Australian junior miner Alcyone Resources has poured its first silver bullion from its 100%-owned Texas silver and polymetallic project in Queensland it acquired 18 months ago, after starting in early April this year to re-irrigate the existing silver-rich heaps at the Twin Hills mine. Alcyone says its forecast cash operating cost is around A$15/ounce which provides strong margins with the silver price hovering above A$30/ounce. It expects to start full-scale operations by the September 2011 quarter at an initial annualised rate of 1.5-2.0m ounces. The ASX-listed penny stock is up some 120% so far this year.

A report released this week suggests that US federal regulation of coal combustion residuals, or coal ash, currently being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency would result in as many as 316,000 lost jobs and as much as $110bn in lost economic activity over a 20-year period. Power-generating coal is coming under fire from many quarters including Australia where a proposed carbon tax in 2012 could see coal mining profits fall and lead to thousands of job losses. This despite a new report showing that worldwide coal consumption is at its highest relative to other sources in 40 years.

Lumina Copper and Lumina Royalty announced that they have closed their previously announced arrangement. Under the terms of a statutory plan of arrangement which received shareholder approval on June 7, 2011 (the "Plan of Arrangement"), the shareholders of Lumina Copper (the "Shareholders") each received, as a distribution in respect of a reduction of capital, one common share of Lumina Royalty for each common share of Lumina Copper

EnerVest Energy and Oil Sands Total Return Trust (the "Fund") (TSX:EOS.UN) announces the June 2011 distribution of $0.0417 per unit. The record date for this distribution is June 30, 2011 and the payment date will be July 15, 2011. The ex-distribution date for this payment is June 28, 2011. The Fund is listed on the TSX under the symbol EOS.UN and is an actively managed, diversified closed-end trust investing in developers and miners of the oil sands industry as well as businesses that are indirectly involved with the oil sands industry through the provision of supplies and services.

We will continue to drive shareholder value through operational efficiency as we move into future phases of our oil sands business in Canada.” First oil at LDP was achieved in January 2011 and is expected to ramp up to its rated capacity of 18,800

According to local paper, the Duluth News Tribune, P&H Mining Equipment is to close its main Minnesota Iron Range offices in Mountain Iron, Buhl and Hibbing after construction of a new $16 million, 82,000 ft2 building off US Highway 53 on the town of Virginia’s north side. The building should open next summer and will include office space and a giant service floor and crane for equipment repair and service.

Zambia's finance minister said on Thursday that audits had highlighted tax "issues" with Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), owned by London-listed Vedanta Resources (VED.L:Quote), and Canada's First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO: Quote) in addition to Glencore's (GLEN.L:Quote) subsidiary in the country.

NGEx Resources (TSX: NGQ) added more than a hundred metres to the western extent of the higher-grade zone of its Los Helados project, a deep copper-gold porphyry about 170 kilometres southwest of Copiapó, Chile. Along a roughly 500-metre-long portion at the western edge of the deposit, three drillholes made significant strides for NGEx, with one cutting a 700-metre long intercept into Los Helados' higher-grade zone.

India's Tata Steel on Thursday agreed to sell its 26 percent stake in Australia's Riversdale to Rio Tinto for $1.1 billion, giving the Anglo-Australian giant full control of the coal miner. Tata, the world's No 7 steelmaker, will sell shares in an open offer at A$16.5 each. Riversdale shares closed little changed at A$16.50 in Sydney on Thursday before Tata Steel's announcement.