Diversifying the tungsten supply chain

Mining News reports: on November 1, Snowden will be holding a seminar offering advice, tools and strategies that can be used to […]

Australia's Federal Skills Minister, Chris Evans, said Rio Tinto (LON and NYSE: RIO) should focus on local workers when filling its 6,000 mining jobs, in what is considered the largest recruitment campaign in the country’s history.

Ecuador needs at least 300 mining engineers and geologists in the near future to be able to deliver on its recent mining contracts, but only about 40 such professionals graduate annually from six universities that offer those programs, according to the agency that regulates Ecuador’s mining industry.

In July 1944, delegates from 44 nations met at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire - the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference - and agreed to “peg” their currencies to the U.S. dollar, the only currency strong enough to meet the rising demands for international currency transactions.

Reuters looks at the demand for mining school graduates and profiles some students who get to be picky about who they work for and what they get paid:

Xstrata is using former coal mine Baal Bone as a training facility for underground miners, reports Australian Mining.

Mark Bulkeley, Xstrata Coal's Baal Bone health safety and training manager, said the first group of 12 trainees graduated a few weeks ago and are already working at the Ulan West mine. "The feedback we've received from them is that the Baal Bone training facility enabled them to have a better understanding and knowledge before going into production," Bulkeley said.

Afghanistan is seeking aid from the Australian mining industry in the creation of a school of mines to help the recovering country exploit its vast natural resources, reports Chinamining.org.

[Afghanistan] Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani said, "Australia is a model for us". "The government of Australia has been very generous to help us with our technical capacity, give us scholarships for postgraduate programs in the mining area and we've also been sending some people to the Australian department of mines and petroleum," he told The Australian.

After discovering significant sources of oil, gas and coal in Mozambique, the government is calling for nationals living abroad to return to the country, most after being exiled during the civil war, reports Business Day.

The country is also expanding its skills-training programmes, while hundreds of Mozambican students are in China attending technical training programmes.

Mining Weekly: South African mine seismology specialist SiM Mining Consultants has pointed out a persistent issue in the mining industry in South Africa - too few qualified professionals in the rock engineering field. South African miners are aware of seismic risks in mines but seismic sensors must be installed in mines to record data and allow the industry to understand increased seismic activity, [SiM director Friedemann Essrich] says. Essrich believes that a greater pool of experts and increased awareness of seismicity can be created through the education of rock engineers.