BHP Billiton said on Wednesday that production at its Kwinana nickel refinery in Western Australia had restarted as planned in early June. "In line with our previous guidance, production at Kwinana resumed in early June," a spokesman told Reuters.

The Directors of Proto Resources & Investments Ltd are pleased to announce that the Tasmanian Government has granted Mining Lease ("ML") 1872P/M over the area of the company's Barnes Hill project near Beaconsfield.

FLSmidth has received an order worth approximately EUR 90m from the Moroccan company, OCP Office Chrifien des Phosphates, to supply equipment for a phosphate terminal for the Jorf Lasfar port at the Atlantic coast, some 120 km south of the capital

An announced order for milling equipment for First Quantum's big Sentinel copper project in Zambia suggests a decision to go ahead with the project has already been taken. FLSmidth has received a contract worth approximately USD 50m from Kalumbila

Moly Mines Ltd (MOL.TO: Quote) (MOL.AX: Quote) said it got loans totalling $494 million from China Development Bank Corp(CDB) for the construction of its Spinifex Ridge molybdenum and copper project in Western Australia. The miner said the loans will include a $454 million syndicated loan. CDB will also provide the company with a $40 million working capital loan.

Grupo Mexico and miners at its U.S. copper mining unit Asarco agreed to extend their existing contract for two more years, the Mexican company said in a statement on Tuesday. The contract covers 2,100 workers at Asarco's operations in Arizona and Texas and will now be valid until 2013.

China's first precious metals spot exchange began trading Tuesday in Chengzhou in Hunan Province. The Hunan South Rare Precious Metals Exchange is based in China's silver capital in Yongxing County. Its first four products to be listed are silver, bismuth, indium and tellurium.

Moderately lower base metals, molybdenum, uranium and silver prices more than offset stronger gold, potash and cobalt prices in May, lowering the Scotiabank Commodity Price Index by 2.3% last month. LME copper prices eased from US$4.30 per pound in April to $4.05 per pound in May "and are still exceptionally lucrative at US$4.08 in late June," noted Scotiabank economist Patricia Mohr.

Continuing silver-gold mineralization at a new series of veins bodes well for Endeavour Silver's ongoing plant expansion at its Guanajuato mine in Mexico. VANCOUVER, BC - On news of high grade silver-gold drilling results at its Guanajuato project in

La Mancha Resources reports that a fire partially damaged two electrowinning cells at its Hassaï mine, in Northeast Sudan, over the weekend. Although the site is continuing its normal mining and crushing activities, gold production will be partially impacted over the next few weeks until the two electrowinning cells have been replaced.

Rio Tinto is comfortable with the company's multibillion-dollar project budgets in Australia, where labour, input and services costs were all increasing, Chief Executive Tom Albanese said on Tuesday. "I'm comfortable that our budgets in Australia are being managed appropriately," Albanese said at a business lunch.

East Asia Minerals Corporation (TSXV-EAS) ("East Asia Minerals") is pleased to report on the progress with regards to the proposed distribution by way of dividend-in-kind to eligible East Asia Minerals shareholders of all the shares in