Government board rules against Arctic uranium mine

BHP Billiton has received approval from the US competition regulator for its $US15.1 billion ($A14 billion) takeover of shale gas company Petrohawk Energy.

Macarthur Coal, the mining group that is the target of a $4.7 billion takeover bid by US energy company Peabody Energy and steel giant ArcelorMittal, has suffered a steep slide in sales a result of wet weather. Macarthur's sales in the June quarter tumbled 22.5%, with its annual sales down 26.5% to 3.9 million tonnes. Peabody and Arcelor have sweetened the deal following a couple of failed attempts in the past three years and is set to complete due diligence at the end of the week.

CDE have announced the addition of Pilot Crushtec to their global distributor network with responsibility for South Africaand sub-SaharanAfrica. Pilot Crushtec will promote the full range of CDE washing equipment including the Evowash sand washing plant, Prograde screens, M2500 mobile washing plant, Rotomax logwashers and Aquacycle thickeners.

As the State Department weighs approving an oil pipeline stretching from Canada to Texas, experts are divided on whether the Keystone XL project would worsen global warming.

The value of mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector more than doubled to $96.3 billion in the first six months of the year and could top $200 billion for the whole of 2011 says a new research report. Canadian companies – both as acquirers and as the targets of buyers – dominated corporate finance activity in the first half shaking on more than a deal a day and at 325 deals accounting for almost two-thirds of all the metals and minerals transactions carried out around the world.

Financial Post reports Global X Uranium ETF (NYSE:URA) says that the uranium sector is showing some signs of improvement after the Japanese nuclear incident.

Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism has granted environmental approval for the linear infrastructure for the proposed Husab uranium project to Extract Resources subsidiary Swakop Uranium. The approval, covering access roads, electricity, telecommunications and water supply, is the final environmental approval needed for the project. The project mining area received environmental approval in January. Extract is now waiting to receive a mining licence from the Ministry of Mines, according to managing director Jonathan Leslie.

Indonesia’s huge reserves of thermal coal — used for power plants — are being aggressively targeted by energy-hungry China and India. The demand, combined with high commodities prices, is driving a resources boom in remote Indonesian provinces, and creating billions of dollars in personal wealth.

Bloomberg reports BHP workers in Chile voted Sunday to extend their strike at the world’s largest copper mine. Stoppages at BHP’s Australian coal operations may resume this week. Thirty thousand South African coal mine workers including Anglo American and Xstrata employees walked off the job Sunday and may be joined by 160,000 gold industry workers. Strikes that started over the weekend are impacting output from mines of diamond giant De Beers. Workers are seeking a larger slice as global producers report record earnings: Melbourne-based BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, is expected to report full-year profits of $22.5 billion next month, almost double 2010’s net income. Xstrata may report record 2011 profit of $7.3 billion and Anglo American $7.4 billion, estimates show.