Posts by Mineweb:

Tornadoes, carbon monoxide take toll on Cliffs’ 2011 coal production

Cliffs Natural Resources announced Thursday it will reduce its outlook from 6.5 million tons of coal this year to 5.1 million tons, citing severe weather damage at its Oak Grove mine in Alabama and carbon monoxide hazards in its Pinnacle mine in West Virginia. The company also said its newly acquired Bloom Lake operation will yield 4.8 million tons of iron ore concentrate this year.

Peru suspends mining concessions in several provinces

Peru's President Alan Garcia Perez and the Ministry of Energy and Mines have suspended mining concessions in several of the nation's provinces for the next 12 months. The President of the Council of Ministers Rosario Fernandez Figueroa said a multi-sectoral commission has been appointed to study and propose reforms regarding mining concessions.

Australia’s proposed carbon tax could raise sovereign risk, ruin coal industry – miners

Mining giants warned Australia on Wednesday that its planned carbon-reduction scheme could cost the industry as much as $25 billion through 2020, cut coal production by a third and send investment in that sector tumbling 13 percent. "Australia is walking the plank," Seamus French, who runs the coal division of miner Anglo-American Plc , told a conference, a day after the Australian government's climate-change adviser suggested how carbon emissions should be taxed.

China setting the pace for iron ore

The world's biggest consumer of steel is ready to raise the stakes. Steel demand in China is expected to rise by around 25% by the year 2015, to a huge 750 million metric tonnes. To ensure an adequate supply position, China is set to create three iron ore mining groups, with an output capacity of 100 million tonnes each. Six other groups with a capacity of 30 million tonnes are to be cobbled together to ensure steady supplies. Iron ore is the principal raw material used to make steel.

Silver turnover on COMEX has tripled this year against 2010

Silver's high fix, when it was way overbought, was $48.70 on April 28th.  Gold held up briefly as silver toppled over, but as the commodities sector as a whole got caught up in the onslaught, gold in particular, was sold in order to raise cash against margin calls.