An environmental engineer says Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) should not have reopened its uranium mine within Kakadu National Park last month without committing to a waste water treatment plan. The company had to stop processing uranium ore for five months during the Northern Territory wet season because its radioactive tailings dam got too close to capacity. Image of Ranger Uranium Mine in Kakadu National Park, east of Darwin, Australia was uploaded to Wikipedia by Stephen Codrington

StockMarketWire.com reports shares in Vane Minerals  jumped by over 17% after it revealed higher grade gold/silver production as a result of the joint venture formed with the Ruiz Brothers in June last year.  The results are the first that report the recovery progress from switching feedstock from solely Vane's wholly-owned Diablito mine to combining areas owned and mined by Ruiz. Headed by the ex-head of exploration at Freeport-McMoRan, Steven Van Nort, Vane also has gold and copper exploration projects in Mexico and Paraguay and uranium assets in Utah and Arizona.

Agence France Presse reports Argentina is promoting the idea of an OPEC-like cartel for itself, Bolivia and Chile – which together control 85% of the world's reserves of lithium – to manage prices and limit overproduction. A ton of lithium, worth around $2,500 in 2004, now sells for more than $6,000 and its greatest use is expected to be in electric vehicles: if electric cars achieve a 5% penetration rate by 2020, 60,000 tons of lithium will be needed to fill the demand according to one analyst but recycling would reduce demand for virgin materials.

According to reports more than 7,000 workers from Freeport McMoRan's massive gold and copper mine in Indonesia's western Papua region started a week-long strike on Monday to demand better wages. The Grasberg mine is the richest gold and third largest copper mine in the world and and the US company's local subsidiary is the largest single taxpayer to the Indonesian government.

AFP reports the Antwerp diamond industry, world capital of the gem, on Monday announced an investment deal with leading Chinese bank ICBC, which could act as an intermediary to provide finance for diamond transactions in Antwerp. Around 80% of the trade in uncut diamonds and half of world trade in cut stones transits through the Flemish town, which is facing increasing competition, including from India.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) officially embarked on strike action on Monday, following a breakdown in negotiations at the end of June, saying it would not budge on its demands for a 13% across-the-board hike, better working conditions and a ban on labour brokers. Numsa, which represents about 120 000 workers, is being joined by five other trade unions, jointly representing at least another 50 000 workers. The strike action comes hard on the heels of growing alarm among South African mines about the impact of increasing talk of nationalization from factions within the ruling party.

South Africa's Pilanesberg Platinum mining operations remain halted more than a week after employees of a contractor disrupted operations through intimidation of supervisors, industrial action and damage to property and equipment. The company said in a statement released on Monday its concentrator has operated at full capacity throughout and produced a record amount of metal in June. Platmin has lost a tenth of its value on the Toronto bourse since halting operations and is down more than 40% over the last twelve months. The mid-tier producer has a market capitalization of some $510m.

News24 reports new hydraulic technology from South Africa's Peterstow Aquapower has the potential to change the way mining is done if widely adopted in the industry. The drill technology uses water as a hydraulic fluid instead of oil but also no external air compression or water as with conventional mining. The drill presents a "plug-and-play" system for mining as it promises to reduce costs and work more effectively. The machines cut the water use by 80% and can save about 28% of electricity costs for a mining operation.

Canadian miner High River Gold Mines Ltd said it received a 20-year mining license in Burkina Faso to explore and construct a gold mine at its Bissa gold project in West Africa. The company, which has properties located mainly in Russia and Burkina Faso in Africa, said the license could be renewed.