Capital allocation: Canadian miners’ top priority for 2017

Indonesia surprised the global mining community last week after a new rule – Government Regulation No. 24 of 2012 – was quietly announced on the mining ministry's website. A growing list of nations – and not just radical fringe territories such as Zimbabwe or Venezuela – are pushing for greater control and ownership of the resource sector on top of higher taxes and royalties.

Genwal Resources Inc., a Murray Energy Corp. subsidiary, has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors to settle a federal investigation into the August 2007 fatalities at its Crandall Canyon coal mine in Utah.

Coal-reliant Poland on Friday vetoed European Union efforts to move further towards a low carbon economy, pitting itself against the rest of the 27-member bloc.

South Africa took a step closer on Thursday to create a standalone mining company that will take charge of the government's role in the country's rich resources and with ambitions of becoming involved in the continent's mining sector.

Despite a healthy economic growth, Canada’s economy lost 2,800 jobs in February, with at least 18% of those positions belonging to the mining sector.

Xstrata's relentless appetite for coal, particularly the metallurgical variety, was again evident on Thursday after it bought Talisman's Peace River deposit for $500 million.

Mongolia's plans, first mooted in 2010, to sell a stake in its Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi coal-mining company  to the public faces more delays over politics and regulatory problems while talks with companies to developed the western block of the largest coking coal deposit on the globe are also on ice.

BHP Billiton would not be willing to negotiate with the unions on strike at its coal mines in Australia and had said the battle is "likely to get tougher before it's over", an e-mail published by ABC’s PM reveals.

Dr. Guido Bartels, chairman of the Global Smart Grid Federation, told Israeli business publication Globes that an investment in smart meter technology can't be avoided, otherwise electricity prices will skyrocket.