World’s No. 1 miner BHP Billiton put its money on oil and gas

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.

Canada led the world in the number of mining mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for the first half of the year, says Ernst & Young. And while the number of deals fell in comparison to the highly acquisitive first half of 2010, the value of the transactions that took place this year more than doubled compared to the same period last year. The country was the leading buyer in H1 with 196 deals, and also the leading target destination with 129 deals. Australia came second as a buyer and target destination, with 83 and 72 deals respectively.

Commodity markets were hit this week by shock news that the United States created no jobs in August, sparking speculation that the world's biggest economy could be heading for a double-dip recession. Analysts said the data bolstered expectations that the US Federal Reserve could soon decide to implement another round of quantitative easing -- dubbed QE3 by traders -- to help breathe new life into the struggling economy.

Beating already rosy expectations new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show mining companies intend to invest $82.1 billion this financial year on new and expansion projects, representing 55% of total capital expenditure in the country's economy. The spending spree by the resources sector – mostly in Western Australia and Queensland – represents a whopping 70% increase over last year. Mining firms spent 14.4% more last quarter, led by a 22% jump in plant and machinery purchases, and projections show further increases in the future. The positive capex news, accompanied by robust retail spending numbers saw the Australian dollar rise above 107 US cents.

Glencore International plc (LON:GLEN), seeking access to the growing coal market in India and China, announced on Thursday an estimated $1 billion plan to acquire Optimum Coal Holdings (JNB:OPT), a significant thermal coal producer in South Africa. Glencore will value the ordinary shares of Optimum at 34 ZAR (4.8 USD), a 35% premium over the 30-day volume weighted average. “Optimum’s high quality, long life coal assets and significant presence at Richards Bay Coal Terminal would be an attractive addition to our existing South African coal business," said Tor Peterson, director of the Coal/Coke commodity department.

NHK World reported that Japanese researchers have created a new design for wind turbines that doubles and even triples the power of conventional models. The wind lense turbines, currently operating at Kyushu University, were developed by Professor Yuji Ohya at the university's Research Institute for Applied Mechanics. A lense fits around the outside of the blades which creates a low pressure region beyond the blades and causes the wind to surge through the turbine increasing the the blades speed and the power generated.

A cashed-up BHP Billiton will spend $US367 million ($A344.31 million) expanding its coal handling operations in Newcastle. The world's biggest miner, which recently delivered an Australian record full-year profit of $22.46 billion, announced on Wednesday the third stage of development of the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Groups (NCIG) facility.

Strike action involving 4000 BHP employees has nothing to do with money, a union boss says. Workers employed at seven BHP mines in Queensland will walk off the job this week after enterprise bargaining negotiations stalled.