Private capital won’t touch mining

Fearing a backlash by foreign investors in the mining sector – the foundation of the country's economy – Mongolian legislators on Tuesday watered down many of the provisions of draft legislation that gives the state greater control and ownership of mining projects.

Canadian miner giant Teck Resources Ltd. (NYSE:TCK, TSX:TCK.B) is interested in entering the iron ore industry and would seek to acquire a producing asset rather than develop a mining project, chief executive Don Lindsay told Bloomberg yesterday at the Canada Economic Summit, in Toronto.

While 2011 was a near-record year for mining mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with over 2,600 deals worth $149 billion in the global mining sector, 2012 is not looking so good, at least not for Canada. The value of mining M&A tumbled 50% in the first quarter compared to the prior three months, with only one deal over $1 billion, said KPMG in a report.

Worries about Europe's sovereign-debt crisis sparked a wave of selling in the gold market, pushing prices briefly below the $1,600 mark and to their lowest settlement price in four months.

Bad news slammed the markets today as worries about Europe caught up to traders.

Canadian Oil Sands companies are asking the government to upgrade the section of Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray, in the province of Alberta, which leads to several oil sands projects.

Uranium One said the effects of the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan last March are now priced into the market for uranium oxide.

Bloomberg reports the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is tapping the great American sport of NASCAR racing in a bid to win popular support for the coal industry.

Nearly 20 years ago to the day, a coal mine in Nova Scotia, Canada exploded, killing all 26 miners working underground.