South African gold firms file plea to appeal lung disease class action

One of the more unique lots at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction on November 29 in Hong Kong is likely to be a set of poker chips made by the Swedish artist and jeweller Kristian Ståhl. The 120 chips are made of 18K white gold and are set with a total of 5,160 calibrated top-quality diamonds, rubies and sapphires. But what makes the set truly unique is that each chip was sliced from the 1 million year old Muonionalusta meteorite that contains iron, nickel and rare earths. The set is estimated at $100,000 – $150,000 and Stahl said he was inspired to create it after his Siberian mammoth ivory dice sold well at auction last year.

During Q1 Implats production fell 12% due mostly to planned operational outages. Gross platinum production was 388,000 oz compared to 441,000 during the same quarter a year ago. Palladium also declined in line with platinum, coming in at 251,000 oz compared to 285,000 year ago. Rhodium declined by just 7% from 53,000 oz compared to 57,000 oz. Costs also rose during Q1. "Group unit cost per platinum ounce produced excluding share-based payments rose by 10.8% from the previous quarter a year ago primarily due to the recent impact of the 10% wage settlement and the continuation of high electricity tariff increases," said the company in a statement.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Nov. 16, 2011) - Solitaire Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SLT) (Solitaire) is pleased to announce that the company has signed an option to acquire a 100% interest in a Platinum-Group Element (PGE) property north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Previous exploration has located 14 mineral occurrences on the property with analytical results up to 2.2 grams per tonne of total precious metals ("TPM") or platinum + palladium + gold. A diamond drilling program is planned to test five conductors defined by a 2010 airborne VTEM® survey.

Caledonia Mining, an African focused mining and exploration company with a mine in Zimbabwe, shot up 20% to 11 cents a share after announcing a six-fold increase in profits in Q3. The company said that gross profit was $9.36 million compared to $1.607 million in the comparative quarter. "This is almost a six-fold increase on the comparative quarter and is the seventh consecutive quarterly increase in gross profit," said the company in a statement.

Dale Alan Madson, 42, a Leadman Operator at Stillwater Mining died in a mining accident on Monday at the company's Stillwater Mine. Madson was working on the 3800 level of the mine The accident is being investigated by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. No other details of the accident were released. Mining operations were suspended following the incident and will resume with the evening shift today.

A new minimally-invasive procedure that can safely and effectively treat brain aneurysms without open surgery by implanting an FDA-approved device consisting of a flexible braided mesh tube made of platinum and nickel-cobalt chromium alloy directly into the artery has been chosen by research facility Cleveland Clinic as one of the top 10 medical innovations for 2012. The 90-year old multispecialty academic medical center which has pioneered among others coronary artery bypass surgery and performed the US's first face transplant also included a new Concussion Management System for Athletes, Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Reduce Disease Threat and Wearable Robotic Devices in the top 10.

Gossan Resources Limited (TSX VENTURE:GSS)(FRANKFURT/FREIVERKEHR & XETRA:WKN 904435) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with East Mining Company SA ("EMC") of Athens, Greece, to investigate and examine the possibilities of acquiring mineral projects within Europe, on a non-exclusive basis, and initially to assess three potential projects in Greece. Additional projects may be pursued.

It is vital for the South African government to step up and take a bigger stake in the mining industry, a top economic advisor told those attending a Mining for Change conference in Johannesburg on Friday. The comments come one week ahead of so-called Economic Freedom Youth Mass Action marches on the Chamber of Mines and stock exchange organized by Julius Malema (pictured), populist leader of the influential youth wing of the ruling African National Congress with the support of the 260,000 member Metalworkers Union. Malema recently told crowds that the nationalization debate within the ANC is a question of how not if, and an August industry-led investigation said the ruling party is closest to seizing mines since the end of white rule in 1994.

Gold for December delivery had shed $40 or more than 2% by lunchtime coming close to breaching the $1,600/oz level in New York before before regaining some ground to trade at $1,618 an ounce by early afternoon. Traders said the metal is likely to remain a “dead trade” until it can resume its role as a fear barometer and is able to rally in face of equities weakness and that a "solid downtrend" has now been established. Some analysts are saying gold's precipitous $300 drop in September represented a fundamental market shift and that gold's fall despite market volatility and economic uncertainty means the metal has lost its safe haven status and is being treated like any other commodity.