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The top 40 global mining companies are poised to break through the US$1 trillion asset mark this year, due to record levels of cash, property and equipment on balance sheets, says a new PwC report. In their report Mine 2011: The game has changed, PwC called the financial results of the top 40 "spectacular" as total revenues increased 32% to US$435 billion, breaking the $400 billion mark for the first time.

Chieftain Metals has initiated an important step in its 2011 operations plan by transporting heavy machinery and equipment via barge to the Tulsequah Chief mine site in north-western British Columbia.

Barrick Gold is suing Goldcorp over the El Morro copper mine in Chile, the Globe and Mail reported yesterday. According to the newspaper: Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp., (ABX-T44.24-0.39-0.87%) the world’s largest gold producer, is fighting Goldcorp Inc. (G-T46.82-0.59-1.24%)after the Vancouver company scooped up a majority stake in the El Morro development, one of the largest known copper and gold deposits in South America. Barrick alleges Goldcorp’s deal to buy Swiss miner Xstrata PLC’s 70-per-cent stake in El Morro was done illegally and is suing both parties, along with New Gold Inc., (NGD-T9.09-0.06-0.66%) which has a 30-per-cent stake in the project.

Toronto and London listed exploration and development company EMED Mining said on Tuesday it found significant potential new copper deposits near its Cerro Colorado open pit operations in Spain (pictured), sending its shares up over 5% in afternoon trade. In May the Cyprus-based company announced Andalucia, one of Spain's autonomous regions, gave approval for the plans to restart its flagship Rio Tinto copper mine, which was placed on care and maintenance in 2000. Production is scheduled to start in 2012 following further approvals.

The Canadian Press reports a group of shareholders in copper, nickel and platinum junior miner Ursa Major Minerals is looking to gather support for a bid to oust the company's board over the underperformance of its stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Merchant bank Forbes & Manhattan Inc. and Inspiration Mining Corp., which is Ursa Major's largest shareholder, said Tuesday they have filed a dissident proxy circular seeking backers for a move to elect new directors at an annual meeting June 23. Ursa Major was trading up 7.4% on the TSX by mid-day Tuesday.

Mercator Minerals is pleased to announce that that for the first two months of Q2 2011, the Company produced 7,538,130 pounds of copper and 1,128,674 pounds of molybdenum at its wholly owned Mineral Park mine in Arizona, as compared to total Q2 2011 production guidance for the months of April to June, given on March 8, 2011 of 10,163,548 pounds of copper and 1,033,558 pounds of molybdenum, representing 74% of the guided quarterly copper production and 109% of the guided quarterly molybdenum production during a period of two months of a three month quarter, with a full month of production to come. 

Profit margins for the world’s top 40 mining companies are below the historical peaks of 2006 and 2007 as higher costs outweigh […]

The world’s fifth largest copper mine, Chile’s El Teniente, worked at less than half of capacity on Monday as most workers stayed […]

Wesgold Minerals has struck an option agreement with a polymetallic property in Colombia. According to Canadian Press, Wesgold has acquired an option to buy up to 51 percent of a property that hosts iron-oxide-copper-gold deposits: The Vancouver-based junior miner says it bought the option for an initial 11 per cent interest in the property, known as the Cordoba Property, from Minatura International LLC for a total cash cost of $4 million. The property consists of a mining concession contract and several mining claims covering 25,790 hectares, about 200 kilometres north of Medellin.