Australia greenlights Rio Tinto’s $2.45bn sale of coal mines to Yancoal

The London-based diversified miner wants to triple production of met coal in Australia over the next 8 years.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik has denied any plans to tax thermal coal exports after hinting at the move last May.

The IIED report urges the sector to move from improving its standards in principle to actually implementing them in practice.

After having their assets seized without due compensation, the London based Churchill Mining, filed a law suit against the island nation for $1.8 billion.

A delegation from the Australian state of Queensland will meet federal environment minister Tony Burke on Thursday to hammer out a deal on a massive coal project led by India's GVK and Hancock Prospecting after Burke halted the approval process.

Consulting firm says the top 40 global mining firms earned a record profit of $133 billion last year driven mainly by iron ore, however their market capitalization fell by 25%.

The drop-off in demand, exacerbated by high inventories thanks to a mild northern hemisphere winter and a surge in US exports have led to a collapse in thermal coal prices.

Australian environment minister Tony Burke decided on Tuesday to "stop the clock" on Hancock Prospecting and GVK's Alpha coal project despite approval from the state of Queensland given last week.

In my email this past week was a missive from the news-editor of Mining.com. He passed on a letter sent to him for possible publication. I repeat the entire letter below. It has the edge I like. It has the honesty of an old man about to retire: I respect that. It has the frustration of change; and we all know the feeling.