VANCOUVER, Oct. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - By a narrow 280 - 246 (53 - 47%) margin, voters in Southwest Alaska's Lake & Peninsula Borough have supported a ballot measure that, if upheld by the courts, would restrict future development that affects more than one square mile of land within the 31,000 square mile borough. The Pebble Limited Partnership (the "Pebble Partnership" or "PLP") and the State of Alaska view the initiative sponsored by anti-Pebble activists as unconstitutional and unenforceable because it seeks to restrict development of state-owned resources on state lands through a municipal ordinance, and will challenge it in Alaska's Superior Court.

News reports from Australia say BHP Billiton may face delays in getting approvals for its $30 billion Olympic Dam expansion, as Greens and other minor parties holding the balance of power in the South Australian Parliament push for an inquiry into the project. The legal agreement between BHP and the State Government will be introduced to parliament on Tuesday or Wednesday, but the Greens now want BHP Billiton officials to appear before a parliamentary committee to investigate the indenture legislation for the expansion. The project will create an open pit mine adjacent to the current Olympic Dam underground operation that would be the world's biggest – trucks will haul overburden 24/7 for five to six years just to reach the ore body.

The FT reports in a European Commission report on green energy leaked Monday all scenarios point to wind farms becoming the biggest source of electricity in the bloc by 2050, outstripping both coal and nuclear power. Coal use could fall to very low levels it is predicted and gas would be the "bridging" fossil fuel for the next 20-plus years. Under these scenarios wind energy will more than triple its power output by 2020 and ten years later all of Europe's 240 million homes could be wind-powered. The downside is the average household's energy bill would double at the same time.

UKZambians reports Zambia's Mines Minister Wilbur Simusa says he expects total cooperation from the mining companies as government engages them on taxation and that they should brace for tough decisions ahead, but he added that he does not anticipate resistance. There is mounting pressure on Zambia's new president Michael Sata who took office on the promise of improving mining conditions and a bigger share of mining profits for Zambians after protests at a Chinese-owned copper mine earlier this month and a brief ban on metal exports to sort out revenue collection in Africa’s top copper producer.

Bloomberg reports Grupo Mexico must return $1.3 billion to Southern Copper Corp. for forcing the unit to overpay for Minera México, a Delaware judge ruled. The court found that the terms of the 2005 merger was unfair to Southern Copper which mines copper and silver in Peru and Mexico. The court determined that Minera Mexico, at the time the second richest copper miner after Chile's Codelco, was only worth $2.43 billion and not the $3.75 billion Southern Copper paid.

What better gauge of the health of the gold mining industry and the prospects for bullion than the value placed on the sector by miners themselves? Starting in June deals among other miners have ground to a halt but the first nine months of 2011 has been an astounding year for gold M&A, PwC reports.

China's state news agency reports all production at Freeport McMoran's Grasberg mine in a remote province of Indonesia has been halted after a pipeline was sabotaged, access to the pit and underground operations were blocked and three miners were killed in an ambush. The latest attack follows an incident last week when Indonesian security forces fired on striking workers after a protest turned violent, killing one and injuring a dozen other. Some 12,000 Workers at Grasberg began a strike on 15 September and has vowed to shut down the mine if hourly wages of $1.50 is not upped 8-fold. The local police chief said between 500 – 600 policemen are now billeted at the mine.

What is believed to be the world’s first air operated hoist with a lift capacity of 125 tons has been manufactured by materials handling and lifting specialists J D Neuhaus.

Canadian resource companies have less optimism than they had during the summer, according to the Bank of Canada's Business Outlook Survey, which was released on Monday. "Responses to the autumn survey point to less optimism among firms than in the summer survey, as weaker expectations for U.S. growth and a more uncertain global outlook weigh on business sentiment. Indicators of future business activity, capacity constraints and price pressures have all moved down from the levels recorded in the previous survey," wrote the survey's authors. Miners and other resource firms expect commodity prices will rise less rapidly over the next 12 months.