Warning of another string of mining bankruptcies in 2016

With the spot price for uranium falling below $50 – levels last seen immediately after the nuclear accident at Fukushima – U3O8 producers and explorers dropped across the board on Tuesday. Not even Hathor Exploration, the subject of a hostile takeover by industry bellwether Cameco, managed to get into in positive territory and the sector as a whole has lost more than 40% its value since the 11 March earthquake off the coast of Japan. And the near term outlook for the sector is not rosy either with a new study by Resource Capital Research indicating market price expectations looking out 3 to 6 months points to further downside, with a spot price expectation of $45.95/lb.

Commodity markets were hit this week by shock news that the United States created no jobs in August, sparking speculation that the world's biggest economy could be heading for a double-dip recession. Analysts said the data bolstered expectations that the US Federal Reserve could soon decide to implement another round of quantitative easing -- dubbed QE3 by traders -- to help breathe new life into the struggling economy.

Actor and possible New York mayoralty candidate is no fan of nuclear power. In an interview with the Huffington Post on Friday, he said nuclear power is a dirty source of fuel. "Nuclear reators are filthy, contaminating processes. The biggest problem in the anti-nuclear movement is the big lie, the constant metronomic assertion of the nuclear industry that it is 'clean power'," says Baldwin in the interview. New York state, where Baldwin lives, has six nuclear power plants which provide 30% of the state's electricity needs.

Crossland Uranium Mines (ASX:CUX) plans to issue a report next month on an illuvial heavy mineral rare earth element resource at its 50% owned Charley Creek project in Northern Territory. A 16.7 tonne quantity of alluvial material has been obtained from the Cockroach prospect for testwork to investigate a heavy mineral process flowsheet and to generate samples of heavy mineral product for initial marketing and additional process development tests. Crossland says that the Charley Creek alluvials should be low cost sources of heavy mineral concentrates with high concentrations of REE and/or zircon.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) announced on Wednesday that it signed signed a memorandum of agreement with its partner, Kazatomprom, to increase annual uranium production at the Joint Venture Inkai Limited Liability Partnership (JVI) from 3.9 million pounds to 5.2 million pounds. The Inkai in-situ recovery uranium mine and processing plant is located in central Kazakhstan and is operated by JVI, 60% owned by Cameco and 40% owned by Kazatomprom, the Kazakhstan government owned national atomic company. Under the memorandum of agreement, Cameco's share of Inkai's annual production will be 2.9 million pounds with the processing plant at full capacity.

NHK World reported that Japanese researchers have created a new design for wind turbines that doubles and even triples the power of conventional models. The wind lense turbines, currently operating at Kyushu University, were developed by Professor Yuji Ohya at the university's Research Institute for Applied Mechanics. A lense fits around the outside of the blades which creates a low pressure region beyond the blades and causes the wind to surge through the turbine increasing the the blades speed and the power generated.

SYDNEY, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Vice President of Litigation BHP Billiton, Mr Damian Lovellhas today welcomed the introduction of the new ACICA Arbitration Rules designed to speed up the resolution of cross border and international commercial disputes. Mr Lovell, who is responsible for the dispute resolution strategy for the world's largest diversified mining company, said it is standard practice for BHP Billiton to include arbitration clauses in its cross border contracts:

Crosshair Exploration & Mining Corp. (TSX:CXX) has launched a US$12.85 million hostile bid for US uranium assets owned by Australian American Mining Corporation Limited (ASX:AIW). Crosshair has written directly to AusAm shareholders to outline their proposal and call on shareholders to support Crosshair's efforts to "unlock the value in AusAm." Under the proposal, AusAm would receive consideration of US$12.85 million in Crosshair shares, in return for AusAm's uranium assets in Nevada, Texas and New Mexico.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 29, 2011) - Hathor Exploration Limited (TSX:HAT) is aware that Cameco Corporation intends to proceed with a hostile and unsolicited all cash take-over bid for Hathor at a price per Hathor common share of Cdn.$3.75. The announcement stated that the bid will be open for at least 60 days from the time it is made. Hathor has not yet been provided with a formal offer and so is not in a position to respond. Hathor will issue a strong and detailed response to the offer after it has received and reviewed the bid materials, and received guidance and input from its financial and legal advisors.