Alpha Natural Resources took a $.73 billion hit in the fourth-quarter, but the US coal producer, the third largest of coking coal in the world, said it has a strategy to counter weak US coal markets by cutting production and concentrating on met coal used in steelmaking.
London-based Vedanta Group (LON:VED) announced Saturday a merger of two of its subsidiaries, Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries, into a new corporate entity to be named Sesa Sterlite.
Hiring more women to work at mines in Hunter Valley, NSW could save companies money because they are easier on the equipment, says a workplace consultant.
Mining and processing rare earths is a tricky business. Processing the materials is costly, and the supply of the 17 elements used in manufacturing everything from smart phones to electric cars and missile guidance systems is pretty much sewn up by China, which has 95% of the production.
Malaysian residents opposed to a rare earths processing facility have launched a legal challenged that threatens to delay the project put forward by Australia's Lynas Corp.
In what is being regarded as the first major African mining play by a Chinese company, China Minmetals succeeded Friday in closing its $1.3 billion bid for copper miner Anvil Mining.
A Canadian mining watchdog created by the Conservative government has yet to mediate a single case despite costing taxpayers $1.1 million over the last two years.
Graham "Skroo" Turner, whose $365 million fortune makes him one of Australia's richest people, is setting up a koala sanctuary in Queensland in a bid to stop a coal mine.
![[Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices]](https://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/copper-cathodes.png)
