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Papua New Guinea’s new prime minister Peter O'Neill and the country's Investment Promotion Authority have moved to quell concern about proposed changes governing ownership of resources in the country saying it needs further discussion and acknowledging genealogical problems. Among sweeping changes promised for the impoverished country, PNG's new mining minister introduced a plan to hand state ownership of mineral and energy resources to customary landowners forcing mining companies to renegotiate permits and contracts. Last week O'Neill guaranteed the support of 80% of MPs he needs to preserve his majority ahead of 2012 elections by expanding his cabinet by a third.

Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS)(AIM:NUS) is to raise approximately US$100 million (C$98.1 million*) through a private placement of common shares to fund the development of its first project, Solwara 1, in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea. The placing will involve the issue of approximately 39 million shares to a number of investors at a price of CAD$2.52 (US$2.58) per share. Nautilus President and CEO Steve Rogers said the private placement would provide funds for the construction of the seafloor resource production system, which initially will be deployed at Solwara 1 – the company's first deepwater copper and gold project.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 31, 2011) - BCGold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BCG)(PINK SHEETS:BCGOF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed the first tranche of its private placement previously announced on July 11, 2011. The Company has raised $1,472,440 through the issuance of 2,660,000 of non-flow through units (the "NFT Units") at a price of $0.10 per NFT Unit and 10,053,663 flow through units (the "FT Units") at a price of $0.12 per FT Unit.

SYDNEY, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Vice President of Litigation BHP Billiton, Mr Damian Lovellhas today welcomed the introduction of the new ACICA Arbitration Rules designed to speed up the resolution of cross border and international commercial disputes. Mr Lovell, who is responsible for the dispute resolution strategy for the world's largest diversified mining company, said it is standard practice for BHP Billiton to include arbitration clauses in its cross border contracts:

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 31, 2011) - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU)(NYSE Amex:NSU) is pleased to report the assays from the forty-three diamond drill holes at the hanging wall copper zone within its Bisha mining license in Eritrea. The hanging wall copper zone is immediately west of the Bisha Main deposit and partially within the current open pit limit but it is not included in the current resource or reserve estimate for Bisha.

Strike action involving 4000 BHP employees has nothing to do with money, a union boss says. Workers employed at seven BHP mines in Queensland will walk off the job this week after enterprise bargaining negotiations stalled.

Iron ore could soon become a leading economic indicator in emerging markets such as China, since the absence of speculative froth makes the sandy steelmaking raw material a better gauge of demand than industrial metals like copper.

ABB, leading power and automation technology group, was recently contracted to supply the drive system for a new semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill at Neves Corvo, Portugal.

China said on Wednesday that it would appeal against a World Trade Organisation ruling that it illegally restricted exports of certain rare and speciality metals and minerals including bauxite, coking coal, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon metal, silicon carbide, yellow phosphorus and zinc. The United States, European Union and Mexico argued that the minerals are key inputs for numerous industries and any cut in supplies could lead to sharp spikes in world prices. The complainants fear a similar situation to rare earths where the price of certain elements have tripled thanks to export cuts and China's virtual monopoly on production.