For most people, Toronto's financial district is the place where Canada's big banks make their money. That's true to a certain degree, but it tends to overlook one of the primary sources of all that money: mining.

The Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario has taken note, so it's setting up a program in which students can obtain both a graduate degree in geology and a law degree.

Ian Holloway, dean of Western's law school, told me about the program after I bumped into him at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention this week in Toronto. "Something like 60% of the world's financing deals in mining are still done in Toronto. And all of those deals need lawyers. So there's a huge shortage of a very specialized legal skill set."

South Africa's gold output rose 15.1 percent in volume terms in January while total mineral production rose 4.3 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, data showed on Thursday.

Peruvian presidential front-runner Alejandro Toledo said on Wednesday if elected he would talk with extractive industries about possibly introducing a tax on windfall profits as commodities prices surge. Toledo, who in his first term from 2001 to 2006 helped lure billions in foreign investment to Peru, said voters need to see concrete benefits from mining, oil and gas activity.

Brigus Gold (BRD.TO: Quote) plans to sell or set up a joint-venture for its gold project in southern Mexico, in a move to focus on its main assets in Ontario and Saskatchewan, said Chief Executive Wade Dawe.

Institutional shareholders in Riversdale Mining are moving toward backing global miner Rio Tinto's sweetened A$3.9 billion takeover offer for the Mozambique-focused coal miner, Riversdale's chief executive said on Thursday. Rio Tinto raised its offer to A$16.50 a share on Thursday in a final bid to woo key shareholders who have held up the deal, and extended the offer for a third time, to April 1.

Riversdale Mining head Steve Mallyon has backed Rio Tinto's increased offer for the coal company, warning investors there was no hint of a competing bid, The Wall Street Journal reported. The global giant today said it would increase its offer to $16.50 a share from $16 a share, if it gained more than a 50 per cent interest in the Mozambique-focussed company by March 23. Rio said it would not increase its offer beyond that point unless there was a competing proposal.

Equinox Minerals would consider selling some of Lundin Mining's assets in order to clear off debt, the company's CEO said in a conference call to analysts on Thursday. Equinox has bid CAD$4.8 billion in a challenge to Inmet Mining's friendly merger with Lundin, but needs a $3.2 billion bridge loan, according to the story by Bloomberg. “We would consider asset sales in the context of non-core, non-copper assets,” Craig Williams, chief executive of the Perth-based company, said today. Equinox may sell Lundin’s Zinkgruvan zinc mine in Sweden, he said.

HudBay Minerals posted some big gains in its fourth-quarter and year-end financials, the Toronto-based miner reported on Wednesday. Net earnings in Q4 2010 more than tripled to $24.5 million, compared to $7.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Year-end numbers were also impressive, with net earnings of $73 million — a 475% increase over 2009 after adjusting for gains on the sale of investments, the company stated.

Bayfield Ventures Corp. announced a $5 million brokered private placement Wednesday, with proceeds going towards the company's Rainy River gold project in northern Ontario. The deal is expected to close on April 7. The 100%-owned Rainy River property contains three mineralized claim blocks. The March 2010 NI 43101 report showed 2.37 million indicated ounces of gold at 1.3 g/t, with an additional 2.66 million ounces inferred at 1.2 g/t Au.