all the inscriptions in a bordered surround near the rim. The spider lends itself well to this style, and we think it’s actually a slight step up from last years design as the crocodile seems a difficult animal to get right on a coin, although Perth did a good job twelve months ago.

Available in 25-coin tubes, or in monster-boxes of 500, it’s a low-premium, good quality silver bullion coin of good design and restricted mintage. Only available in the one-ounce format, there were no proof, or other collector versions of the Saltwater crocodile released last year, so we wouldn’t expect any of this either. Seems like a bullion winner to us. At present we’ve only seen it up for bulk sale at Texas Precious Metals, a big Perth Mint bullion dealer in the US, but expect this to crop up in loads of places over the next week.

SPECIFICATIONS:

DENOMINATION	$1 AUD
COMPOSITION	0.999 SILVER
WEIGHT	31.10 g
SIZE	40.6 mm
FINISH	BRILLIANT UNCIRCULATED
MINTAGE	1,000,000
ARTIST	ALEYSHA HOWARTH / IAN RANK BROADLEY
BOX / COA	NO / NO

Leaellynasaura 2015 1oz Australian Age Of Dinosaurs Silver Proof Coloured Coin

The Leaellynasaura is the third coin in this exciting five-coin series which features Australian dinosaurs that existed during the Cretaceous Period between 112 and 102 million years ago.

PROOF QUALITY 99.9% PURE SILVER

The coin is struck from 1oz of 99.9% pure silver in proof quality.

UNIQUE COLOURED DINOSAUR DESIGN

The coin’s reverse depicts the Australian dinosaur Leaellynasaura amicagraphica set against a starlit prehistoric scene. The inscription LEAELLYNASAURA, the coin’s weight and purity, and The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark are also incorporated into the design.

AUSTRALIAN LEGAL TENDER

Issued as legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965, the coin’s obverse features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the 2015 year-date, and the monetary denomination.

LIMITED MINTAGE

The Perth Mint will release no more than 5,000 of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Series – Leaellynasaura 2015 1oz Silver Proof Coloured Coin.

PRESENTATION PACKAGING AND NUMBERED CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

The coin is housed in a classic display case within an illustrated shipper, and is accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity.

FIVE-COIN PLASTIC DISPLAY BOX

A superb way to protect and present all five coins in their illustrated shippers, this series display box comprises an easy-to-assemble polypropylene charcoal tray and a transparent sleeve, and is complimentary with the delivery of the third coin release when purchased as a subscription.

• Third Release in Series
• Proof Quality 99.9% Pure Silver
• Unique Coloured Dinosaur Design
• Australian Legal Tender
• Limited Mintage – 5,000
• Presentation Packaging
• Numbered Certificate of Authenticity

 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Silver Content (Troy oz)	1
Monetary Denomination (AUD)	1.00
Fineness (% purity)	99.9
Minimum Gross Weight (g)	31.135
Maximum Diameter (mm)	40.60
Maximum Thickness (mm)	4.00
Maximum Mintage	5,000
Designer	Tom Vaughan

Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater Silver Coin Crater Meteorites Series $1

Silver coin Crater Meteorites series $1 Antique finish 2015 Wavy Ultra High Relief with Real Meteorite Stone 1 oz

Wolfe Creek Crater is a well-preserved meteorite impact crater (astrobleme) in Western Australia. It is accessed via the Tanami Road 150 km (93 mi) south of the town of Halls Creek. The crater is central to the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park.

The crater averages about 875 metres in diameter, 60 metres from rim to present crater floor and it is estimated that the meteorite that formed it had a mass of about 50,000 tonnes, while the age is estimated to be less than 300,000 years (Pleistocene). Small numbers of iron meteorites have been found in the vicinity of the crater, as well as larger so-called 'shale-balls', rounded objects made of iron oxide, some weighing as much as 250 kg.

It was brought to the attention of scientists after being spotted during an aerial survey in 1947, investigated on the ground two months later, and reported in publication in 1949.The European name for the crater comes from a nearby creek, which was in turn named after Robert Wolfe (early reports misspell the name as Wolf Creek), a prospector and storekeeper during the gold rush that established the town of Halls Creek

The crater was featured in the 2005 horror film Wolf Creek, and the sequel in 2013, Wolf Creek 2.

It was the setting for Arthur Upfield's 1962 novel The Will of the Tribe.

The Wolfe Creek crater has considerable claim to be the second most 'obvious' (i.e. relatively undeformed by erosion) meteorite crater known on Earth, after the famous Barringer Crater in Arizona.

The crater is mentioned in the children's science fiction book Alienology that says (in its universe) that a space craft crashed there.

Niue Island WOLFE CREEK METEORITE CRATER

Specifications
Metal	Silver
Mintage	666
Fineness (% purity)	99.9
Content (Troy OZ)	1 oz
Denomination (NZD)	$1
Weight (g)	31.10
Diameter (mm)	38.61
Year of Issue	2015
Country	Niue Island
Edge	Smooth
Quality	Antique finish
Exterior Decoration	Wavy Ultra High Relief; Real meteorite inlay
Package type includes	Luxury themed wooden box
Certificate of Authenticity	Yes
High Quality VIDEO	Available below for viewing