Here’s how this West Virginia town is dealing with a fading coal industry

With revenues of $60 billion last year and operations at the ends of the earth, few companies are in a better position to take the pulse of the global economy and the resource sector than Caterpillar. But what is it saying about the outlook for 2012?

Labour negotiations between BHP Billiton and unions representing coal workers are at an impasse and could disrupt coal operations across Eastern Australia.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) today announced plans to invest approximately $140 million to further expand its coal handling facilities along the Gulf Coast.

A new survey out Tuesday shows South Africa’s appeal for mining investment has declined dramatically since 2006 and the country now ranks a lowly 67th out of 79 countries in the study.

The Scotland Herald reports plans to build a $4.6 billion coal-fired power station in the UK with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology suffered another serious setback this week after the French firm that operates near-by reactors warned that the proposed coal plant endangers the safety of the nuclear facility.

FLSmidth, a global engineering company out of Denmark, is planning a A$267 million acquisition of Ludowici Limited, an Brisbane-based company that manufactures coal centrifuges, vibrating screens and complementary wear resistant products.

Platts news service is reporting that Kinder Morgan, a pipeline company, and Ambre Energy will submit proposals to build coal export facilities at Port St. Helens, Oregon.

The debate over the use of coal in Britain is heating up. Reuters reports a British company, Clean Coal UK, is planning to mine an estimated billion tonnes of coal off the Welsh coast using underground coal gasification.

In what is likely to be upbeat year for Australian mining M&A, some large Asian and U.S. companies are ready to bet on the country's coal, iron ore and uranium assets to meet booming demand for power.