Investors are finally seeing value in deal-hungry super-profitable Brazilian giant Vale

With a new government-backed CEO, a capex budget and acquisition war chest that dwarfs others, record net profits, a very generous dividend policy, strong fundamentals in its core business, aggressive expansion into high-growth areas and regions – notably potash and Africa – and a stock that looks downright cheap next to its peers, what is not to like about Vale? After slumping to an 8-month low less than a month ago it now seems investors are finally beginning to warm to the the diversified Brazilian miner. In the month since Murilo Ferreira has been head, the planet's third most valuable mining company has risen against the other supermajors and outperformed the broader market by 7%.

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Frik Els | June 16, 2011 | 7:19 pm

Richard Karn: 50 specialty metals under supply threat

The Emerging Trends Report is 18 months into a planned 4-year circumnavigation of Australia, investigating specialty metal projects and recommending ASX-listed companies to clients. In this exclusive interview with The Critical Metals Report, we caught up with ETR Managing Editor Richard Karn shortly after he delivered the keynote address to the 2011 Energy and Resource Symposium for an update on the specialty metals market down under.

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The Gold Report | June 14, 2011 | 7:35 pm

Prophecy secures Far East Russian port allocation, investing $25m in Ulaan Ovoo mine

Prophecy Coal Corp. announced on Tuesday it has entered into an arrangement with the Port of Sovgavan in the State of Khabarovsk, Russia whereby Prophecy will have initial access to port allocation of 25,000 tonnes per month starting in June, potentially expandable to 50,000 tonnes per month. Prophecy's Ulaan Ovoo mine commenced production in 2011 and year to date the mine has produced a total of 200,000 tonnes of coal, currently being stockpiled. In total, over $25 million has been committed or invested in the equipment and commissioning of the mine.

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MINING.com Editor | June 14, 2011 | 5:09 pm

South Africa mining output rebounds strongly, possible industrial action looms

South African mining output rebounded strongly in April, rising by 12.4% year-on-year, after contracting 1.4% in the previous month, a report by Statistics South Africa showed on Thursday. Year-to-date production increased by 5.2%, on the back of surging output of nickel, manganese, platinum group metals and copper but gold production continued to lag, only managing a 1.5% increase. Analysts warned that the outlook for the rest of year was clouded by scheduled wage negotiations across the industry that could lead to strikes and a strong currency which hampers competitiveness.

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Frik Els | June 9, 2011 | 6:46 pm

Dissident shareholder group looking to replace Ursa Major board

The Canadian Press reports a group of shareholders in copper, nickel and platinum junior miner Ursa Major Minerals is looking to gather support for a bid to oust the company's board over the underperformance of its stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Merchant bank Forbes & Manhattan Inc. and Inspiration Mining Corp., which is Ursa Major's largest shareholder, said Tuesday they have filed a dissident proxy circular seeking backers for a move to elect new directors at an annual meeting June 23. Ursa Major was trading up 7.4% on the TSX by mid-day Tuesday.

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MINING.com Editor | June 7, 2011 | 5:41 pm

Jim Mustard: Is the Yukon gold rush over-hyped?

Yukon explorers are just getting started, says Jim Mustard, vice president of investment banking, mining, at Vancouver-based PI Financial. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, he shares several of the Yukon companies he believes have the potential to produce significant returns for investors.

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The Gold Report | June 1, 2011 | 9:00 pm