The newly-opened Wiradjuri Study Centre in Condobolin, NSW, Australia aims to boost employment prospects for the local indigenous community in mining, construction, transport, and administration, Invest in Australia reports.

Owned and managed by the Wiradjuri Condobolin Corporation, the Indigenous Study Centre was built using local materials and local Indigenous labour, and will apply culturally-appropriate teaching methods to engage the local Aboriginal community and encourage participation in nationally-recognised vocational courses.

The Observer: Tash Fee, head of the two-year-old mine training company, TNT Training Solutions, has won the Individual Award for Excellence in Training at the Mining Industry Skills Centre Training Awards, and has been recognized for her role in encouraging women into mining careers.

TNT Training Solutions provides training in everything from working at heights and confined spaces to fire training and a range of other skills. Originally a motor mechanic, Ms Fee started working as a fitter in the mines.

FLSmidth has received four contracts, each worth approximately EUR 40m (approximately DKK 300m) from a company in the Middle East for engineering services and minerals equipment. Each order entails the supply of one SAG mill, two ball mills, with associated pebble crusher, screens, pumps and cyclones along with engineering services and auxiliary equipment.

White Tiger Gold, a Russian exploration company, granted a $10 million credit facility to Century Mining. The two companies will be combined at the end of the year. The funds will be used to help Century Mining expand. Century Mining has operating gold mines in Quebec and Peru.

The FrumForum gloats that Glenn Beck's admonitions to buy gold, lots of physical gold in coins and other forms, has turned sour for customers just when it is supposed to have its greatest worth: The gold market meltdown — with prices plunging in recent weeks from over $1,900 an ounce to under $1,600 — is a reminder that the precious metal is a volatile, speculative commodity. It also signals a bear market in credibility for the many right-leaning cable-news and talk-radio hosts who have touted gold relentlessly in recent years as a hedge against economic calamity.

Deep Yellow, a uranium exploration company with operations in Namibia and in Australia, announced on Tuesday additional high grade uranium intercepts from RC drilling at the Ongolo Alaskite Deposit and the MS7 Prospect.

Chinese companies and investors are stepping up their purchases of industrial commodities such as copper, in a show of confidence in the global economy that stands in contrast to the turmoil in western markets. The wave of buying is providing support for metals and minerals prices after commodities prices fell this month at worries about a double-dip. Senior executives at trading houses, mining companies and banks said Chinese consumers had used the recent drop in prices to rebuild stocks.

WINNEMUCCA, NEVADA--(Marketwire - Sept. 27, 2011) - Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. (NYSE Amex:PZG)(TSX:PZG)(FRANKFURT:P6G)(WKN:A0HGKQ)("Paramount Gold") announced today new high grade assay results from 10 core holes drilled on its 100% owned San Miguel Project in northwestern Mexico. Four holes drilled on the San Miguel Vein returned multiple high-grade gold and silver intercepts including 9.2 meters grading 5.56 g/T of gold and 120.14 g/T of silver and 21.95 meters grading 2.79 g/T of gold and 325.07 g/T of silver. These results are expected to upgrade inferred resources to higher categories and improve the average grade of the resource in this area.

Stillwater Mining Company on Monday became one of the first miners to find funding drying up following the punishment meted out to precious metals recently, when it announced after market close that it is withdrawing its proposed offering of senior notes due to the "dramatic deterioration of the capital markets during the past week." Stillwater said it still has enough funds for the $165 million net cash portion of the Peregrine transaction. The counter shed just over 1% of its value on the NYSE on Monday on a generally positive day for the markets, but is down 35% since last Monday. Stillwater is the only US producer of palladium and platinum and is the largest primary producer of platinum group metals outside of South Africa and Russia. Platinum was trading at $1,565/oz on Monday, down from a year-high of $1,916/oz.