Around half of Rio Tinto's Rossing Uranium workers are taking part in a strike that is hitting production at its mine in Namibia, the union involved said on Saturday, also countering company claims that some of the mine was still working.

Coal miner Alpha Natural Resources Inc (ANR.N) cut its 2011 shipment forecast, citing reduced demand from the key Asian steel market among other things, sending its shares down 10 percent and dragging down the whole sector. The news came as another major coal producer, Walter Energy (WLT.N) (WLT.TO), lowered its sales forecast for the second half of this year, because of weather and problems at some of its mines. Walter's stock dropped 10.1 percent to $67.42 and Alpha shares were down 12.1 percent at $23.65 on Wednesday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. Arch Coal (ACI.N) shares were down 8.8 percent at $16.44 and Peabody Energy (BTU.N) stock was down 4.6 percent at $40.91.

Gold miner Mwana Africa's Zimbabwe mine output has risen to a monthly average of 4,500 ounces, outstripping its targeted annual production rate, company executives said on Friday

Copper rose on Friday, building on strength gained from the previous session after a funding plan for banks allayed fears over Europe's festering debt crisis, but the region's financial problems were expected to keep weighing on prices.

The board of Norilsk Nickel , the world's largest nickel and palladium producer, approved on Tuesday a public buyback of its shares at $306 per ordinary share and $30.6 per ADR.

Gold slid on Friday, closing its worst week since June, as profit-taking by investors and a spike in the U.S. dollar outweighed the desire for a safer haven. Gold tumbled in early U.S. hours on apparent investor liquidation, but clawed back much of its loss by mid-afternoon as the resignation of European Central Bank policymaker Juergen Stark reignited aversion to riskier assets. But even as US stocks fell nearly 3 percent and other commodities tumbled, gold came under renewed pressure as two weeks of extreme volatility for bullion rattled some confidence in its bull run -- despite the prospect of a second recession.

China's top offshore oil producer CNOOC Ltd said a Canadian court had approved its acquisition of struggling oil sands company Opti Canada Inc.

A consortium of Indian steel and mining firms led by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has bid for four blocks of mines in Afghanistan, SAIL said in a statement on Tuesday, proposing to set up a steel plant in the country.

The world needs at least 100 million tonnes of additional iron ore supply each year for the next eight years to meet demand growth projections in steel making, miner Rio Tinto said on Thursday. At that rate, global iron ore production would almost double over the period, based on industry trade data -- largely covered in the early years at least by expansions underway among the major miners, including Rio Tinto.

US crude futures ended a choppy session slightly lower on Wednesday, slipping late as equities markets pared gains and as government data released earlier showing a big rise in crude oil stocks weighed on prices.

Private equity groups First Reserve Corp and AMCI International have sold A$390 million ($416 million) worth of shares in Australian miner Whitehaven Coal , which failed to find a buyer for the company this year.

Australia's Macarthur Coal has backed a slightly sweetened A$4.9 billion ($5.2 billion) takeover offer from Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal . Peabody and ArcelorMittal raised their offer by 3 percent to A$16 a share and will also add Macarthur's A$0.16 a share dividend, for a total offer value of A$16.16. Macarthur bowed to the higher offer after fending off four takeover attempts over the past three years.