World number one miner BHP Billiton on Monday bought five additional exploration plots near its giant Olympic Dam mine and expansion project, destined to become the world's largest open pit.

After a reasonably long period of sustained and occasionally dramatic escalations, commodity markets in general, and precious metals markets in particular, have declined. This is normal and healthy behavior, even if it is uncomfortable for some market participants.

Patriot Coal has closed another mine, bringing to four the number of its coal operations shut this year due to continuing weakness in market demand. The St. Louis-based company is idling the Freedom underground mine in Kentucky, giving 60 days notice to its employees.

Prosperity Goldfields Corp. ("Prosperity") (TSX VENTURE:PPG) andSmash Minerals Corp. ("Smash") (TSX VENTURE:SSH) provide an update on their amalgamation and the core drilling program at Prosperity's Kiyuk Lake gold property, Nunavut.

A South Korean conglomerate has cited global economic uncertain as a key reason for pulling out of a US$324 million deal with Australia-based Cockatoo Coal.

China's state-owned CNMC's Hong Kong IPO could raise as much as $500 million.

A past-producing colliery in one of North America's oldest coal mining belts is on its way to resuming production, says a story today in Halifax Media Co-op.

A shuttered mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is attracting some unusual publicity, with persistent rumours that the owners are considering growing medical marijuana.

"The quality of this relationship with China's largest importer of copper concentrates provides further evidence that there is considerable interest in the high grade massive sulphides being found by the emerging seafloor resource production industry," said Nautilus CEO Stephen Rogers.