Alrosa’s biggest diamond mine goes underground

According to the US Energy Information Administration, coal production will fall 1.7% in 2011 hampered by widespread flooding in the west of the country. It is a steeper decline than previously forecast and the agency also predicts a further decline next year. Nevertheless, strong demand from Asia and Europe for steam and metallurgical coal has pushed US coal exports up 35% in the first half of the year and should reach above 100 million tons by year’s end, the highest level in nearly 20 years. Global coal consumption advanced 7.6% last year and at a faster pace than crude oil, natural gas and nuclear, according to statistics published by oil giant BP. Coal now accounts for 30% of global energy use, the highest since 1970.

Anglo American is exploring a bid for Macarthur Coal that would challenge Peabody Energy Corp.’s $4.9 billion offer for the Australian miner, said two people with knowledge of the matter. Anglo American, part owner of the world’s biggest platinum and diamond producers, is studying Macarthur’s finances, said one of the people, who declined to be identified as the talks are private. Buying Brisbane-based Macarthur would give Anglo steelmaking-coal mines in Australia as prices trade near a record. Peabody and its bidding partner, ArcelorMittal, took their offer directly to Macarthur shareholders after talks with the board collapsed.

Great Panther escaped the mayhem on the markets and ended Thursday up 3.6% on the TSX after announcing it shipped 100 tonnes of silver-gold pyrite concentrates from its Guanajuato operation to a new buyer in Mexico. Last week the company disappointed the markets with quarterly results that showed a drop in revenues due to the shipping delays and lower silver production as a result of falling grades. The volatile stock is down almost a quarter over the last month.

One year ago, the board of directors of Potash Corp of Saskatchewan announced they had received and rejected a $38.6 billion hostile bid from BHP Billiton. The Globe and Mail argues the deal had a profound impact on the country and is best remembered by the confusion it revealed around the Investment Canada Act. And while the federal government's blocking of the deal certainly hurt the reputation of BHP Billiton and its CEO Marius Kloppers, the miner is now accelerating development of its massive Jansen potash project in the province, one of $13 billion worth of approved projects at the resource giant.

Gold futures hit a record high of $1,829/oz on Thursday while global stock markets suffered one of the bloodiest days of an already disastrous month with banks and miners bearing the brunt. The losses came after renewed fears about Europe's debt crisis and more bad news about the US economy. In the flight to safe havens, gold and silver were the only gainers. The value of the precious metal is up sevenfold from its August 1999 low of $251/oz shortly before global central banks started limiting bullion sales. Many observers believe that decision was the turning point for gold although it would take almost another decade before breaching the $1,000/oz level.

#tarsands #oilSANDS http://twurl.nl/ik6z8h.” The link will get you to a page on API’s website on oil sands. What caught Brant’s attention was at first that all these tweets were identical and posted at the same time. Later on came more

BHP Billiton today announced approval of a US$437 million (BHP Billiton share) investment to expand the Cerrejon Coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia. BHP Billiton’s investment represents one third of the US$1,311 million expansion to be undertaken by Cerrejon Coal, with joint venture partners Anglo American and Xstrata contributing equal investment in the project. The expansion, known as the P40 Project, will enable Cerrejon Coal’s saleable thermal coal production to increase by 8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to approximately 40mtpa.

Tensions over mining and coal seam gas (CSG) exploration have boiled over at a mining conference in Sydney, with activists warning rural NSW could soon resemble an industrial wasteland. As industry heavyweights gathered to discuss the future of mining at

Kazakhstan, strategically placed between China and Russia, has a wealth of mineral riches which it is eager to profit from. While Kazakhstan is probably best known for its oil, changes are on the horizon as mining companies flow in searching for copper, gold, zinc and other natural resources.