Aussie Gov’t under attack for saying there is ‘moral case’ for coal mines

Emissions from Canada's oilsands are unlikely to make a large contribution to global warming compared to the burning of coal, says a leading climate change researcher.

As hearings into the Northern Gateway pipeline continue, Enbridge, the company behind the $5.5 billion project to transport oilsands crude 1,170 kilometres from Brudenheim, Alberta to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, says it would consider moving the pipeline terminus to another location further north.

London-based giant miner Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) announced today record $13.3-billion 2011 earnings, a 23% increase in underlying earnings a share and a 14% increase in annual operating profits to $11.1 billion.

Xstrata, one of the world's largest thermal coal exporters, announced today that it has completed the sale of two Mpumalanga collieries to black economic-empowered (BEE) group Imbawula, for an unrevealed sum.

Surface coal mining on Cape Breton Island, on the East Coast of Canada, has been under a moratorium for the last six years, but a report due out next month could revive a dormant industry in what was once an important coal-mining hub.

Vale is the world's largest producer of iron ore and a top nickel miner, reported a quarterly net profit of $4.67 billion, compared to $5.9 billion in the same quarter last year.

Could one family farm stop a multi-billion-dollar pipeline project from going ahead? Probably not, but a Texas family farm will at least have its day in court.

Cenovus last week shipped 250,000 barrels to China, locking in relationships with refiners there, as the Northern Gateway pipeline project in Northern BC languishes in regulatory review.

Rising costs could make any interested buyer baulk at the idea though. Cash costs in South Africa at its Ezulweni mine has rocketed to $2,143/oz and were up 20% at Mine Waste Solutions although at $613/oz there you could still turn a profit .