This firm may make coal’s future a lot brighter

Over the past decade, mining investment in Latin America has more than doubled, even after experiencing a sharp drop in 2009. According to a report by the Metals Economic Group, Latin America is now the primary destination for mining exploration investment in the world, with 25% of total investment going to Chile, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina.

Brazil's Eike Fuhrken Batista is the world of mining's richest man and he's been on a roll this year – until Tuesday when $1,023,200,000 disappeared from his personal fortune.

A forest of fossils that is being compared to a "vegetational Pompeii" is under threat from coal mining, says a story in China Daily.

Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista just got richer. CCX, a division of the billionaire’s EBX Group energy arm MPX, announced it has completed a study of coal reserves in the San Juan underground mines in Colombia, discovering a 672 million tons reserve, the fifth largest coal deposit in the world.

India is not China when it comes to successful acquisitions of foreign mining companies, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Humpback whales may be the main victims of Australia's thriving coal industry, according to a study published on the May issue of the Marine Ecology Progress Series journal.

Recent news that President Obama's re-election web page on energy policy didn't include coal on the list of "all of the above" energy sources sparked outrage in coal-producing states like Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Australian mining billionaire Clive Palmer is threating to sue the Sydney Morning Herald, one of the most respected daily newspapers in Down Under, for $50 million over "totally false and improper claims" about his China First coal mine.

Maybe the Republicans will have fun with this one.