A friend and financial adviser to Eddie Obeid and his family, who had no mining background and a $1 company, won a coal exploration licence worth millions of dollars in a controversial tender run by the disgraced former resources minister Ian Macdonald.

Perth-based Mirabela Nickel's share price has continued to slide today after dropping 30 per cent yesterday, which prompted a "please explain" by the Australian Securities Exchange and a one-day trading halt.

India's starving coal industry is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea: between needing state backing for the massive investment of buying overseas mines and infrastructure, and being frustrated by impenetrable government red tape.

Production of Rio Tinto’s prime commodities has slipped in the first three months of 2012, compared to the previous period.

The federal government gives just over $4 billion in direct subsidies to mining companies each year, mainly in the form of cheap fuel and tax breaks for building roads and railways, according to a report by the Australia Institute think tank.

Spending on mining exploration hit a record $1 billion in the three months to December, despite claims the carbon price and mining tax would hurt the industry's growth.

The growing Indian economy and Rio Tinto's underground plans in Western Australia are behind an estimated 36 per cent jump in Australia's diamond and gem mining revenue in the coming year.

OAO Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel, controlled by billionaire Victor Rashnikov, had some of its Australian assets including a stake in Fortescue Metals Group, frozen under a court order sought by Eurasian Natural Resources Corp.

White Energy shares were pushed to new lows on Monday as it disclosed the rupture of negotiations with its Indonesian joint partner, exposing it to a $100 million loss on an ill-fated coal upgrade venture, with the partner demanding White buy out its equity in the venture.

Newcrest Mining has reported lower gold production in the September quarter but says it still expects to meet production and cost guidance. Australia?s largest gold miner produced 587,296 ounces of gold, 16 per cent lower than the previous quarter. Tha...

There has been further confirmation in the past few days that when looking at resource commodities, coking coal is the place to be to protect against the softness being experienced by the rest due to euro debt concerns.

Pilbara iron ore exporter Atlas Iron will switch to monthly pricing when several of its long-term supply contracts reach completion in the next nine months. Iron ore contracts have been moving towards spot market prices since BHP Billiton shifted from yearly to quarterly pricing early last year.