Cecilia Jamasmie , Senior Editor

Commodity giant Glencore International PLC has reached a $6.1-billion deal to buy Canada’s grain handler and agricultural retailer Viterra Inc., and announced plans to sell most of its Canadian assets to Agrium Inc. and Richardson International Ltd.

African diamond mining and exploration company DiamondCorp Plc., has received validation for its development plan at its Lace mine in South Africa, from SRK Consulting, an independent local consultant.

Hitachi Construction Machinery (Australia) Pty Ltd now imports the complete range of John Deere skid steer loaders and compact tracked loaders to fulfil interest being displayed by Equipment and Plant Hire companies.

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX, LSE & NYSE: RIO) has voluntarily published its "Taxes paid report," outlining the US$10.2 billion it has paid in tax globally this financial year.

China Molybdenum Co. (HKG:3993), the country’s largest producer of the element by output, plans to launch an initial public offering in Shanghai, which may raise around 3.65 billion yuan (US$579 million), to fund its new alloy project and boost output, according to a statement to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

Ecuador’s government and Canada’s Kinross Gold could sign an agreement in June to develop the long-delayed “Fruta del Norte” gold project, the country’s largest mine, reports local newspaper El Telégrafo.

The Toronto Stock Exchange opened this morning moderately higher as commodity prices increased driven mainly by traders’ hopes of a U.S. housing market in recovery mode.

The Australian Senate approved today a mining legislation that imposes a 30% tax on coal and iron ore miners, allowing the government to take a larger part of profits from a mining boom pushed by Chinese and Indian demand for raw materials.

Thousands of informal miners suspended their indefinite protest in the gold-rich Peru’s Madre de Dios region after three gold miners were killed in clashes with police yesterday.

State-run Korea Resources Corp. (KORES) is planning to invest at least US$532 million (600 billion won) in mining projects abroad this yea, particularly in the coal sector of Indonesia and North America, reports Bloomberg.