The mining supercycle and its demise

Glencore International is in talks with Xstrata to merge in a deal that would create a $80 billion rival to BHP Billiton, Vale, Rio Tinto and China's Shenhua. Here's a wrap-up of what people are saying about the birth of the globe's first vertically integrated resource giant.

Fuming investors facing a flood of new shares clobbered Novagold on Thursday after it added almost 10 million shares to its bought deal offering and gave the option for another 5 million to institutions at a steep discount to the ruling price.

The Big Picture: News Stories in Photographs, a photojournalism blog, has a segment on coal photos.

The richest woman in the world, Gina Rinehart, on Wednesday dropped $200 million in "loose change" to more than double her stake in Australian newspaper group Fairfax to add to her shares in a television channel prompting questions about the mining magnate's motivations.

Junior miner London Mining’s stocks (LON:LOND) went up almost five per cent today as the company announced two major milestones: the first shipment of iron ore from its Marampa project in Sierra Leone and the commencement of production of coking coal in Colombia.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 31, 2012) - Argus Metals Corp. (the "Company" or "Argus") (TSX VENTURE:AML) reports that the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission has granted and signed Argus' PL29/2011 licence. This licence allows for the exploration of uranium, gold and precious elements. PL29/2011 is west of, and contiguous with Argus' PL53/2009 licence, which also allows for the exploration of uranium, gold and precious elements. With PL29/2011 in place, Argus now holds the full 10 x 1 kilometre extent of the Kaituma uranium target and plans to execute a drill program on the project as soon as technically and financially feasible.

Australia's mining machinery imports fell 62% in November and December, the biggest fall since the global financial crisis, according to one of the country's largest freight forwarders of heavy equipment.

Tournigan Energy Ltd. (TVC: TSX-V; TGP: Frankfurt) has received a Preliminary Feasibility Study (“PFS”) on its flagship Kuriskova high-grade uranium deposit located in Slovakia from its independent consultant, Tetra Tech, Inc. (Tt), in Golden, Colorado.