One of the largest mining companies operating in northern Peru says that a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Peru Wednesday didn't interrupt operations. Roque Benavides, chief executive of precious metals mining company Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (BVN, BUENAVC1.Vl), said in an email message he wasn't aware of any damage from the earthquake on its operations in northern Peru.

Amid pressure from the Greens for the government to make the mining tax even harsher, the Prime Minister today urged Tony Abbott to force the mining industry to share the benefits of the boom. “Is this really a time for anybody to come to this parliament and say the MRRT should be opposed ... in view of the profitability of mines and the pressures we know are on other sections of the economy because of the high Aussie dollar?” she said. “That is a strategy for wrecking.”

A top executive at Saskatchewan PotashCorp says potash producers will not be able to meet the 2011 world supply capability of 61 million tonnes. David Delaney, PotashCorp executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said in a conference call Tuesday that "hitting the target would have required "perfect production, very little downtime. When you're pulling all these operations around the world that hard, it's really difficult to do."

Balmoral Resources Ltd. ("Balmoral" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:BAR) reported results from the first six holes of its summer 2011 drill program on the Martiniere Gold Property located along the Detour Gold Trend in Quebec.

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).