Miners to spend $21 billion on exploration by 2025

The balance of the US coal industry may be tilting in the direction of the MidWest from Appalachia.

The head office is just one among 800-odd mining companies clustered in downtown Vancouver. But even in a group so large it serves as the backbone of the city’s business district — and the world’s centre of mining expertise — Teck Resources stands out.

The oil and natural gas rich nation's stake in the coal giant is now 8% with a target of over 10%, providing crucial back for Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg to push through the $90 billion merger with Xstrata.

Fearing a backlash by foreign investors in the mining sector – the foundation of the country's economy – Mongolian legislators on Tuesday watered down many of the provisions of draft legislation that gives the state greater control and ownership of mining projects.

Canadian miner giant Teck Resources Ltd. (NYSE:TCK, TSX:TCK.B) is interested in entering the iron ore industry and would seek to acquire a producing asset rather than develop a mining project, chief executive Don Lindsay told Bloomberg yesterday at the Canada Economic Summit, in Toronto.

While 2011 was a near-record year for mining mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with over 2,600 deals worth $149 billion in the global mining sector, 2012 is not looking so good, at least not for Canada. The value of mining M&A tumbled 50% in the first quarter compared to the prior three months, with only one deal over $1 billion, said KPMG in a report.

Bloomberg reports the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is tapping the great American sport of NASCAR racing in a bid to win popular support for the coal industry.

Nearly 20 years ago to the day, a coal mine in Nova Scotia, Canada exploded, killing all 26 miners working underground.

Once tinted by drug cartels and civil war, Colombia is now one of Latin America’s fastest growing markets and, according to the World Bank, the most secure country in the region in which to do business. Since yesterday, the country also has a new national mining agency, which is already looking for foreign investments to expand existing production and explore areas where rich deposits of key resources are suspected.