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Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold reported on Wednesday that the strike at its Grasberg operations in Papua, Indonesia, which began Sept. 15, is costing the company about 3 million pounds of copper and 5 thousand ounces of gold for each day of the work stoppage. The company says that it is negotiating a two-year extension of its bi-annual collective labour agreement, which is scheduled for renewal on September 30, 2011.

China's position as the world's economic engine is being reinforced as expectations for growth in developed markets wane, but so is the risk a decline in its appetite for metals and minerals may mean the Asian giant won't offset any Western slowdown.

After declaring a 730,000 tonne increase of contained copper in mineral resources at Kennecott Utah Copper, Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) expects to head underground. Rio Tinto says that the mineral resource, known as the North Rim Skarn, is a high-grade copper-gold skarn deposit located approximately 300 metres below the current Bingham Canyon pit, the world's deepest open pit mine. The company has committed US$165 million to complete the next stage of exploration and development studies by 2014.

The Mongolian government is discussing possible changes to a 2009 investment agreement for the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit, media reports quoted Mongolia's finance minister, S. Bayartsogt, as saying Tuesday. The 2009 deal gave a 66 percent stake in the multibillion-dollar Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia's South Gobi region to the Canadian miner Ivanhoe Mines (Toronto: IVN.TO - news) , in which mining giant Rio Tinto now owns a 48.5 percent stake. The government has the remaining 34 percent stake.

Despite order books that are full and robust commodity prices, Rio Tinto says that customer sentiment is now more cautious and physical markets are softer than they were six months ago. Executives from Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest diversified miners, voiced their concerns at an investor seminar in London and New York on Tuesday. The company is finding that customers are concerned over the health of the OECD economies and persistent volatility in financial markets.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 20, 2011) - Empire Mining Corporation (TSX VENTURE:EPC) ("Empire") is pleased to report the final assay results for the remaining drill holes from Phase I drilling at the Demirtepe copper-gold-silver-molybdenum project located in western Turkey, where drilling in the Main Zone has consistently intercepted significant shallow mineralization in every hole completed. The most recent assays include the following significant copper-gold-silver and molybdenum intersections

Russia has agreed to develop an Iranian zinc deposit that is among the largest in the world in a deal involving an Iranian bank that faces international sanctions, the Russian business newspaper Kommersant reported on Tuesday. The agreement to develop

(Reuters) - Shares of Canadian base metal miners tumbled on Monday as copper prices slid to their lowest level this year on economic jitters and the lingering threat of a Greek default.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 19, 2011) - Selwyn Resources Ltd. ("Selwyn") (TSX VENTURE:SWN) is pleased to provide additional information on the discovery of zinc-lead mineralization northwest of XY West deposit, as described in the August 15, 2011 news release, within an adjacent fault panel. These new drill results support the significant mineral potential of the Selwyn Project now that high-grade zinc-lead mineralization has been traced over 2,900 metres in the XY Central-XY West deposits area. This drilling was conducted by Selwyn Chihong Mining Ltd. ("SCML"), the joint venture company equally owned by Selwyn and Chihong Mining Canada Ltd. Chihong Mining Canada Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co. Ltd. The location of the new drill holes and lenses can be found on drill plan maps available at www.selwynresources.com.