Silver fell sharply early in thin Asian trading on Monday, retreating further from a record high set last week. It fell about 10 percent to $43.36 , well off a peak of $49.51 set last Thursday. Trading is expected to be very thin with many markets in Asia shut for public holidays.

No word yet from China's Jinchuan Group as to whether the company is officially in the market for Canada's Lundin Mining. Canadian media reports claim a consortium headed by Jinchuan, which includes sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp., was planning a takeover bid for the Canadian base metals miner.

Copper output in Zambia, Africa's top producer of the metal, will rise to 2 million tonnes by 2015 from around 900,000 tonnes this year as new mines open and others are expanded, the country's finance minister said on Saturday.

Auryx reports the Namibian Minister of Mines and Energy clarified the limits of a declaration to label certain minerals strategic and to be awarded to state mining company. Auryx Gold (TSX: AYX) regained lost territory as its shareprice climbed over six

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (CLF.N:Quote) reported more than a five-fold increase in first-quarter profit as demand and prices for its iron ore and steel-making coal soared.Net earnings were $423 million, or $3.11 per share, compared with $77 million, or 57 cents per share in the quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose 63 percent to $1.2 billion, the Cleveland-based company said on Thursday.

Johannesburg- and Australia-listed Gold One on Thursday announced a USD 250m friendly bid for 100% of Rand Uranium, formed in 2008 by the spin out from Harmony Gold of three Cooke underground mines and the Cooke surface operation, veteran assets west of Johannesburg. In line with other uranium resources on the Witwatersrand, gold is also mixed in with the uranium ores, dumps and tailings.

Agnico-Eagle reported gold production increased from 188,232 ounces to 252,363 ounces for the first quarter this year, despite the March fire that burned down the kitchen at the Meadowbank mine last month.

Greg Hall, managing director of Toro Energy Ltd (ASX: TOE), said the main nuclear power countries are continuing their new build programmes for nuclear power while adapting to lessons learned from the incident. The uranium spot price dropped significantly after the incident but had, by the end of the March quarter, returned to the December 2010 average of $US62.50 per lb of U308.

Silver jumped 6 percent Thursday on the back of dollar weakness after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's dovish remarks Wednesday, but some analysts doubt the price can hit and stay above the $50 mark. Silver prices rebounded Wednesday before Bernanke's news conference, following a 10.5 percent crash in Tuesday trading, but analysts were not convinced the rally would carry the metal much higher.

Namdeb Diamond Corp said on Thursday that it had moved back into profit as the global recovery stoked demand for its luxury product and it was cautiously optimistic about the market picking up further. Namdeb, Namibia's main diamond producer, is a 50-50 joint venture between De Beers, which is 45 percent owned by mining group Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote), and the country's government.

Russia's top steelmaker Severstal (CHMF.MM: Quote) said on Thursday its crude steel output rose to 3.65 million tonnes in the first quarter 2011, up 5 percent from the same period last year. However, production was down 5 percent compared with the last quarter 2010, when output reached 3.84 million tonnes.

U.S. silver futures rallied as much as 6 percent and gold reached a record high on Thursday, underpinned by a weakened dollar after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled no rush to reverse its accommodative monetary policy.