Cecilia Jamasmie , Senior Editor

A total of 242,000 tonnes of iron ore were traded on the first day of business on China’s first physical iron ore trading platform, China Beijing Mining Exchange (CBMX) said in a press release.

Giant miner Rio Tinto (LON and NYSE: RIO) says the automation technology being rolled out in driverless trucks and trains in the Pilbara will soon move to the Bowen Basin, the major coal producing region in Australia.

Canadian Oil Sands companies are asking the government to upgrade the section of Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray, in the province of Alberta, which leads to several oil sands projects.

Australian junior Elemental Minerals (ASX, TSX: ELM), which is developing a potash project in the Republic of Congo, announced it has increased measured and indicated resources at its Kola deposit by 265% to just under one billion tons.

Swedish company Volvo has built a one-off diesel, hybrid truck that has recently set two world speed records at the Wendover Airfield in Utah, America.

Chile’s copper export revenue fell 8% to about $3.6 billion in April 2012, compared to the same period last year, when it was lifted by high prices of the commodity, the country’s Central Bank informed today.

Canadian miner Baja Mining Corp (TSX:BAJ) said on Monday it won’t be able to continue with its copper/cobalt/zinc project in Mexico beyond mid-June, unless it finds a way to fund cost overruns quickly.

A private group of Chinese magnates is planning to take away Guinea’s Simandou, the world's largest undeveloped iron ore project, from Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.

Canada's Leader of the Opposition, Thomas Mulcair, again attacked the oil sands industry by saying that, because of the way it raises the value of the Canadian dollar, other parts of the country are paying a price for the prosperity enjoyed by natural resource sectors, such as the oil sands in Alberta.

Inmet Mining Corporation (TSX:IMN) has launched a $1 billion senior unsecured notes offering as part of a total finance plan for the $6.18 billion copper/gold/molybdenum project Cobre Panama.