Oakland Resources (ASX: OKL) has commenced a 700m diamond core programme at Spion Kop Gold Prospect (EL 7412, Boorowa Project) where previously reported significant and anomalous gold mineralisation has been intersected in a number of shallow RC holes. Image from Oakland Resources.

In the northern reaches of Alberta lies a vast reserve of oil that the U.S. views as a pillar of its future energy needs. China, with a growing appetite for oil that may one day surpass that of the U.S., is ready to spend the dollars for a big piece of it.

The World Diamond Council has expressed its regret about the inconclusive end to the Kimberley Process Intersessional Meeting in Kinshasa last week. The main goal of the meeting was to finally resolve the issue of diamond exports from Zimbabwe. This did not happen.

Cameco invests third tranche investment of $5 million for further development of Uranium Equities’ PhosEnergy Process. Demonstration Plant construction completed and undergoing final commissioning for the recovery of uranium as a by-product of phosphate fertiliser production.

Rio Tinto's $US10 billion-plus Simandou iron ore project in Guinea is rapidly pressing ahead, but not like a typical giant development by the Anglo-Australian mining giant. By the end of the year, Rio is expected to have spent close to $US2bn ($1.9bn) on Simandou, including a $US700 million settlement payment to the government, and to begin construction of a project it has committed to produce from in 2015.

Tata Steel and SAIL's equal joint venture, S&T Mining Company, will set up a 1.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) coal washery at Bhelatand, in Jharkhand, through an investment of Rs 200 crore.

Two of the world's richest women are seeking another $136 million by suing Rio Tinto. According to a story in The Daily Telegraph, Gina Reinhart and Angela Bennett, who are heirs to the Hancock and Wright iron ore fortunes, are suing mining giant Rio Tinto over the rights to iron ore beneath as much as 150 square kilometres of the Pilbara iron ore region of Western Australia: The lawsuit in the NSW Supreme Court is seeking an estimated $136 million in past royalties dating back two decades. If successful, the legal bid could also reap the descendants of Hancock and Wright a further $25 million each year in royalties, even assuming the iron ore price halves by 2016.

Newmont (NEM), the U.S. mining group, is under investigation in Jakarta, where antigraft authorities said they are reviewing claims the group may have breached rules on the foreign ownership of mining assets.

Money managers raised bullish bets in COMEX gold futures and options to the highest level since the week of April 24, as bullion climbed to within $20 of its record during the period, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed Friday. Speculators in silver futures and options also upped their net long positions in the week ended June 21, as safe-haven demand for precious metals grew in response to disappointing economic data from the United States and persistent concerns surrounding Europe's debt crisis, according to the latest report from the U.S. regulator.