Mining News Archives

Val d'Or's Canadian Royalties has discovered a new high-grade zone of nickel mineralization at its Nunavik Project, 20 km south of Xstrata Nickels Raglan mine.

FairWest Energy Corp. , a junior Calgary oil and gas company, says it has sold its 1.5 per cent net smelter return on the Benso gold mining concession in Ghana for nearly US$1.9 million.

On a day when the price of gold hit a 28-year high, the world's top two gold miners reported contrasting third-quarter results.

A camera-shy Ukrainian billionaire and a mysterious 17.7% stake in Consolidated Minerals are making for a dramatic takeover battle for the Australian miner.

Cameco Corporation reports that the Joint Stock Company Techsnabexport has requested discussions regarding the pricing structure for the last few years of the remaining term of the commercial agreement to ...

United States Steel Corp. said Wednesday it had completed its $1.2 billion acquisition of Canadian steel maker Stelco Inc., expanding its presence in North America and making it the world's fifth-largest steel ...

Hindalco Industries Ltd., the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended 30 September 2007.

Barrick Gold Corp said on Wednesday its third-quarter profit fell 15 percent as lower gold sales and rising costs offset higher gold prices.

Rio Tinto Alcan today announced that Sandeep Biswas will join the group's executive management team.

Claude Resources Inc. today reported its most recent exploration update at the Company's Seabee mine. The following results are from the 2C9709 Deep Zone which is located approximately 500 metres west..... included 31.78 grams per tonne of gold over 3.50 metres true width

Sherritt International Corp. has reported an 11 percent rise in third-quarter revenue to $301.3 million but a decline in net income to $65.4 million from $74.1 million.

MEGTEC Systems Announces World ' s First-ever Power Plant That Uses Coal Mine Ventilation Air as Fuel Now in Operation - Innovative Technology Greatly Reduces ...

Inmet Mining Corp's third quarter results prompted a host of price target reductions Wednesday, as analysts grapple with a less-than-promising 2008 outlook for the company.

Rising costs, however, prompted the company to cut its gold sale expectations for the full year.

The world's three largest iron ore miners, Brazil-based Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, and Australian-based BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are committed to keeping pace with China's increasing iron ore demand,, ...

A good price index could help buyers and sellers to have a common view of the market clearing price and could help to facilitate a faster, less stressful and less confrontational process when agreeing to an annual price. This would work well in both a strong and weak market, according to Meade.

Australia was China's single largest iron ore supplier in the January to September period this year, supplying the country with 108.62 million tons, or 38.24 percent of its total iron ore imports over the period...............

The dry bulk shipping industry was washed ashore on Tuesday as freight rates on the largest vessels dropped for the first time in months and squeamish investors pulled out.

Others said that Chinese steel producers are downplaying the demand for steel by holding off on chartering ships in order to rattle the shipping industry since a decrease in demand for steel would mean a drop in shipping prices.

The Chinese steel industry yesterday sent two strong messages to Australia's iron ore producers, as negotiators prepare to fix next year's ore price: steel production is moderating as exports are curbed, and .............

This year it is Rio Tinto that is sending China a similar message, including one to the country's large annual iron and steel conference in Dalian.

Cameco Corp. says its third-quarter profit jumped 25 per cent to $91 million, from a year-ago $73 million, as revenue soared 89 per cent on higher earnings in the uranium business.

Chile's Escondida mine, the world's largest copper mine, produced 1,112,428 metric tonnes of copper in the first nine months of the year, up 40.1 percent versus the same period last year.

Centerra Gold Inc. today reported third quarter earnings before unusual items of $4.8 million or $0.02 per common share on revenues of $98.0 million, compared to net earnings of $11.5 million or $0.05 per ...

Community Water Co. President Arturo Gabald-n talks with the crowd Tuesday morning at the West Center.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, wants to introduce an iron ore price index, increasing pressure on Asian steel mills to pay more under annual contracts with demand set to outstrip supply ...

Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. is pleased to announce an update on exploration drilling in the South Mine Complex .

Antofagasta Plc, the copper producer controlled by Chile's Luksic family, said third-quarter output dropped 20 percent after it extracted less of the metal at the Los Pelambres mine.

South African gold miner Harmony Gold Mining has narrowed its headline loss in the three months to end September to 21 cents a share from 72 cents a share loss in the three months to end June.

African Diamonds, the Irish AIM and Botswana listed diamond exploration company, today said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Kukama Mining and Exploration Pty, has been awarded three new prospecting licenses ...

Cameco Corp., the world's largest uranium supplier, said production at its Cigar Lake mine won't start until 2011 ``at the earliest'' and that fourth-quarter sales will fall.

Teck Cominco Ltd. may consider hedging some of its share of production from the troubled Galore Creek joint venture in northern B.C., where the US$2-billion cost to build the mine is expected to rise ...

Newly created company Rio Tinto Alcan said it has reached and agreement with Norway's Norsk Hydro ASA to expand its alumina supply.

Iron ore, the little commodity with no market BHP Billiton has broken with its iron ore rivals Rio Tinto and Brazil's CVRD, calling for the commodity to be traded in a more transparent market like that seen ...

Chile, which provides around a third of the world's copper, produced 477,828 tonnes of the metal in September, up 21.6 percent from the same month last year, the government said Tuesday.

Having missed out in the bidding duel for nickel producer Jubilee Mines to Xstrata's $3.1 billion king hit, Melbourne's Oxiana has got around to the more mundane task of repricing the development cost of its ...

Norsk Hydro's disappointing third quarter's results are partly a sign of the tough times in the aluminum world.

Shares of Teck Cominco Ltd. fell Tuesday, a day after the company missed analysts' expectations with its third-quarter results and warned of possible lower profits looking ahead.

Barrick, the world's top gold producer, said about 1,000 of the mine's 1,971 workers walked off the job Thursday, halting milling, and reducing mining operations to a trickle.

Fording Canadian Coal Trust profits are likely to remain under pressure next year as the weak American dollar undermines the position of the world's second-largest supplier of hard coking coal shipped by sea.

COSCO, the world's biggest shipping line for bulk commodities, yesterday singled out Newcastle's dysfunctional coal loading systems to explain why iron ore shipping costs have doubled in four months and ...

Investors stripped about 7 per cent from Lihir Gold's share price after the miner downgraded its full-year production forecast and warned of cost pressures on a planned expansion.

This equipment item is critical to the company's plan of pursuing commercial production, in the near term, at the past producing Lluvia de Oro gold mine.

United States Steel Corp. said today its third-quarter profit fell about 36 percent with results being hurt by lower prices, shipments and costs related to raw materials and a recent acquisition.

Mining company Xstrata PLC said Tuesday its Xstrata Coal unit bought an 86 percent stake in Austral Coal Ltd.

A federal panel set up to review Canada's competition policy is promising to wade into the tricky issue of foreign ownership limits on banks, broadcasters and transportation companies.

..........

The panel will not be reviewing issues related to takeovers by state-owned enterprises and the implications for national security. The paper says Ottawa announced plans earlier this month to take on these issues before the panel completes its work.

Dear Dr..............So thanks for the good work, and please tell your friends to listen to what I'm telling my readers: "Don't sit there and moan about how the Fed is taking away your savings. Do something about it. Protect yourself and make some money in the process. Buy Gold."

.......

P.S. While you're at it, can you do something to quiet that Greenspan guy? Now that he's out of office, he can tell the truth and it keeps hurting the markets.

Teck Cominco , the world's No. 2 zinc producer, said on Monday that its third-quarter profit fell 2.8 percent, as the negative impact of the stronger Canadian dollar overshadowed higher revenue.

Peruvian miner Buenaventura said on Monday it expects gold output from the Yanacocha mine to rise in the fourth quarter from production of 373,150 ounces in the third quarter.

Barrick Gold said on Monday it will acquire Arizona Star Resource Corp in a friendly cash deal worth C$773 million that will give it majority rights to the Cerro Casale project in Chile.

The undeveloped Cerro Casale deposit -- in the Maricunga district of Region III of Chile -- has proven and probable reserves of 1.035 billion tones of ore, containing 23 million ounces of gold and nearly 6 billion pounds of copper.

Ottawa-based Orezone Resources Inc. is planning to raise US$200 million to pay for its recent acquisition of a mining project in West Africa.

Peabody Energy and ConocoPhillips have settled on Kentucky for a proposed $3 billion plant that would convert coal into a...

The operator of small deep mine in Utah , Hidden Splendor Resources , has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada.

Two miners died at Marula Platinum Mine in Burgersfort, Limpopo, during a blast in one of the shafts, the mine said on Wednesday.

Dick Evans, the former CEO of Alcan says there is a reason why Kitimat hasn't seen any construction of a new smelter "Regulatory delays and local opposition are to blame for the company ...

Canadian miner Northgate Minerals has come to the rescue of Perseverance Corp, Victoria's biggest gold producer from mines at Fosterville, near Bendigo, and Stawell that employ 550 workers.

Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp., the world's largest gold miner, is buying Arizona Star Resource Corp.

UEX continues to expand the Horseshoe Deposit with some of the best drill holes to date with hole HU-93 that intersected 0.83% U3O8 over 23.0 metres.

Laamanen Construction has won a contract to build a new mine hoist house at the Totten Mine, said CVRD Inco spokesperson Danica Pagnutti, according to reports in Northern Ontario Business .

Uranium rose for a third consecutive week as speculators rekindled their interest in the raw material in nuclear reactor fuel, said TradeTech LLC, a publisher of price assessments.

Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata Plc on Monday offered A$3.1 billion for Australian nickel miner Jubilee Mines NL , seeking to consolidate its position as a global nickel producer.

In the last month the website " saving Iceland has published a series of articles on the potential risk of a man-made volcanic eruption as well as the hazards of a possible dam failure .

The first report titled Kárahnjúkar Reservoir Causes Major Movements of Volcanic Magma covers the effects [ earthquakes ] related to the filling of a major reservoir and the stability of the dam for a hydro electric project supplying power to an Alcoa smelter .via savingiceland.org There is a second link that shows how a similar type of dam, in Brazil, suffered an apparent major failure.via savingiceland.com

In the second report titled Imminent Man-Made Volcanic Eruption Courtesy of ALCOA and Icelandic Government it is stated that :

the geophysicist Páll Einarsson confirmed that a volcanic eruption is imminent in one or two years time in Upptyppingar near Askja. He said this was a direct result of the inundation of Kárahnjúkar.

In the final article titled Third Major Glacial River to be Destroyed by ALCOA and Landsvirkjun it is stated :

So, it turns out that the Kárahnjukar project, which so far has entailed the complete destruction of two of Iceland's major glacial rivers, Jökulá á Brú and Jökulsá á Fljótsdal, just to run an aluminium smelter owned by arms manufacturer ALCOA, is in fact likely to destroy the third major glacial river, the magnificent Jökulsá á Fjöllum.

Based on these reports we should be witness in a very short period , geologically speaking, to a new volcanic event in Iceland .I can see the headlines " Melting Iceland " or " Iceland smelted to Rockland " . And of course , as pointed out in the articles : How will Alcoa account for greenhouse gases from the volcano and the methane gas from the reservoir ?

Much talked-about U.S. efforts to build a coal-fired power plant with near zero emissions are now concentrated in a single project, as the costs and difficulties of the endeavour have mounted and the stakes ...

Mexican miner Grupo Mexico posted a 27 percent jump in third-quarter net profit on Tuesday to $499 million, helped by robust metals prices and as strikes at major mines were cushioned by higher output at other ...

The group axed $2 billion in planned investments in Cananea, however, due to the ongoing labor dispute,

Mexican copper giant Grupo Mexico said on Friday it expects to boost copper production to 970,000 tonnes a year by 2012, from 700,000 tonnes expected next year.

Grupo Mexico SAB de CV, the parent of Tucson-based copper producer Asarco LLC, still has hope a U.S. district judge in Brownsville, Texas, will throw out at least part of the lawsuit Asarco filed in February.

.....

The suit charges Grupo Mexico with fraudulently taking away Asarco's 54 percent ownership of Peruvian copper mine company Southern Copper Corp. and giving it to another Grupo Mexico unit before Asarco's Chapter 11 filing in August 2005.

The world's steel industry is bracing for a sixth straight year of iron ore price hikes as mining companies strive to keep up with growing demand led by China, the world's biggest market.

Indian iron ore traded last week at $185 a tonne delivered in China, versus $160-$170 per tonne for Brazilian and under $100 per tonne for Australian term prices.

Joe and Jason are new employees at the mine China's voracious appetite for steel has put unemployed Americans back to work in the state of Minnesota and revived a depressed economy.

....

"China is being very aggressive about buying up resources all around the world, and I think the US is part of that picture - but....

The Coronado National Forest has asked Augusta Resource to provide more data on water quality and pumping at the proposed Rosemont copper mine site before the company mine plan can be evaluated publicly as part ...

Beneath the rolling, green hills of Australia's Latrobe Valley lies a deposit of brown coal so enormous it seems almost endless.

Zambian Vice President Rupiah Banda on behalf of President Levy Mwanawasa officiated the opening ceremony of Chambishi West Orebody Project within the mine which was taken over by the CNMC in 1998.

.......

"The significance of this fact is that it is a reflection of the tremendous support and brotherhood that exists between China and Zambia. The Chinese people quickly moved into action to support our privatization program by participation in the bidding process,"

..

Workers at Southern Copper, one of the world's largest copper producers, reached a wage agreement with the company after Peruvian government mediation, union leaders and government officials said on Saturday.

Speaking at the 2007 China International Copper Conference held in Kunming, China, Chang Guowu, the director of Metallurgy Department, Economic Operation Bureau of China's National Development and Reform ...

Chinese copper smelting capacity in 2007 is about 2.44 million mt while it is expected to increase to 2.85 million mt in 2008.

The country's copper refining capacity is set to reach 3.86 million mt in 2007 and will further raise to 4.3 million mt in 2008.

It was reported In FT.com that :

Celtic Resources has formally rebuffed a hostile £161m bid from Severstal Resurs of Russia, saying it ignores the growth prospects of the Aim-listed gold miner as the price of the precious metal hits its highest level in decades.

via msnbc.msn.com

As China's appetite for coal is booming, American investors and businesses are cashing in.

In this week's conference call discussing third quarter earnings for Freeport-McMoRan, chief executive officer Richard Adkerson noted that the Climax molybdenum numbers are promising: "It's obviously very ...

Penn State's Miner Training Program has received a $135,000 Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety Grant from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

Patriot Coal Co., the spinoff of Peabody Energy Corp. that oversees Peabody's mining operations in West Virginia and Kentucky, is getting a place on the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 on Wednesday.

Green Valley water company officials have released a document outlining an offer by a Canadian mining firm to build a nine-mile water ...

Today we had a flurry of announcements like funeral bereavements from major potash producers stating that they were halting any new sales because one of "theirs" [ a competitor] might have problems delivering product which would cause a deficit in SUPPLY . Is it a coincidence that this sinkhole started growing again just before 2008 contract negotiations start with CHINA ?You read and decide for yourself. From Forbes the following was stated :

Uralkali said its Belarusian Potash Company (BPC) joint venture will not enter into new potash sale contracts after rival producer Silvinit said it is experiencing supply disruptions. Uralkali said that Canada's Potash Corp also decided yesterday to suspend new potash sales because of the supply problems at Silvinit...

They go on further to state :

In a separate press release, Silvinit said it may not be able to fulfill its contracts because of a sinkhole which is threatening the Russian rail line on which it ships its production. Although Silvinit is currently using an alternative rail line built to bypass the sinkhole, the company says it cannot rule out that the depression will expand, making it impossible for it to supply customers

via forbes.com

And then we get this gem from The Star Phoenix :

Doyle said the Russian situation already has buyers worried in India. The matter could also have a significant effect on negotiations with China for a new fixed price for potash in 2008. China usually starts negotiations on potash pricing with Russian suppliers first. Doyle said China is buying potash under the 2007 contract at prices more than $100 US per tonne below current market prices.

via canada.com

After extensive environmental analysis and review, the Forest Service has formally approved a plan of operations covering road access and treated waste water disposal for the Buckhorn mine project near Chesaw, ...

Brazil's steel industry is forging ahead on growing demand from an expanding economy, adding to upward pressure on iron ore prices, while foreign steelmakers are moving in to get closer to ore reserves, sector ...

It would appear that CVRD's nickel project start up date may be sometime down the road as was reported in Business News Americas :

Rio de Janeiro-based CVRD (NYSE: RIO) has pushed back the development of its Vermelho nickel project in Brazil due to difficulty in securing environmental licenses,

via bnamericas.com

Russian mining company Polymetal has agreed to pay $15 million plus royalties to buy the Kubaka gold project in the country's far east from Canada's Kinross Gold Corp , the company's chief executive said on Friday.

R400m reopening of pioneering East Rand gold-from-dumps operation Ergo is on the way back.

Golden Star Resources Ltd. is pleased to announce the start of construction of the 50 kilometer haul road to connect its Wassa gold mine to the Benso deposit which is the first step in the development of the ...

Mexican miner Grupo Mexico trimmed its estimate for 2007 copper output to 620,000 tonnes from 670,000 tonnes on Friday because of a nearly three-month strike at the Cananea Mine.

State-owned power utility Eskomas load shedding has hit diversified giant BHP Billiton's South African aluminum smelters almost every weekday for the past three weeks, and Africa's biggest power supplier ...

' China said today that its economy expanded at a powerful 11.5 percent pace in the third quarter, in a slight slowing from the second quarter that might help Beijing officials control inflation.

A panel of judges and a plaintiff were involved in a heated debate in the Buyat civil lawsuit Thursday over the judges' plans to visit the location next week.

Uralkali said its Belarusian Potash Company joint venture will not enter into new potash sale contracts after rival producer Silvinit said it is experiencing supply disruptions.

Agrium Inc is holding back on new potash sales until it sees whether a sinkhole stalls rail shipments from Russian competitors, which would have a major market impact, a company spokesman said on Friday.

Aluar Aluminio Argentino SAIC, Argentina's only aluminum producer, may spend $3.5 billion on a smelter and hydroelectric dam in the southern province of Santa Cruz as the company seeks to expand output as ...

Peru's Southern Copper, one of the world's largest copper producers, said it saw its output for the metal in Peru and Mexico at between 660,000 and 670,000 tonnes this year.

Rio Tinto Alcan , the world's largest aluminum producer, warned yesterday it would consider moving production offshore if Ottawa opts to impose absolute reductions on greenhouse gas emissions.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan has suspended new potash sales because a flood may cut off shipments from major Russian competitor Silvinit, further cramping already tight world supplies, the world's biggest ...

Codelco, the world's biggest copper producer, will sell the metal to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan at a reduced premium next year that may boost demand and help it win contracts in the main consuming region.

Rio Tinto Alcan today inaugurated specialty aluminas facilities at its refinery in Gardanne, France, which include a grinding workshop, a packaging workshop and 12 storage silos.

On October 18, 2007, Breakwater announced that it had discovered a discharge of water from the newly commissioned Soledad tailings impoundment area which necessitated a suspension of milling at its Mochito ...

Seabridge Gold is a Canadian gold exploration company engaged in the business of acquiring non-producing uneconomic gold resources.

The Rio Tinto Group's ratings were downgraded by London-based Fitch Ratings following the mining giant's acquisition of an 89 per cent shareholding in Canada's Alcan Inc.

Fortune Minerals Limited is pleased to present an update of development activities for its wholly-owned Mount Klappan anthracite coal project in northwest British Columbia, which straddles the B.C. Railway right-of-way 150 km northeast of the port of Stewart....

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce showed a solid performance in 3Q07 amidst a scenario of strengthening Brazilian and Canadian currencies vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar, which has ...

Coal producer Massey Energy Co. said Thursday revenue increased more than 8 percent as it sold more coal at higher prices during the third quarter.

BHP Billiton has announced a record profit of $US13.7 billion for the 2007 financial year.

Rio Tinto's proposed $US38.1 billion takeover of Canada's Alcan Inc is nearing completion.

Rio Tinto Group, the world's third- largest mining company, said it expects approval by the end of this year to start mining copper and gold in Mongolia with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.

The Conservative government's environmental platform received a boost Thursday when the world's largest aluminum company said it also favoured the focus on intensity based targets to curb greenhouse gases.

HighlandsBarrick acquires Kainantu mine for K412mil Pacific has agreed to sell its troubled Kainantu gold mine in Eastern Highlands to Porgera mine owner and operator, Barrick Gold, for US$141.5 million .

Gold Fields' first-quarter adjusted earnings per share fell 19 percent from the previous quarter as costs rose on higher South African wages and output at some overseas operations declined.

Royal Gold Inc. , the world's leading precious metals royalty company, today announced the completion of a merger agreement with Battle Mountain Gold Exploration Corp.

Rio Tinto Plc is seeking assurances from South African utility Eskom [ESCJ.UL] that it can supply the power needed for the proposed $2.7 billion Coega aluminum smelter project.

Brazil's mining giant CVRD said on Thursday it started cutting off iron ore supplies to domestic pig iron producers accused of breaching the country's environmental and labor laws.

The aluminium industry is set for a scramble for market share after Rio Tinto employees yesterday celebrated, in Brisbane and Montreal, the completion of its $US38 billion purchase of Alcan .

Here is a genuine success story: ROCA MINES of Vancouver put a profitable molybdenum mine in British Columbia into production in less than two years.