Fortescue has secured $490 million in corporate senior debt facilities to top up funding for its iron ore expansion plans in the Pilbara region of Australia.

The board of London listed African diamond miner, Gem Diamonds Limited (LSE: GEMD), has green lit plans to expand the company’s 5.6 million tonnes per annum Letšeng mine in the Kingdom of Lesotho (“Lesotho”) by almost double its current capacity; to 10 million tonnes per annum at an estimated cost of US$280 million funded from existing cashflow.

When China was first touted as the anticipated future superpower some 10 years ago by a handful of Australian resource company executives, many couldn’t see past the strong trade reliance with the U.S. Cut to 2011, and Australia’s economic ties wit...

Swiss mining giant Xstrata Zinc has begun construction on its A$246 million Lady Loretta zinc, lead and silver underground mine. The mine, located in 140 kilometres north Xstrata’s Mount Isa operations in Queensland, has been scheduled to be in production by the end of 2013.

On May 10, Shell announced the successful start of production from its Scotford Upgrader Expansion project in Canada. The 100,000 barrels-per-day expansion takes upgrading capacity at Scotford to 255,000 barrels-per-day of heavy oil from the Athabasca oil sands. “This start-up is an important milestone for our heavy oil business,” said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas Director. “And it adds new capacity from an important source of oil in a world requiring more secure energy.”