Australian coal mines owned by BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd (TYO:8058) in the Bowen Basin area voted to resume their strike, momentarily stopped this morning, right after Easter.

While speculation about the Supreme Court's upcoming ruling on the Affordable Care Act has been getting all the attention, there is a little known provision in the law that reinstates an old protection, an expansion of benefits for victims of black lung.

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 3, 2012) - Lake Shore Gold Corp. (TSX:LSG)(NYSE Amex:LSG) Lake Shore Gold Corp. ("Lake Shore Gold" or the "Company") today held a brief press conference to respond to enquiries from the media, and Dan Gagnon, Senior Vice-President of Operations, issued the following statement:

Ecometals Limited (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:EC)(BERLIN:GDQ)(FRANKFURT:GDQ) - The Company is pleased to announce that it has received the Environmental License from the Ministry of the Environment for advanced exploration for its Rio Zarza project in Zamora, Ecuador. The Environmental License encompasses the Rio Zarza and Valle del Inca I licenses and authorizes advanced exploration activities as per the Company's Environmental Impact Study which includes, but is not limited to, diamond drilling.

The relocation of the mining giant's sales and marketing arm's headquarters to the Botswana capital could lead to around $6 billion flowing though the country’s banking system, compared to the $2 billion or so the country earns from rough sales at the moment.

"We thank shareholders for their support during this unnecessary proxy contest, which has been challenging, costly and disruptive for Baja," said John Greenslade, President and CEO of Baja. "We also caution that strong shareholder support may again be needed at the upcoming Annual General Meeting."

President Ollanta Humala’s administration wants the the South American nation's highest court to throw out an ordinance by the region of Cajamarca banning work on the $4.8 billion copper-gold project.

Contract gold dropped almost $40 an ounce in a matter of minutes in lunchtime trade after comments from the US Federal Reserve that seemed to preclude any chance of another round of monetary easing.

Mexican silver miner, First Majestic, announced a friendly acquisition of Silvermex Resources for Can$175 million.