Zimbabwe's government has given foreign companies including miners and banks a 14-day ultimatum to submit plans on how they propose to transfer majority stakes to local owners or risk losing permits, state media reported on Friday. However, immediately thereafter the country's central bank governor Gideon Gono launched a scathing attack on the minister responsible for the indigenization policy saying the threats “could irreparably harm the nerve-centre of the recovering economy.” Before a new unity government in 2009 Zimbabwe economy had shrank by as much as half over the preceding decade amid hyperinflation, property seizures and civil unrest. The country is the number two platinum producer in the world and rich in gold and diamonds.

Anglo American is exploring a bid for Macarthur Coal that would challenge Peabody Energy Corp.’s $4.9 billion offer for the Australian miner, said two people with knowledge of the matter. Anglo American, part owner of the world’s biggest platinum and diamond producers, is studying Macarthur’s finances, said one of the people, who declined to be identified as the talks are private. Buying Brisbane-based Macarthur would give Anglo steelmaking-coal mines in Australia as prices trade near a record. Peabody and its bidding partner, ArcelorMittal, took their offer directly to Macarthur shareholders after talks with the board collapsed.

London and Toronto-listed Noventa announced Friday that it placed 73,600,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 25 pence each with institutions and other investors to raise roughly $30.3 million. The specialty metal miner with operations in Mozambique is also extending an offer to shareholders to subscribe for a total of 17,500,000 new ordinary shares to raise up to a further US$7.2 million. In London stock in Noventa duly plunged 24% to 27.75 pence in line with the placing price of 25 pence.

Thompson Citizen: A group of aboriginal and northern youth have graduated from the MKO Resource Rangers program at Egg Lake in northern Manitoba, readied by the industry-based training program for careers in Manitoba's natural resource sectors.

It aims to prepare aboriginal youth aged 15 to 18 for employment and careers in forestry, mining, hydro energy, conservation and other Northern Manitoba natural resource sectors. Comprising classroom training and hands-on work experience, the Resource Rangers program is five weeks long delivered through partners including MKO, industrial employers, the provincial government, the home communities of participants and the Frontier School Division. Students who complete the program may be eligible for high school credits through the Frontier School Division.

In a surprise announcement Papua New Guinea on Friday introduced a plan to hand state ownership of mineral and energy resources to landowners, a move that may prove disastrous to foreign miners developing massive projects and pushing into new regions of the resource-rich country. The announcement by PNG's new leader comes ahead of elections in 2012 that many observers have warned is bound to lead to civil unrest. The move may also derail PNG's economy which is booming with growth this year expected to reach 11%. The mining industry employs roughly 30,000 people and supplies 80% of export earnings.

Despite a relatively stable day for stocks on Wall Street, gold futures continued its upward spiral on Friday trading above 1,850/oz after touching a new record high of $1,881/oz in morning trade. A string of bad news about the US economy including declines in manufacturing activity, higher than expected retail inflation and higher jobless numbers on top of deepening fears about the soundness of Europe's financial system, sent investors scurrying for the safe haven of gold and silver. So far this year gold has gained more than 30% and silver, trading at $42.20/oz on Friday, has soared 40%.

The darkening economic outlook this month has sent investors out of the palladium market in droves, but the coming months of uncertainty are likely to be more of a cooling-off period than an end to their romance with last year's star performer.

Gold futures on the COMEX traded above $1,800/oz on Thursday as bad economic news continues to mount and market sentiment turns. On Thursday, the S&P/TSX Composite index fell nearly three percent. The S&P/ASX 200 was off 3.51%. Markets worry that Europe could pull the world economy down due to a spreading euro-zone fiscal crisis.

The world Zinc surplus for the first half of 2011 has increased by 8% compared to the entire 2010, with the Chinese inventories at historically highest levels reported the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS)