Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) on Thursday announced that it has acquired a 5.1 percent equity interest in Winsway Coking Coal Holdings Ltd. in a series of purchases of Winsway's shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The move further strengthens the strategic partnership between the two companies.

The cost of gold wedding bands has more than doubled over the past couple of years, and consumers have responded by switching to lower-cost rings made of titanium, cobalt, tungsten and other alternative materials.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that eight mines around the country have received letters putting them on notice that each has a potential pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. The PPOV screening from which these letters resulted represents the second since MSHA established the current criteria and procedures in September 2010. The eight mines that received letters are as follows: (Click on the headline to read the list and rest of story)

Franco-Nevada Corporation (the "Company") (NYSE: FNV) (TSX: FNV) announced today the closing of its previously announced public offering (the "Offering") of 9,200,000 common shares ("Offered Shares"), including the full exercise of the over-allotment option, at a price of C$42.50 per Offered Share for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of C$391,000,000.

TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - AuRico Gold Inc. (TSX:AUQ) (NYSE: AUQ) ("AuRico") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Northgate Minerals Corporation (TSX:NGX) (NYSE-Amex: NXG) ("Northgate"). With the completion of this strategic acquisition, AuRico is now positioned as a new leading intermediate gold producer with five operating mines and Young-Davidson targeting production at the end of Q1 2012. Ocampo and Young-Davidson alone have the potential to produce over 500,000 gold equivalent ounces at lowest quartile cash costs. With a strong balance sheet and a robust and growing cash flow profile, the new company is led by an experienced management team with a proven track record of creating value in the industry.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. JEC +3.06%announced today that it received new contracts in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 from seven clients in the Alberta Oil Sands to support steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) and bitumen upgrading expansion projects. Officials estimate the combined total construction value of the awarded projects at more than $1.4 billion. Project scopes include engineering procurement and construction (EPC), front end engineering and design (FEED), fabrication and construction management (CM) on a variety of mid- and large-cap projects.

Consulting firm PwC in the US announced on Wednesday after a strong first half of 2011, initial public offering (IPO) proceeds in the third quarter of 2011 decreased from $12.3 billion in the second quarter of 2011 to $3.1 billion in the third quarter primarily attributable to high levels of market volatility and continued global macroeconomic challenges.

Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) ("Newmont" or the "Company") today announced enhancements to its industry leading gold price-linked dividend policy, announced initially in April 2011. Under the enhanced policy, Newmont's annual dividend has the potential to increase to $4.70 per share if the Company's average realized gold price reaches $2,500 per ounce. The enhanced policy will continue to link the quarterly dividend rate to changes in the gold price but will also provide an additional step up of 7.5 cents per share when the Company's realized gold price for a quarter exceeds $1,700 per ounce and a further step up of 2.5 cents per share (10 cents in total compared to the existing policy) when the Company's realized gold price for a quarter exceeds $2,000.

Ukraine always has been and always will be a reliable partner for transit of energy to Europe, stated the Ukrainian Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Yuriy Boyko during his meeting with the representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps in Ukraine. "Ukraine has demonstrated its commitment to integration with the European Union in the energy sector by becoming a full member of the Energy Community and carrying out comprehensive work to bring its energy sector in accordance with European requirements," stressed the Ukrainian energy minister.

Western Copper Corporation ("Western Copper" or the "Company") (TSX:WRN; NYSE Amex:WRN) is pleased to announce that further to the Company's News Release dated August 19, 2011, it has mailed a detailed Information Circular (the "Circular") describing the business to be conducted at a special meeting of shareholders to be held October 3, 2011 with respect to the spin-out of certain assets of the Company into two new companies: Copper North Mining Corp. ("Copper North") and NorthIsle Copper and Gold Inc. ("NorthIsle") by plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement").

SYDNEY, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Vice President of Litigation BHP Billiton, Mr Damian Lovellhas today welcomed the introduction of the new ACICA Arbitration Rules designed to speed up the resolution of cross border and international commercial disputes. Mr Lovell, who is responsible for the dispute resolution strategy for the world's largest diversified mining company, said it is standard practice for BHP Billiton to include arbitration clauses in its cross border contracts:

Helio Resource Corp (TSX-V: HRC) is pleased to report the first results from a recently completed RC drill program on the Gold Kop target, at the Damara Gold Project in central Namibia.