SolGold on a roll, confirms major copper-gold target at Ecuador project

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (Harmony) is pleased to announce that it has reached a mutually acceptable settlement with the lead plaintiff in the class action filed against it in the United States (US) District Court for the Southern District of New York in May 2008. The settlement requires final approval from the court on or after a hearing scheduled for the 10th of November 2011 and no assurance can be given that the settlement will ultimately be approved.

Dow Jones reports resource nationalism is the top business risk for the top 30 global miners, while supply capacity constraints ranging from skills shortage to infrastructure bottlenecks continue to dominate the top ten list, according to an annual survey by consultants Ernst & Young. Resource nationalism jumped to the top of the list this year from fourth in 2010 after 25 countries announced their intentions to increase their take of the mining industry's profits and others contemplate outright nationalization. Fraud, bribery and corruption sneaked onto the list of top concerns for the first time as a number of countries introduce or tighten rules for executives operating in countries that rank high on corruption indices.

Mining and energy firms have swooped to buy more than 390,000ha across Queensland Australia despite almost unanimous opposition to the sell-off of prime farming land. In the Surat Basin west of Brisbane, small farming communities have been decimated as the race for mining riches forces families off properties after decades of working the land. Fears over the impact of the mining squeeze on communities prompted angry locals to rally at Oakey, while an inquiry has been announced by the New South Wales Parliament into the environmental impacts of the coal seam gas industry.

Australian shares have fallen to levels not seen since the GFC as investors reacted to the carnage on Wall St and European markets overnight. The local market shed more than $50 billion on Friday, and around $100 billion in the week, the worst performance since November 2008. RBS Morgans private client adviser Bill Bishop said developed economies had reached a point where there appeared no clear way to avoid an economic downturn.

Peabody Energy Corp. is leaving the door open for a rival bidder to step in for Macarthur Coal Ltd. by offering less for the Australian mining company than it did last year, even as profit is projected to double.

Rio Tinto reported a surge in profits due to strong demand in Asia and higher metals prices on Thursday but shares in the company spiked lower in New York, opening down more than 7% and wiping more than $10 billion off the value of the globe's second largest miner. Net earnings for the first half year were $7.6bn, up 30% on the $5.8bn the firm made a year earlier. Commenting on the results chairman Jan du Plessis said the economic environment remains volatile but expected the Australia-based company continue to experience higher than average growth for the rest of the year. The company also said it was experiencing high cost inflation in some "mining hotspots" and cautioned that the strong Australian and Canadian dollar were impacting its profitability.

A new coal terminal proposed for Gladstone port's Wiggins Island in Queensland has met with delays for the third time this year, as the project's 16 coal company shareholders including Cockatoo Coal, Yancoal and Xstrata have still to raise all of the capital for the project. Costs for the first stage of the Wiggins Island coal terminal have escalated to A$3.7 billion ($3.9 billion) from A$2 billion in October 2010, a spokesman for the coal industry consortium that is backing the terminal said Wednesday.

The internet is fast growing into one of the Australia's strongest economic drivers, with a new report commissioned by search giant Google showing it had contributed more than $50 billion towards the country's gross domestic product last year. That sum equates to 3.6% of the economy, putting it on par with the economic value of iron ore exports according to the survey. While impressive, the figure is still dwarfed by the sums involved in iron ore mining in Australia and elsewhere, something Gina Rinehart can attest to. Rinehart, 57, is set to become the world richest person as her wholly-owned mines go into production in a couple of years, netting her a tidy $10 billion in annual profits.

Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan may soon have another foreign investment headache on his hands, as a Chinese entrepreneur says he has Beijing's backing to step around Australian investment rules and become the world's fourth force in iron ore. Liu Han, chairman Hanlong Group said the company could achieve it within 10 years, giving China ''a say'' in iron-ore price negotiations and stem as much as $80 billion in national losses flowing to the big producers.