Lucara Diamond moves forward with ‘stone by stone’ sales plan

AngloGold Ashanti reported record quarterly profits on Thursday of $342 million, up a whopping 68%, boosted by the precious metal's longest winning streak in almost a century. The world’s third-largest gold miner cut production guidance by over 4% and said it expected its cash costs to rise as much as $80/oz however. The Johannesburg-based company's CEO said the gold market is entering "a perfect storm" and that gold could “easily” break through $1,700 an ounce. December gold reversed its record setting pace by midday on Thursday to trade at $1,661.70 after touching $1,684.90 in early trade.

Up 103% since the start of the year stock in Allana Potash Corp, advancing a project in Ethiopia was trading steady on Thursday after the company announced it had intersected strong potash mineralization in an area not previously drilled at its 160 square km Dallol project in Ethopia. Listed on the TSX-Venture exchange Allana's East Africa project has the backing of the World Bank and most the latest announcement comes on the heels of a string of discoveries at its land position in Dalol, part of the Danakil Depression (pictured).

Base metals miner Metorex is expected to delist from the JSE in early December, following the completion of a takeover by Chinese group Jinchuan which made a R9.1bn ($7.3bn) offer for Metorex last month. Jinchuan said that the acquisition of Metorex provided it with an opportunity to acquire a scalable African copper producer with a strong management team and substantial growth potential.

A strike in South Africa's gold mining sector ended on Tuesday after a 2-year wage deal was clinched, unions and the Chamber of Mines said. The strike at AngloGold Ashanti , Gold Fields and Harmony began last Thursday and halted output worth up to $25 million a day at bullion's current record prices. About 100,000 gold mine workers will to return to work, starting with the Tuesday night shift. The companies' share prices extended gains on the news as gold scaled new highs over $1,635.00 an ounce on growing concerns about Europe's debt woes and anaemic U.S. growth data.

Businessweek quotes a confidential report prepared for South Africa's mining CEOs as saying South Africa’s ruling party is closer to some form of nationalization than at any other time since the end of apartheid. A government takeover of mines could choke investments in a country with metal and mineral reserves estimated at 2.5 trillion and lead to a collapse of the currency, the rand. Firebrand Julius Malema (pictured), the leader of the youth wing of the ruling African National Congress which often acts as kingmaker in the country’s politics, is spearheading the campaign to seize mines, farms and banks. Malema is never far from headlines in the country with racially charged comments but now an anti-corruption police unit is probing a trust fund owned by him allegedly being used to funnel payments in exchange for securing government tenders.

African Minerals Ltd., closed up 7.1% in London on Monday after completing an investment accord with Shandong Iron & Steel Group Co bringing the counter's gains for the year to 57% and giving it a market capitalization of some $3.6 billion. Shandong will invest $1.5 billion for a 25% stake in African Minerals' massive the Tonkolili iron-ore project in Sierra Leone. Phase I of the project will cost $1.2bn and includes railway and port reconstruction in the war torn country while phase II and III will add another $8 billion to the bill. Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest nations, is attracting increasing investments in its natural resources which also include diamonds and bauxite.

Workers in South Africa's coal sector are expected to return to their posts on Tuesday after the unions and the SA Chamber of Mines signed a two-year wage agreement, ending an eight-day strike. 150,000 workers at miners Anglo American Thermal Coal, Delmas Coal, Exxaro Coal Mpumalanga, Kangra Coal, Optimum Coal and Xstrata Coal were on strike over wages. Talks with striking workers in the country's gold sector, where 200,000 workers are on strike continued on Monday. Mineworkers are asking for a 14% wage increase – far above the inflation rate in Africa's largest economy which hovers around the 4% level.

Mining and exploration company Firestone Diamonds has announced a financing plan that will raise £13.5 million and provide updated development plans for its diamond mining and evaluation projects in Lesotho and Botswana.

The Tanzanian government has planned a USD 400 million uranium mining project by Australian based Mantra Resources in the Selous Game Reserve, a project that will greatly boost the country’s economy.