This is what a broad-based metals and mining rally looks like

The Times Colonist has a look at the history of coal mining on Vancouver Island starting in 1912 and writing that the troubles started in Extension, a small mining community a few kilometres south of Nanaimo. Two coal miners were fired when they complained to management that unacceptable levels of explosive gas existed at the coal face. One of the workers headed north seeking a job in the mines of Cumberland only to find he had been blacklisted - not just in Cumberland but throughout Vancouver Island. Their memories of a seemingly endless stream of disasters, from single deaths to the 150 dead in the Nanaimo No.1 mine explosion and fire in 1887, kept them implacable in their demands for greater safety.

Dow Jones reports resource nationalism is the top business risk for the top 30 global miners, while supply capacity constraints ranging from skills shortage to infrastructure bottlenecks continue to dominate the top ten list, according to an annual survey by consultants Ernst & Young. Resource nationalism jumped to the top of the list this year from fourth in 2010 after 25 countries announced their intentions to increase their take of the mining industry's profits and others contemplate outright nationalization. Fraud, bribery and corruption sneaked onto the list of top concerns for the first time as a number of countries introduce or tighten rules for executives operating in countries that rank high on corruption indices.

Mining and energy firms have swooped to buy more than 390,000ha across Queensland Australia despite almost unanimous opposition to the sell-off of prime farming land. In the Surat Basin west of Brisbane, small farming communities have been decimated as the race for mining riches forces families off properties after decades of working the land. Fears over the impact of the mining squeeze on communities prompted angry locals to rally at Oakey, while an inquiry has been announced by the New South Wales Parliament into the environmental impacts of the coal seam gas industry.

The Navajo Nation's allegations that a coal mining company conspired with others to cheat the tribe out of as much as $600 million in royalties was settled in federal court on Thursday. The tribe sued what is now Peabody Energy in 1999. The terms of the agreement are confidential. The US Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo in a similar lawsuit filed against the federal government. Peabody has operated through a business partnership with the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe for more than 40 years in Northeastern Arizona.

Peabody Energy Corp. is leaving the door open for a rival bidder to step in for Macarthur Coal Ltd. by offering less for the Australian mining company than it did last year, even as profit is projected to double.

Regal Resources, via its 50% owned entity UCTL Pty, has retained Stanford University in California, one of the world’s leading research universities, to conduct Phase Two Proof of Concept Testing of its UCTL technology.

Rio Tinto reported a surge in profits due to strong demand in Asia and higher metals prices on Thursday but shares in the company spiked lower in New York, opening down more than 7% and wiping more than $10 billion off the value of the globe's second largest miner. Net earnings for the first half year were $7.6bn, up 30% on the $5.8bn the firm made a year earlier. Commenting on the results chairman Jan du Plessis said the economic environment remains volatile but expected the Australia-based company continue to experience higher than average growth for the rest of the year. The company also said it was experiencing high cost inflation in some "mining hotspots" and cautioned that the strong Australian and Canadian dollar were impacting its profitability.

A new coal terminal proposed for Gladstone port's Wiggins Island in Queensland has met with delays for the third time this year, as the project's 16 coal company shareholders including Cockatoo Coal, Yancoal and Xstrata have still to raise all of the capital for the project. Costs for the first stage of the Wiggins Island coal terminal have escalated to A$3.7 billion ($3.9 billion) from A$2 billion in October 2010, a spokesman for the coal industry consortium that is backing the terminal said Wednesday.

One protesters associated with the Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival Campaign has been arrested after climbing down from a tree platform he has been occupying at Coal River Mountain West Virginia since July 20. Becks Kolins (pictured on the left) was arrested by state police. Kolins and Catherine-Ann MacDougal climbed the trees to protest operations at the Bee Tree surface mine owned by Alpha Natural Resources, the company that bought Massey Energy following a deadly blast at one of its coal mines. McDougal says she's staying put.