As hundreds of anti-oilsands activists gathered for a final day of civil disobedience Saturday at the White House, the sizable crowd erupted in familiar songs of protest.

Unscrupulous stock tout services have been pumping U.S. junior exploration companies by suggesting that Vancouver-based senior gold producer Goldcorp Inc. is about to buy them out at huge premiums to their prevailing market prices. The latest tout service to do this is Stock Castle, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fidelity Ltd., which is said to be located in the British Virgin Islands.

Canadian miner Timmins Gold Corp said drilling at its open pit gold mine in Sonora, Mexico, showed that there were additional mineralized zones at the site.

The chief of a Saskatchewan First Nation located near BHP Billiton Ltd.'s Jansen potash project is calling on the province to consult aboriginal communities in the region about the potential mine.

The federal government is set to announce Thursday a comprehensive environmental monitoring plan for the oilsands that will boost tests on water, air, animals and plants — and seeks to spruce up the international reputation of the massive bitumen resource. According to government sources, the $50-million "integrated oilsands environment monitoring plan" developed by teams of scientists will spur increased scrutiny of everything from acidification in lakes to the health of fish — across provincial and territorial boundaries.