Iron ore prices resumed their downward trend Wednesday after China announced it would revoke about a third of its iron ore mining licences, mostly belonging to small polluting operations amid a government-led crackdown on smog and outdated steelmaking capacity.
Lei Pingxi, chief engineer at China’s Metallurgical Mines Association, said the measure would affect about 1,000 small mines, most of which have tried bypassing Beijing’s efforts to improve air quality by closing briefly and so survive inspections.
China's mines produce some 350 million – 400 million tonnes a year on a 62% Fe-basis. Around one-third of the many small mines struggling with low iron ore content (average close to 20%) have costs per tonne of more than $100.
The bulk of Chinese fines require a process called sintering (fines are mixed with coking coal and partially smelted) before being fed into blast furnaces, which greatly adds to the steel industry's environmental impact.
In the past year, the nation's steelmakers have been substituting domestic supply and reducing the percentage of fines in favour of pellets and so-called "lump" ore from Australia, South Africa and South America, which lowers costs and cut pollution by reducing the need for sintering.
http://www.mining.com/china-revoke-1000 ... crackdown/