Natural resources deliver $55 billion to the economy of Queensland, Australia

Loading up the global warming argument with righteousness is harming the cause, says a blogger at the Philospher’s Beard. “The moralisation approach […]

The Australia Coal Association makes a pitch for coal with a recent video on YouTube showing how important the industry is to Australia and the country's ecocomy. Coal has been under pressure from the left-leaning Australian Labor Party. The government recently introduced a carbon tax set to kick in 2012. The coal industry claims that the tax will hurt the industry and shut down mining operations.

Reuters reports China will extend a resource tax – calculated on value rather than volume of production – on domestic sales of crude oil and natural gas from some regions to the whole country and expand the list of taxable resources to coking coal and rare earths from November 1. The move, billed as a way of conserving resources and limiting environmental damage, is part of a long-awaited tax reform that would enrich the coffers of local governments but slash the earnings of resource companies, such as PetroChina Co, China National Petroleum Corp and Baotou Steel Rare Earths by billions of dollars each year. The tax on rare-earth ores will be levied according to a wide range of between yuan 0.4 – 60 per ton and between yuan 8 – 20 a tonne on coking coal.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports Australia's Gillard government has opened the week of the crucial vote on carbon tax by revealing that big fuel users such as airlines want to sign on to the scheme, while the coal industry counterattacked with a report estimating that the tax risks the jobs of 21,000 miners. The government's bid to boost the carbon tax comes as a new coal industry-commissioned report says the tax would force the premature closure of 17 per cent of existing black-coal mines in Australia, including 15 in NSW. Today the Australian Coal Association will release the results of an ACIL Tasman consultants study that concludes an estimated 27 per cent of employment in coalmining projects would be under threat with a carbon tax.

The Wall Street Journal reports Mongolia is relaunching talks with international miners on developing the western block of Tavan Tolgoi in the South Gobi desert, the world’s largest deposit of high-quality coking coal used in steelmaking. Mongolia's National Security Council rejected a deal struck with US giant Peabody Energy, China's Shenhua and a Russian-Mongolian consortium mid-September, just two months after they were announced as winners. At the time losing bidders from Brazil, India and South Korea raised serious concerns and Japan went so far as to call the bidding process 'extremely regrettable'. Mongolia still hopes to privatize its Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi coal-mining company which controls the remainder of the 6 billion tonne resource for upwards of $3 billion next year.

The US coal industry scored a victory in court Thursday after a federal judge ruled that the Obama administration did not have authority to tighten oversight of permits used by coal mining companies that do "mountaintop mining." The ruling by the U.S. District Court says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) "exceeded its authority under the Clean Water Act when it issued tougher environmental guidelines related to fill material dumped into streams after the tops of mountains are blasted off to extract underlying coal seams," reported The Wall Street Journal. The National Mining Association sued the EPA last year over the issue.

Cline Mining Corporation ("Cline Mining" or the "Company") (TSX:CMK) is pleased to announce that Xstrata Coal has agreed to acquire 100% of the Company's metallurgical coal deposit within Cline Mining's Lossan property ("Lossan") for CDN$40 million, subject to customary conditions. Closing is expected to occur on or about October 12, 2011. Lossan is located in the Peace River Coalfield of north eastern British Columbia, Canada and has an NI 43-101 compliant resource of 240 million tonnes. Lossan covers an area of approximately 3,800 hectares.

Metso will supply railcar dumper technology to Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership, which operates a coal storage and loading terminal located at Roberts Bank, Delta, British Columbia, Canada.

Global diversified miner Anglo American announced Wednesday it has cquired the remaining 25%, along with rights to royalties it didn't already own, in BC-based Peace River Coal Partnership (PRC), for a combined $166 million.