NASA’s latest mission may tell us whether asteroid mining is really a go

Based on a study looking at five major solar markets – Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Britain – the Brussels-based European Photovoltaic Industry Association, the biggest of its kind, said competitiveness with conventional forms of energy such as coal could be reached by 2020, but in certain markets it could take just two or three years. The report notes the output of producers more than doubled in 2010, reaching a world-wide production volume of 23.5 gigawatts of photovoltaic modules. This is a more than 500-fold growth since 1990 and the pace of growth is not expected to slow. Predictions are for investments in PV technology to double from €35-40 billion in 2010 to over €70 billion in 2015. Governments have also been cutting back on subsidies for the industry to ensure a speedier reduction in costs.

Bloomberg reports Mongolia is likely to sell a stake in its Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi coal-mining company to the public next year, raising more than $3 billion. The Tavan Tolgoi deposit – mined since the 60s – in the South Gobi desert is the world's largest with a 6 billion tonne resource of high-quality coking coal used in steelmaking. Metallurgical coal has been trading at record levels of $330/tonne this year. Tavan Tolgoi is the second largest mining investment in Mongolia behind the Oyu Tolgoi gold-copper mine being built by Canada's Ivanhoe Mines.

HONG KONG, CHINA--(Marketwire - Sept. 6, 2011) - Alexander Molyneux, President and CEO of SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX:SGQ)(SEHK:1878) is pleased to announce today that the company has set a new monthly record of 441,665 tonnes of coal shipped in August, representing a substantial increase over shipping levels in the second quarter of 2011. "We have seen a continual increase this quarter in capacity being allocated by customers to collect our coal", said Mr. Molyneux. "We are pleased to see our shipping rate reach a level of approximately 5.3 million tonnes of coal per year on an annualized basis so soon, which is on track to meet our targets."

China's coal imports this year are expected to pull back from the record level in 2010 despite strong domestic demand, as growth in local production and transportation capacity help meet overall demand, an industry official said on Tuesday. Dong Yueying, secretary-general of China Coal Transport and Distribution Association (CCTD), told a coal conference in Beijing that he expected about 150 million tonnes of coal will be imported this year. The volume would be lower than the record 164.8 million tonnes China imported in 2010.

Julia Gillard, determined to join efforts to reduce global warming, intends to revive cap and trade as Europe puts curbs on the United Nations-run emissions credit market and the U.S. opts out entirely. The Australian prime minister’s plan to make factories and utilities either cut the nation’s greenhouse gases or pay for pollution-curbing programs abroad may force companies to buy an average 66 million metric tons of credits a year starting in 2015, sending prices up 29 percent, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That’s about two-thirds of Europe’s annual demand since 2008.

The African continent has historically meant just one thing to the global coal mining industry: South Africa. However, a new coal power is emerging in the form of Mozambique.

The Australian-based Intra Energy Corporation (IEC) has started coal mining in Mbalawala Mine, Ngaka coalfield in Tanzania, targeting both the domestic and export thermal coal markets of Kenya, Mauritius and India.

Ten miners are confirmed dead in a coal mine flooding in Southwest China's Sichuan province, with two others still missing, local authorities said Saturday.

A Deloitte Access Economics analysis, commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia and to be released today, estimates the industry's tax burden was about 50 per cent higher than Treasury estimates made during last year's bruising battle over the Rudd government's resource super-profits tax.