A Conference Board of Canada report says high energy and metals prices "are prompting resource companies to invest billions in iron ore projects, nickel processing and offshore oil developments" in Newfoundland and Labrador, generating the largest growth in real GDP this year of all the Canadian provinces." The board's Provincial Outlook - Spring 2011 report issued Wednesday also forecasts that Saskatchewan "will benefit from tax breaks and a hot mining industry."

Executives of Massey Energy Co (MEE.N) believed President Barack Obama had a secret agenda to bring down the coal company after 29 men were killed in an accident at one of its mines last year, a lawsuit shows. The charge came in a class action suit by investors who seek to block Massey's pending $7 billion takeover by Alpha Natural Resources Inc (ANR.N) as they press their claims for about $1 billion in losses from alleged Massey mismanagement.

Australia's Fortescue Metals said on Thursday that due to weak credit market conditions it had dropped plans to proceed with a previously announced $1 billion unsecured term loan facility. The loan was launched in the United States on Monday by JP Morgan , according to Loan Pricing Corp, a Reuters news service. It was syndicated in the range of 375-400 basis point over London Interbank Offered Rates (Libor), it said.

Green Century Capital Management filed a shareholder resolution with ExxonMobil to disclose information about its investments in Canadian oil sands, Triple Pundit reported on Thursday. By the end of last year, ExxonMobil’s total proved reserves in the oil sands were over 2.78bn barrels — just over 11% of the company’s total proved reserves, according to a press release by Green Century. Canada’s oil sands which is expected to become the primary source of crude to the US have attracted intense scrutiny in recent days as the US Congress heard submissions about the extension of the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to Texas.

The secretive Russian diamond giant Alrosa on Thursday provided a rare glimpse into its finances and operations ahead of a possible public offering. The state-owned company supplies about a quarter of the world’s diamonds and in 2010 produced more of the precious stones than De Beers, historically the dominant miner and marketer of the gems. Alrosa's president Fyodor Andreyev said an internal audit showed its diamond reserves at 1.28bn carats, making the company the world's biggest holder: “At current extraction rates, the company's reserves will last more than 40 years.”

In keeping with its massive expansion plans, the Maharatna firm Coal India (CIL) will induct 1,100 management trainees by October, Steel Guru reports.

The new faces will be inducted into the parent firm and its subsidiaries in various disciplines mining, electrical, mechanical, civil and chemical/mineral. The recruitment of the white-collars is necessitated as the world's top coal producer plans huge expansions, including setting up of 20 new washeries with a combined capacity of 111.1 million tonnes at an estimated cost of INR 2,500 crore.

Lundin Mining has abandoned its plans to sell, saying the bids did not fully value the company, according to a story reported in Bloomberg News. The decision also means CEO Phil Wright will resign; senior vice president of corporate development Paul Conibear will serve as interim CEO. The bids “did not adequately value the company or its assets,” Lundin said in a statement. “The best way to create shareholder value is to continue to manage and develop the company’s quality assets and to actively seek growth opportunities.”

The Green Party of New Zealand is taking aim at coal with new legislation that would make coal miners bear the brunt of their emissions. According to the Otago Daily Times: The Climate Change Response (Low Carbon Economic Development) Amendment Bill would amend the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to ensure all new activities and industries that use lignite, are fully liable for the costs of the greenhouse gas emissions they emit. "Large scale lignite mining in Southland could see New Zealand's carbon emissions increase by as much as 10 million tonnes a year, when we already need to decrease them by more than 20 million tonnes a year," said the architect of the bill, Green MP Gareth Hughes.

Commissioning and start-up of Canada’s first gearless mill drive (GMD) system has been completed at Osisko Mining Corp’s Malarctic project and will increase production capacity at the mine. The system was commissioned by ABB, a leading power and automation technology group. Image of the Malarctic mine by Osisko Mining