BHP Billiton, owner of the Ekati diamond mine, reported revenues of $1.01 billion from diamond sales in the fiscal ear ending June 30, 2011, a 12.1 percent increase from the previous year.

Mining company Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) Wednesday raised its ownership stake in Canada-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (IVN.T) by 2% to 48.5% as it sought to cement its commitment to the massive Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project. Rio Tinto paid C$18.98 a share and exercised its subscription right to the tune of C$529.5 million in order to increase its take in Ivanhoe Mines, the majority owner of the Oyu Tolgoi project.

UK Coal posted its first profit in four years yesterday after higher production and coal prices sparked a turnaround at its collieries.

Shares of Minara Resources jumped 36% today on news of a takeover bid by Swiss-based commodities trader Glencore Resources. Glencore, which went public in May with an astonishing $11 billion IPO, is seeking to buy a minority position in Minara, of which it already owns 73.4%, for AU$268 million.

Australia's Paladin Energy has signed three new uranium sale agreements with US customers for output from the stage 3 expansion of the Langer Heinrich mine in the Namib desert (pictured).

Spot gold dropped $105 an ounce, or 5.66%, to $1,753.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange in early afternoon trade on Wednesday, as investors booked profits and over disappointment about the precious metal's failure to breach $1,900. Losses over two trading days now top $120 – gold last hit a settlement record on Monday, when it finished at $1,891.90 an ounce. Gold has gained almost 25% from lows in early July and many analysts are holding to forecasts of $2,000 an ounce in the near term, but some producers have sounded caution.

Stephen Harper is using the backdrop of peaking gold prices amid international economic turmoil to sell his vision of economic development in Canada's Far North.

The JB Marks Education Trust Fund, a major source of bursaries in Australia for those in the mine, energy and construction industries and their dependants, has selected a judging panel for its 2011 awards, reports The Marketing Site.

The JB Marks Education Trust Fund in conjunction with the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) celebrates disadvantaged student heroes who have excelled in spite of difficult circumstances. These awards are awarded to student achievers who make a success of the tertiary education opportunities created by the fund’s bursary scheme.

TSX-listed IC Potash is in talks with “quite a few” companies to partner on its Ochoa project in New Mexico, and hopes to have an agreement penned within the next 12 months, CEO Sidney Himmel told Mining Weekly Online.