Frik Els , Editor

Two reports this week suggest that fears of a prolonged period of global economic austerity following the financial crisis have been overblown. In Hong Kong Christie's experienced its best ever auction with buyers spending $469m on wines, antiques, art and particularly jewellery. At $9,342,219, the pictured pair of Golconda diamond ear pendants – dubbed the Imperial Cushions – set an all time record price per carat. At the other end of the scale prices have also been rising at a rapid rate. Demand for one carat and smaller stones from India and China pushed the International Diamond Exchange's polished diamond index to a new record in May surpassing the previous record level achieved in the pre-recession summer of 2008 and up 12.5% so far this year.

Mining Weekly Online quotes Karnalyte Resources CEO Robin Phinney as saying that its Wynyard project in Saskatchewan has enough resources to eventually produce 6m tons of potash a year and that the company is considering bringing in joint venture partners to do so. Karnalyte initially expects to ramp up production by 500,000 tons per year to reach 2m tons by 2016/2017 at a cost of $1.5bn. The company on Friday was trading at $11, up 42% since it debut on the TSX mid-December last year.

Canada's Sabina Gold & Silver Corp said on Thursday it would sell its Hackett River property and certain claims on the Wishbone Greenstone Belt in Nunavut, Canada to Xstrata Zinc Canada for C$50m in cash and a silver production royalty, lifting its shares almost 5% in early Toronto trade. In addition Xstrata has agreed to incur not less than $50m on exploration and other expenditures on the properties over a four year period. The transaction could take up to six months to complete and will position Sabina as purely a precious metal player.

Merrex Gold announced on Thursday a private placement worth $1.75m with Iamgold, its earn-in partner on the Siribaya Gold Project in Mali, which is potentially a 5m ounce deposit. Merrex's agreement with Iamgold will see the company take a 50% stake in Siribaya with Iamgold spending $10.5m on exploration over four years. In a note to investors Merrex said that spending on the 800 square km Mali project which kicked off in 2005, is being accelerated.

Laricina Energy announced on Wednesday it intends to raise between $250m and $400m by selling common shares at $40 to $45 each in a private placement. Laricina was started by executives of Deer Creek Energy after it was sold to French oil giant Total in 2005 for $1.67bn. Canada Pension Plan acquired 17% of the privately-held oil sands developer for $250m last year. This round of fund raising is expected to push back a possible public listing of Laricina to 2012.

Canadian mining giant Goldcorp Inc. has been recognized by Nasdaq as one of the Top 100 companies in the world for its sustainability practices. The Index is an equity-weighed index made up of 100 companies that lead in measuring and reporting their carbon footprint, energy usage, water consumption, hazardous and non-hazardous waste generation, workforce initiatives and community investment.

Two separate Wall Street reports gave fertilizer producers a boost on Tuesday. Investment bank Citigroup upgraded its recommendations for the two top producers Mosaic and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan to buy citing strong global agricultural fundamentals and reduced Chinese exports. In a separate opinion Barron's magazine over the weekend said Mosaic's stock is worth a look as potash prices are predicted to rise throughout the year thanks to depleted inventories and consolidation among Russian producers.

This is what happens when you corner a market the way China has done with rare earth elements: Statistics collected in Hong Kong show exports of rare earth metals have shrunk by half over the past year. Over the same period, the value of these exports jumped 10-fold. It’s hard to argue with these kinds of numbers. After the stocks prices of the few big players pulled back from recent highs investors saw it not as evidence of sobriety returning to the market, but simply as a buying opportunity.

Daily Oil Bulletin reports Canada's total proved oil and liquids reserves continued to climb in 2010, rising to just under 22bn barrels, up 6.6% from year end 2009. About 77% of the booked reserves came from Alberta's oil sands. The news comes as Canada’s oil sands are coming under increased scrutiny: the Vancouver Sun reported on Monday that the federal government deliberately excluded data indicating a 20% increase in annual pollution from the oil sands industry in a report to the UN. Last week during Congressional hearings it was revealed that the oils sands are poised to become the number one source of crude for the US.

The global copper-mining industry needs to expand to new regions if producers are to bring supply back into line with unprecedented demand, according to a mining- studies group in Chile, the world’s largest producer. So far, the industry’s reaction to record prices has been slow because of declining ore grades, the need for deeper mines and higher costs, Juan Carlos Guajardo, executive director of the Center for Copper & Mining Studies, said. Copper futures in London surged to an all-time high in February.