The multi-trillion dollar oil market swindle

Amid pressure from the Greens for the government to make the mining tax even harsher, the Prime Minister today urged Tony Abbott to force the mining industry to share the benefits of the boom. “Is this really a time for anybody to come to this parliament and say the MRRT should be opposed ... in view of the profitability of mines and the pressures we know are on other sections of the economy because of the high Aussie dollar?” she said. “That is a strategy for wrecking.”

UK Coal posted its first profit in four years yesterday after higher production and coal prices sparked a turnaround at its collieries.

Australia's Paladin Energy has signed three new uranium sale agreements with US customers for output from the stage 3 expansion of the Langer Heinrich mine in the Namib desert (pictured).

BHP Billiton reported record annual results and beat analyst estimates in the process, after prices of copper, iron ore and coal reached all-time highs because of demand from China. Profit at the world's biggest miner surged 86% for the 12 months $23.6 billion, a full $1.4 billion ahead of expectations, on the back of earnings from iron ore, its biggest division, which jumped 122% to $13.3 billion.

Mountain Province Diamonds said on Wednesday it is breaking off talks with unspecified parties that showed an interest in the company and is instead focusing on advancing its Gahcho Kué project and to arrange its share of the financing which amounts to some $600 million. Shares in the little-traded company jumped almost 8% on the news.

As gold prices near $2,000 an ounce, some bulls say it's time to take money off the table after the safe-haven rally extended too far too fast in recent weeks. Gold investors at several firms said gold prices could correct sharply, citing overvaluation. While that does not mean prominent bulls are now bears, they recommended investors take profit on gold holdings, after the precious metal traded briefly above $1,900 on Tuesday for the first time.

Macarthur Coal Ltd. has nearly doubled its full year profit and repeated its advice to shareholders to reject a takeover offer from U.S energy giant Peabody Energy Corp. and Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal. The company's 241 million Australian dollars ($253 million) profit for the fiscal year through June announced Wednesday was up 93 per cent from AU$125 million in the previous year despite reduced production due to record rainfall.

New York brokerage GFI's announcement on Tuesday that it now offers on-screen iron ore swap trading is the latest indication that the economics of the world's foremost dry bulk commodity are being changed fundamentally. Started in 2008, derivatives trading in iron ore is up fourfold this year after setting a record in July as investment banks enter the massive market in numbers. The world's top three miners – BHP Billiton, Vale and Rio Tinto – control nearly 70% of the 1 billion tonne annual seaborne trade and dominate price talks. The benchmark China import price for iron ore has tripled since late 2008 to $177 a tonne.

Twenty-six miners remained trapped Tuesday in a flooded coal mine in northeast China, Xinhua reported. The illegal coal mine in Boli county of Heilongjiang province belonged to the Hengtai Coal Mining Co. Ltd.