Buying in China and India, central banks increasing reserves and particularly dwindling gold production could potentially drive the gold price to US$5,000/oz says a new report by investment bank Standard Chartered. The report, which studied 375 mines around the world, also shows that while exploration budgets have steadily risen since 2002 (with the exception of 2009) in response to rising prices, the rate of new gold discoveries have continued to decline.

Eritrean National Mining Corp. has agreed to pay US$32 million for a 30 percent stake in Chalice Gold Mines' Zara gold project, Bloomberg reported Wednesday:

According to the latest BP Statistical Review of World Energy coal consumption grew by 7.6% in 2010, the fastest global growth since 2003. Coal now accounts for 29.6% of global energy consumption, up from 25.6% 10 years ago and the highest since 1970. Chinese consumption grew by over 10% and China last year consumed nearly half of the world’s coal. In contrast just 1.8% of global energy consumption comes from renewable sources such as hydroelectricity, biofuels, wind and nuclear power stations. The comparative figure a decade ago was 0.6%.

Diversified Australian miner Astra Mining announced on Wednesday plans to list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange before the end of August after two days earlier inking a deal to enter the Nigerian market and further expand its global presence. Deal-hungry Astra Mining’s global portfolio includes gold and tin interests in south east Asia and southern India, coal mines in Australia, iron ore in India, manganese in Africa and the commercialisation of a new high-strength steel technology from a base in Hungary.

The In Business website has announced that a $2.3 million training facility for mining, building and construction, welding, automotive, engineering and carpentry has opened at Thebarton Senior College in Torrensville, South Australia.

The new trade training centre at Thebarton Senior College forms part of the Australian Government’s Trade Training Centres in Schools Program. In the new facility, students will be able to use a wide range of hand and power tools for courses in metal machining, welding and metal fabrication, general construction, mining and infrastructure, general woodwork and furniture making, energy and automotive and electricity and electronics.

Catalpa Resources and Conquest Mining have agreed to merge and buy a new asset from Newcrest Mining, Perth Now reported. The newspaper says the new entity will acquire a 70 percent stake in Newcrest's Cracow gold mine and will also buy the Mt Rawdon gold mine from Newcrest: In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange Catalpa and Conquest said the merged company will be in a position to produce 400-450,000 ounces of gold by 2013, putting it into to the top five of the local gold producers. The combined market cap would be about $1.2 billion.

Get set for a pace of drilling and exploration results from the Yukon even more blistering this year than the last. By way of yardstick, 2010 was stellar for exploration in the Yukon, with about $150 million in such expenditures. But this year is looking even better, with exploration expenditures expected to top $250 million, according to Natural Resources Canada, which some months ago surveyed the 2011 spending intentions of mining and exploration companies. And with the shorter Yukon exploration season, many drilling campaigns in the Yukon are just getting underway.

Rare Element Resources stock jumped 9% in after hours trade in New York after a new estimate for the amount of rare earth materials at its Bear Lodge project in Wyoming showed a 20% jump. The gains were on top of a 7% jump during regular hours for the volatile stock which is still trading down almost 40% from record highs hit in January. The company also sees significant potential for further expansion of all deposits.

More than 400 workers at Melbourne-based BHP Billiton coking coalmines began strikes on Tuesday for the first time in a decade, disrupting production from the world’s largest exporter and adding to the woes of an industry already hard hit by summer floods. Analysts believe the industrial action, added to the 15% cut in annual production caused by monsoon rains and a cyclone, will support rampant prices for steel-making coal which hit an all-time high in April of $330 per tonne.