Environmentalists worry oilsands development could threaten whooping cranes, as new data shows the iconic endangered species continues to migrate through the increasingly industrialized area. G.P.S information collected last fall by U-S and Canadian agencies on 12 whoopers show that nine of them stopped in and around the oilsands region. Image from Flickr user szatmar666

Diamonds have the potential to act as building blocks for quantum computing. In an article published in Nature Physics last month, a group of researchers found that the nitrogen vacancy centre in a diamond can be used for quantum memory. The paper was published by the Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of California, Santa Barbara, California; and the Department of Physics, University of Konstanz. Researchers named were G. D. Fuchs, P. V. Klimov, and D. D. Awschalom.

Much has been made of China’s insatiable appetite for the world’s natural resources but demand growth from another Asian giant is changing the dynamics of the global steel market. Indian demand for steel grew 10 percent last year, helping push global demand to a record 1.4 billion tons in 2010. Over the past two years, India’s renewed economic growth has brought a dramatic increase in the country’s steel production as well as domestic consumption.

The world's largest copper producer, Codelco, is facing a 24-hour strike on Monday in opposition to a plan that workers say would move Chile's state-owned mining corporation toward privatization. The Federation of Copper Workers , which represents 15,000 of the company's 20,000 employees, called for the strike, which will be the company's first in 18 years.

Europe's largest copper producer Aurubis sees a trend for rising copper prices thanks to higher demand for more electronics goods, its chief executive told a German paper. "Even if there may be short-terms price swings in either direction... demand for copper is rising with increasing prosperity in countries such as China," Bernd Drouven told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

Australia's coalmining axis will shift to the north and west on the back of the Gillard government's carbon tax, according to industry leaders left frustrated by the plan revealed yesterday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Despite unveiling a $1.264 billion assistance package for what it believes will be the worst-affected coal mines, the Gillard government was accused by the Australian Coal Association of wrongly anticipating where the tax pain would be felt.

A strike paralyzing production at Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg mine, one of the world's largest sources of copper and gold, will extend into a second week after talks broke down between the company and workers, a union official said on Friday. The union, which represents 8,000 workers who have been on strike since Monday, asked U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX.N) to send Chairman James Moffett to the remote Indonesian mine to negotiate.

Australian contractor Leighton Holdings Limited revises down its full year 2010/11 financials with expected $427 million of loss versus its previous guidance for an after tax profit of $480 million. The revision is primarily due to write-backs of expected profit on the Airport Link project in Queensland and the Victorian Desalination Project, and an impairment of Leighton’s investment in the Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG).

The United States is poised to export the most coal since 1992 this year, filling a gap created when flooding interrupted Australian supplies and buoying shipments for railroads such as Union Pacific and CSX. Union Pacific, the nation’s largest railroad, may double coal exports this year to more than 4 million tonnes, said Doug Glass, the company’s vice president and general manager for energy. CSX predicts shipments may rise 33 percent to a record in 2011 after first-quarter volumes climbed 45 percent.