If Trump wins, he’ll scrap Clean Power Plan and go after EPA 

Despite order books that are full and robust commodity prices, Rio Tinto says that customer sentiment is now more cautious and physical markets are softer than they were six months ago. Executives from Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest diversified miners, voiced their concerns at an investor seminar in London and New York on Tuesday. The company is finding that customers are concerned over the health of the OECD economies and persistent volatility in financial markets.

Australia cut its forecast for coking coal production in fiscal 2012 as recovery from natural disasters takes longer than expected but lifted its projection for iron ore production a touch.

Reuters reports BHP Billiton will face work stoppages at all its Queensland, Australia coal mine operations next week ahead of an employee vote on a contract, a workers union said on Monday. The world's largest miner has reached an impasse with the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) over wages and job security provisions; the union approved work stoppages at mines operated by the BHP Billiton- Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) in June.

Premier Christy Clark announced on Monday a $15-million contribution for a $90-million road rail utility corridor project, phase one of a planned $300-million development at the Port of Prince Rupert. The $90-million Road Rail Utility Corridor Project will expand Ridley Island's terminal capacity to help meet growing demand from Asia for Canada's natural resources. The project includes construction of new inbound and outbound rail lines and the extension of on-site rail and utilities. The BC government says that the investment will create over 570 direct construction jobs over the life of the project and will further provide up to 4,000 operational jobs after all construction is complete.

New economic numbers from India, the latest forecasts for the country's voracious appetite for gold, iron ore and in particular coal and its plans for a sovereign wealth fund to look at mining deals abroad mean that the GVK-Rinehart tie-up could be the first of many.

The Daily Mercury reports Rio Tinto executive director Sam Walsh says the mining industry has to live with the new resources tax as the best deal that could be done with the current government. The final tax rate had been reduced from 40% to an effective 22.5% rate in the minerals resource rent tax (MRRT), he told the meeting organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia. At a breakfast meeting in Perth on Tuesday, Mr Walsh defended his company's role in closing the tax deal, saying junior miners left out of final negotiations now have a chance to have their concerns heard. On top of the MMRT, Australian miners also have to contend with a proposed carbon tax set to kick in mid-2012.

India infrastructure giant GVK on Saturday said it would pay $1.3 billion for Australia's Hancock Prospecting coal, rail and port projects and spend a further $10 billion developing them as it lines up energy supplies for upcoming power plants. Hancock's owner and richest woman in the world, Georgina Hope Rinehart will join GVK Power's board and retain a 21% stake in the mines. Rinehart, 57, is predicted to become the world’s richest person as the coal projects and Hancock's massive 100%-owned iron ore mines start producing by 2014 and earn her annual profits of as much as $10 billion. The so-called queen of iron ore who inherited a debt-ridden mining company from her father 20 years ago had already doubled her wealth from 2010 before Saturday's deal.

The China Post reports Mongolia's National Security Council has rejected a deal struck with foreign firms to develop the western block of Tavan Tolgoi in the South Gobi desert, the world’s largest deposit of high-quality coking coal used in steelmaking. Metallurgical coal has been trading at record levels of $330/tonne this year and the news is a blow to US mining giant Peabody Energy, China's Shenhua and a Russian-Mongolian consortium that were announced as winners in July. At the time the losing bidders from Brazil, India and South Korea were smarting and Japan went so far as to call the bidding process 'extremely regrettable'. Mongolia was hoping to privatize its Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi coal-mining company which controls the remainder of the 6 billion tonne resource for $3 billion next year.

South Wales Chief Constable Peter Vaughan called the unfortunate outcome of the search-and-rescue operation on Friday “the one that none of us wanted,” because police had held out hope of finding some of the miners alive. It is Britain’s worst fatal mining accident in years. Officials do not know what caused the accident at the Gleision Colliery near Swansea, in south Wales, an area once synonymous with coal mining, but where the industry all but disappeared since Britain’s labor strife of the 1980s.