Korea Resources Corporation (KORES) has reached a definitive agreement with Canadian Frontier Rare Earths Ltd. to secure a 10 per cent interest in the Zandkopsdrift rare earth element mining project in South Africa. The contract, signed in Johannesburg on Thursday, involves an investment by KORES in both Frontier and in the large-scale rare earth element project owned by the Canadian company, along with an off-take agreement that could commit up to 31 percent of future production.

Chile's state copper giant Codelco plans to invest over US$4 billions next year to speed up the development and construction work at several new mining projects, including Ministro Hales Mine (former Mansa) in the North of the country and the expansion of El Teniente, in the South. Meanwhile, global miner Anglo American's CEO Cynthia Carroll is allegedly under pressure to resolve the ongoing dispute with Codelco as soon as possible or shareholders will demand changes at the top, the Financial Times reports today.

Reuters reports Peruvian President Ollanta Humala declared a state of emergency late on Sunday banning assembly and giving police special powers of arrest to quell protests against Newmont Mining's Conga gold mine that have caused havoc across the region of Cajamarca for 11 days.

Speaking in an interview with MiningWeekly, CEO Mark Bristow said he expected deal making in the junior gold space to continue, as funding sources dry up.

BusinessLive reports Gold Fields, the world's fourth largest gold producer, is not averse to merger and acquisition activity but will not rely on it, said CEO Nick Holland on Monday. The company, which continues to target five million ounces in development or production by 2015, has spent the last two years aggressively growing its production.

The human rights organization – co-nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for its work on conflict diamonds – said the decision to allow diamonds from Zimbabwe's rich Marange fields means the money that flows from there ends up in the pockets of the Robert Mugabe-aligned military's top brass who could use it to organize support to intimidate the opposition in the run-up to elections. Hundreds were killed and thousands of local miners were driven off claims when the Zimbabwe army seized control of the Marange area in 2008.

CBC News reports a British Columbia First Nation has announced it's backing the Northern Gateway pipeline project to ship oil sands crude to the West Coast, despite fierce opposition from dozens of other groups in the area.

In a statement released to the Johannesburg stock exchange Monday, Gold Fields Limited said that production at its Cerro Corona mine in the Cajarmarca province in Peru has to date not been affected by the continuing protest actions against Newmont Mining and Buenaventura's proposed Conga gold mine.

Interfax-China reports that about half of China iron ore miners – mainly small and medium-sized firms – have suspended production in the face of dwindling profit margins.