Allana Potash announced that it has received an updated National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant Mineral Resource Estimate from ERCOSPLAN Ingenieurgesellschaft Geotechnik und Bergau ("ERCOSPLAN") on its Danakhil Potash Project in Ethiopia. The updated mineral resource estimate includes all four potash bearing beds (sylvinite, upper and lower carnallite and kainitite) in the project and is comprised of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources totaling 673 Million tonnes with an average grade 18.65% KCl (composite of all four potash beds) and Inferred Mineral Resources totaling 596 Million tonnes with an average grade of 19.96% KCl (composite of all four potash beds).

Martiono Hadianto, president director of Newmont Nusa Tenggara, said the gold miner's IPO is not likely to take place this year. NNT's management had planned to hold the IPO during the second half of this year with the long-delayed divestment process completed by mid-April.

The import of gold and silver by India has risen by a whopping 222% between April and May 2011, as compared to a year ago. In the month of May alone, imports were a staggering $9 billion, with gold demand growing 25%. "Even as inflation and a widening trade deficit to $15 billion in May continues to weigh on the minds of Indian investors, the demand for fresh gold has continued to grow."

UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank, is slowing down its commodities hiring expansion after a decade-long bull market drove up pay and created a scarcity of talent. UBS originally wanted to double its commodities staff. Salaries and bonuses for the most-profitable metals traders rose 20% to $2 million to $3 million last year, according to Commodity Search Partners. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials rose fourfold since the end of 2001 and the surge drove commodity investments to a record $451bn in April this year, about 50% more than a year earlier. A report by researcher Coalition showed a group of 10 large banks increase their commodities revenues by 55% in the first quarter.

South Africa's Sunday Independent newspaper reports attempts by mining giants AngloGold Ashanti and Anglo American to sup with the leaders of the ANC Youth League and possibly sway them against nationalization have flopped. Both companies stand to lose substantial chunks of their assets if the league – kingmakers in the country's politics – succeeds in its push for state control of mines to become the policy of the ruling party. Amid a rebound in mining output calls are growing for majority government ownership of key industries – the union representing the vast majority of mine workers recently backed the country's Freedom Charter clause on nationalization.

The Australian reports a mining safety specialist who quit New Zealand's fatal Pike River coal mine over concerns it was too dangerous will present crucial expert testimony to the royal commission into the disaster, which killed 29 men. Peter Sattler went public last week for the first time to claim Pike River lacked critical equipment required in Australian mines, which could have avoided the enormous methane explosion that ripped through the mine near Greymouth on November 19. The move comes as, for the first time since the blast, rescue experts prepare to enter the mine, in a step towards recovering bodies and recommissioning the operation.

The New York Times profiles Laurence Graff, whom the paper calls perhaps the biggest dealer in seriously big stones. In 2008, Graff Diamonds turned a pretax profit of $77 million on sales of $538 million, according to its chief financial officer, Nick Paine. In 2009, sales dropped to $432 million, and pretax profits to $62 million. Last year, sales were virtually flat, but pretax profits jumped to $86 million, mostly because of sales of smaller pieces with higher mark-ups. Which raises the question of how large his inventory of large stones has become.

The Saudi Ministry for Mineral Resources has granted the first mineral exploration license for the Selib North Project to a Saudi-Turkish joint venture in which KEFI Minerals has a 40% stake and is the operating partner. The company has also received approval for two other licenses and are awaiting final approval from the Supreme Committee of Concessions in Riyadh, KEFI said in a statement. The project is located in central Saudi Arabia, 65km south-southeast of the Al Amar Gold Mine, which is currently being operated by Ma’aden. In 2007, mineral resources for the Al Amar Gold Mine were estimated at a total of 2.0 million tons.

BNAmericas reported that Vancouver-based tailings processor Amerigo Resources has resumed operations at its Minera Valle Central complex in central Chile's region VI. The company said that the plant is once again in production, processing both fresh and old tailings from the El Teniente mine. Amerigo halted operations on June 6th 2011 as a result of the ongoing strike by 11,000 contract workers at state copper producer Codelco's El Teniente division. Amerigo's sole business is to process copper and molybdenum tailings from El Teniente, which is by far Codelco's most profitable division.