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.

The capital city will cap its annual coal consumption at 20 million tons by 2015, as part of its plan to release less carbon and further reduce air pollution, the municipal commission of development and reform said on Monday.

Universal Coal (ASX: UNV) has secured the Donkin licence area, adjacent to the Somerville coking coal project in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, on a farm-in basis. Based on historical drilling data, the farm Donkin 72MS property has a Inferred JORC Resource of 42.4 million tonnes, covering the northern extent of a farm area of 1,178 hectares, with the potential for coking coal and open pit access.

A government panel is working on a strategy to encourage discovery of rare earth elements in India, Economic Times has revealed: "The committee will look into the current availability of rare earth and energy critical elements and decide the strategy for production to ensure long-term raw material security. It will also encourage the recovery of ECEs which can be found as byproducts in the production of other minerals."

China's 27 largest steel companies saw a 15.7% decrease in the first-half profits from a year earlier for a combined profit of $1.6 billion, according to the Shanghai-based researcher Wind Info, as soaring iron ore costs squeezed margins. The woes of China's steelmakers, which have been switching to cheaper low grade ore to cut costs as prices top $180/tonne, are in stark contrast to profits at miners. Last week results for BHP Billiton showed its iron ore division accounted for the bulk of its record $22 billion in profits. BHP, Vale and Rio Tinto – control nearly 70% of the 1 billion tonne annual iron ore seaborne trade and dominate price talks.

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.

Crosshair Exploration & Mining Corp. (TSX:CXX) has launched a US$12.85 million hostile bid for US uranium assets owned by Australian American Mining Corporation Limited (ASX:AIW). Crosshair has written directly to AusAm shareholders to outline their proposal and call on shareholders to support Crosshair's efforts to "unlock the value in AusAm." Under the proposal, AusAm would receive consideration of US$12.85 million in Crosshair shares, in return for AusAm's uranium assets in Nevada, Texas and New Mexico.

Gold for December delivery rose 2.6% or $46.50 to $1,838.20 an ounce in New York on Tuesday, making up some of the ground the precious metal had lost since coming close to $1,900 last week. An inflation hedge, bullion is up nearly 30% so far this year as cheap money floods markets thanks to the US Federal Reserve's loose policy. This week minutes showed the central bank had considered tying interest rate policy to a specific unemployment level, an unprecedented move. US unemployment was pegged at 9.1% in July versus a post-WWII average of 5.7%.