Copper

The Columbus Republic reports opponents of a planned nickel and copper mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are asking a judge to put a state-issued permit for the project on hold ahead of initial blasting expected later this month. Four organizations have asked a judge to issue a stay while considering an appeal of the Department of Environmental Quality's 2007 decision to grant Kennecott Eagle Minerals, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, a permit. Kennecott Eagle is targeting an underground ore deposit that would be the only US mine where nickel is the primary mineral generated instead of a byproduct. The mine could yield up to 300 million pounds of nickel and about 200 million pounds of copper.

Shares of Sunridge Gold rose a brisk 7% in Thursday morning trade after the junior explorer gave an update on drilling at its zinc-gold-copper deposit in the Horn of Africa only to end the day down 2.8%. Near triple the usual number of shares changed hands on the Toronto venture exchange. Investors in the the Vancouver-based company, which apart from its flagship Asmara project in Eritrea also has assets in another paragon of political instability, Madagascar, have enjoyed a wild ride over the more than ten years the company has been listed – an unlucky few snapped up shares in the company at $6.40 in 2003 and those who saw value in the company at $1.30 at the start of 2011 would have lost almost half that investment.

Delayed for several years owing to the discovery of historical artefacts at the project site, Metallurgical Corporation of China expects to start production at its Aynak copper mine by the end of 2014 Metallurgical Corp of China Ltd (MCC) , China's major

Papua New Guinea’s new prime minister Peter O'Neill and the country's Investment Promotion Authority have moved to quell concern about proposed changes governing ownership of resources in the country saying it needs further discussion and acknowledging genealogical problems. Among sweeping changes promised for the impoverished country, PNG's new mining minister introduced a plan to hand state ownership of mineral and energy resources to customary landowners forcing mining companies to renegotiate permits and contracts. Last week O'Neill guaranteed the support of 80% of MPs he needs to preserve his majority ahead of 2012 elections by expanding his cabinet by a third.

Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS)(AIM:NUS) is to raise approximately US$100 million (C$98.1 million*) through a private placement of common shares to fund the development of its first project, Solwara 1, in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea. The placing will involve the issue of approximately 39 million shares to a number of investors at a price of CAD$2.52 (US$2.58) per share. Nautilus President and CEO Steve Rogers said the private placement would provide funds for the construction of the seafloor resource production system, which initially will be deployed at Solwara 1 – the company's first deepwater copper and gold project.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 31, 2011) - BCGold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BCG)(PINK SHEETS:BCGOF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed the first tranche of its private placement previously announced on July 11, 2011. The Company has raised $1,472,440 through the issuance of 2,660,000 of non-flow through units (the "NFT Units") at a price of $0.10 per NFT Unit and 10,053,663 flow through units (the "FT Units") at a price of $0.12 per FT Unit.

SYDNEY, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Vice President of Litigation BHP Billiton, Mr Damian Lovellhas today welcomed the introduction of the new ACICA Arbitration Rules designed to speed up the resolution of cross border and international commercial disputes. Mr Lovell, who is responsible for the dispute resolution strategy for the world's largest diversified mining company, said it is standard practice for BHP Billiton to include arbitration clauses in its cross border contracts:

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 31, 2011) - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU)(NYSE Amex:NSU) is pleased to report the assays from the forty-three diamond drill holes at the hanging wall copper zone within its Bisha mining license in Eritrea. The hanging wall copper zone is immediately west of the Bisha Main deposit and partially within the current open pit limit but it is not included in the current resource or reserve estimate for Bisha.

Strike action involving 4000 BHP employees has nothing to do with money, a union boss says. Workers employed at seven BHP mines in Queensland will walk off the job this week after enterprise bargaining negotiations stalled.