Frik Els , Editor

London-listed Gem Diamonds said in a statement on Monday that it will drill four boreholes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in partnership with VOX United, a non-governmental organisation to provide the bushmen or Basarwa living in the reserve with water. The community is locked in a bitter battle with the Botswana government which accuses them of depleting the park's natural resources, while the Basarwa say that the government is violating their rights by trying to relocate them and that their impact on the environment is negligible.

Investors piled into Ringbolt Ventures on Tuesday after the company announced that it has commenced drilling on its Lisbon Valley Potash Project in the Paradox Basin in Utah. By mid-day the small-cap exploration company was trading up 15% on Toronto's venture exchange on above average volumes. Potash was first discovered in the Paradox Basin in an oil and gas well in 1924 and in 1962, Superior Oil Company drilled the first potash at the crest of the Lisbon Valley anticline. Since 1964, potash and by product salt have been produced from the nearby Cane Creek mine, now owned by Intrepid Potash.

South Africa's Sunday Independent newspaper reports attempts by mining giants AngloGold Ashanti and Anglo American to sup with the leaders of the ANC Youth League and possibly sway them against nationalization have flopped. Both companies stand to lose substantial chunks of their assets if the league – kingmakers in the country's politics – succeeds in its push for state control of mines to become the policy of the ruling party. Amid a rebound in mining output calls are growing for majority government ownership of key industries – the union representing the vast majority of mine workers recently backed the country's Freedom Charter clause on nationalization.

The New York Times profiles Laurence Graff, whom the paper calls perhaps the biggest dealer in seriously big stones. In 2008, Graff Diamonds turned a pretax profit of $77 million on sales of $538 million, according to its chief financial officer, Nick Paine. In 2009, sales dropped to $432 million, and pretax profits to $62 million. Last year, sales were virtually flat, but pretax profits jumped to $86 million, mostly because of sales of smaller pieces with higher mark-ups. Which raises the question of how large his inventory of large stones has become.

Prices of the certain rare earths used in energy saving lightbulbs, lasers, nuclear reactors, magnets and plasma televisions more than doubled in the past two weeks as China, responsible for upwards of 95% of world supply, further tightens control of mining, trading and exports, research house Industrial Minerals said over the weekend. China in recent months closed or consolidated more than 35 rare earth mines and cut export quotas sparking concerns in the US and other industrial nations about access to supplies and causing an exploration and mine development frenzy with over 250 projects on the go worldwide.

Potential joint-venture partners have been intrigued by a hefty oil discovery Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. made by way of happy accident. Athabasca has been approached by "several" parties keen to get in on its position in the Leduc carbonate, president and chief executive officer Sveinung Svarte told Canadian Business in an interview. Worth $6bn on the Toronto bourse Athabasca is trading down close to 20% from record highs hit in March this year when the Calgary-based company announced that it acquired more than 1.0 million acres of petroleum and natural gas rights in the Deep Basin areas of northwestern Alberta from crown sales and third-parties.

Shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, the world’s largest fertilizer producer, are down just shy of 8% for the week after losing almost 2% in late trade on Friday despite being upgraded to a buy by analysts at TD Newcrest. Others in the sector fared even worse with newcomer Karnalyte Resources shedding 4.3% while heavyweights Mosaic and Agrium lost over 4.4% and 2.3% respectively after the US Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to eliminate some $6bn in annual subsidies for the country's ethanol industry.

Shares in junior precious metals miner Silver Sun Resources Corp. spiked 10% on Friday after becoming the sole owner of the Cherry Hill Mining Company, a fellow Californian gold miner. The Vancouver company's stock is up just short of 50% on the TSX-Venture exchange in 2011. Silver Sun is in the final stages of development of its gold project in Yreka, California and engaged in an on-going work programme in Mexico's prolific Zacatecas silver district and at a newly-acquired silver project Yoreme in Sonora state.

The Zimbabwe mining industry is expected to conclude a US$1 billion revolving facility at a number of African development banks to recapitalize mining firms as it emerges from a decade of hyperinflation, international sanctions and political turmoil that all but ground the sector to a halt. The mining industry, rich in precious metals and diamonds, made up roughly 20% of Zimbabwe's GDP and at $1.7bn 65% of all exports last year according to government statistics. This figure is set to increase dramatically particularly if the country receives approval to restart diamond exports currently under an international ban.

Russian news agencies report Uralkali, Russia's largest potash miner, is not planning to buy Belaruskali, a major Uralkali shareholder said on Friday. Last week it was speculated that the cash-strapped ex-Soviet republic Belarus is negotiating the sale of its most prized asset under the terms of a bail-out loan agreed with Russia. Responsible for one-third of the worlds potash fertiliser production, Belaruskali could have been worth as much as $20bn and a merger with Uralkali owned by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov would have created a group with annual production of 21m tonnes, dwarfing current number one Canada’s Potash Corp's 12m tonnes/year.