The rout in industrial metals has claimed another victim: iron ore. On the same day that copper tumbled nearly 7% for its biggest slide in a month, Bloomberg reports that iron ore's largest decline in 15 months is showing no signs of recovery, according to analysts:

Brian Mason, the leader of the Alberta NDP party, is criticizing Premier-elect Alison Redford for failing to prevent 200 oilsands workers for losing their jobs to temporary foreign workers. According to a report in The Vancouver Sun, the workers, unionized insulators at Suncor's Firebag operation, were replaced by temporary foreign workers who are being paid less:

The markets hammered copper on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book survey that economic prospects in the United States appear to be dimming. The red metal — widely considered a barometer of future economic growth, slipped 4% on Wednesday — the biggest one-day plunge in three weeks as investors fled equity markets. The North American indexes were a sea of red, with the S&P 500 index down over 1% and the TSX Composite off 1.69%.

Rio Tinto said it expects its Simandou iron ore project in Guinea to begin producing by mid-2015. The company has approved $211 million in continuing studies and $1.12 billion to purchase equipment and fund early earthworks. The Australian reports Rio saying the $9.8-billion project is gaining momentum with construction works well underway: Work has started on the marine offload facility near the preferred port site of Ile Kabak, 50km southeast of the capital Conakry, which enables the introduction of heavy equipment for construction.

Rio Tinto (LON:RIO ) is expanding its presence in Canada with an all-cash offer to acquire Hathor Exploration (TSE:HAT), which owns the Roughrider uranium deposit in Saskatchewan. The global mining giant announced today a $4.15 per share, all-cash bid for Hathor valued at $578 million. The bid is 11% higher than Cameco's $3.75 per share hostile bid for Hathor announced last month. It is the first bid for a Canadian company that Rio has made since acquiring Alcan in 2007. "The superior Rio Tinto offer provided fair value to Hathor shareholders over Cameco's current hostile, unsolicited takeover over," said Hathor chief executive officer Dr. Michael H. Gunning.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (TSE:AEM) had suspended mining and gold production at its Goldex mine in Val d'Or, Quebec, due to unstable ground and water inflow. "A weak volcanic rock unit in the hanging wall of the Goldex deposit has failed. This rock failure is thought to extend between the top of the deposit and surface. As a result, this structure has allowed ground water to flow into the mine. This water flow has likely contributed to further weakening and movement of the rock mass," Agnico-Eagle said in a statement. As a result of the problem, Agnico said it will write off its investment in Goldex, resulting in a $260 million charge in the third quarter results. The news caused the Toronto-based company's shares to plummet around 19% near the close of trading on Wednesday.

BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) had a record quarter for iron ore production, the company announced today, with shipments from Western Australia reaching 173 million tonnes, a 28% increase over the same period last year. Quarterly production records were also achieved at New South Wales Energy Coal and Illawarra Coal in both Australia, Cerrejon Coal in Colombia, and the Alumar refinery in Brazil.

Eric Reguly, writing in Saturday's Globe and Mail, shines a light of hope on those who have seen the value of their portfolios shredded in the last six months by falling energy stocks.

Mining M&A is heating up with more takeover rumours, says The Australian, quoting a report from UK-based newspaper The Sunday Times. The Times reported that BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), the world's largest miner, is close to launching a $1.3 billion bid for Ferrous Resources, a Brazilian iron ore producer controlled by a number of international hedge funds including Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital. According to The Australian, Ferrous is valued at some $3.9 billion, with the company "needing to spend about $5bn developing its Viga mine in Minas Gerais state in Brazil, which would include a 400km slurry pipe to carry the ore to its own port at Presidente Kennedy in nearby Espirito Santo state."

BHP Billiton has convinced the New South Wales state government to carve out a piece of a proposed national park to be used for coal mining. Sydney Morning Herald reported that "the Minister for the Environment, Robyn Parker, confirmed a finger of the proposed national park reaching to the Georges River will be left to the company for longwall mining. Another swatch of land in the centre of the park will also be mined under the compromise, but there would be no undermining of the national park."

More labour unrest is brewing at South African mines. Reuters reports that workers poised to strike at 16:00 GMT today at Xstrata's operations across the country. The strike is over an employee share ownership program, Reuters said, quoting a union spokesman. More workers are expected to down tools at the start of the Monday morning shift.

A former BC Premier was among those who witnessed a shocking and unusual protest earlier this week at a gathering of Canadian and European energy leaders. Gordon Campbell, who was recently named Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, was making his first official appearance in his new role when a man and woman suddenly stripped down to their undergarments and jumped onto the conference table. The Vancouver Sun describes what happened next: British poet Peter Bearder a.k.a Pete the Temp, clad in Union Jack boxers, and British/Australian UK Tar Sands Network campaigner Emily Coats, in white Maple-Leaf underwear, dumped molasses on themselves and then jumped onto a table in the gilded conference room to kiss and fondle each other for roughly a minute.