Cigar Lake mine officially starts production

The FT reports in a European Commission report on green energy leaked Monday all scenarios point to wind farms becoming the biggest source of electricity in the bloc by 2050, outstripping both coal and nuclear power. Coal use could fall to very low levels it is predicted and gas would be the "bridging" fossil fuel for the next 20-plus years. Under these scenarios wind energy will more than triple its power output by 2020 and ten years later all of Europe's 240 million homes could be wind-powered. The downside is the average household's energy bill would double at the same time.

What better gauge of the health of the gold mining industry and the prospects for bullion than the value placed on the sector by miners themselves? Starting in June deals among other miners have ground to a halt but the first nine months of 2011 has been an astounding year for gold M&A, PwC reports.

Hong Kong’s Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society, a century-old bullion bourse, will start trading gold quoted in yuan today, boosting the city’s status as an offshore hub for the currency.

BHP Billiton has convinced the New South Wales state government to carve out a piece of a proposed national park to be used for coal mining. Sydney Morning Herald reported that "the Minister for the Environment, Robyn Parker, confirmed a finger of the proposed national park reaching to the Georges River will be left to the company for longwall mining. Another swatch of land in the centre of the park will also be mined under the compromise, but there would be no undermining of the national park."

More labour unrest is brewing at South African mines. Reuters reports that workers poised to strike at 16:00 GMT today at Xstrata's operations across the country. The strike is over an employee share ownership program, Reuters said, quoting a union spokesman. More workers are expected to down tools at the start of the Monday morning shift.

A former BC Premier was among those who witnessed a shocking and unusual protest earlier this week at a gathering of Canadian and European energy leaders. Gordon Campbell, who was recently named Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, was making his first official appearance in his new role when a man and woman suddenly stripped down to their undergarments and jumped onto the conference table. The Vancouver Sun describes what happened next: British poet Peter Bearder a.k.a Pete the Temp, clad in Union Jack boxers, and British/Australian UK Tar Sands Network campaigner Emily Coats, in white Maple-Leaf underwear, dumped molasses on themselves and then jumped onto a table in the gilded conference room to kiss and fondle each other for roughly a minute.

Bloomberg reports that three environmental groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the proposed Highland Reylas mountaintop removal mine in Logan County, West Virginia. The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and the Sierra Club filed the lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Huntington challenging a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The groups claim the corps failed to consider scientific studies that say mountaintop removal mines pose health threats to residents.

In play Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) jumped higher by more than 7% in pre-market trading to over $80/share after the UK's Independent newspaper reported that Anglo American (LON:AAL) and BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) may bid for the company. By mid-afternoon the volatile stock – over the past 12 months shares in Walter Energy have traded as low as $56 and as high as $143 – had settled back to trade up around 2%. Global miners are scrambling for coal assets as metallurgical coal trades at record levels above $330/tonne. Walter Energy, which also produces coal seam gas, would follow BHP's August $12 billion buy of US shale gas company Petrohawk.

Rio Tinto, the world’s second- largest mining company, said third-quarter iron ore output and coking coal production reached record highs after recovering from disruptions caused by flooding in Australia earlier in the year and continued strong demand from Asia. Iron ore production increased to just shy of 50 million metric tons and hard coking coal production was 55% higher than the second quarter. Analysts say iron ore prices may climb above $200 a ton on the back of supply shortages while metallurgical coal have been trading at record highs of $330 during 2011.