California-based Casablanca Mining reported first quarter results that consolidated the gains made by the exploration and intellectual property rights company in 2010. Total assets increased to $3.8m and net loss declined to $0.01/share. Construction of Sulfatos Chile Copper Sulfate plant using the company’s patented electrolysis extraction process was continued. Casablanca also said it is in negotiation to acquire further gold mining properties in Chile and has some 43-101 technical reports in progress.

Many investors are calling into question billionaire hedge-fund manager George Soros’s commitment to gold. With higher highs no longer a regular occurrence in the gold market, some see Soros’s dumping of gold ETFs as a clear sign that the party is over. But as trading in the first Asian precious metal futures contract opens on Wednesday, bearish investors may want to take a cue from the millions — maybe billions — of investors in India, China, Vietnam and across the region who are pouring money into gold and are willing to pay a premium.

Caledonia Mining increased gold production by 17% and nearly doubled its profit to $5,248,000 compared to $2,815,000 in the fourth quarter 2010. Announcing its Q1 results on Wednesday, the company also said that its average cash cost per ounce of gold produced decreased by 18% to US$648 compared to the fourth quarter 2010. As of March 31, 2011 the company had net cash and cash equivalents of $1,406,000.

Leanne Bellegarde, lawyer, member of the Kawacatoose First Nation in Saskatchewan, and director of aboriginal strategy for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Ltd., argues that in order to take advantage of the large aboriginal population in Saskatchewan looking for work, mining companies must recognize the needs of their potential employees and engage them in such a way that they develop into suitable workers.

“It would be really easy to say that we have hundreds of jobs, please apply, and walk away,” says Ms. Bellegarde. “It’s another to ask, ‘How many people do you have in your communities . . . and what do we need to work with you to ensure that they will be qualified applicants?’ ... That’s the conversation we get into.”

Preliminary metallurgical test work was conducted on a composite sample of the haematitic saprolite ore from the Nkout Centre area of the deposit. The sample consisted of drill hole intersections from the central part of the deposit and had a head grade of 43.6% Fe. The aim of the test work was to determine the potential to produce a suitable blast furnace feed. The test work was conducted at SGS Mineral Services, Truro, UK.

Billionaire investor George Soros sold most of his holdings in the bullion-backed SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust (IAU) funds in the first quarter and bought shares of mining companies Goldcorp Inc. and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX), a government filing shows. Soros Fund Management LLC held 49,400 shares of SPDR Gold Trust as of March 31, compared with 4.721 million at the end of the fourth quarter, the filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed.  Flickr image is from the World Economic Forum.

Global mining company Rio Tinto has raised a total of $2 billion bonds in long-term debt bonds, it said on Wednesday. The offer, registered in the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, consisted of $700 million in 5-year notes with a coupon of 2.5 percent, $1 billion in 10-year bonds with a 4.125 percent coupon and $300 million in 30-year bonds paying a 5.2 percent coupon.

Gold producer Jaguar Mining Inc posted a quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates helped by surging bullion prices, sending its New York-listed shares up almost 7 percent in extended trading. For the January-March quarter adjusted profit was $10.3 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with an adjusted loss of $3.7 million, or 4 cents a share, a year ago.

Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS)(AIM:NUS) has completed its 2010/11 seafloor drilling program, with the vessel REM Etive having demobilized in Singapore on May 16, 2011. During the drilling program in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea, Nautilus completed a 99-hole diamond drilling project, for a total of 1,475 metres.