Firestone Diamonds almost done with ramp-up at flagship mine in Lesotho

The job of putting up the proposed hybrid wind farm at Diavik Diamond Mine has begun. Trucks are beginning to take the blades for the windmills and its other components along the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road to the mine.

An emerald cut diamond valued between $900,000 and $1 million is set to be auctioned in Vancouver on Sunday at the Sutton Place Hotel.

On much heavier volumes than usual Grizzly Discoveries shed 3c or 6.52% by midday Tuesday. Before the market open the Edmonton-based company announced a potash discovery near Medicine Hat in Alberta Canada that wasn't as exciting as investors had clearly hoped – drilling yielded potash grades up to 31.1% K2O, but only over 0.3 metres.

The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines says the government's hike of pre-exploration fees for the majority of minerals – by as much as 8,000% – together with increased royalty rates will cripple the industry.

London-based giant miner Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) announced today record $13.3-billion 2011 earnings, a 23% increase in underlying earnings a share and a 14% increase in annual operating profits to $11.1 billion.

A report published this week by Global Witness, an international human rights group, says that companies mining the controversial Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe have senior personnel drawn from security forces loyal to President Robert Mugabe.

Above zero temperatures have set the 600-km ice road connecting diamond mines in Canada’s Northwest Territories with supplies slightly behind schedule since trucking began at the start of the month, but there is no reason to panic yet, the man in charge of the operation said on Tuesday.

Augustin Katumba Mwanke, the former governor of copper-rich Katanga province and go-to guy for resource deals, was seen by many as the power behind the throne.

A £50-million diamond and platinum skull by the once notorious Damien Hurst will be featured in a retrospective of the artist this summer in London.