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Australia’s plan to impose a 30 percent tax on its booming iron ore and coal sectors cleared its biggest political hurdle on […]

A new study is casting doubt on the viability of undersea mining, despite recent success by Vancouver-based Nautilus Minerals (TSE:NUS) in obtaining the first-ever permit to mine the seafloor off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The Canadian-led study, published in the journal Geology, states that "the possibility of mining sea floor [deposits] has stirred debate about the sustainable use of this new resource and whether commercial development is worth the risk.” The Vancouver Sun quotes Mark Hannington, the University of Ottawa's Goldcorp Chair in Economic Geology and lead author of the study, saying that while there may be vast mineral deposits under the ocean, they cannot hope to meet the world demand for metals:

Reuters reports copper hit its lowest in nearly a month on Monday as investors, already mired in worries over Europe's debt, digested news that US plans to combat debt are in disarray and took in warnings from China about gloomy global growth prospects. While US politicians' inability to reach consensus on tackling the country's debt problems was greeted with little surprise and the Europe crisis has been foremost in investors' minds for months, the statements by China's Vice Premier overnight really knocked sentiment. Wang Qishan said that a long-term global recession is certain to happen and China must focus on domestic problems. China is the world's top copper consumer, taking in about 40% of the world's copper versus Europe that accounts for 19% of demand.

Emerging from a short and distort saga awash in cash, Silvercorp Metals on Monday announced the acquisition of SX Gold, a mining concern controlled by the Luoyang city government in northeastern China's Henan province for $22.7 million. Earlier this month the company, the largest silver miner in China, increased its quarterly dividend by 25% to 2.5 cents, after reporting a big jump in second-quarter profit and record cash flows. The stellar financial results came after a forensic accounting report showed no truth to allegations of $1 billion in accounting fraud at the company which was first alleged on September 2 by shortsellers that had built up a massive position in the stock.

Brandon Lloyd Gray, a 26-year-old miner critically injured at Hecla Mining's Lucky Friday mine on November 17, succumbed to his injuries early Saturday morning with his family at his side. Lucky Friday is an underground silver, lead, and zinc mine located in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in northern Idaho. Gray, a miner since 2008, had been working for Cementation Inc. since February 2011, a company that is under contract for the construction of the mine’s #4 Shaft. “We are deeply saddened by Brandon’s passing,” said Phil Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer in a released statement.

The Globe & Mail reports local authorities in the Pakistani province of Balochistan refused to meet Tethyan Copper, a joint venture between Chile’s Antofagasta and Barrick Gold, for talks before rejecting a bid for one of the world's richest deposits of gold and copper at a remote site in the dry hills near the Afghan-Pakistan border, known as Reko Diq. Tethyan Copper said a “summary decision” by the restive province to reject a mining lease application for its Reko Diq project breached local rules and Pakistani law and has now filed a "notice of dispute." The company submitted a feasibility study earlier this year that indicated 22 billion lb of copper and 13 million oz of gold at the site. The Balochistan decision now paves the way for a Chinese consortium to construct a mine and processing facility.

Global miner Anglo American has risked its future in the world's largest copper producing nation by denying Chile's state-owned Codelco a 49 percent stake in its Sur unit, said Diego Hernandez, Codelco's chief executive on Thursday. Miguel Angel Durán, president of Anglo American’s Chilean operations, told a Chilean newspaper that the company wants to sit down with Codelco, the Chilean state mining company, and find a way to avoid years of litigation over Anglo’s Chilean assets. The copper giant is putting together a crack team of lawyers and financial advisers from Chile and New York to fight Anglo’s attempt to block it from exercising an option to buy half of Anglo’s Chilean copper assets for $6 billion. Anglo early in November sold 24.5% to Mitsubishi for $5.4 billion.

Andover Ventures Inc. ("Andover" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AOX)(OTCBB:AOVTF)(FRANKFURT:R2X) is pleased to announce that the Company has more than doubled its land position at the Sun Property located in the Ambler Mining District, Northwest, Alaska. The Ambler district hosts one of the richest known volcanogenic-massive-sulphide (VMS) copper-zinc-lead-gold-silver deposits in the world. Andover previously held 112 State of Alaska claims, each representing a quarter section, or 160 acres. The Company has increased the number of state claims by staking an additional 118 claims for a total of 230 claims, representing a new land position of 36,800 acres.

Anglo American's $5.4 billion sale of its 24% stake in Codelco to Mitsubishi — Japan's largest trading house — is just the beginning of further rounds of competition between Japanese trading houses for the red metal. According to Reuters, Japan's top trading houses are flush with cash and ready to compete for copper assets, which they see as good prospects as demand for the metal rises and supply tightens: The competition is likely to drive up asset prices for potentially lucrative properties holding the base metal, with the trading houses jostling for the prize of becoming the top supplier for the world's fifth biggest copper market and to tap surging demand in China and other emerging markets.