2016 metals, mining outlook darkens

Reuters reports China's Puda Coal said its auditor Moore Stephens has resigned, effective immediately, and the auditor warned that audit reports for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 should no longer be relied upon. In April, the Puda stock had been halted by the American Stock Exchange after the company said it will investigate unauthorized transactions in the shares of subsidiary Shanxi Coal by Chairman Ming Zhao, alleged by an website.

Macarthur Coal shares soared almost 40 per cent after Peabody Energy's near $5 billion takeover bid, providing a stock price boost to others in the Australian coal sector. The shares closed up $4.06, or 36.64 per cent, at $15.14 on Tuesday, Macarthur's highest finish since late April.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has hailed a takeover bid for a Queensland coal mine as proof her carbon price package won't kill off the sector. US energy giant Peabody Energy Corp is making a second tilt for Macarthur Coal within 14 months, this time through a $5 billion bid in tandem with the world's largest steel maker, ArcelorMittal.

Pimps man the park across from the historic Ulan Bator Hotel, popular with foreigners. They are keeping an eye on their employees -- about 20 women working in Mongolia's quickly expanding sex trade. Image by Tomascastelazo

Peabody Energy has teamed up with ArcelorMittal to offer $5 billion for Australia's Macarthur Coal , the world's biggest producer of pulverised coal, as demand for steel-making raw materials intensifies. The cash offer of A$15.50 a share represents a 40-percent premium to Monday's close and comes just a day after Australia unveiled a plan to tax carbon emissions from the nation's worst polluters, or about 500 companies, including coal miners.

Australia's powerful coal mining industry warned it was being unfairly singled out under the country's new carbon emissions trading scheme, predicting it will lead to job losses and fewer collieries at a time when buyers are paying top dollar for coal.

The Greens say South Australia will benefit from the $10 billion allocated to renewable energy projects as part of the federal government's carbon pricing scheme. But the party has conceded that as the state transitions to a clean energy future, towns that are largely supported by coal mining have a limited future. Image is from Billy Hathorn.

Australia's coalmining axis will shift to the north and west on the back of the Gillard government's carbon tax, according to industry leaders left frustrated by the plan revealed yesterday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Despite unveiling a $1.264 billion assistance package for what it believes will be the worst-affected coal mines, the Gillard government was accused by the Australian Coal Association of wrongly anticipating where the tax pain would be felt.

The United States is poised to export the most coal since 1992 this year, filling a gap created when flooding interrupted Australian supplies and buoying shipments for railroads such as Union Pacific and CSX. Union Pacific, the nation’s largest railroad, may double coal exports this year to more than 4 million tonnes, said Doug Glass, the company’s vice president and general manager for energy. CSX predicts shipments may rise 33 percent to a record in 2011 after first-quarter volumes climbed 45 percent.