Despite adverse weather conditions and natural disasters, Vale reported pellet output reached a record 12.5 Mt. for the first quarter of the year, up 19.3% from 10.5 Mt reported during the same period of last year. Iron ore production in the first quarter reached 71.5 Mt., a 3.7% increase over the same quarter of 2010. "For 2011 we continue to pursue the goal of 322Mt including the 11 Mt attributable production from Samarco," the company said.

Cameco announced Q1 results on Friday. Net earnings came in at $91 million compared to $143 million a year ago. The company said the decline was due to lower earnings at all its electricity, uranium and fuel services businesses and an increase in average cost of product sold. The company said production volumes were 23% lower this quarter due to lower production at McArthur River/Key Lake.

De Beers Consolidated Mines ("DBCM") today announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell Namaqualand Mines to Trans Hex in a transaction valued at R225 million. The agreement to sell the mine to Trans Hex follows an open and rigorous selection process that evaluated prospective bidders on a number of criteria determined by DBCM as critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of Namaqualand Mines community.

FIRST BAUXITE CORP. (TSX VENTURE:FBX)(FRANKFURT:FBI)(BERLIN:FBI) ("First Bauxite" or the "Company") First Bauxite Corporation is announcing that the Letter of Understanding between the Company and Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Ltd. ("Rio Tinto") was terminated on February 17, 2011 with immediate effect. On May 23, 2008, Rio Tinto Exploration signed a Letter of Understanding with First Bauxite Corporation, in order to form a four-year joint venture with the purpose of exploring the northern portion of the coastal bauxite belt of Guyana for economic metallurgical bauxite resources.

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. ("Mountain Province", the "Company") (TSX: MPV, NY-AMEX: MDM) today announced the results of an updated independent valuation of the diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Project. The valuation was conducted by WWW International Diamond Consultants Ltd. and took place at the London offices of the Diamond Trading Company in early April, 2011. All diamond values presented below are based on the WWW Price Book as at April 11, 2011. Importantly, for the first time, the Gahcho Kué diamonds were grouped into larger parcels, each parcel representing diamonds from the Hearne, Tuzo and the separate lobes of the 5034 kimberlite. In the opinion of WWW, grouping of the diamonds into larger parcels increased the accuracy of the diamond valuation.

Mining explosives supplier Bulk Mining Explosives (BME) director Tony Rorke told Mining Weekly that unless South Africa makes a serious investment towards improving their blasting training, millions of rands per year will continue to be wasted in lost productivity.

...intensive investment in training and the use of new blasting technologies are needed if opencast mining operators are to take full advantage of the booming commodities market over the next few years. Effective blasting, probably the most crucial aspect of opencast mining, is largely being neglected as operators, accustomed to the results they are getting, do not examine the opportunities available to them to increase their outputs.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) (Paris: CLF) today announced it has been added to the Fortune 500 list 2011, Fortune Magazine's annual ranking of America's largest companies by revenue. Cliffs is ranked at No. 477, with annual revenues of $4.7 billion for 2010. "We are pleased to attain this ranking in the prestigious Fortune 500," said Joseph A. Carrabba, Cliffs' chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We consider it another significant milestone in our growth."

The Company recorded first quarter earnings of $168 million or $0.88 per share (basic) compared to earnings of $55 million or $0.55 per share for the previous year. The higher earnings in the current quarter were driven by a $134 million pre-tax gain on the disposition of Gold Wheaton shares, higher average copper prices and the inclusion of the Sudbury operations following the merger with FNX. These factors were partially offset by lower sales volumes at Robinson and Carlota. Adjusted earnings for the first quarter totalled $51.8 million or $0.27 per share (basic) compared to $55.3 million or $0.56 per share (basic) for the previous year.

TAFE Western has opened three new facilities in Orange, NSW, Australia to provide students with state of the art training in trades and mining, set in a framework of green technology and green building practices.

TAFE Western institute director Kate Baxter said both the Green Skills Trade Education Centre and the mining simulator would provide world-class learning facilities right here in Orange. She said the Green Skills Trade Education Centre would train tradespeople in a range of areas including plumbing, construction, electrotechnology, manufacturing and engineering, and aimed to develop sustainable building practices.