Glencore boss blames iron ore top miners for share price fall

China's coal imports dropped 11.8 percent in the first half of the year to 70.49 million tonnes while exports also fell 13.7 percent to 8.75 million tonnes. During the period, the nation recorded a net import of 61.74 million tonnes of coal. The figure fell 11.5 percent year-on-year amid surging international coal prices, according to figures released Friday by the China National Coal Association.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has promised that Queensland coal mines will be compensated for losses caused by a carbon tax, saying pollution intensive areas like Gladstone will receive significant compensation.

Canada’s mining industry continues to rally from the recent global recession, with this year’s production currently exceeding that of 2010, reports government department Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).

The U.S. State Department said Friday it expects to issue a final environmental assessment next month on TransCanada Corp's (TRP.TO) proposed $7 billion pipeline that would deliver crude from Canada's oil sands to refineries to Texas. The pipeline has been opposed by many lawmakers and environmentalists for greenhouse gas emissions associated with oil sands production and because the line would run across one of the world's largest aquifers.

Commodities finished higher with crude oil erasing early losses and ending just shy of $100 a barrel. Gold futures advanced to near record territory, trading above $1,600 an ounce.

Africa's biggest gold miner AngloGold Ashanti said on Friday it would acquire a 19.79 percent stake in Canadian gold and uranium producer First Uranium Corp for $30 million. AngloGold said it would buy the stake, which consists of 47 million shares and priced at $0.64 a share, from South Africa's Village Main Reef Gold Mining.

JSW Energy Ltd., the Indian power producer controlled by the billionaire Jindal family, delayed expansion of an electricity project because of high coal costs. The company will shelve a planned 3,200-megawatt expansion at a plant in Ratnagiri in the western state of Maharashtra as it waits for coal-pricing “clarity” from Indonesia and Australia, Chief Executive Officer Lalit Kumar Gupta said in an interview in Mumbai yesterday.

The Canadian government is set to spend Canadian $ 50 million per year ($ 53 million) on monitoring and controlling of air and water pollution from its oil sands projects in northern Alberta, in a bid to accelerate the US decision to allow a TransCanada crude oil pipeline transportation project to the Gulf Coast.

Workers at BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP)’s Escondida copper mine, the world’s biggest, began striking as coal miners at the company’s Australian operations prepared to escalate industrial action. The strike by all union members at the northern Chilean mine began at 8 p.m. New York time yesterday with the changing of a shift and will run through to 8 p.m. today, which may lead to about 3,000 metric tons of lost copper production, union leader Jose Vidal said by telephone. Image of BHP's Escondida mine is by BHP Billiton.