For those who feel they need a little more security than buying gold through an exchange traded fund, the Royal Canadian Mint is offering exchange traded receipts backed by physical gold bullion held in the mint's facilities in Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian mint, which announced this product on Friday, says that ETRs are different than other gold investment products since the purchaser of an ETR owns the actual gold rather than a unit or share in an entity that owns the gold. When someone buys an ETR, the money will be used to purchase gold at the London pm fix price on the closing date of the offering.

Anglo American’s Peace River Coal Mine has taken a giant leap forward in enhancing their strategic abilities by improving operator competency, safety and productivity.

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Nov. 1, 2011) - TVI Pacific Inc. (TSX:TVI) (OTCQX:TVIPF) ("TVI" or the "Company") announced today that it has been advised by its Philippine affiliate, TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. ("TVIRD") that TVIRD is preparing to file a series of legal actions in Philippine courts to prevent the implementation of an Ordinance scheduled to come into effect in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte on November 6, 2011. The Ordinance, filed with no advance notice to TVIRD or TVI, purports to ban new open pit or open cut mines in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte and causes the closure process of existing such mines to begin one year from now, or November 2012. TVIRD intends to continue operating at Canatuan without disruption during this period. This Ordinance has no impact on TVIRD's gold development project at Balabag as it is in Zamboanga del Sur, a different province. Development plans continue at Balabag.

Australian copper and zinc miner Kagara Ltd. (ASX:KZL) is selling its Lounge Lizard nickel mine. "Kagara and its adviser Goldman Sachs & Partners Australia have commenced discussions with potential purchasers of Kagara’s nickel assets. Kagara expects to finalise the sale process during the first quarter of 2012," Kagara said in a statement on Monday. Reuters reported that Kagara's mining partner, Western Areas, is not interested.

Australia's new mining tax is being held up in the legislature by independents who want more controls on coal seam gas. Sydney Morning Herald reports that two independents MPs, Tony Windsor and Roy Oakeshott, are demanding curbs on coal seam gas exploration, and that hundreds of millions of environmental research dollars be spent, in return for their support for the bill: Mr Windsor, who holds the NSW seat of New England, told the Herald he had had enough of the methods of coal seam gas companies, which were expanding operations dramatically in NSW and Queensland. Mr Windsor's key demand is for $200 million to $400 million to be allocated each year from the tax revenue to fund bio-regional assessments, an idea he raised last week.

A Chinese government policy that purports to make coal mines safer is triggering local supply disruptions. China's dismal, and tragic, accident record at coal mines led the Chinese government to consolidate thousands of small, often-dangerous coal mines to boost safety. As the largest user and producer of coal, the country became a net importer in 2009 for the first time, as the consolidations led to a drop in domestic coal output. (Read an indepth article on China's place in the global coal market in MINING.com Magazine)

The takeover of Anvil Mining (TSE:AVM), an African copper producer, by Chinese company Minmetals Resources Ltd, could be in jeopardy. Anvil warned on Monday that the $1.3 billion deal may not be completed if the company fails to come to an agreement with partner Gecamines over contractual arrangements. According to the news release, La Générale des Carrières et des Mines Sarl (“Gécamines”) told Anvil that the takeover offer would trigger a review of the lease agreements with Anvil over the Kinsevere project in the DRC. State-owned Gécamines holds the leases to the mineral tenures.

BuaNews: Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources Godfrey Oliphant is urging the South African Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) to continue building skills programs to benefit the mining sector, currently suffering from a skills shortage.

Oliphant, who was addressing the Annual Consultative Conference on Friday, commended the MQA for focusing on grassroots activities like Adult Basic Education and Training, career development initiatives, bursaries, workplace coaching programme and development of black managers in the mining sector. "I am encouraged by the research that is currently being done focusing on workplace skills plans and annual training reports. I encourage employers in the sector to work with labour actively to undertake and build on this crucial area of skills development," he said.

Bellona reports: the Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company (GMK), a division of the smelting giant Norilsk Nickel, and international environmental NGO Bellona discussed environmental problems today in a seminar regarding Norilsk Nickel's metal works on the Kola Peninsula.

The seminar’s name reflects its goal: “Interaction between governmental structures, business, academia and civil society – an instrument for improving environmental safety in the region.”