BlueRock finds another exceptional diamond at South African mine

Approximately 1,500 workers staged an open-ended sit-in Sunday in the Red Sea gold mine of Sukari, objecting to the decision of the mine’s operating company, Centamin-Egypt, to lay off a number of mine workers.

Al Jazeera is reporting that more than 400 children have died from lead poisoning in the past two years in the Zamfara State of Nigeria as a result of artisanal gold mining.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's new prime minister has ordered an investigation into the nation's mining industry after a damning report by an international watchdog found tens of millions of dollars a year in tax revenues were being lost in the system.

A new method of underground gold mining, being tested by AngloGold Ashanti, is filling headlines in the country, as the method has the potential to reverse the decline in South Africa’s gold output.

Neville Nicolau, the head of Anglo American’s platinum business is leaving the company, after the South African unit warned its earnings per share for the first half could drop as much as 78%.

Profit for De Beers, the world's number two diamond producer after Russia's Alrosa, is down 53% for the first half of 2012 affected by worries over consumer demand and shortage of financing for cutters and polishers.

Halifax-based Metals Economics Group (MEG) published Thursday its Pipeline Activity Index (PAI), which shows equity financing conditions continue to take their toll, as gold companies were able to raise only $445 million through equity placements in May-June—the lowest two-month total since late 2008.

China Mining United Fund plans to establish a collaborative China/Africa equity fund to pursue minority stakes in gold, iron-ore and metal companies in Africa and other parts of the world, and which could raise $2 billion in investment capital.

The most deep-pocketed shopper among the 150 or so boutiques in Khartoum’s gold district is the Sudanese central bank.