As Comex gold hit a fresh record high, Societe Generale commodities skeptic Dylan Grice - of the ‘long-term return on commodities is zero' fame - wrote a stirring paean to gold in his latest research report. Marked by his characteristic erudition, with references to gold's use as a hedge in the world of antiquity, Grice's report is worth reading and thinking about.

Brazilian mining company Vale has pushed out Chief Executive Roger Agnelli under heavy government pressure and is in discussions to replace him with an executive from within, local media reported on Sunday. President Dilma Rousseff has used the government's influence as a key Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote) shareholder to insist the company remove Agnelli following years of accusations it was not doing enough to bolster Brazil's economic development.

Congo authorities seized 435 kilos (957 pounds) of gold and $6.5 million in cash in smashing a plot to smuggle the haul abroad from the country's anarchic east, officials said on Saturday. The Democratic Republic of Congo's state prosecutor said five people including an American and two French citizens, as well as an impounded, U.S.-registered Gulfstream jet, had been released after a $3 million fine was paid.

Western Copper (WRN.TO) has begun engineering studies to determine whether it can modify plans that pushed regulators to reject its request for a water use license at its Carmacks copper project in Canada's Yukon Territory. A recent court ruling in the northwestern territory upheld the Yukon Water Board's decision to reject Western Copper's plans, forcing the exploration company to go back to the drawing board.

Global No. 1 copper producer Chile's Codelco said Friday its 2010 output dipped but should be steady this year, and expects strong Chinese demand, Japan's recovery after a natural disaster, as well as new uses to stoke demand. Codelco said profits surged 47 percent to $5.8 billion in 2010, with a rise in copper prices to record highs more than compensating for a 0.8 percent fall in production from 2009 to 1.688 million tonnes. [ID:nN08136598]

According to RBC Capital Markets, when ArcelorMittal reports mining assets separately, AM Mining could rank as the fifth largest iron ore producer […]

Four miners have been killed in an accident at Vedanta’s Nchanga copper mine in Zambia. They were working on a new section […]

China will increase a tax on rare earths from April 1, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Thursday. The State Administration of Taxation website carried a local media report, saying the resource tax would be raised to 30-60 yuan per tonne, depending on the type of rare earth mineral, a substantial increase from the current level of 0.5-3 yuan per tonne.

Gold producer Newmont Mining Corp's (NMC.TO: Quote) board has approved funding for its estimated 7.2 million ounce Akyem gold reserve project, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Newmont's director for investor relations Monica Brisnehan declined to say how much funding was approved, but pointed to previous numbers released by the company in February which estimated capital expenditure for the project at between $700 million to $1 billion. Image from Newmont's Resettlement Action Plan

Franco-Nevada forecasts revenue this year to be between US$325 million to $350 million this year, using consensus commodity price assumptions of US$1,400 gold, $1,750 platinum, $575 palladium and $80 oil. However, the company warned its expenses will be significantly higher in the first quarter of the year, as transaction costs associated with the acquisition of Gold Wheaton will be expensed under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Canada's Inmet Mining said a letter from the Panama government confirmed that its copper-gold project will not be affected by the recent repeal of a law that allowed foreign government investment in mines within the Central American country. The law is crucial to Inmet, as the company plans to partner with Singapore's state investor Temasek and with Korea Resources Corp to finance and build its $4.3 billion copper-gold project in the country.

In its latest Commodity Companion publication, RBS explains why it prefers aluminium, copper, platinum and palladium to bulk commodities and silver on […]