Market uncertainty pulls Canadian Mining Eye index down in Q3

The Canadian Natural Resources Minister defended the oilsands sector against attacks by the European Union today in Kuwait.

UK Coal's (LON:UKC) shares plunged by more than 28% in late afternoon trading after it revealed it was considering closing a coal mine in Warwickshire.

Japanese JX Nippon Oil & Energy acquired a 25% of diversified miner Xstrata Coal operations in Western Canada for US$435 million, creating a joint venture that will build the business and market coal in Japan.

While the sordid details emerging from the proceedings are humiliating enough there may be some serious financial implications for Gina Rinehart – mining's 4th richest person with a fortune pegged at around $18 billion – as well. On top of the tax loopholes in family trusts exposed by the Rinehart saga, it has also emerged that Hancock Prospecting has not submitted annual financial statements for the past two years.

MarketWatch quotes  Nomura economist Zhiwei Zhang as saying:  "Overall, economic conditions are getting weaker at a fast pace. The slowdown is happening faster than the government expected."

The Nunatsiavut Government of Labrador, a regional Inuit government formed in 2005, has officially lifted a three-year-old moratorium on uranium mining on Inuit lands, by enacting its Environmental Protection Act and an amendment to the Labrador Inuit Lands Act, said the body.

Indonesia surprised the global mining community last week after a new rule – Government Regulation No. 24 of 2012 – was quietly announced on the mining ministry's website. A growing list of nations – and not just radical fringe territories such as Zimbabwe or Venezuela – are pushing for greater control and ownership of the resource sector on top of higher taxes and royalties.

lberta's oilsands producers are used to thinking big, and their plans to clean up the mess their mines leave behind are fully in line with the outsized trucks that prowl their pits and the outsized budgets that keep them growing.

Bloomberg's weekly survey of gold traders shows they are the most bullish since November 11 with 16 out of 23 predicting that the precious metal will gain this week after investors up their holdings of bullion backed funds to a record $131 billion.