It is a sad but indisputable fact that in today's mining industry there are countries that still allow labour practices that belong in Dickensian England rather than a modern economy.

Vancouver-based Barkerville Gold Mines (CVE:BGM) has received approval to build an open-pit gold mine at its Bonanza Ledge property in northern B.C. The stock was changing hands at 97 cents on Tuesday, up 8% on more than double average volumes.

Quadra FNX Mining (TSE:QUX) is up a whopping 39% today on news of a multi-billion-dollar takeout bid. The Canadian base metals producer with offices in Toronto and Vancouver said it has agreed to have all its outstanding shares and warrants acquired by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. (KGHM) for $3.5 billion. Quadra FNX has operating mines in Ontario, Arizona, Nevada and Chile, where the company is also developing the Sierra Gorda copper-molybdenum mine. The project is a joint venture between Quadra FNX and Japanese metals producer Sumitomo Mining.

A new open-pit copper-gold mine in Canada's Yukon Territory would be powered with natural gas. Releasing an update today on its Casino project, Western Copper and Gold Corp. (TSE:WRN) says the company has partnered with Yukon Energy Corp., the territory's energy utility, to evaluate strategies for supplying liquified natural gas (LNG) to the mine and the Yukon.

Ecuador is not a top-of-mind country when it comes to mining, but that could change as the government signals a shift in direction towards the minerals sector, the Globe and Mail is reporting. The Globe reports that the leftist government of Rafael Correa plans to invest $3 billion in the next two and a half years in order to reduce the country's dependence on oil exports.

As workers in South America and Indonesia strike for better wages and to receive more of a share of mineral wealth wrought by rising copper prices, a mine in South Africa is handing over cash to its employees. The Financial Post reports on Kumba Iron Ore's employee share ownership scheme, whereby workers who have been at the mine more than five years can earn a lump sum of 345,000 rand (about US$43,000).

The environmental impacts of what would be the Northwest Territories' fourth diamond mine are being studied in Yellowknife, the capital.

Kalahari Minerals (LON:KAH) and Extract Resources (ASX:EXT) were both up slightly today after the companies announced they have received a mining licence for their Husab uranium project in Namibia. London-listed Kalahari has a 42.7% stake in Extract. Kalahari said in a press release that the mine lease, valid for 25 years, will allow the project to move into production and establish Husab as one of the three largest uranium mines in the world. The company states the mine would produce 15 million pounds of U3O8 per year through open-pit mining. The deposit has a resource estimate of 500 million pounds U3O8.

Remember those pictures and videos of cars and trucks bobbing down a surging river in Brisbane? It could happen again. Business Standard reports that severe weather could be on its way to Queensland towards the end of the year: La Niña —a weather phenomenon characterised by unusually cool sea surface temperatures, leading to heavy rains in the Pacific region such as the Queensland floods — has re-emerged but is expected to weaker than last year, metrological agencies have said, adding that the La Niña could strengthen in intensity moving into 2012.

North American stock exchanges are on a tear today after central banks made more funds available to lenders, giving investors hope for a way out of the European debt debacle. The markets were also cheered by better than expected private sector job growth in the United States. The mining-heavy S&P/TSX Composite was up 2.5% to just over 12,000 at time of writing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 384 points, or 3.3%, the most on a closing basis since Aug. 11, according to Bloomberg. Spot gold was up $32 from yesterday to $1747 which is just above the 20-day moving average of $1744, noted Kitco. Silver was up marginally to $32.86 from yesterday's $31.92, while benchmark copper was up more than 5% to a two-week high of $7,885/tonne. Zinc, lead, aluminum and nickel were also up from Tuesday.

Output of copper cathodes and copper concentrates are beginning to be affected by a work stoppage that began Monday at the giant Collahuasi copper mine in Chile. Reuters reports that the mine, jointly owned by Xstrata and Anglo American, has implemented a contingency plan to deal with the labour action, which about 10% of workers are participating in: Some workers in Collahuasi, which produces about 3 percent of the world's copper, downed tools on Monday over fears of coming layoffs. The company later on Monday announced it had laid off a "limited" number of workers in response to a partial one-day strike in October, a move that could stoke tensions between management and the union.

Saskatchewan's first potash mine in 40 years was approved today in the small city of Moose Jaw. German potash producer K+S Aktiengesellschaft said its supervisory board approved CAD$3.25 billion in capital expenditures to build a solution potash mine at the Legacy property, which K+S acquired from Potash One when it bought the company for $434 million nearly one year ago to the date. "The Legacy Project is a significant step towards the expansion of our potash capacities and enables us to participate in the growth of the global potash market. Together with our existing potash mines in Germany, this will considerably strengthen the international competitiveness of K+S and consequently benefit the entire K+S Group in Europe and overseas,” said Norbert Steiner, K+S Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors.