Cecilia Jamasmie , Senior Editor

In unveiling Canada’s British Columbia’s job-creation strategy last September, the Premier Christy Clark said the government planed to capitalize on high demand for minerals, especially in Asia, by opening up eight new mines in the next four years and expanding nine more by 2015.

NovaGold Resources Inc. (TSX:NG)(NYSE Amex:NG) provided an update on the previously announced spin-out transaction of NovaCopper, a wholly-owned subsidiary, which holds NovaGold’s interest in the Ambler project located in Alaska, U.S.

Toronto and New York-listed gold producer Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) has received permission from the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) to move ahead with an all-weather access road to its Meliadine exploration gold project.

Focus Ventures Ltd. (CVE:FCV) announced this morning high- to bonanza-grade silver intercepts from its Minas Chanca project in Peru.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) plans to relocate one of its major production factories from Japan to the U.S. and employ an estimated 1,400 workers, announced the company.

Chile is not only the largest copper producer in the world, but also the country with the largest worldwide reserves of the red metal, reveals the latest commodity report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Collahuasi, the third largest copper mine in the world, resumed operations this morning after a snowstorm halted production on Sunday, publishes online news outlet Terra.cl

Brazilian copper developer Avanco Resources (ASX:AVB) said today that it would double the company’s copper gold resources through the acquisition of the Pedra Branca Copper-Gold Project in Brazil's Carajas Mineral Province from Xstrata Copper.

Two of the 33 Chilean miners trapped during 69 days underground in 2010 are back in the mining world, after over a year of vain efforts to find a job, reports local online news site SoyCopiapo.cl.

Canadian miner giant Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) has priced a $1 billion, two-part bond deal featuring seven-year and 30-year maturities in the U.S. credit markets, announced late Thursday.