Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS)(AIM:NUS) has completed its 2010/11 seafloor drilling program, with the vessel REM Etive having demobilized in Singapore on May 16, 2011. During the drilling program in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea, Nautilus completed a 99-hole diamond drilling project, for a total of 1,475 metres.

The proposed development of one of South Australia’s most significant infrastructure projects - a new multi-million dollar bulk commodities export facility at Port Bonython on Spencer Gulf - has taken a significant step forward. The South Australian Government and Spencer Gulf Port Link Consortium, the group originally selected by the government as its preferred bidder for project, jointly announced a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be undertaken into the project. The consortium comprises Flinders Port Holdings, Leighton Contractors, Macquarie Capital, BIS Industrial Logistics and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).

Coal India, the world's largest coal producer, is on a high. The state-run company is set to pick up a 15% stake in a joint venture with US-based coal firm Peabody Energy's $600 million mining project in Australia. The deal size could be upwards of $100 million. Officials privy to the discussion said both the companies were mulling over the exact details and were to form a joint venture company to tackle the Wilkie Creek coal mine, in Queensland, Australia, which is owned by Peabody.

Exploration junior Mesa Exploration Corp. hopes to kick off a drilling program soon at its potash project in Utah after filing a positive technical report in May. The property is adjacent to the Cane Creek mine where potash has been mined for 45 years. Listed on the TSX Venture Exchange with a market cap just shy of $10m and only 12.6m shares outstanding, Mesa recently changed its name from Mesa Uranium Corp. to reflect its broader exploration focus which include among others its flagship Green Energy Project, a large brine deposit containing 40% dissolved solids, also in Utah.

On the same day the premiers of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia toured a potash mine in Penobsquis, NB's mining commissioner began hearing from residents of a nearby town who blame the mine, operated by Potash Corp. for a loss of 60 water wells about six years ago. The mining company initially provided the residents with bottled water, but the provincial government has since installed a municipal water system.

Los Angeles Times published a photo essay on May 14 looking at child labour in the coal mines located in India: "Times South Asia bureau chief Mark Magnier and photojournalist Daniel Berehulak report on the mining situation in the Jaintia Hills district of India, located in the northeastern state of Meghalaya. Perhaps as many as thousands of underage workers as young as 8, lured by the wages, leave school to work in coal mines under perilous conditions."

Noront Resources has completed a brokered placement worth $17.4 million, the Toronto-listed junior explorer announced yesterday. The deal will give Baosteel the right to increase its stake in Noront to 19.9%. It will also give Baosteel, a large steel producer owned by the Chinese government, a seat on Noront's board of directors. Proceeds from the placement will be used for feasibility studies on Noront's Eagle's Nest nickle-copper-palladium property and the Blackbird chromite deposit in the Ring of Fire poly-metallic mining district in northern Ontario, Canada.

Motley Fool puts Saskatchewan’s Potash Corp. through the Warren Buffet test this week. Ilian Moscovitz of the investment site rates the world’s biggest fertilizer manufacturer in terms of the criteria – consistent earnings, good management and a simple business among others -- laid out by the legendary investor in Berkshire Hathaway's most recent annual results filing. There is renewed interest from investors in Potash Corp., which operates six mines in the Canadian province, on the back of rising global food prices, record earnings at the company, and after BHP Billiton’s nearly $40bn hostile takeover bid was scuppered by the federal government in November last year.

Barrick Gold announced today that it has received confirmation that the Investment Canada Act does not apply to Barrick's proposed acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Equinox Minerals Limited. This confirmation has been obtained in connection with the previously-announced offer by Barrick's wholly-owned subsidiary, Barrick Canada Inc., to acquire, subject to the terms and conditions of the Offer, all of the Equinox Shares at a price of C$8.15 per Equinox Share.