Appia to drill at world’s 2nd richest rare earth prospect

Investors in a small-cap junior focused on the mining of a lesser-known element - scandium - were rewarded on Friday after a favourable decision from the New South Wales government in Australia.

The blast took place at a mine located in Iran's northern Golestan province on Wednesday morning.

Australian lithium explorer Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) took a big step today towards its goal of becoming a low-cost lithium producer, by completing offtake arrangements for its flagship Pilgangoora project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The European country holds between 1.2 to 1.4 million tonnes of lithium, located mostly around the tiny village of Cinovec, on the border with Germany.

The giant equipment maker's quarterly profit surged past estimates helped by a recovery in most of its end markets.

Analysts believe that would increase the chances of the country joining Latin America’s ongoing political drift to the right in November’s elections.

The unit is expected to help speed up the approval of legislation that allows the exploration and exploitation of the country’s vast lithium deposits.

They have found valuable minerals atop an underwater mountain, which is basically a huge flat-topped mound of some of the scarcest materials on Earth.

Worries about Chinese economy and rising tension surrounding North Korea brings fear trade to mining and industrial metals.