Coal and copper weigh on Joy Global results

Global miner BHP Billiton is looking to build a new rail line between some of its inland Australian coal mines and the coast in a move that could threaten dominant coal haulage firm QR National, a newspaper said on Thursday.

An Edmonton court was told on Wednesday that Norwegian energy giant Statoil will admit to some environmental infractions in relation to water use at its oil sands operations in northern Alberta. The news comes on the same day that the state-owned company announces a North Sea oil field discovery with total yield of between 500 million and 1.2 billion barrels of oil, making it the largest discovery there in 30 years. Around 70 oilfields are in production on the Norwegian continental shelf, producing some 2.1 million barrels per day. Canada's oil sands produce 1.5 million bpd, a figure that is expected to more than double by the end of the decade.

A day after news of an onerous new mining royalty and taxation regime in Peru, Namibia, the world’s biggest miner of offshore diamonds and a top four uranium producer, drops plans for a huge jump in the corporate tax rate for miners and mineral export levies. Deputy Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein said on Wednesday, the country has withdrawn a proposal to increase the tax on non-diamond miners to 44% from 37.5% and will instead propose a windfall tax when international prices for the commodities are high. Namibia was one of 25 countries around the world that recently announced their intentions to increase their take of the mining industry’s profits or impose ownership and other restrictions.

The market is expecting BHP Billiton to post record-setting annual profits of $US22.1 billion next week on revenues forecast to be a staggering $71.9 billion. BHP investors, whose stock has hardly moved in a year despite stellar growth rates at the Melbourne-based company, would want to hear if another share buyback will follow the $10 billion round completed in June and any update on its purchase of Petrohawk. The world's biggest miner has a history dating back 150 years and its operations span the globe from potash in Canada (pictured) and coal in South Africa to nickel in Australia and copper in Chile.

Chinese companies mull investing in Romania's nuclear and coal sectors, Mediafax reported after the visit of the Romanian government delegation, headed by PM Emil Boc, to China.

Crude oil jumped to the highest level in more than a week on Monday after positive news about Japan signalled the global economy may not be in such dire straits as previously thought, the dollar slumped and fresh data showed China's reliance on foreign oil – now at over 55% – is increasing at a rapid pace. US crude in the form of West Texas Intermediate rose 3% to just shy of $88 per barrel and the discount to international prices narrowed slightly. The price for Canadian synthetic crude – a light oil manufactured from oil sands – topped $102 as the premium it attracts widened to over $15 despite a looming end to shortages.

The deadline for a crucial federal loan guarantee backing a proposed uranium plant in southern Ohio came and went Monday leading some to wonder if the project will ever get shovels in the ground, the Dayton Daily News reports. For the second time in three months, investors in a $5 billion uranium centrifuge project in Pike County have said they will give the federal government more time to offer a $2 billion loan guarantee. Ohio officials first unveiled plans for the plant in 2009, promising 4,000 jobs for an area with the worst unemployment in the US state.

University of Kentucky research into cleaner-burning coal technology received a $19.4 million boost on Monday, most of it from the federal government.

In the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns, some nations are looking to move away from nuclear power. But not China, which is proceeding with plans to build 36 reactors over the next decade. As a result of such climate change concerns, as well as the need for more power in developing nations, more than 60 reactors are under construction around the world today in countries like India, Russia and South Korea. Even the US is currently building one new reactor — the second unit at Watts Bar in Tennessee.