Vancouver versus Toronto: Miners by market capitalization

ALBUQUERQUE, NM--(Marketwire - Sep 26, 2011) - Lone Star Gold, Inc. (OTCBB: LSTG) ("Lone Star" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the Company signed a letter of intent (LOI) on September 23, 2011, committing to the acquisition of an option to purchase a 70% interest in a gold-silver project consisting of 2 properties in Mexico: San Luis and La Colorada. The ~1409-acre (570-hectare) project is located in the municipality of Ocampo, 192 miles (310 km) from the capital city of Chihuahua, in southwest Chihuahua State. Access to the project is by paved roads with the exception of the final 19 miles (31 km).

The Ottawa Citizen reports that the Ontario NDP, which is fighting a provincial election and challenging the incumbent Liberal Party, want to change the provincial mining act so more mine processing work stays in the province. The Liberal Party says such legislation would ultimately hurt the industry.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 26, 2011) - Empire Mining Corporation (TSX VENTURE:EPC) ("Empire") is pleased to report that an ongoing sampling program at the newly-identified Southwest Zone of the Demirtepe wollastonite-hosted copper-gold-silver and molybdenum project in Turkey, has identified a continuous copper-gold anomalous zone currently about 1.8 km long and up to 800 metres wide and still open to the southwest. The new Southwest Zone is located approx. 1 km to the southwest of the Main Zone.

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 26, 2011) - Romios Gold Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RG)(OTCBB:RMIOF)(FRANKFURT:D4R) ("Romios" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from the initial portion of the 2011 drill program on the Trek Property in northwestern British Columbia. The property is located 12.0 km southeast of the Galore Creek copper-gold-silver porphyry deposit and adjacent to the Galore Creek Mining Corporation's proposed mill and tailings facilities.

Fin24 is reporting that a huge tailings dam being built in Kuma township could get kyboshed due to opposition from environmental groups, pressure groups and demands from landowners. The Kareerand tailings dam being built by First Uranium TSX:FIU, JSE:FUM 15km outside Stilfontein is a R400 million project motivated by a need to solve the ubiquitous dust cloud that currently envelops Kuma residents from 15 old tailings dams — relics from the Buffelsfontein and Hartbeesfontein gold mines — says Fin24, which describes the dam in some detail:

It may not be quite the same as hitting the local ATM, but China is making it easier for consumers to buy bullion. AFP reported on Sunday that the Beijing Agricultural Commercial Bank and a gold trading company have installed China's first gold vending machine in a busy shopping district of Beijing:

Mongolia wants to bring forward the raising of its stake in the Oyu Tolgoi copper project that’s being developed by Rio Tinto Group and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. to 50 percent from 34 percent, according to the minerals minister. “We have sent the proposal to Ivanhoe to renegotiate the timeframe for us to increase the government stake,” Dashdorj Zorigt told reporters at Oyu Tolgoi yesterday. Such an increase is permitted after only 30 years, according to a summary of the $16 billion project agreement from London-based Rio Tinto.

Job growth in mining and mining-related work in Australia is expected to increase by over 100% by 2031, outpacing other sectors of the economy, The Courier-Mail is reporting. The website says the total mining workforce is tipped to more than double in the next 20 years, from an estimated 693,000 who are now directly and indirectly employed to 1.45 million staff Australia-wide:

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 23, 2011) - Cardero Coal Ltd. ("Cardero Coal") is encouraged by the Government of British Columbia's announcement on Thursday regarding the BC Jobs Plan, as well as the stated commitment to reduce the time it takes to get decisions on mineral exploration and mining approvals and permits. "BC has a rich history of mining and Premier Clarke's recognition of the sector and the role it plays in the provincial economy indicates her understanding of what needs to be done to ensure our province benefits fully from the valuable resources we have in the ground," says Michael Hunter, Cardero Coal's President.