Canada’s most valuable oil companies Suncor and Canadian Natural Resource – together worth over $100bn – were trading down over 3% on Thursday before recovering some ground following news that 2m barrels of oil per day - equal to Canada's total daily exports to the US – will be released onto the market over the next month. The International Energy Agency said 28 of its members, with the US providing about half of the total, would tap their strategic oil reserves in an effort to make up for lost output as Libya's civil war drags on.

By early afternoon on Thursday 7.5% or over $400m had been wiped off the value of Harmony Gold Mining stock in New York, the worst performer in an index of 50 of the largest gold and silver counters. Other South African gold miners were also punished with both Anglogold Ashanti and Gold Fields down over 5%. Some South African produces are struggling with cash outlays of $1,200/ounce – almost double the global average – thanks to a strong currency, wage disputes, power supply problems and geological issues. As the gold price eases as much as 180,000 oz of quarterly production are being put at risk.

Mining businesses in Fiji have concluded that there is an urgent need for training in specific mining skills in Fiji, reports The Fiji Times Online.

"What will happen is that when the need arises, we will have to fill a lot of positions with overseas workers and pay them expatriate rates at a huge cost to our business," mining industry management said. [National Training and Productivity Centre] Lautoka manager Rupeni Lewetuitovo said the mining industry was growing and the centre would look at how it could assist in training workers.

The World Gold Council (WGC) produced a draft framework of standards designed to combat gold that enables, fuels or finances armed conflict. The standards, which were compiled together with the WDC’s member companies and leading gold refiners are designed to enable miners to produce a stream of newly-mined gold that is certified as “conflict free” on a global basis. Image of Ethiopian soldier is from Wikipedia.

China's top economic planner on Thursday reiterated a ban on favourable power tariffs for power-intensive sectors as the world's second-largest electricity consumer struggles to deal with its worst power crisis in seven years. Last year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) asked local governments and power suppliers to cancel favourable power prices for aluminium, ferroalloy and calcium carbide makers, and said preferential power rates for direct trade between power generators and power users but without approval must be halted.

Australian coking coal producer Caledon Resources said it agreed to be bought by a Chinese investment group for 313.1 million pounds ($507 million), in a long-awaited deal which has finally met Chinese regulatory approval. China's Guangdong Rising Assets Management Co (GRAM) first approached Queensland-focused Caledon with a 112 pence per share offer in November to which Caledon agreed in principle, subject to approval from the Chinese regulators.

Tiffany & Co. today announced the appointment of Patrick F. McGuiness as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Outgoing CFO James N. Fernandez has been appointed to the newly-created role of chief operating officer.

Perseus Mining Limited (ASX/TSX: PRU) is pleased to announce that the US$85 million Project Finance Facility provided to Perseus’s 90%-owned subsidiary, Central Ashanti Gold Limited (“CAGL”), by Macquarie Bank Limited and Credit Suisse AG has been drawn down. To date, approximately US$152 million of the estimated US$174 million capital cost of Perseus’s Central Ashanti Gold Project in Ghana has been funded by equity capital raised by Perseus. The balance of construction costs will be financed using funds drawn under the debt facility.

Brazilian miner Vale (VALE5.SA:Quote) said on Wednesday it had scrapped plans to sell stock in its fertilizer division, and would take the unit private, buying shares in the company it does not already own. Vale plans to pay up to 2.2 billion reais (US$1.4 billion) to buy out minority investors of Vale Fertilizantes, whose main asset is a stake in Fosfertil (FFTL4.SA: Quote).