Billionaire investor George Soros sold most of his holdings in the bullion-backed SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust (IAU) funds in the first quarter and bought shares of mining companies Goldcorp Inc. and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX), a government filing shows. Soros Fund Management LLC held 49,400 shares of SPDR Gold Trust as of March 31, compared with 4.721 million at the end of the fourth quarter, the filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed.  Flickr image is from the World Economic Forum.

Global mining company Rio Tinto has raised a total of $2 billion bonds in long-term debt bonds, it said on Wednesday. The offer, registered in the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, consisted of $700 million in 5-year notes with a coupon of 2.5 percent, $1 billion in 10-year bonds with a 4.125 percent coupon and $300 million in 30-year bonds paying a 5.2 percent coupon.

Gold producer Jaguar Mining Inc posted a quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates helped by surging bullion prices, sending its New York-listed shares up almost 7 percent in extended trading. For the January-March quarter adjusted profit was $10.3 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with an adjusted loss of $3.7 million, or 4 cents a share, a year ago.

Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS)(AIM:NUS) has completed its 2010/11 seafloor drilling program, with the vessel REM Etive having demobilized in Singapore on May 16, 2011. During the drilling program in the Bismarck Sea of Papua New Guinea, Nautilus completed a 99-hole diamond drilling project, for a total of 1,475 metres.

The proposed development of one of South Australia’s most significant infrastructure projects - a new multi-million dollar bulk commodities export facility at Port Bonython on Spencer Gulf - has taken a significant step forward. The South Australian Government and Spencer Gulf Port Link Consortium, the group originally selected by the government as its preferred bidder for project, jointly announced a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be undertaken into the project. The consortium comprises Flinders Port Holdings, Leighton Contractors, Macquarie Capital, BIS Industrial Logistics and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).

Coal India, the world's largest coal producer, is on a high. The state-run company is set to pick up a 15% stake in a joint venture with US-based coal firm Peabody Energy's $600 million mining project in Australia. The deal size could be upwards of $100 million. Officials privy to the discussion said both the companies were mulling over the exact details and were to form a joint venture company to tackle the Wilkie Creek coal mine, in Queensland, Australia, which is owned by Peabody.

Exploration junior Mesa Exploration Corp. hopes to kick off a drilling program soon at its potash project in Utah after filing a positive technical report in May. The property is adjacent to the Cane Creek mine where potash has been mined for 45 years. Listed on the TSX Venture Exchange with a market cap just shy of $10m and only 12.6m shares outstanding, Mesa recently changed its name from Mesa Uranium Corp. to reflect its broader exploration focus which include among others its flagship Green Energy Project, a large brine deposit containing 40% dissolved solids, also in Utah.

On the same day the premiers of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia toured a potash mine in Penobsquis, NB's mining commissioner began hearing from residents of a nearby town who blame the mine, operated by Potash Corp. for a loss of 60 water wells about six years ago. The mining company initially provided the residents with bottled water, but the provincial government has since installed a municipal water system.

Los Angeles Times published a photo essay on May 14 looking at child labour in the coal mines located in India: "Times South Asia bureau chief Mark Magnier and photojournalist Daniel Berehulak report on the mining situation in the Jaintia Hills district of India, located in the northeastern state of Meghalaya. Perhaps as many as thousands of underage workers as young as 8, lured by the wages, leave school to work in coal mines under perilous conditions."