About $5B in assets to be sold due to Barrick-Randgold merger — expert

Lucara Diamond provided an update on the development of its 100% owned AK6 diamond project in Botswana. The AK6 mine, to be commissioned by year end, will ramp up to full production in early 2012 to deliver over 400,000 carats of high quality diamonds in its first year of operation. As at the end of May there were over 400 construction crew members on site and a total of 326,000 hours worked. With the overall project execution at 64% the project remains on target for process plant commissioning to commence in the Q4 of this year. Engineering is now 91% complete; procurement is at 81%; fabrication and delivery at 55%; and construction at 39% complete.

The World Diamond Council has expressed its regret about the inconclusive end to the Kimberley Process Intersessional Meeting in Kinshasa last week. The main goal of the meeting was to finally resolve the issue of diamond exports from Zimbabwe. This did not happen.

Rio Tinto's $US10 billion-plus Simandou iron ore project in Guinea is rapidly pressing ahead, but not like a typical giant development by the Anglo-Australian mining giant. By the end of the year, Rio is expected to have spent close to $US2bn ($1.9bn) on Simandou, including a $US700 million settlement payment to the government, and to begin construction of a project it has committed to produce from in 2015.

Zimbabwe has been given the green light to sell diamonds from its Marange diamond fields by the industry's leading certification system, but the decision did not have the backing of all members. Participants of the Kimberley Process, which aims to stop "conflict diamonds" entering the market, met this week in Democratic Republic of Congo to discuss the Marange diamond fields but remained divided over a final statement.

The World Gold Council (WGC) produced a draft framework of standards designed to combat gold that enables, fuels or finances armed conflict. The standards, which were compiled together with the WDC’s member companies and leading gold refiners are designed to enable miners to produce a stream of newly-mined gold that is certified as “conflict free” on a global basis. Image of Ethiopian soldier is from Wikipedia.

Perseus Mining Limited (ASX/TSX: PRU) is pleased to announce that the US$85 million Project Finance Facility provided to Perseus’s 90%-owned subsidiary, Central Ashanti Gold Limited (“CAGL”), by Macquarie Bank Limited and Credit Suisse AG has been drawn down. To date, approximately US$152 million of the estimated US$174 million capital cost of Perseus’s Central Ashanti Gold Project in Ghana has been funded by equity capital raised by Perseus. The balance of construction costs will be financed using funds drawn under the debt facility.

"Cost inflation has been experienced at all operations," continued Mr. Stothart. "The industry is experiencing higher costs for fuel, consumables and labour in all regions this year, as well as higher royalties commensurate with the higher gold prices. Even with these higher costs, and a conservative gold price assumption of $1,200 per ounce, we believe that the projected cash flow from our operations combined with our current cash position will fund our significant three-year $1.2 billion investment to expand production at our existing gold mines and further strengthen our balance sheet."

On Tuesday Zambia's Finance Minister mocked Zimbabwe and South Africa for planning to forcibly raise government stakes in foreign mines, saying "the Zambian miner in 1970s was a happier miner than a miner during the period of state ownership of the mines.” Under Zimbabwe's on-again off-again indigenization policy mining companies were granted until the beginning of June to submit proposals about transferring majority ownership to locals while there are growing calls within the ruling party in South Africa to move ahead with nationalization as called for in the country's Freedom Charter.

London-listed Gem Diamonds said in a statement on Monday that it will drill four boreholes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in partnership with VOX United, a non-governmental organisation to provide the bushmen or Basarwa living in the reserve with water. The community is locked in a bitter battle with the Botswana government which accuses them of depleting the park's natural resources, while the Basarwa say that the government is violating their rights by trying to relocate them and that their impact on the environment is negligible.