Jiangxi Copper Co., China’s biggest producer of the metal, posted a 158 percent increase in second- half profit because of rising copper demand and higher prices.

Net income rose to 2.79 billion yuan ($425 million) in the six months ended Dec. 31 from 1.11 billion yuan a year earlier. The result was derived by deducting the six-month figures from full-year profit released today on the Shanghai stock exchange, based on international accounting standards.

Chinese copper demand will gain 7 percent this year as the nation builds more homes, autos and upgrades power-grid networks, Chairman Li Yihuang said in March. Copper touched a record $10,190 a ton in February after surging 30 percent last year.

Shares in the company fell 2.3 percent to close at 39.55 yuan in Shanghai today, before the announcement. The stock was unchanged at HK$24.65 in Hong Kong.

Full-year net income more than doubled to 4.91 billion yuan in 2010 by Chinese accounting standards, Jiangxi Copper said. Net was 4.99 billion yuan by international standards, beating the 4.7 billion yuan mean estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales rose 48 percent to 76.4 billion yuan.

The company plans to boost copper smelting production capacity to 1 million metric tons this year, from 900,000 tons last year, Li said in March.

China’s Henan Xichuan Aluminum has raised its primary smelting capacity to 200,000 mt/year, which is an increase of 54% from its previous capacity of 130,000 mt/year, a company source said Wednesday.

“The government’s power rationing in the fourth quarter of last year kept us from raising capacity then, but the situation has improved and we’ve started up all the potlines this month and have now reached full capacity,” the source said.

The company now expects to produce about 170,000 mt of aluminum in 2011, which is a sharp jump of 70% from the 100,000 mt achieved in 2010.

“Actual output last year was also affected by the power issues at the year-end,” the source said.

Henan Xichuan sources alumina feed for its smelting operations from Henan refiners, on both a term and spot contract basis.

China’s overseas mining deals fell to $4.5 billion last year because of increased rivalry from India and Brazil, Ernst & Young LLP said.

The drop from a record $10 billion of deals in 2009 reflects “tougher” competition for Chinese investment, Eleanor Wu, an Ernst & Young partner on transaction advisory services, told reporters today in Beijing, after releasing a report on China’s mining acquisitions for 2010.

India surpassed China for the first time in 2010 with $4.6 billion overseas deals, mainly in coking coal, the report said. China’s deals included Jinchuan Group Ltd.’s $878 million takeover of South African platinum explorer Wesizwe Platinum Ltd., and China Railway Construction Corp. group’s C$679 million ($696 million) purchase of Canada’s Corriente Resources Inc.

“We expect sustained and moderate growth this year in Chinese outbound deals because of the imbalance of supply, shortage of resources and the country’s economic growth,” Wu said, without giving a forecast.

Global mining and energy deals are poised for the biggest first quarter since 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Global mining deals rose 89 percent to $113.7 billion in 2010, according to the Ernst & Young report.

Chinese investors shifted focus from Australia and Canada to higher-risk destinations including Brazil, Ecuador and Africa, targeting exploration companies, Paul Murphy, head of Asia Pacific Mining & Metals at Ernst & Young, said today.

Mining deals in China, including outbound and inbound, dropped 20 percent last year from a year earlier, the report said. Domestic deals surged 89 percent to $8 billion, driven by state-led restructuring in coal and steel sectors, it said.

SWISS bank UBS has upgraded its one-month forecast for silver from $US25.50 an ounce to $US35/oz.

Duh, as we would say — if we weren’t more refined.

The white metal hit a 31-year record on Friday, reaching $US32.66/oz during the day. This surge is all the more impressive because the previous record in 1979 was due to the Hunt Brothers’ infamous attempt to corner the silver market. This time it’s investment demand.

Silver, along with tin (of which more below) has long been a Pure Speculation hobbyhorse. Now they have begun to run.

Even so, the pure silver stocks have a patchy record. Over the past 52 weeks, Cobar Consolidated Resources (CCU) is one of the better performers, moving from 13c last June to touching 92c on Friday. The big excitement last week came from Silver Mines (SVL), which announced a potential upside of 57 million ounces of silver at its Webbs project in NSW. The stock, 6.3c just 11 months ago, reached 36c. Argent Minerals (ARD) has shed its gold project to become a pure silver play and has 31.6 million ounces of silver at Kempfield, NSW, but has not exactly caught on fire.

It’s been a choppy 52 weeks: a high of 25c in September and a close on Friday at 22.5c.

Alycone Resources (AYN), despite raising $16.7m and having enough money to develop the mine, remains at a lowly 4.9c. Perhaps that is due to the history of the Texas project in Queensland — it has been such a long and, at one stage, debilitating grind.

There is a soaring demand for silver coins. In January, the US Mint sold 6.4 million ounces of American Eagle silver coins, up 78 per cent from January last year.

For the smaller retail investor, it represents cheaper security than gold. Given the Middle East situation, plus the debasement of paper money, such prudence seems warranted.

Among the other plays:

Cerro Resources (CJO) has 202 million ounces of the stuff at the Cerro del Gallo project in Mexico (along with gold and copper) and has acquired the Namiquipa silver-zinc-lead deposit. It looks like a market run has begun.

Cortona Resources (CRC) recently reported a shallow high-grade discovery 500m from its planned Dargues Reef goldmine with an intersection of 1m at 687 grams/tonne of silver.

Metals X (MLX) is now producing, as a by-product, copper concentrate at the Renison tin mine in Tasmania, with the process also having a silver credit. This has the potential to produce up to 100,000oz of silver a year.

White Rock Minerals (WRM) has 10.5m ounces of silver in northern NSW — and is looking for more. And the on-again, off-again Conrad silver-tin project in northern NSW is now on again with Malachite Resources (MAR) saying that, while it is still highly excited by its recent Lorena gold acquisition, the rise of silver and tin moving over $US32,500 a tonne are together making the economics of Conrad look pretty good. MAR went for gold after a Conrad financing deal evaporated, so it was a sensible move.

But the price surges have apparently prompted a decision to drill the Princess Shoot at Conrad, which comes nearly to the surface.

Conrad was mined twice before, most recently until the 1950s, but the Princess Shoot was hardly touched by the old miners.

Conrad is still considered MAR’s flagship and the potential company-maker, with a resource standing at 9.5m ounces of silver. Apart from silver and tin, there are also copper, lead, zinc and indium.

Oh, yes, we nearly forgot: the world’s biggest silver producer is Cannington in Queensland, owned by BHP Billiton (BHP).

Time for tin

TIN a precious metal? No, we haven’t been at the cooking sherry again. That’s the view at BNP Paribas. Well, their exact words were that with the metal moving over $US32,000 a tonne or $US1 an ounce it had “become, in effect, a precious metal”.

BNP is predicting a deficit this year and probably in 2012. Japan’s imports of refined tin rose by 60 per cent last year and Indonesia’s largest producer, PT Timah, saw decreased output last year. On the other hand, there is talk of three big Congolese mines reopening.

And no one knows how much the Chinese are stockpiling.

Recent news includes Consolidated Tin Mines (CSD) confirming additional mineralisation at the Windermere project near Cairns while Havilah Resources (HAV) will move to 85 per cent of the Prospect Hill tin project in South Australia, almost due west of Broken Hill. And if Central West Gold (CWG) could get its act together, it might be considered a serious tin player. First, they could update the website (last news posting: 2009) and, second, get cracking at the Ottery tin mine, once the leading hard-rock tin producer in New England and potentially high grade.

But CWG plans to spend just $25,000 on exploration in the current quarter. Have they looked at the tin price lately?

PRINCETON — As the price of metal goes up, so does the number of thefts of items like copper from homes and platinum from vehicles, officials say.

Sgt. D.W. Miller Jr., with the West Virginia State Police Princeton Detachment, said the state police have noticed an increase in metal thefts as the market price of metal continues to rise.

“Basically, any type of metal can be targeted,” Miller said. “Metal prices are going up with platinum and copper being the highest. People will take appliances, junk cars, just about everything. In a week, we have about six to eight metal theft related calls.”

Miller said police have seen entire vehicles towed away from the side of the road for scrap metal.

“A lot of times, if someone breaks down on the side of the road, they come along with a lowjack and tow the entire car off,” Miller said. “They basically take the whole car.  Even the price on junk cars has gone up. If there is a car on the side of the road for more than a day, someone will come and pick it up for scrap.”

Platinum from catalytic convertors is another item Miller said thieves are frequently after.

“A lot of catalytic convertors are reported tampered with,” he said. “We have a big problem with them due to the high price of platinum, and they’re very easy to mess with. They’ll take a battery-powered hand saw, zip them off, and be gone in a matter of seconds. Basically, if they’re going to take metal from a car, it’s going to be the catalytic convertors, if they don’t end up taking the entire car.”

Miller said the amount of metal in catalytic convertors isn’t much, though an ounce of platinum is worth quite a sum.

“Most of the time, they sell the cars to junk dealers, who can haul it off to other states to cash in for more money,” Miller said. “Platinum is selling at around $1,000 an ounce, so it’s quite lucrative. Of course, there isn’t enough platinum in a single catalytic convertor to get much of anything. ”

According to Miller, those caught attempting to steal metals from cars are often given fines or jail time.

“It’s a misdemeanor,” he said. “They can get a fine up to a year in jail.

Gold is another lucrative metal, though Miller said there haven’t been many gold thefts reported lately in the area.

“We haven’t seen a rise in it, but we do know most jewelry thieves go straight to the pawn shop,” Miller said.

Miller said there are some precautions residents and vehicle owners can take to prevent their homes or cars from being targeted.

“For cars, you can’t really tell anything’s been tampered with until you start it up and hear the exhaust has been cut,” he said. “People can look for damage to fencing as an indicator. Even if the car is right out in the open or in someone’s yard, they can just wake up to find the metal is gone. If you have an old house or property with copper in it, check it more closely to make sure it’s secure. Instead of checking it once or twice a week, you might want to check it once or twice a day. There isn’t a whole lot you can do, unfortunately.”

Bluefield Police Chief J.W. “Joe” Wilson said the Bluefield Police Department hasn’t seen an increase in thefts lately, but officers are keeping an eye out as prices on metals climb.

“A year ago, catalytic converter theft was a big thing, but recently, we haven’t had but one attempt reported in the past month,” Wilson said. “Metal prices are up and we do see a lot of people hauling metal. We haven’t seen an increase in thefts yet, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be one.”

Wilson said reports of copper theft continue to remain steady.

“The copper theft is about the same,” he said. “We haven’t had a lot come through or seen a big increase. Still, with prices going up, we could see a bigger jump soon.”

Though there hasn’t been a jump in jewelry thefts in the area, Wilson said there are ways for police to track down gold or jewelry thieves.

“When companies come in to buy gold, they give us a list of who’s selling it to them and how much they’re selling,” Wilson said. “We can keep and eye on things that way.”

Wilson said alert neighbors are the main reason they are able to catch copper thieves.

“In most instances, it takes neighbors to be alert and report it,” Wilson said. “If anyone sees suspicious activity, they need to let us know. We often can’t tell the difference between a thief and a homeowner, so we need help from the community. If you have metals, keep an eye on them. Thieves like to target abandoned houses or ones being refurbished. You can also lock up things of value.”

There are precautions Wilson said owners can take to deter thieves from targeting their vehicle.

“People can try to park it in safer places, somewhere with good lighting or where you can keep a better eye on it,” Wilson said. “Still, catalytic converter theft can happen in your driveway, in a public parking lot, and just about anywhere.”

Most importantly, Wilson said citizens need to report any suspicious person or incidents to their local law enforcement.

“If you suspect your car or residence has been tampered with, give us a call,” Wilson said.