North Atlantic Potash Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of JSC Acron, and Rio Tinto today signed a joint venture agreement on potash exploration opportunities and possible mine construction. The agreement relates to North Atlantic Potash''s potash permit holdings located in the southern part of Saskatchewan''s potash district. The joint venture will cover nine permitted areas that cover an area of about 600,000 acres (about 241,000 hectares) that extends from the eastern shore of Last Mountain Lake southeast toBroadview (see map on website: permits KP 375 in the west to KP 403 in the east).

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) today provided an update on its 2011 third quarter production. Due primarily to geological issues impacting the Company's two longwall mines, as well as the early closure of a thermal mine, production in the third quarter is expected to be down approximately 450,000 tons. As previously disclosed, the longwalls at both the Federal and Panther mines were scheduled to be moved during the third quarter. In both cases, the longwall moves extended beyond the expected timeframe. Production at the Federal longwall was down over six weeks during the quarter as a result of geologic challenges that delayed the start of the move, as well as equipment issues impacting the restart process.

VANCOUVER, Sept. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO) (NYSE Amex: TGB) ("Taseko" or the "Company") announces an inferred resource of 159 million tonnes grading 0.43% Nb2O5 at the Company's wholly-owned Aley Niobium Project, approximately 130 km north of Mackenzie, B.C. The resource estimate is based on drill data gathered from Taseko's 2010 drilling program, along with historical drill data. The data formed the basis for the development of a geological model incorporating mine engineering studies.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) today announced David Webb will join the organization as senior vice president, global coal effective July 18, 2011. In this position, Mr. Webb will provide strategic leadership and drive operational performance at the Company's coal operations in North America, including two underground longwall operations and three continuous mining operations. He reports to Duncan Price, executive vice president, president – global operations.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF) announced today that regulatory agencies have denied a submitted remediation plan designed to address detected levels of carbon monoxide at the company's Pinnacle Mine in West Virginia. The plan would have allowed the company to resume underground mining operations at its Pinnacle Mine in West Virginia which were stopped in late May due to the detected levels of carbon monoxide.

Signalling an intention to acquire the Wukakuy silver deposits in Peru, Portage Resources says its due diligence on the properties indicates a reserve estimate of 58 million ounces of silver. The company said Friday that further geological reporting and subsequent estimates have been given by a respected Peruvian geologist and his reviews of the N43-101 and other geological reports have been used to produce a fair estimate of the reserve potential for the Wukakuy properties.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Carroll Technologies Group have signed a distribution agreement for a new wireless, through-the-earth communications system designed specifically to help the mining industry improve post-accident emergency communications. Read more

Applied Instrument Technologies (AIT) announced today that it has opened its new process analyzer manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters, based in Upland, California. Read more

Canwealth Minerals Corporation and partner ICBS Ltd., (OTCPK: ICBT), are pleased to announce the order of a diamond drill for the deep exploration and core sampling of their claims from Minex Corporation. Read more

Rhino Resource Partners is pleased to announce today the acquisition of the Elk Horn Coal Company, LLC ("Elk Horn") for approximately $120 million in cash with no assumption of debt.   Elk Horn is a coal leasing company located in eastern Kentucky with approximately 156,000 acres of owned mineral.  Incorporated in 1915, coal has been mined from its properties for almost 100 years.  Elk Horn will broaden Rhino's sources of income by providing a stream of royalty income without the assumption of additional operating risk.

Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) ("Arch") today announced the pricing of its private offering of $1.0 billion principal amount of its 7.000% senior notes due 2019 and $1.0 billion principal amount of its 7.250% senior notes due 2021 (together, the "Senior Notes"), in each case at an issue price of 100% of the principal amount. Arch will pay interest on each series of the Senior Notes on June 15 and December 15 of each year, beginning on December 15, 2011. Each series of the Senior Notes will be guaranteed by Arch's subsidiaries that guarantee indebtedness under Arch's secured credit facility.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) today announced it has been added to the Fortune 500 list 2011, Fortune Magazine's annual ranking of America's largest companies by revenue. Cliffs is ranked at No. 477, with annual revenues of $4.7 billion for 2010. "We are pleased to attain this ranking in the prestigious Fortune 500," said Joseph A. Carrabba, Cliffs' chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We consider it another significant milestone in our growth."