Hedge funds have never been this bullish on silver

The Globe & Mail reports Ivanhoe Mines, building Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi, will scrap a controversial “poison pill” that clears the way for Rio Tinto, which already owns 49% of the Vancouver-based company, to do a complete takeover. The shareholder provision would have triggered an automatic rights offer estimated at $73 billion.

Perceiving a cloudy future for world markets, Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN) announced that they had negotiated an additional US$1.8 billion bridge financing for Oyu Tolgoi.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 18, 2012) - Santa Fe Metals Corp. ("the Company") (TSX VENTURE:SFM) is pleased to report assay results from the November/December 2011 phase of the ongoing sampling program on its Don Indio project at Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, Mexico.

Gold Reach Resources (CVE:GRV) enjoyed a 15% lift in its stock price today on news that it has quadrupled its resource estimate at the company's Ootsa Lake property in British Columbia, about 120 kilometres south of Smithers.

Mercator Minerals (TSE:ML) rose 5.5% today after announcing record production from its Mineral Park Mine in Arizona.

The Washington Post reports in a move reminiscent of the crackdown on lead in toys, more than a dozen major retailers including Target, Saks and Gap, are voluntarily halting sales of jewelry that contain more than trace levels of cadmium, a byproduct of zinc mining.

Reuters reports the London Metal Exchange has been approached by several   potential bidders and will consider takeover proposals in late February according to its CEO. The LME handles some 80% of global trade in metals futures and a takeover will help the the 134-year old trading floor to compete against rapidly-expanding Asian metal trading hubs.

US mine safety authorities on Wednesday ordered Hecla to shut down the silver shaft at its Lucky Friday mine for the rest of the year following a rockburst in December and a string of accidents, two of them fatal, at the Idhaho mine during 2011.

Hard Assets Investor reports precious metals ETFs enjoyed solid $5.9 billion inflows last year that brought total assets in the sector to just under $98.5 billion; a figure that represents just under two-thirds of all exchange-traded products including energy and agriculture.