INFOGRAPHIC: Receding Arctic ice unlocking fathomless mineral resources

Republican senators and members of congress introduced a bill to counter an effort by the Department of the Interior to remove mining rights from a region in northern Arizona, which borders Grand Canyon National Park. U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) and U.S. Congressmen Trent Franks (AZ-02), Rob Bishop (UT-01), Jeff Flake (AZ-06), Paul Gosar (AZ-01), David Schweikert (AZ-05) and Ben Quayle (AZ-03) unveiled the Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act on Wednesday.

Australia on Monday gave environmental approval for BHP Billiton to expand its Olympic Dam mine but set more than 100 environmental conditions on the uranium, copper and gold project. The $30 billion expansion of the existing Olympic Dam underground operation will create an adjacent open pit mine that would be the worlds biggest. An idea of the olympian effort required to construct the mine and the size of the undertaking is clear from the fact that trucks will haul overburden 24/7 for five to six years just to reach the ore body. The combined operations would mine 72 Mt ore per year and would produce 750,000 tonnes refined copper, 19,000 tonnes uranium oxide, 800,000 gold ounces and 2.9 Moz of silver per year.

Cameco (TSX:CCO) (NYSE:CCJ) announced today that the Canadian Competition Bureau has issued a "no action letter" in connection with Cameco's offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hathor Exploration Limited for cash consideration of $3.75 per share. The issuance of the no action letter, which provides that the Commissioner of the Competition Bureau does not intend to challenge the proposed acquisition, satisfies one of the conditions of the offer.

Cameco (TSX:CCO) (NYSE:CCJ) announced today it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with its joint venture partners to mill all Cigar Lake ore at the McClean Lake mill. The new milling arrangement is expected to result in a significant reduction in the operating cost of the Cigar Lake project, which is 50% owned and operated by Cameco. The other Cigar Lake joint venture partners are AREVA Resources Canada Inc. (37%), Idemitsu Resources Canada Inc. (8%) and Tepco Resources Inc (5%).

Late last week Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN)(NYSE:IVN)(NASDAQ:IVN) and Rio Tinto received a letter from a representative of the Mongolian Cabinet inviting the companies to discuss potential changes to the Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement. The changes related to the conditions under which the Mongolian Government may negotiate with Ivanhoe Mines to acquire, on mutually agreed terms, an additional 16% interest in the project and the application of a sliding-scale royalty to the project. In response to this letter, Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto have formally advised the Mongolian government that the companies are not prepared to renegotiate the investment agreement.

KTWO reports that Cameco plans to hire 70 full time workers for its in-situ Gas Hills project in Wyoming. Cameco is currently waiting for its environmental assessment from the Bureau of Land Management before it begins work. It expects to receive clearance and begin work by 2013. Gas Hills is estimated to have total proven reserves of 10.6 million lbs of U3O8.

Paladin Energy Ltd (TSX:PDN)(ASX:PDN) ("Paladin" or the "Company") has completed the bookbuild for a private placement to institutional and accredited investors of 56.9M ordinary shares (representing 7.3% of Paladin's existing issued capital) to raise approximately A$68.2M/C$69.2M. The placement was priced at A$1.20 (C$1.22) per share which represents a 8.4% discount to Paladin's last closing price on ASX. The new shares will rank equally with existing shares. RBC Capital Markets and UBS AG, Australia Branch acted as Global Joint Lead Placing Agents to the placement.

VANCOUVER, Sept. 28, 2011 /CNW/ - ESO Uranium Corp. (TSXV: ESO), (the "Company" or "ESO") and its 50% Joint Venture (JV) partner Fission Energy (TSX-V: FIS), announce further results from its June 2011 uranium boulder prospecting and radon soil gas survey program:

Deep Yellow, a uranium exploration company with operations in Namibia and in Australia, announced on Tuesday additional high grade uranium intercepts from RC drilling at the Ongolo Alaskite Deposit and the MS7 Prospect.