Western Copper Corporation (TSX:WRN)(NYSE Amex:WRN) announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved a proposal to undertake a spin-out transaction that would reorganize the business and capital structure of the company into three separate public companies to allow Western Copper to focus on the development of its flagship Casino copper/gold/silver/molybdenum project.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, has reported that U.S. coal exports in the first quarter of this year were 26.6 million tons, representing the highest level of quarterly coal exports since 1992, when 27 million tons of coal were exported from the U.S. Coal exports were up 49% from the corresponding quarter of 2010 and were double first-quarter 2009 levels. Industrial Info is tracking more than $12.8 billion in active U.S. projects involving the mining and processing of coal. The increased demand from abroad is helping fuel not only grassroot coal mine construction, but also the expansion and restart of existing coal mines.

allmineral has been awarded three independent contracts to supply its mineral processing products and equipment to the Rio Tinto Low Grade Iron Ore Pilot Plant.  The pilot plant, which will be located at the Brockman 4 mine site in Western Australia, 60km north west of Tom Price, will play a strategic part in the optimisation of beneficiation options for future Pilbara lower grade deposits.

Astra Mining, an Australian diversified mining company, has signed an option agreement to fund the acquisition of an operating gold mine in Cambodia which presently has an exploration licence.The agreement provides Astra with a majority interest in Petone Mining (Asia) which has the acquisition agreement for the mine. A mining licence will be applied for prior to production expansion of the mine.

The Star Phoenix reports on Thursday BHP Billiton plans to spend an additional $488 million at its Jansen potash project east of Saskatoon, Canada bringing the company's total investment to $1.2 billion. If converted to a mine Jansen would have a maximum operational capacity of eight million tonnes per year and would cost an estimated $12 billion. Production could start in 2015 with an estimated life of mine of 70 years.

Saudi Arabian Mining Company, also known as Ma’aden, and Alcoa, the aluminium giant, have secured the funds for Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina Company, which is 74.9% and 25.1% owned by the two companies, respectively. The company will oversee the construction of a bauxite mine and an alumina refinery, which will cost $3.6 billion, part of the $10 billion Ma’aden-Alcoa joint venture project that will also see the construction of an aluminium smelter and rolling mill at Ras Az Zawr.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is slated to vote on a bill aimed at accelerating federal approval of a controversial pipeline that would expand U.S. imports from Canada’s oil sands projects. The oil industry-backed bill – which House GOP leadership hopes to bring before the full chamber this summer – would require an Obama administration decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline by Nov. 1.

Canada’s most valuable oil companies Suncor and Canadian Natural Resource – together worth over $100bn – were trading down over 3% on Thursday before recovering some ground following news that 2m barrels of oil per day - equal to Canada's total daily exports to the US – will be released onto the market over the next month. The International Energy Agency said 28 of its members, with the US providing about half of the total, would tap their strategic oil reserves in an effort to make up for lost output as Libya's civil war drags on.

By early afternoon on Thursday 7.5% or over $400m had been wiped off the value of Harmony Gold Mining stock in New York, the worst performer in an index of 50 of the largest gold and silver counters. Other South African gold miners were also punished with both Anglogold Ashanti and Gold Fields down over 5%. Some South African produces are struggling with cash outlays of $1,200/ounce – almost double the global average – thanks to a strong currency, wage disputes, power supply problems and geological issues. As the gold price eases as much as 180,000 oz of quarterly production are being put at risk.