Drill results boost Nighthawk Gold shares

Canadian miners Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. (TSX:PTQ) and Inmet Mining Corp. (TSX:IMN) have been on the news in recent weeks as the companies locked horns over land rights near the Cobre Panama copper project, run by Inmet’s subsidiary Minera Panama.

South African police fired tear gas on Thursday to disperse a group of striking coal miners a day after security guards killed two workers that had tried to break into a locked mine-explosives armoury at Forbes & Manhattan Coal Corp. (TSX:FMC) operations.

TransCanada Corp. (TSX,NYSE:TRP) will invest about $1 billion in a new natural gas pipeline in Mexico after being granted a permit to contract to build, own and operate the duct by the country's federal power company, the Comision Federal de Electricidad or CFE.

$15 billion of investment in Labrador mining projects over the next decade may be jeopardized by the lack of energy sources unless alternatives, such as generating power from the Muskrat Falls, are put in place.

Cost burdens continue to upset Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE, TSX: ABX), as the globe's top gold miner hiked Thursday its cash cost guidance for 2012 and warned that costs at its massive Pascua-Lama project will be almost three times more than the $3 billion announced in 2009.

Canada’s federal government has launched a formal investigation into the use of foreign workers at a HD Mining International Ltd.’s coal mine in northern British Columbia, joining the provincial government, which opened an inquiry last week.

Canada’s economy shrank 0.1% in August, the first drop in six months, driven mainly by depressed manufacturing and energy sectors, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (TSX:POT) is allegedly in talks with the Israeli government concerning a potential merger/ takeover of Israel Chemicals Ltd. in a deal that may be worth over $13.5 billion.

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (TSX:COS) increased its 2012 cash flow guidance by 20% after reporting third-quarter net income climbed to $338-million as lower operating expenditures offset a decline in revenues.