Atlas Iron reveals strategy to weather storm of discounts

Black Iron reported drill results at Shymanivske iron ore project in Ukraine, infill drilling and the intersection of thick iron bands in each hole with grades greater than 30% iron.

"Natural resources companies with a pipeline of, say, five projects in five different countries are now likely to build just two or three of those. Thus, executives have the power to cherry pick which combination of country and project offers the best returns."

Rates for Capesizes have plunged 98% to just under $4,000 a day from the eye-watering rate of $234,000 set in June 2008 while the Baltic Dry Index which measures overall shipping costs has declined 48% this year alone.

Illegality in the mining sector has deprived state governments of badly needed revenues, threatened the industry with costly and unpredictable shutdowns, and generated political chaos that helped bring down two state governments in 2011 and 2012.

A hedging u-turn is in the making.

An exploration budget of $8.6 million has been approved for 2012, comprising 11,280 metres (m) of drilling and 3,600 m of trenching, supported by geophysics, in 12 target areas.

Asset manager at JPMorgan, Neil Gregson, says mining companies should pursue more takeovers as escalating costs prompt them to slow spending on expansions.

A humourous look at grocery shopping in Canada's far north

The 49-year-old boss of the world's largest mining company took home £9.8 million ($15.2 million) last year including bonuses, pension contributions and stock options.