An $8.5 billion joint venture between Adriana Resources and Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. would create the largest iron ore mine in Canada, capable of producing 50 million tonnes of iron ore over 100 years. Nunatsiaq Online reports on a preliminary economic assessment of the project released this week:

Bloomberg reports: Cia. Minera Milpo SA, a Peruvian zinc and lead miner, won the bidding for a copper and molybdenum deposit stripped from Inca Pacific Resources Inc. (IPR) last year and will invest $400 million in the project, the government said. Lima-based Milpo will start up the Magistral deposit in the northern Andes in 2015, state investment promotion agency Proinversion said today in an e-mailed statement. Peru canceled Vancouver-based Inca Pacific’s concession in October, alleging the company failed to meet investment commitments.

NovaGold Resources released a prefeasibility study today on its 100%-owned Ambler project in northwest Alaska. The Vancouver-based company is exploring the sprawling 36,670-hectare property, which is host to a number of high-grade copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver deposits. According to the PEA, commissioned by SRK Consulting, the property contains 16.8 million tonnes of indicated resources, with 4.1% copper and 6.0% zinc. The inferred category contains 12.1 million tonnes of 3.5% copper and 4.9% zinc.

A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of the Big Daddy chromite deposit in northern Ontario is recommending that the project advance to the feasibility stage. The PEA was commissioned by Montreal-based KWG Resources, which owns a 28% interest and a 1% net smelter royalty (NSR) in the deposit, located in the remote James Bay lowlands of northern Ontario. The company also has NSRs on the adjacent Black Thor and Black Label chromite deposits, and has the option to increase its interest in Big Daddy to 30%.

A coal project in northeastern B.C. that is being developed by a Chinese consortium could produce up to 2 million tonnes of met coal annually for the next 30 years, the Globe and Mail reports: A Chinese group is making a $1-billion bet on coal in British Columbia to secure a key raw material for its steel making industry, the latest in a series of moves this year by international companies to stake a claim on Canadian resources.

Vancouver-based Mercator Minerals has acquired Creston Moly Corp. in a stock and cash deal amounting to C$195 million, Mercator announced Tuesday in a press release. Under the arrangement, Creston shareholders will receive 0.15 of a Mercator common share and $0.08 in cash, for each common share of Creston — representing a respective 43% and 40% premium on the companies' share prices as of market close on Friday.

The Peruvian government has cancelled a billion-dollar copper mining project near Arequipa, Peru, after clashes between police and protesters left three dead […]

Matrix Design Group, a subsidiary of Alliance Resource Partners, has announced that the Matrix WAMS-S1000 Permissible Wireless Carbon Monoxide (CO) Monitoring Sensor has been listed by Intertek, a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL).

Rebuild of a machine or a powertrain is an option that many Cat dealers worldwide have been offering for years under the Cat Certified Rebuild (CCR) and the Cat Certified Powertrain (CPT) programs. Following the same idea of rebuild, Cat’s UK dealer Finning recently carried out a hydraulic system overhaul for customer Westminster Dredging. This was the first rebuild under the new Cat Certified Hydraulic Rebuild (CHR) program in Europe. Read more

Azure Minerals, a Mexico-focused precious and base metals explorer, said today it has entered into an agreement to form a joint venture with a Japanese state-owned corporation to explore the El Tecolote Project in Sonora, Mexico. According to the press release, Japan, Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), a Japanese state-owned entity, will spend $US5 million over three years, in order to earn a 51% interest in El Tecolote. The company can earn another 19% stake by spending a further $8 million, which would take its total equity in the project to 70%.

IDEX Online reports on the sudden death of diamond industry icon Freddy Hager: London Diamond Bourse President Freddy Hager collapsed this morning (Thursday) at […]

Oregon Resources Corporation, the U.S. subsidiary of Australia-based Industrial Minerals Corp., is getting ready to mine chromite, zircon, garnet and high-iron ilmenite from its mineral sands operation at Coos Bay, Oregon. The mine would produce the first saleable chromite in the United States, for use in the foundry industry. Dan Smith, the company’s chief operating officer, tells MINING.com about the project.