Canadians to develop space mining tool

Stocks of major fertilizer producers Mosaic and Potash Corp hit their lowest levels in almost two years on Monday, in what is considered yet another sign the commodity “supercycle” is gearing down as slower global growth cools demand.

When looking for a dominant investment theme the approach I take involves looking at global or big picture conditions.

Brazil Potash Corp. announced it has secured $58 million for potash exploration at the Amazon Basin project, where it plans to build a $3.5 billion to $4 billion mine.

There are "growing signs" that Outer Harbour  will take precedence over BHP's massive Olympic Dam project and the greenfield Jansen potash venture in Canada.

In all $265 million will be doled out to senior management at Xstrata to stop them from jumping ship after a merger with Glencore. The two companies are also paying $200 million to their advisers to push the deal through.

The prospectus giving details of the creation of a $90 billion mining and commodities trading behemoth will finally find its way to the inboxes of shareholders today.

The Canadian government did what it said it would do Monday, ordering close to 5,000 striking CP Rail employees back to their jobs.

Smaller miners are waiting for production cutbacks by the market leaders to prop up prices the way Saudi-Arabia comes to the rescue of oil producing nations whenever the crude price begins to flag.

Despite a lacklustre day for the sector – North America's big three Potashcorp, Agrium and Mosaic all suffered losses – two Brazil focused potash mine developers attracted strong investor interest on Friday.