Lead

Reuters reports that Albania is inviting bids for 151 mining licences this year, with 20 of them to be allocated through weekly competitions.

Reuters reports copper rose to its highest in nearly a week on Thursday to close at $7,225/tonne on the LME up from Wednesday's close of $6,820 as US data hinted at an improvement in the labour market and European policymakers' comments on dealing with Greece's debt crisis calmed nerves. Copper's strong gains comes at a time when some 5,000 merchants are gathering in the British capital for London Metal Exchange week, an annual event during which supply contracts are discussed. On Monday the red metal fell to 14-month low.

Shares in London-listed Antofagasta, the copper giant controlled by Chile’s Luksic family, jumped 7% in afternoon trade on the FTSE, one of the best performers on a good day for miners. CEO Marcelo Awad earlier told Dow Jones Newswires the slump in copper prices in the last few weeks is a market overreaction and it hadn't seen any of its customers cancel or delay shipments. Copper has slumped over 30% since peaking at an all-time high of $10,190/tonne in February and Awad added that European customers of Antofagasta – after Thursday's move upward worth £10 billion again – are nevertheless reluctant to commit to 2012 orders thanks to all the uncertainty in the eurozone. The Luksics could do with a bit of a boost: analysts say Chile's richest family may have lost their way after buying control of Latin America’s largest container shipping company last month.

Reuters reports Zambia has lifted a ban on metal exports just two days after imposing it to sort out revenue collection and increase transparency in Africa's top copper producer, a minerals ministry official said on Thursday. It's good news for the Zambian mining sector – a lengthy suspension could have further pressured mines already dealing with volatile metal prices in recent weeks. Newly elected President Michael Sata has been concerned – analysts say with good reason – about copper exporters misreporting the amount of ore leaving Zambia, and earlier this week suspended export permits, to put new guidelines in place. Cobalt, gold and nickel also fell under the ban and now all export payments need to be routed via the central bank.

Westminster Resources ("Westminster" or "the Company") has now compiled results for the recent 2,000 metre drilling program at the Company's Sonora, Mexico properties.

The strike at Peru's Cerro Verde mine is getting nasty, reports MarkeWatch, with workers aiming to "paralyze the mine." MarketWatch reported Wednesday there are no negotiations underway to end the walkout, which began Sept. 29th over demands for higher wages and safety issues.

Augusta Resource Corp. (TSE:AZC) — the company behind Arizona's latest copper mine — suffered a setback last week in its efforts to develop its Rosemont Copper Project.

The WA Government has urged apprentices to stick with their training after new figures indicating four out of ten drop out. At some major training providers up to half of all apprentices quit in their first year, with many moving on to highly paid but unskilled mining jobs.

Businessweek reports on the day it cleared and matched its first gold trade the London Metal Exchange which handles some 80% of global trade in metals futures, told members on Tuesday that it has receive "many" expressions of interest from potential bidders. The 134-year-old exchange is facing increased competition from other exchanges in Asia and is plagued by a backlog of industrial metals particularly aluminum that’s building at warehouses. LME-monitored warehouses contain 6.7 million metric tons of metal and at some warehouses such as Detroit it can take as long as seven months to withdraw metal. The LME is looking to start trading silver next year.