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.

Chinese energy companies are looking to grab a stake in western Canada’s abundant oil sands to support China’s growing and developing appetite for oil. Despite an increasing awareness of environmental issues and movement towards cleaner forms of energy, reality still dictates that the majority of the world runs on oil.

Her love for jewelry was so celebrated, Christie's decided to hold a gala Evening Sale of Elizabeth Taylor's most magnificent jewels. The auction house plans a series of public exhibitions and special events leading up to the sale of Taylor's collection. Studio publicity portrait of Elizabeth Taylor is from Wikipedia.

BHP Billiton said on Wednesday that production at its Kwinana nickel refinery in Western Australia had restarted as planned in early June. "In line with our previous guidance, production at Kwinana resumed in early June," a spokesman told Reuters.

Precious metals consultants CPM said total global platinum supply rose during 2010, as platinum mine supply increased for the first time in three years.

POSCO, the world's third-biggest steelmaker, is not in talks with Sundance Resources over the latter's $4.6 billion iron ore project in West Africa, a POSCO source said. "We previously met Sundance Resources (on the project) but are not currently in talks with the company on it," the source told Reuters, declining to be named as he was not authorised to talk to the media.