Newmont Mining Corp , the second-largest gold producer in the world, plans to link its dividend to gold prices, and said it will target to raise production of the precious metal by more than a third by 2017. Denver-based Newmont's shares, which have trailed the Arca Gold Bugs Index since the beginning of the year, rose 4 percent to $58.72 in early trade.

Gunmen killed two workers on Thursday at Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc's giant gold mine in Indonesia's Papua, a province with a simmering separatist movement. A Freeport company spokesman said the shooting by unidentified gunmen, which left the car the two workers were in a blazing wreck, did not affect production at the world's largest gold mine.

Atlantic Coal plc, the AIM listed open cast coal production and processing company with activities in Pennsylvania, USA, is pleased to announce a production update for the three months ended 31 March 2011 from the Stockton Colliery (‘Stockton'), its opencast anthracite operation in Pennsylvania. During the quarter, Atlantic mined 120,850 tons of run-of-mine coal (‘ROM') and removed 658,785 bank cubic yards (BCYs) of overburden. 62,000 tons of ROM coal was washed which produced 28,376 tons of clean coal.

Ivernia Inc said it expects to place its flagship lead mine in western Australia under full care and maintenance for an indefinite period and lay off about 83 percent of related workforce amid environmental concerns surrounding the mine, sending its shares down 23 percent to a nine-year low.

Indian-focused miner Vedanta Plc (VED.L: Quote) saw record aluminium production in its fourth quarter and a 29 percent jump in refined zinc from its Indian operations, helping it take advantage of rising metal prices.

Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has received the green signal to undertake mining activities in India, with the Orissa government granting a proposal for a fresh agreement on Thursday, April 7. State-run Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC), a part of the Bird Group of Companies under the Indian government's ministry of steel had been in discussions with the world's biggest mining company, Rio Tinto, for a joint venture in the state for some time now.

The mid-tier gold miner Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) confirmed today that it had achieved A$11 million (US$11.53 million) in revenue in March from the Paulsens gold mine in the Pilbara region while incurring operating costs of about A$5 million (US$5.24 million). The operation produced 8,583 ounces of gold last month and sold 7,897 oz.

GFMS Executive Chairman Philip Klapwijk isn't big on publishing prognostications for the research group's World Silver Survey 2011 report produced for Washington's Silver Institute. After some prodding by Mineweb, Klapwijk said he expect silver prices to remain in the "top $20s" this year.

Centamin Egypt (CEY.L) (CEE.TO) said it expects full-year production to come in at the lower end of its 250,000-290,000 ounce guidance after output in the first quarter was hit by supply problems. It poured 45,204 ounces in the first quarter and said its Sukari operation remained largely unaffected by Egypt's political unrest.

Mongolia's massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project is expected to begin production in August 2012, sooner than forecast, said Temuulen Ganzorig, Deputy Director of Erdenes MGL which partners with Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto in developing the site.

Leading Australian headquartered mining contractor, Ausdrill Ltd, has announced a successful major capital raising to raise gross proceeds of A$129.5 million, to be used as growth capital to fund purchases of plant and equipment for projects commencing in the next 12 months or projects which have been tendered for. This mainly includes projects in Africa and Australia.

Commodity prices still could rise in the next few months, but the chances for a sharp correction in the May-June timeframe are rising, said MFGlobal in a research note on Wednesday. "Several variables are converging to suggest that it may be time to take some length off the table," the firm said.