Indonesia’s huge reserves of thermal coal — used for power plants — are being aggressively targeted by energy-hungry China and India. The demand, combined with high commodities prices, is driving a resources boom in remote Indonesian provinces, and creating billions of dollars in personal wealth.

July 21 (Reuters) - Grande Cache Coal Corp: * Receives regulatory approval for New No. 12 South B2 underground operation and provides operational update * Says sold 0.39 million tonnes of coal during the three months ended June 30, 2011 * Says expects

South African coal miners started wage talks with unions and a mediator on Wednesday in a bid to prevent stoppages that could threaten supply to power plants and limit exports, while a fuel sector strike threatening the economy entered its tenth day. Africa's largest economy relies on coal for almost all its power, but state-owned utility Eskom has said it has enough coal in stock to last 41 days, so a strike would have to be lengthy to affect its operations.

Pregnant women who are exposed to coal smoke and pesticides are up to four times more likely to have babies with serious birth defects than women not exposed to these chemicals, a Chinese study has found.

Shares of Walter Energy Inc. rose Monday after a Citi analyst began coverage of the coal company by assigning it a "Buy" rating, leading a rally among several coal stocks.

July 18 (Reuters) - Magma Metals Ltd: * Provides an update on the griffins find gold project * Says lodged exploration licence applications over gneiss belt to north and south of the griffins find gold project * Results from final 6 holes included 8m @

Nexen Inc: * CEO says company welcomes long lake partner opti's recapitalization * CEO says Opti bondholders have good understanding of oil sands project * CEO says Opti restructuring adds assurance company can fund share of project

Reuters) - Opti Canada Inc , whose major asset is a stake in Nexen Inc's troubled Long Lake oil sands project in northern Alberta, filed for court protection from creditors on Wednesday as it agreed on a equity-for-debt swap with bondholders. Opti said

Precious metals company North American Palladium Ltd expects underground production at its Vezza gold project in the Abitibi region of Quebec to begin early next year.

July 12 (Reuters) - Alpha Natural Resources Inc: * Miner suffers fatal injuries at Kentucky coal mine * Says preliminary review indicates that Mr. Thatcher was fatally injured * Ryan Thatcher, a motorman at voyager #7 mine, was hauling supplies at the

Option traders are stepping into the bullish options on South African gold company Gold Fields Ltd, the world's fourth-largest listed gold producer.

China's gold output in the first five months of 2011 totalled 132.02 tonnes, up 3.67 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on its website on Tuesday.