After talks began last September and no other offers materialized, Canadian zinc miner Breakwater Resources (TSX: BWR) announced early Wednesday that it had accepted Belgium based metals producer Nyrstar NV C$7 per share all-cash offer. Nyrstar will pay around C$619 million for Breakwater; an offer Breakwater CEO David Petroff called "an attractive and fair premium to the current share price," thanks to a 44% premium.

Zambia's finance minister said on Thursday that audits had highlighted tax "issues" with Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), owned by London-listed Vedanta Resources (VED.L:Quote), and Canada's First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO: Quote) in addition to Glencore's (GLEN.L:Quote) subsidiary in the country.

The advanced rare earths explorer Arafura Resources Ltd (ASX: ARU)has welcomed the release by the South Australian Government of guidelines for an Environmental Impact Statement on a rare earths complex at the industrial city of Whyalla. Details on the EIS guidelines were released today by South Australia's Urban Development and Planning Minister John Rau and Mineral Resources Development Minister Koutsantonis.

NGEx Resources (TSX: NGQ) added more than a hundred metres to the western extent of the higher-grade zone of its Los Helados project, a deep copper-gold porphyry about 170 kilometres southwest of Copiapó, Chile. Along a roughly 500-metre-long portion at the western edge of the deposit, three drillholes made significant strides for NGEx, with one cutting a 700-metre long intercept into Los Helados' higher-grade zone.

The western hemisphere's sole rare earth oxides producer, Colorado-based Molycorp, announced Thursday it has now fully funded its US$781 million expansion and modernization project at its flagship Mountain Pass rare earth facility in California. "Full funding of the capital plan of Project Phoenix is a major milestone in Molycorp's overall rare earth ‘mine-to-magnets' business plan," the company said in a news release.

India's Tata Steel on Thursday agreed to sell its 26 percent stake in Australia's Riversdale to Rio Tinto for $1.1 billion, giving the Anglo-Australian giant full control of the coal miner. Tata, the world's No 7 steelmaker, will sell shares in an open offer at A$16.5 each. Riversdale shares closed little changed at A$16.50 in Sydney on Thursday before Tata Steel's announcement.

Japan's Itochu Corp (8001.T: Quote) has teamed up with U.S. Drummond Coal [DRMND.UL] in a $1.5 billion deal under which it will market Colombian coal in Asia. Drummond had been in a protracted search for a partner in its Colombian mines and transport infrastructure, including a new port required by the government there. Itochu will take a 20 percent stake in a new company, Drummond International, with the privately owned U.S. firm holding the rest, the companies said.

After an unrivalled rally, commodity prices are likely to soften during the second half of the year, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. At a seminar in London on Wednesday, commodity strategist Francisco Blanch said commodity prices will come off during the latter part of the year as demand destruction looms on the horizon.

Chinese industrial executives say the world's supply of rare earth minerals will outstrip demand within five years, ending reliance on China's exports. Wang Hongquain, general manager of China Nonferrous Metal Industry's Foreign Engineering and Construction Company (NFC), toldChina Daily more nations with large rare-earth deposits will resume exploration, which will lead to a global reallocation of the minerals.

It's been a long time coming for some of Canada Fluorspar's (TSX-V: CFI) founding investors, but persistence appears to have paid-off. Arkema and Canada Fluorspar announced they signed a definitive agreement worth $84 million to fully fund and give a past-producing fluorspar mine in Newfoundland, Canada, a second life. Since Alcan closed up shop at the Blue Beach-Tarefare fluorspar mine just outside the town of St. Lawrence in 1978, various operators have taken a crack at bringing operations back online to produce acidspar, which is used for a variety of industrial purposes such as in hydrofluoric acid production.

Rising inflation in China and India's tenth interest rate hike since March 2010, is set to take a toll on consumers preference for the yellow metal, according to analysts and traders. ``Gold and silver will surely get pummelled in the near term with signs of a stronger US dollar and yet another rate hike in India. Investors have very little savings these days and prefer not to invest in gold,'' said Manoj Maheswari, bullion analyst at a brokerage firm here.

The U.S. Congress' best known gold bug, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, (also a two-time presidential candidate) apparently really likes Goldcorp stock. Paul's 2010 financial report released Wednesday revealed that-although he sold up to $50,000 in Goldcorp stock last year, he has hung onto a range of $500,001 to $1 million in additional Goldcorp stock.