The Rapaport Group, global manager of diamond data and international group of companies, has given a thumbs up to India, the world's largest importer of diamond roughs. With the country's polished diamond exports rising 6% year-on-year to $2.04 billion in April 2011, the agency has forecast that India will overtake the United States and become the biggest consumer market for diamond jewellery over the next three years.

But just what are critical metals? They are sometimes referred to as "strategic" or "technology" metals, but clear definitions for these terms often prove elusive and routinely depend on to whom you're talking.

China is giving its biggest, state-owned rare earths miner and producer a monopoly for the northern part of the country in reforms aimed at bringing the strategically important resource that's crucial to advanced manufacturing under tighter control.

Alcoa Inc. (AA.N) Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said on Tuesday that no one is happier to see copper prices climbing than he […]

Traditionally, gold tends to take a bit of a breather during the Northern Hemisphere summer. But, there are some, like Sprott Asset Management chief investment strategist, John Embry, who believe this year might be a little different. Speaking to Mineweb.com's Gold Weekly podcast, Embry said, because of what is going on at a big picture level geopolitically, gold is likely to have a big summer.

The full cost of the Fukushima nuclear disaster is yet to be established but its impact on the nuclear sector as a whole may not be as bad as was first thought - even with the loss of Germany as an active participant.

Drilling results suggest to Selwyn Resources (TSX-V: SWN) that two key, high grade zones of zinc-lead mineralization may be connected at its namesake project in the Yukon, a joint-venture between it and Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium. Two drillholes collared at the Don deposit hit thick intercepts rich in zinc-lead mineralization. Hole 180 cut 30 metres @ 9.27 percent zinc and 3.48 percent lead, while nearby hole 192 returned as much as 43 metres @ 8.94 percent Zn and 3.16 percent Pb. The drillholes respectively started 642 and 586 metres downhole.

Shares in China Shenhua Energy fell on Tuesday after it said it had halted construction on mine shafts at two of its […]

Australian plans to put a price on carbon emissions won’t stop the nation’s strong economic growth and will have only a small […]

The mining giant has experienced a loss in market share and is losing its position as dominant iron ore supplier to Brazil […]

Former military leader Ollanta Humala, who 11 years ago tried to overthrow then-President Alberto Fujimori, has officially defeated Fujimori’s daughter Keiko for […]

In a recent National Post article about gold’s rising price versus the languishing prices of gold equities, Mining Reporter Peter Koven quoted […]