Only four to six new producers might emerge outside of China to serve the demand for rare earth metals over the next five to ten years, according to analysts at a rare earth conference in China. The Metal-Pages(TM) Minor Metals and Rare Earth Conference was held in Beijing, China on September 13-17, 2011. The main reason cited for so few mines is the relatively small demand for rare earth metals outside of China. Most of the major electronic manufacturing resides within China.

Subsitution is driving rare earth demand down, according to analyst Dudley Kingsnorth speaking at an industry conference in China. Kingsnorth is executive director of Industrial Minerals Company of Australia. Dudley told the Metal-Pages(TM) Minor Metals and Rare Earth Conference in Beijing last September that he is dropping projected demand of rare earth oxide per annum to 170,000 tonnes from a previous forecast of 195,000. For example manufacturers of rechargeable batteries may start using lithium ion materials instead of a nickel-metal hydrid, which uses the light rare earth lanthanum.

Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI), one of the world's top five coal producers, declined 5.14% on Friday after lowering guidance. Arch Coal expects earnings to be $900 million to $1.0 billion range and adjusted earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $1.00 per share to $1.40 per share. "The reduction in earnings guidance resulted largely from lost metallurgical coal production at the Mountain Laurel complex," said the company in a statement.

Nautilus Minerals (TSE:NUS), a Toronto-based miner seeking to extract minerals from the ocean floor, uploaded some multimedia showing how it will mine the sea floor. The company is exploring for copper, gold, silver and zinc in seafloor massive sulphide (SMS) deposits, equivalent to land-based volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits such as Kidd Creek in Canada. The company's main focus is Solwara 1 Project, located off Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean. The mineralised zone is about 1.3 km long and up to 200 m wide. It has been drilled up to depths of 19 m below the seafloor. Water depth is approximately 1600m.

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.

Minmetal Resources bought Anvil Mining for $1.3 billion, representing a 30% premium over Anvil Mining's average share price. The Anvil Board has unanimously approved the offer. Anvil's key asset is the Kinsevere mine, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Minmetal says its annual copper output will grow by 60,000 tonnes per year, an increase of 60%. The mine is expected to have about a 14 year life.

Canada's mining output grew 2.9% in July, according to Statistics Canada which released its monthly gross domestic product numbers on Friday. The gains in the mining sector were attributable to more productivity after ". . . a period of production difficulties and maintenance work." Oil and gas production was down significantly, actually shrinking the output from the resource sector as a whole.

Copper is crashing, Europe is dithering, China is looking shaky and markets are sliding, but there were three slivers of sunshine from the U.S., data showing that the world's largest economy may be more resilient than first thought.

David Frum, in a debate with Lawrence Martin at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa this September, looked at Pierre Trudeau's legacy. Frum said Trudeau's turn at prime minister was a disaster for Canada. One of his many transgressions was the National Energy Policy.

The effects of climate change will cost Canada about $5 billion per year by 2020 and increase to somewhere between $21 and $43 billion per year in 2035, according to the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. The NRT released its study this week, Paying the Price: the Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada. The study finds that costs will be borne by the timber industry and the coastal regions. Medial costs will also be higher since there will be adverse effects on people's health.

Rio Alto Mining (CVE:RIO) said that an illegal work stoppage at La Arena Gold Oxide Mine forced it to suspend mining operations. The company's stock opened down 6.82% to $2.46. The company, issuing a statement on Thursday, says that it is in discussions with government representatives, community groups and others to resolve the issue.

President Ollanta Humala signed Peru's new mining law on Wednesday, which will raise about $1 billion a year. The money is to be directed to the poorest parts of the country and help build schools and infrastructure. Mining companies will now pay taxes based on their operating profits, ranging from 1% to 12%, rather than old regime where they paid 1% to 3% based on sales. There will also be a windfall profits tax ranging from 2% to 8.4% of a company's net profits.