Lynas shares collapse on rumours of review in Malaysia

A small group of protestors converged on Lynas Corporation’s annual general meeting in Sydney yesterday in opposition to the company’s rare earth refinery in Malaysia.

Remember those pictures and videos of cars and trucks bobbing down a surging river in Brisbane? It could happen again. Business Standard reports that severe weather could be on its way to Queensland towards the end of the year: La Niña —a weather phenomenon characterised by unusually cool sea surface temperatures, leading to heavy rains in the Pacific region such as the Queensland floods — has re-emerged but is expected to weaker than last year, metrological agencies have said, adding that the La Niña could strengthen in intensity moving into 2012.

Australian gold producer, BCD Resources has announced that it will close its Beaconsfield underground gold mine next year as today's gold price it is not viable to mine below the current depth of 1210 metres, said CEO Peter Thompson. The announcement comes nearly a year after the mine retrenched close to 100 workers in an attempt to make it profitable. Currently, over 150 people work in the mine, 103 of them being full-time employees, as well as 16 casuals and 32 contractors.

Australian landowner Ian Moore has taken to court his battle against coal company NuCoal, which wants access to drill three boreholes on his property north of Sydney for its proposed Doyle’s Creek mine. Moore says he opposed the operations because of the potential damage it could cause to underground water supplies and because he is legally blind and relies on a visual memory of his property to farm, which the drilling operations and bore holes could hinder. The beef farmer has been backed up by locals, who fear their property could be next.

Investors are wondering why Russian steel-maker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works is buying Flinders Mines (ASX:FMS) for A$554 million. Flinder's main asset is the Pilbara iron ore project, a 917.3Mt JORC-compliant resource located in Western Australia. MMK is Russia's third largest steel company. Last year it had revenue of $7.7 billion and net income of $254 million.

Australia’s plan to impose a 30 percent tax on its booming iron ore and coal sectors cleared its biggest political hurdle on […]

Australian legal firm Minter Ellison predicts that lifting the ban on Australian uranium exports could present significant opportunities for mining companies in Australia, as Indian and other foreign state-owned enterprises look for uranium exploration opportunities in that country. Mineweb quotes the firm's Energy and Resources partner Andrew Thompson: "This reversal comes as welcome news to Australian mining companies that are currently restricted by the policy. It will see an increase in uranium export markets, as well as opportunities for foreign direct investment and increased capital for Australian uranium projects. "Australian uranium explorers and producers would benefit from India's increasing use of nuclear energy, which is expected to grow from 3% to 40% of total domestic electricity consumption by 2050."

The Wall Street Journal profiles a Western Australian mine worker who runs underground drills in remote mining towns.

BHP Billiton approved today a US$822 million (BHP Billiton share US$698 million) investment for the development of its Orebody 24 mine, located approximately 10 kilometres north-east of Newman, Western Australia. Orebody 24 is a sustaining mine to maintain iron ore production output from the Newman Joint Venture operations. The new Orebody 24 mine will have a capacity of 17 million tonnes per annum (100 per cent basis) and will include the construction of an ore crushing plant, train loadout facility, rail spur and other associated support facilities. Initial mining from Orebody 24 will start in the second half of calendar year 2012.