Nutrien speeds up sale of $4bn-stake in Chilean lithium giant SQM

Stock in US coal giant Peabody Energy and India's ArcelorMittal surged on Monday after their joint bidding vehicle secured a 59.85% stake in Australian metallurgical-coal miner Macarthur Coal and raised its offer for the whole of the company to $5.1 billion. The deal comes despite the planned introduction of an onerous carbon tax next year which should put further pressure on Australia's miners already dealing with rising labour costs thanks to the strong Aussie dollar. The takeover is also amid falling coking coal prices which according to a new report is set to pull back to $240/tonne towards the end of next year from historic highs of $330/tonne.

Alacer Gold (TSE:ASR) reports no injuries or damage occurred at the Çöpler Gold Project after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the southern part of Turkey. Over 200 people are confirmed dead with hundreds of more casualties expected. Structural damage near the earthquake is extensive. The U.S. Geological Survey reported the epicenter was in the village of Tabani, about 410 kilometers southeast of Çöpler.

Helicon Group, an Australian medical company, will spend $3 million to develop a cancer therapy that relies on magnets and iron ore. Nanoparticles of iron ore are injected into a tumour while a magnet is used to heat the tumour and destroy it. Fabio Pannuti, Helicon Group's chief executive, said the treatment is still in its early stages.

BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) had a record quarter for iron ore production, the company announced today, with shipments from Western Australia reaching 173 million tonnes, a 28% increase over the same period last year. Quarterly production records were also achieved at New South Wales Energy Coal and Illawarra Coal in both Australia, Cerrejon Coal in Colombia, and the Alumar refinery in Brazil.

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.

BHP Billiton has convinced the New South Wales state government to carve out a piece of a proposed national park to be used for coal mining. Sydney Morning Herald reported that "the Minister for the Environment, Robyn Parker, confirmed a finger of the proposed national park reaching to the Georges River will be left to the company for longwall mining. Another swatch of land in the centre of the park will also be mined under the compromise, but there would be no undermining of the national park."

Ironback Zinc (ASX:IBG) announced on Thursday that Glencore International (LON:GLEN) will help the company with a US$50 million funding facility to advance […]

St. Louis Business Journal reports Peabody Energy on Thursday received clearance from the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China to proceed with its and ArcelorMittal’s $4.7 billion takeover bid for Macarthur Coal Ltd. in Australia. The Macurthur deal is good news for the US giant after it recently lost out on a chance to co-develop the world’s largest deposit of high-quality coking coal. Miners are scrambling for coal assets and coal for power-generation has averaged about $130/tonne this year from less than $100 in 2010 while metallurgical coal has been trading at record levels of $330/tonne.

Crocodile Gold Corp. (TSX:CRK)(OTCQX:CROCF)(FRANKFURT:XGC) ("Crocodile Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce additional high grade intersections from a drill hole at Crosscourse Deposit, Union Reefs. The intersections were found in a broad zone of medium grade mineralization and numerous sections of visible gold were seen throughout the significant core length beneath the Crosscourse pit. The entire 181.2 meter length from 389.2 to 570.4 meters returned an average grade of 1.81 g/t Au.