Mechel OAO, one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, announced that coal mining at New-Olzherassk Underground mine has been resumed following spontaneous combustion problems. By the year's end, New-Olzherassk's section # 21-1-7 is planned to yield some 352,000 t of coal. The reserves of this longwall face are estimated at some 3 Mt. The face is equipped with mechanised shield supports made by ZF of China and a shearer, a face conveyor and outbye conveyor from Joy Mining Machinery in the UK.

According to a recent mining industry report by Metals Economics Group (MEG), Latin American gold production should increase more than 10% in 2011. The report states that about two-thirds of Latin American production is from primary gold mines and the rest is from secondary sources, mostly copper and silver mines.

CMS Cepcor have purchased and installed a new Spectrotest mobile spectrometer analytical machine to enhance their in-house material testing and quality assurance. The Spectrotest equipment will be primarily used for metal analysis for the precise identification of the chemical composition of alloys, design, quality inspection and auditing their large stock inventory.

GE and Foster Wheeler have announced a portfolio of joint mining infrastructure solutions that can deliver energy, processing systems, water management and waste management.

According to a recent mining industry report by Metals Economics Group (MEG), Latin American gold production should increase more than 10% in 2011. The report states that about two-thirds of Latin American production is from primary gold mines and the rest is from secondary sources, mostly copper and silver mines.

Alexander Mining and Firestone Ventures have announced that Firestone has decided to advance investigating the use of AmmLeach® at its Torlon Hill project in Guatemala. Firestone is in discussions with Alexander on proposals for further bench-scale work, column testing and a demonstration test plant designed to asses further the application of the AmmLeach process.

The rhenium market went through a significant downward correction in 2009 after a period of strong demand growth and an escalation in prices up to the last quarter of 2008. The credit crisis and associated recession, particularly in North America and Europe, severely affected the major markets for rhenium and demand dropped by 16% in 2009.

Murray & Roberts Cementation has begun work on a contract awarded by Sasol Mining to provide a men-and-material shaft and a ventilation shaft as well as a decline and coal seam development on the No 2 and No 4 seams at Sasol Mining's greenfields Impumelelo mine project.

Dumas Contracting and Monnis International have entered into a strategic alliance to jointly undertake underground mining projects in Mongolia. Monnis is based in Mongolia and has leading positions in Mongolian construction, mining, geology, aviation and international freight forwarding.

Triple Point Technology, a leading global provider of software to manage commodities and enterprise risk, has acquired QMASTOR, a premier provider of mining software solutions to manage the tonnage, quality, and value of coal and mineral supply chains from 'pit' to the point of export, import, or consumption. QMASTOR's mining supply chain solutions are used to manage over 1,000 Mt/y of coal and mineral movements.

In an article published on BNWnews.ca focussing on potash industry developments in the wake of continuing high prices and record food demand, Western Potash, with arguably the world’s most advanced ‘independent’ potash project, is highlighted as a company getting a lot of attention from potential state-funded buyers.

With a long-term view toward enhancing support for mining customers, Caterpillar announced plans on Friday to build a mining truck facility in Indonesia and to invest to increase capacity at the company's large mining truck facility and large track-type tractor facility in the USA. The new mining truck facility is planned for Batam, Indonesia. A range of mining truck chassis and bodies will be produced at the new facility and will be shipped to customers throughout Asia\Pacific. The company plans to invest about $150 million in the new facility, which is expected to be operational in 2012 for truck bodies, with the first trucks produced in the third quarter of 2013.