Hundreds still missing following Vale’s dam break in Brazil

Reforms include proposal to potentially double mining royalties to 4%.

The proposed end to the licensing system marks something of retreat for Beijing which has made many attempts to wrest control over pricing away from the major producers.

One of the greatest prizes in all of mining, perhaps the world, is the iron mountains of Simandou in Guinea, half of which was given away by a former dictator of the West African nation for free.

China Minmetals Corp confirmed Tuesday it is considering a bid.

Unfortunately the optimism does not extend to mining services stocks.

While the real and rand continues to weaken significantly, the Australian dollar is staging an impressive comeback and dealing damage to Rio Tinto and BHP.

Bookrunners are BNP Paribas Securities Corp., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Credit Suisse (USA) LLC and RBS Securities Inc.

Report shows mining companies are not longer trusted on their abilities to control costs, deliver on promises and cope with resource nationalization demands.

It failed to find an investment partner.