Mongolia to sell stake in its giant Tavan Tolgoi coal mine

Stornoway Diamond Corporation involved in the discovery of over 200 kimberlites in seven Canadian diamond districts will join S&P/TSX SmallCap Index at the end of the week, a move which should increase the appeal of the counter among institutional investors. It's a new milestone for Stornoway which flourished under the leadership of Eira Thomas, the renowned diamond explorer whose spectacular success in the 90s transformed Canadian diamond mining. Thomas left in August following the acquisition of Stornoway's lead asset – the 100%-owned Renard Diamond Project – on track to become Quebec's first diamond mine.

PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 12, 2011) - Paladin Energy Ltd ("Paladin" or "the Company") (TSX:PDN) (ASX:PDN)wishes to note that the Company's Board of Directors advise that financial close has been reached under the Langer Heinrich Project Finance Facility ("Facility"), and Paladin has submitted a drawdown notice for US$127.2M.

Resource Capital Research, which posted its September Quarter RCR Uranium Sector Review, says that buying opportunities will emerge in the uranium sector in the fourth quarter of 2011 and early 2012. "Despite the ongoing short term market impacts from Fukushima, the long term uranium market fundamentals are considered sound with expected strong and increasing demand for new nuclear power reactors, especially from China, USA, Russia, Ukraine and India," writes the reports authors. Resource Capital Research notes that 84 new nuclear power reactors are expected to be commissioned globally by 2017, and currently almost 500 plants are being considered.

The United States boasts over 260 billion short tons of recoverable coal reserves, or roughly 28% of the planet’s total coal reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Based on these estimates, the EIA concludes that the U.S. will not exhaust its recoverable coal reserves at current mining levels for 222 years.

Ukraine always has been and always will be a reliable partner for transit of energy to Europe, stated the Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Boyko during his meeting with the representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps in Ukraine. "Ukraine has demonstrated its commitment to integration with the European Union in the energy sector by becoming a full member of the Energy Community and carrying out comprehensive work to bring its energy sector in accordance with European requirements," stressed the Ukrainian energy minister.

A new study says the oil sands will boost the economy by two trillion dollars and add more than 900,000 new jobs over the next 25 years.

Amid dire predictions about job losses and the drying up of investment in the sector due to a proposed carbon tax come more bad news for Australia's coal miners. Platts reports New South Wales plans to increase the royalties it receives from coal companies to offset some $400 million in extra costs to the state's coal-fired electricity generators due to the very same federal government carbon levy. Around 95% of NSW's royalty revenue comes from coal mines where rates currently top out at 8.2% of the value of production and is forecast to rise to $2.1 billion in the year ending June 2013 after the hikes come into effect.

Australians believe that the mining industry is much larger than it actually is, according to a study by the Australian Institute. In the study released on Thursday, Australians were asked to estimate what percentage of the nations workers are employed by the mining industry. The average response was around 16 per cent, when according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) the actual figure is 1.9 per cent. The survey also found Australians believe that mining accounts for more than one third (35%) of economic activity. However, ABS figures show that the mining industry accounts for around 9.2 per cent of GDP.

The Canberra Times reports Australia's proposed emissions trading scheme – which will evolve from the carbon tax being implemented next year – has won praise from Beijing, where it will be the model for one of six Chinese pilot programmes to be introduced in 2013. Earlier this week the EU also endorsed the controversial Australian plans and announced the start of talks for the eventual linkage of carbon trading by 2015. The carbon tax is vociferously opposed by Australia's coal export industry, the world's largest, which will be forced to pay a levy of $25 per metric tonne of carbon pollution next year.