Teck delivers surprise profit, stock surges

There’s "no semblance of a safe-haven" at the moment and "the technical profile of bullion is also weak."

Nautilus Minerals, locked in a dispute with Papua New Guinea over ownership of the world's first sea-floor mine, dropped 9.7% on Thursday, hurt by news of violence, kidnapping, vote rigging and delays after the first week of general elections in the country.

Like most of Latin America, Guatemala is to increase control over natural resources, with President Otto Perez Molina proposing a Constitutional reform that will make possible for the for the government to acquire up to 40% of the mining and exploration companies operating in the country.

While both Davis and Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg would suffer blows to their reputations as dealmakers if the merger should collapse other parties stand to lose more.

Fifty-six mines across Canada provided data on wages paid in 2011.  Thirty-four are union mines; and twenty-two non-union.  Forty-five reported increased wages while eleven made no changes.  None decreased wages. 

The total value of the copper, silver, indium and manganese reserves discovered by South Korean company Kores in Bolivia last year, may be worth more than $8 billion.

Buffeted by a disimal silver prices, Coeur D'Alene (NYSE:CDE) announced a US$350 million senior note offering due 2020.

But management of the equipment behemoth has stuck to their forecasts for a record-breaking year.

The speed and extent of recent commodity price falls suggest market participants are anticipating a severe deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook.