The world's four major mining groups are reining in their development projects, mainly in the face of shareholder concern that they are investing the returns from increased commodity prices in new long-term ventures, rather than offering short-term returns to shareholders. Nonetheless, there is still considerable investment in new projects outside the influence of the major mining concerns, particularly for the 'minor' bulk commodities. One sector, however, where mechanical handling systems have had little impact, so far, due to the potentially explosive nature of the commodity, is in biomass storage and recovery systems. There are some companies that specialise in the handling of woodchips - and from this progressing to biomass - based on mechanical solutions, but the plant tends to be located outdoors and for interior installations pneumatic handling is still seen as a safer solution.
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