MarketWatch reports gold futures lost ground in electronic trading Friday as the dollar strengthened against major rivals. Gold for August delivery declined $16.70, or 1.1%, to $1,486.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A stronger greenback tends to discourage investment in dollar-priced commodities such as gold. The precious metal was also pushed lower as some uncertainty about the euro zone’s debt problems lifted. Despite the recent weakness, gold prices remain over 5% higher this year. Silver followed gold lower Friday, dropping close to 3%.

BHP said in a statement overnight that the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment had notified it of the approval, following an environmental impact statement submitted in December, 2010. BHP said Jansen would employ an average of 1,900 people during construction and create approximately 1,000 operational jobs once the mine has reached full capacity.

Outotec has agreed with Samarco Mineração S.A. on a turnkey delivery of the world's largest iron ore pelletizing plant in Brazil. The contract value is approximately EUR 200 million, which will be booked in Outotec's second quarter order intake. In addition, the contract includes local EUR 100 million purchases performed on behalf of the customer. Some 90% of the services and supplies for the project will be delivered from Brazil. Image by Outotec

BIV reports that Eastern Platinum, a Vancouver-based precious metals producer (TSX:ELR), will fight a class action lawsuit filed against it earlier this week: On Tuesday, Siskinds LLP, a London, Ontario-based firm, filed a suit in the Superior Court of Ontario that alleges Eastern failed to disclose “material information” about an interruption of operations at its Crocodile River mine in January.

Timmins Gold Corp. reported an annual net profit of $11.5m for 2011, the first year of commercial operations of its San Francisco gold project in Mexico. The nine cent a share profit on revenues of $84.3m reported Thursday compared with a net loss of $8.6m last year when the company's income was zero. The company expects to average annual gold production of approximately 100,000 ounces at base case life of mine cash costs of US$489 per ounce. Timmins moved to the Toronto main board in March where it is worth some $137m.

The stock of cobalt and copper miner Metorex is up by a third this year following Brazilian giant Vale's $1.1bn bid for the mid-tier producer. With reports surfacing that Jinchuan, China's biggest nickel miner, is readying a competing offer shareholders of the Johannesburg-based company look set to extract further value ahead of a vote on July 22. Metorex has aggressive expansion plans for its central and Southern African projects and aims to more than double its current annual copper output of around 50,000 tonnes. It's a far cry from the situation in 2009 when the company was fighting for survival amid serious cost overruns in the Congo.

Two reports out on Thursday suggest better times ahead for the uranium mining industry. The Globe and Mail quotes Tim Gitzel the new chief executive of Cameco Corp. – the world’s largest producer – who is taking the job on Friday as saying the current slump in uranium prices is a chance for the company to take another look at acquisitions. The Financial Post reports that RBC Capital Markets believe uranium price weakness will be shortlived and that China, India and South Korea are maintaining their nuclear build plans while Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Vietnam have all announced new nuclear plans.

A $270,000 contribution from Newcrest Mining Limited is funding a new Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) lab at the University of Queensland, the UQ News site reports. The new lab will enhance UQ's ability to develop skills in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and heat transfer.

UQ's Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Keniger said the Newcrest HVAC Laboratory will ensure UQ's engineering graduates have advanced skills in areas critical to the future of the resources sector. “The project would not have been possible without the generosity of Newcrest, but perhaps most important of all is our joint investment in the people who will drive the Australian mining industry forwards in the next decade and beyond,” Professor Keniger said.

Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK.A and TCK.B, NYSE: TCK) ("Teck") announced today that it has priced its previously announced offering of senior unsecured notes. Teck will issue US$2.0 billion in aggregate principal amount of notes, consisting of US$300 million aggregate principal amount of 3.15% notes due 2017, US$700 million aggregate principal amount of 4.75% notes due 2022 and US$1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.25% notes due 2041.