Canadian miner sells cobalt assets in Ontario

Australia's Macarthur Coal has backed a slightly sweetened A$4.9 billion ($5.2 billion) takeover offer from Peabody Energy and ArcelorMittal . Peabody and ArcelorMittal raised their offer by 3 percent to A$16 a share and will also add Macarthur's A$0.16 a share dividend, for a total offer value of A$16.16. Macarthur bowed to the higher offer after fending off four takeover attempts over the past three years.

Australian gold production has risen by 10 percent as new mines came into production and ancient operations revived. The nation’s gold output in the year to June 30 totalled 270 tonnes, up 24 tonnes on the previous financial year, according to Melbourne-based gold sector consultants Surbiton Associates

Global miner BHP Billiton Ltd is looking to build a new rail line between some of its inland Australian coal mines and the coast in a move that could threaten dominant coal haulage firm QR National Ltd, a newspaper said.

Earthquake and disruptions related to the Pike River mining disaster slashed Solid Energy's profit by about $35 million. Also, its renewable energy businesses are not profitable and made a loss of $17m in the year to June 30. However, the state-owned coal miner's chairman, John Palmer, said the company produced a strong performance, with a 29 per cent increase in profit to $87.2m for the year to June 2011 from a 20 per cent lift in sales to $829m.

A proposed open-cast coal mine on West Coast conservation land has gained resource consents because of its economic benefits. West Coast Regional Council released the decision yesterday to grant consents for a subsidiary of Perth-based Bathurst Resources Ltd to mine 200 hectares in the Mt Rochfort Conservation Area on Denniston Plateau, near Westport.

Amid pressure from the Greens for the government to make the mining tax even harsher, the Prime Minister today urged Tony Abbott to force the mining industry to share the benefits of the boom. “Is this really a time for anybody to come to this parliament and say the MRRT should be opposed ... in view of the profitability of mines and the pressures we know are on other sections of the economy because of the high Aussie dollar?” she said. “That is a strategy for wrecking.”

Shares of Minara Resources jumped 36% today on news of a takeover bid by Swiss-based commodities trader Glencore Resources. Glencore, which went public in May with an astonishing $11 billion IPO, is seeking to buy a minority position in Minara, of which it already owns 73.4%, for AU$268 million.

BHP Billiton reported record annual results and beat analyst estimates in the process, after prices of copper, iron ore and coal reached all-time highs because of demand from China. Profit at the world's biggest miner surged 86% for the 12 months $23.6 billion, a full $1.4 billion ahead of expectations, on the back of earnings from iron ore, its biggest division, which jumped 122% to $13.3 billion.

Macarthur Coal Ltd. has nearly doubled its full year profit and repeated its advice to shareholders to reject a takeover offer from U.S energy giant Peabody Energy Corp. and Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal. The company's 241 million Australian dollars ($253 million) profit for the fiscal year through June announced Wednesday was up 93 per cent from AU$125 million in the previous year despite reduced production due to record rainfall.