Author Archives: Alessandro Bruno

Alessandro Bruno

About Alessandro Bruno

Alessandro is Senior Editor at ProEdgeWire. He holds a BA, MA. Alessandro has worked for the United Nations in Libya and specialized in Middle Eastern, African, and South American affairs. Alessandro has worked as an industry analyst, lived and worked abroad extensively and is fluent in English, Italian, Spanish and French with a working knowledge of Portuguese, Arabic and German.

Orbite turns toxic waste into real value

ORBITE On May 16, Orbite Aluminae (‘Orbite’, TSX: ORT | OTCQX: EORBF) presented its quarterly results. Some of the highlights that were mentioned included the start of non-commercial operations of the High Purity Alumina (HPA) plant and the delivery of first commercial HPA samples with a purity of 99.99%, the exclusive worldwide agreement with Veolia, the issuance of patents in China and Russia. Orbite also announced that Mr. Glenn R. Kelly will join Orbite as the new Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), starting on May 21, 2013. Interestingly, all management will report to Mr. Kelly. As with all new technologies,…

Japan’s ‘Abenomics’ fires first shot in the Rare Earths recovery

imagesCAH56QBT The Japanese economy has started to grow for the first time in 20 years and this should help boost the rare earths sector. Japan’s new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, was elected on a platform of economic growth and nationalism. Just months into office, Abe-san has been more successful than anyone had expected and the world has coined the new term’ Abenomics’ to describe the growth recipe that has made Abe into the ‘Iron Chef’ of the G8 nations. Japan’s GDP has risen 3.5%, while expectations were for a 2.8% more than the United States. "Abenomics" consists in higher public spending…

Japan’s rediscovered economic success to fuel return of Nuclear Power

121214044637-shinzo-abe-monster The Japanese economy has started to improve according to the latest indicators. GDP growth is expected to increase 3.1% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the previous quarter to 1.3% for 2013 and 2.3% for 2014. Perhaps, more significantly, Japanese citizens’ level of confidence in their economy has also improved – which is more than one can say for many other OECD countries – as hinted by a 5% rise in household demand last March. Many Japanese companies have announced they will raise salaries and bonuses. At the same time, residential and business real estate prices in Tokyo…

Potash sector undervalued but a price Rebound is around the Corner

agriculture Potash and Phosphate Week in Review: The ProEdgeWire potash and phosphate index for the week ending on May 10 improved considerably in comparison to the past few weeks but still registered an average loss, albeit a minor one at -0.53%. There were no stellar performances or abysmal losses, but only one Company stood out for gains, Potash Minerals (‘Potmin’, ASX: POK), which continues to benefit from its late April announcement that the US Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has granted it permission to drill in federal land at the Company's Hatch Point property in Utah. Potmin believes that the best…

Graphite Being Squeezed by Commodity Prices

graphite numbers may 12 Graphite and Graphene Week in Review: The ProEdgeWire Graphite and Graphene index dropped 8.11% for the week ending on May 10. Flinders Resources (‘Flinders’, TSXV: FDR) and Lomiko Metals (TSXV: LMR | OTCQX: LMRMF) were the sole gainers at 3.33% and 2.94% respectively. Flinders is slated to be one of the first of the new flake graphite companies in the Index to move from exploration to production, expecting to complete its Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Woxna graphite project in Q3 2013 in Sweden with full consideration of metallurgical and engineering details. Flinders also owns the Kringel graphite mine in…

Bangladesh textile factory disaster highlights importance of corporate sustainability

made in bangladesh The death of over 1000 people killed in a Dhaka factory collapse late April should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with Bangladesh’s poor labor standards. Bangladesh has become one of the most important textile and garment manufacturing centers in the world. However, the secret of Bangladesh’s textile sector boom has less to do with a tradition of quality, outstanding design and craftsmanship. No, the reason has far more, exclusively so, with the fact that major international garment producers can secure manufacturing at very low cost thanks to ‘world beating’ wages and poor safety and industrial practices -…

Tesla Motors: from ’0′ to Wall Street darling faster than a ‘Model S’

model-s-signature-red-motion_960x640 Some of us - of whom yours truly happens to be an especially indicative example - enjoy driving cars, motorcycles and most other transportation emitting an appealing mechanical whine, requiring a certain skill in managing a manual gear shift and a clutch pedal. Even more of us want to make sure their vehicles can reach the intended destination without running out of ‘power’. Even for the more compromising majority of people who still affect this ‘primitive’ affliction, electric cars are a hard sale. The majority of electric cars is small and has awkward ‘faux-futuristic’ designs; most electric vehicles also have…

Rumors of a Mosaic Takeover could prompt a Potash Rebound

imagesCAJDDAKA Rumors of Mosaic Potash (NYSE: MOS) becoming a takeover target and an upward swing in prices of commodities could prompt a renewed interest in the potash sector and potash prices. Moreover, other factors such as potash inventory levels in North America suggest potash demand will be rising. The interest in Minnesota based Mosaic has been sparked by the expiry of restrictions, on May 26, for shares held by charities associated with Cargill, the agro-industrial giant that spun off Mosaic two years ago. This will allow all of Mosaic’s shares, estimated to be worth some USD$ 26 billion, to be put…

The Syrian Crisis and the rise of BRICS: an economic and geopolitical Argument against Intervention

216855-an-iranian-military-fighter-plane-flies-past-an-oil-tanker-during-nava Two Israeli air raids last week against Syrian military facilities, are said to be responsible for killing 42 Syrian soldiers, adding considerable tension to an already highly volatile Syrian crisis. The air attacks, which Syrian officials said used depleted uranium shells, came just days after the White House and the EU discussed what to do about purported evidence of Syrian government use of chemical weapons. While there are doubts about those claims, given that Carla Del Ponte from the UN Commission of Inquiry on violations of human rights in Syria, has suggested the evidence points to the rebels having used…

Value of High Grade Flake Graphite…beyond Graphene

imagesCABDTRQ4 Last week Gary Economo, the CEO and President of Focus Graphite (TSXV: FMS | OTCQX: FCSMF) wrote an article for ProEdgeWire, highlighting  graphene as the material that will spark the next industrial revolution: “Graphene is to technology as the steam engine was to the Industrial Revolution….Today’s graphene race to lead a new industrial revolution is fueled by economic necessity, national security and the desire to lever graphene’s myriad advantages.” Graphene is one of the factors motivating interest in high grade flake graphite, but its development and technology still appear distant in the myopic view of the markets. Indeed, there is…