Cecilia Jamasmie , Senior Editor

Mining workers dissatisfaction in South Africa has now hit the country's second-largest gold producer, Gold Fields Ld. as about 12,000 employees downed tools at the KDC mine, on Johannesburg's West Rand.

India is already building a rare-earth mineral processing plant in the east coast state of Orissa and will invest $135 million in a new exploration ship and the refurbishing of another vessel to mine minerals under its oceans.

Two weeks after South African police opened fire on a group of 3,000 workers and killed 34 people protesting at the platinum miner Lonmin's (LON:JSE) Marikana mine, prosecutors are bringing murder charges against a unexpected group of suspects: the miners themselves.

Newmont Mining's (NYSE:NEM) $4.8 billion copper-gold project in Cajamarca Peru remains as one of the company’s priorities, but further development will be done on a very measured basis, told MINING.com the company’s head of communications, Omar Jabara.

London listed Xstrata (LON:XTA) started Thursday copper production at its $310 million (A$300) Mount Margaret operation in north-west Queensland, Australia.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has publicly said Friday it will vote against the mooted $70 billion merger between Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Xstrata (LON:XTA), which sent shares of both the Swiss commodity trader and the coal giant down the slope Thursday in London.

Iron ore prices hit the lowest level since November 2009 on Tuesday as the commodity crashed 4.6% closing at $94.80. The dive proved a drag for producers of the commodity, particularly companies investing heavily to expand their production capacity.

Canadian Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX:GCM), the largest underground gold and silver producer in the South American country, announced that senior managers and members of the board of directors have purchased a combined 380,000 common shares of the company.

London-based Anglo American (LSE:AAL) has joined an expanding list of coal producers making staff cuts at specific Australian operations, after it announced it will cut at least 50 jobs when its Moranbah North mine reverts back to a single longwall operation.

Balmoral Resources (CVX:BAL) reported Wednesday that exploration drilling on its Martiniere Property, in central Quebec, conducted well outside the previously known extent of the site’s gold system, has intersected three new, broad areas of gold mineralization.