Does gold's precipitous $300 drop in September represent a fundamental market shift? It is hard to argue with this statement: "Global stock markets are volatile, central banks have not regained credibility, inflation is still a concern, and trust in the markets has not been restored. Yet gold continues to fall... Gold has lost its shine."

Centaurus Metals (ASX:CTM) slipped back to 72 cents after rising to 78 cents Thursday, on news of a positive resource estimate from its flagship Jambreiro iron ore project in Brazil. Perth-based Centaurus reported a 65% jump in iron ore from Jambreiro, to 117.5 million tonnes grading 26.8% Fe.

Copper miners in Zambia are joining their counterparts in Indonesia in demanding a rise in pay. The Wall Street Journal reports hundreds of miners at Chinese company Sino Metals downed tools Friday over wage demands.

Talvivarra Mining (LON:TALV) got massacred on the markets today on news that its CEO, Pekka Perä, has resigned. The London-listed Finnish base metal miner shed 55.83 pence to close at 198.66p — a 21.67% drop. It is clear that investors saw the departure of Perä — the driving force behind the company and its largest shareholder, owning 23% of the stock — as a major negative, says an analyst quoted in The Daily Telegraph:

Workers at Freeport's Grasberg – one of the world's largest gold and copper mines – in the remote Indonesian province of West Papua vowed Friday to paralyse production, as their strike over pay enters its second month. About 12,000 of Freeport's 23,000 Indonesian workers have joined the strike that started on Sept. 15 and on Friday Freeport said some workers have returned, putting it in a position to increase mining and milling output. The gulf between the the two parties are so wide that chances of a settlement appear remote – Freeport has offered a 25% increase on wages while the union wants the current minimum rate of $1.50 an hour raised more than 8-fold.

A new report from research firm TNS could have implications for mining. A survey of affluent households around the world — defined as greater than $100,000 — found that 80% of the world's wealthy live in Western countries.TNS's Global Affluenty Investor study conducted interviews across 24 markets including China, Brazil and India.

Scientists have found that the moon contains rich titanium deposits. Mark Robinson from Arizona State University and Brett Denevi from John Hopkins University, who were expanding on previous studies, used spectrum analysis to determine the chemical composition of the lunar surface using images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Hubble Telescope. They found that lunar mares, dark basilic plains caused by ancient volcanic eruptions, have titanium abundances ranging from one to 10 percent.

West Virginia University will receive $300,000 from Arch Coal to research mine safety, a grant that will potentially be doubled by the state Research Trust Fund, Forbes reports.

WVU's Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technologies trained nearly 10,000 miners last year. It offers certification courses for new miners and mine foremen, along with training in mine rescue, mine fire safety and emergency preparedness.

Aggregates Manager reports: On November 2, Catamount Consulting LLC is hosting an MSHA Supervisor Training Seminar in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on prevention, motivation, leadership skills in health and safety, and more.

In a difficult economy, businesses face many challenges, particularly around how to most effectively allocate resources. Traditionally, one of the first budgets to get cut is training. However, the principals of Catamount Consulting believe that training leads to higher performance, stronger leaders, improved safety and increased productivity. Catamount Consulting seminars are designed to provide a cost-benefit to attendees and promote greater on-the-job safety.