Cecilia Jamasmie , Senior Editor

Australia's Dragon Mining announced the discovery of a promising new area of gold deposits in Kuusamo, Finland, only hours after the country was announced as the top destination for mining and oil investment by a trade magazine.

China National Offshore Oil Corp's (CNOOC) believes its proposed $15.1 billion takeover of Canadian oil producer Nexen Inc. (TSX & NYSE:NXY) should go ahead without major hiccups as talks with provincial leaders reaffirmed the country values China as an investor in its oil sands sector.

Gold, copper and silver producer Anglo Asian Mining posted Thursday pre-tax profits of $10.5 million for the six months to the end of June - down from $14.2 million a year ago.

BHP Billiton, the world's number one miner, has put its $30 billion Olympic Dam copper-uranium expansion back in the spotlight by asking South Australia state for a 46-month extension for the project.

British Columbia, Canada's most western province, will employ over 16,700 mining professionals in the next 10 years according to a report released Wednesday by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR) in partnership with the BC Mining HR Task Force.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was down about 1% this morning as the giant copper producer followed the commodity prices down as a consequence of protests in Spain and Greece renewed fears about the euro zone debt crisis and its drag on global economic growth.

The Czech Republic might soon be creating an artificial sea in northern Bohemia by flooding the massive and partly abandoned brown coal mining pits located in the area with salt water from the Baltic Sea.

Diversified miner Xstrata (LON:XTA) announced Wednesday it is suspending operations at its Cosmos nickel mine in Western Australia, as nickel prices have plummeted dramatically.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was hit by the mining unrest spreading through South Africa again Tuesday night, as strikers halted all of its operations in the country, which account for 32% of the multinational's total gold production.

In what is claimed to be a world first, a Scotland-based independent malt whisky producer will start using bacteria to feed on the "leftovers" from the booze making process in order to produce fuel for cars.