Low commodity prices could persist says Lagarde

Platts reports that the global operations headquarters of US giant Peabody Energy will be relocated to Brisbane following the acquisition of Australia's Macarthur. Peabody raised $3.1 billion with the sale of senior notes on Monday and now owns 77.6% of Macarthur after ArcelorMittal pulled out of its joint $5 billion bid for the coking coal producer, just days after the target's top shareholder accepted the offer. Peabody is the world's largest private-sector coal company with 2010 sales of 246 million tons and nearly $7 billion in revenues.

The Guardian reports Scottish ministers are expected to order a public inquiry into plans to build the UK's only new coal-fired power station with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology after it suffered another serious setback. The latest delay follows unprecedented public opposition to the $4.8 billion project and will also damage proponents of CCS – where CO2 emissions are sequestered underground – and the so-called 'clean coal' lobby. Only two small coal CSS pilot projects exist worldwide: Schwarze Pumpe in Germany and Mountaineer Power Plant in West Virginia.

SNC-Lavalin, a major engineering and construction firm, was awarded a $650 million oil sands contract to design and build a froth treatment plant near Fort McMurray. SNC-Lavalin says that the froth treatment plant will process 155,000 barrels of feedstock per day from the bitumen extraction plant in the form of bitumen froth. Engineering is already underway and construction is expected to start this February. The whole project should be completed by September 2014.

Mining and geoscience degrees pay well compared to other degrees, but they are not popular with students. The Wall Street Journal published an interactive chart that compares 173 possible college degrees looking at pay, earnings and current unemployment. While the natural resource sector is still doing well compared to the rest of the economy, it was not surprising that degrees related to the field showed the lowest unemployment and some of the highest earnings. Mining and mineral engineering degree has the third highest median earnings at $101,000 per year. The top paying was petroleum engineering at $127,000 per year. A degree in geological and geophysical engineering was in the top 25 of highest paid out of 173 possible degrees.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports in a major policy victory for Australia's Gillard government's controversial carbon pricing scheme has passed parliament with Labor and the Australian Greens forcing the 18 so-called clean energy bills through the Senate. The laws – fiercely opposed by the country's mining sector which says it will lead to more than 20 mine closures and cost thousands of jobs – will force Australia's top 500 polluting companies to pay a tax of $24.50/tonne on carbon emissions from July 2012. On top of the carbon tax set to kick in mid-2012, Australian miners also have to contend with the new minerals resource rent tax set at an effective 22.5% rate on the so-called super-profits of the extractive industries.

Just a few weeks ago analysts thought the jobs – 20,000 during the building phase alone – and economic benefits would easily outweigh environmental concerns and push the Obama administration to approve Keystone XL. But now, after a summer of protests culminating in Sunday's 10,000 strong White House encirclement and on top of Nebraska's vow to force a rerouting, the US State Department’s inspector general on Monday ordered a "special review" of the Obama administration’s handling of Keystone XL following complaints from members of Congress that the process has been tainted by conflicts of interest.

The CourierMail reports fly-in, fly-out "working girls" travelling from as far away as New Zealand to the remote mining regions of Queensland and Western Australia are making as much as $2,000 a day from mine labourers who have lots of cash but are deprived of female company for weeks on end. Fifo prostitution is just the latest concern for rural communities in the country's mineral-rich states who are becoming increasingly unhappy about mining firms like BHP that set up self-contained mining towns cut off from locals or let miners fly in and out without ever investing in existing communities.

Cameco (TSE:CCO), the world's largest uranium producer, said Q3 earnings were 30% higher at $104 million or 26 cents a share compared to the same quarter last year. However, losses on foreign exchange derivatives have driven up costs for the year. Net earnings for the first nine months of 2011 were $186 million or 47 cents per share diluted. In 2010 net earnings were $311 million or 79 cents per share. The company also said that lower earnings and higher prices were weighing on all three sets of businesses: electricity business, uranium business and fuel services business. Cameco's stock opened on Monday 2.66% lower at $21.08 per share.

If you thought it had slipped onto the backburner, you'd be wrong. The Keystone XL pipeline is back in the news, this time courtesy of prime time TV actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, better known as Jerry Seinfeld's witty ex-girlfriend in the '90s blockbuster sitcom. Louis-Dreyfus is the latest Hollywood star to go public against TransCanada's $7-billion project to transport Canadian oilsands crude from nothern Alberta to Texas refineries. Her appearance this week in a Youtube video by environmental group Tar Sands Action follows similar public appearances by Daryl Hannah, Robert Redford, Mark Ruffalo and other celebrity activists.