CHART: Trump $500 billion will do very little for global mining

Zimbabwe's government has given foreign companies including miners and banks a 14-day ultimatum to submit plans on how they propose to transfer majority stakes to local owners or risk losing permits, state media reported on Friday. However, immediately thereafter the country's central bank governor Gideon Gono launched a scathing attack on the minister responsible for the indigenization policy saying the threats “could irreparably harm the nerve-centre of the recovering economy.” Before a new unity government in 2009 Zimbabwe economy had shrank by as much as half over the preceding decade amid hyperinflation, property seizures and civil unrest. The country is the number two platinum producer in the world and rich in gold and diamonds.

Kazakhstan, strategically placed between China and Russia, has a wealth of mineral riches which it is eager to profit from. While Kazakhstan is probably best known for its oil, changes are on the horizon as mining companies flow in searching for copper, gold, zinc and other natural resources.

A day after news of an onerous new mining royalty and taxation regime in Peru, Namibia, the world’s biggest miner of offshore diamonds and a top four uranium producer, drops plans for a huge jump in the corporate tax rate for miners and mineral export levies. Deputy Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein said on Wednesday, the country has withdrawn a proposal to increase the tax on non-diamond miners to 44% from 37.5% and will instead propose a windfall tax when international prices for the commodities are high. Namibia was one of 25 countries around the world that recently announced their intentions to increase their take of the mining industry’s profits or impose ownership and other restrictions.

Stellar Pacific Ventures announced that it was awarded by the Ministry of Mines of the Republic of Mali, an exploration authorization for the Namarana area which covers over 132 km2. This mineral title was delivered July 22, 2011 to Stellar Pacific Mail SARL, the company's wholly owned (100%) subsidiary in Mali.

Petra Diamonds is pleased to announce that Ministerial consent in terms of Section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (“MPRDA”) has been granted for the cession and transfer of the new order mining right for the Finsch diamond mine in South Africa (“Finsch”) from De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited (“De Beers”) to Afropean Diamonds (Pty) Limited (”Afropean”). Afropean represents Petra’s interests in Finsch; Afropean being owned as to Petra 74% and Petra’s Black Economic Empowerment partners 26%.

Al Jazeera profiles the dangerous mining work in the Mingora emerald mines in Pakistan. "We work in the jaws of death, but we are poor and don't have a choice. Thank god the owners have been kind enough to give me a job," says one worker in the video. About 150 labourers are employed in at least 16 such mines.

As has previously been reported by Lucara Diamond, in April 2010, legal proceedings were initiated against African Diamonds Plc, Lucara's wholly-owned subsidiary, by two former directors of African Diamonds claiming entitlement to a 3% royalty on production from the AK6 diamond project. The claim was heard in the Botswana High Court in early June, 2011. The High Court delivered its ruling today, dismissing the claims against African Diamonds, with costs awarded against the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs have 30 days to seek to appeal the ruling.

As the country marked Heroes Day, Robert Mugabe used the occasion to make fresh threats to punish foreign owned companies from Western countries that have imposed targeted sanctions on him and his key ZANU PF officials. The US and European Union slapped the sanctions on Mugabe and his cronies because of human rights abuses.

Kimberley Process members may be regretting their decision in June to allow Zimbabwe to export diamonds, with a new BBC documentary showing security forces beating and raping prisoners at two camps in the Marange diamond fields. The New York Times reported on the release Monday of the documentary "Panorama", which said the camps held workers recruited by the police and the military to diamonds for them, and then demand a large share of the profits: "According to the report, a released prisoner who was not named said guards at the camps were beating prisoners three times a day, with 40 lashes at a time. Dogs were loosed to bite shackled inmates, and imprisoned women were frequently raped, the program said."