Ecnonobrowser, via Counterparties, looks at the current economic malaise in the U.S. and examines what possible sectors may help lead the economy out of its current slump.

After Donald Trump announced that he was accepting gold as payment for some of his properties, MarketWatch wonders if The Donald has unintentionally called a top

Euroenews reports that two bodies were found by rescuers who are trying to reach trapped miners in an underground coal mine in south Wales. On Thursday morning, water flooded the hillside colliery near Cilybebyll where seven miners were working. Three miners managed to escape while four remained underground. Divers have been trying to reach the workers but debris in the water is making progress difficult.

The Northwest Transmission Line, which will bring power to number of potential mines in British Columbia, will be in service by the end of 2013. Rohan Soulby, Director, Export Transmission Development for Powerex, provided an update on the project during a Thursday luncheon with the Vancouver, BC Branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Soulby said that the line will be able to do 300,000 kW when it comes into service. With further upgrades, he said the ultimate capacity of the transmission line will be north of 400,000 kW.

Anvil Mining (TSE:AVM), a copper miner based in the central Africa, tamped down speculation that it may be acquired for $1 billion. Australian Finance Review reported that it was in serious discussion with a Chinese firm about some sort of business tie up. Last month, Anvil announced that it started a strategic review process and the company had formed a special transaction committee to ". . . review and consider the value maximizing alternatives available to the Corporation. BMO Capital Markets has been retained to assist in this regard," said the company in a statement.

Donald Trump is now accepting payment in gold. A commercial tennant who needed to make a security deposit in one of Trump's New York buildings, 40 Wall Street, paid in three 32 oz. gold bars, equivalent to $176,000. Trump, who flirted with a run for President as the Republican nominee, is a critic of the Obama administration.

China plans to dramatically consolidate the number of mines in its country, according to Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and a study by MCCM. And China also wants its mines to be a lot more productive. Caterpillar released the results of a study in August. In 2004 China had 25,000 operating mines. By the end of 2013 China wants to get that number down to 4,000 mines. A minimum production of 300,000 tonnes per annum will be required for mine approval.

Caterpillar's (NYSE:CAT) spring acquisition of Bucyrus netted the company brand new corporate headquarters for its mining division, Caterpillar Global Mining Headquarters. Last month MINING.com took a tour of the 26-acre corporate campus, located just south of Milwakee in Oak Creek.

Vista Gold (AMEX:VGZ) had no comment on why its share price jumped on Monday. Shares were up from $3.70 on Friday to $4.41 by the end of Monday, a 19% gain. "Vista Gold Corp. ("Vista" or the "Company") (TSX & NYSE Amex Equities: VGZ) announced today that as a result of unusual market activity in the Company's common shares on September 12, 2011, the NYSE Amex contacted the Company in accordance with the NYSE Amex's usual practice and requested that the Company issue a public statement regarding the unusual market activity. The Company states that its policy is not to comment on unusual market activity," said the company in a news release.

Asian and Australian markets were down on Monday. The Shanghai Stock Exchange was down -0.03%; the Nikkei tumbled -2.31% and the Hang Seng Index fell -4.21%. The S&P ASX 200 was also down by -3.72%. Commodities were all down due to worries about the Euro Zone crisis and concern about sluggish worldwide growth. Copper was off -1.8% to US$8,665/ton.

Resource Capital Research, which posted its September Quarter RCR Uranium Sector Review, says that buying opportunities will emerge in the uranium sector in the fourth quarter of 2011 and early 2012. "Despite the ongoing short term market impacts from Fukushima, the long term uranium market fundamentals are considered sound with expected strong and increasing demand for new nuclear power reactors, especially from China, USA, Russia, Ukraine and India," writes the reports authors. Resource Capital Research notes that 84 new nuclear power reactors are expected to be commissioned globally by 2017, and currently almost 500 plants are being considered.

Bloomberg interviewed Richard O'Brien, CEO of Newmont, on Friday who said gold could reach $2,000 in the next six months. O'Brien also said more certainty is needed around taxes and regulations before companies start hiring again. O'Brien said that the financial uncertainty in Europe and U.S.A. will probably drive gold to $2,000. O'Brien was asked about President Obama's $447 billion job plan announced on Thursday and what CEOs need to see before they start hiring again.