Tanzania threatens Acacia with closing North Mara over water pollution

The resource sector liked it and the environmentalists were less keen on Budget 2012.

The Canadian finance minister delivered a budget for the resource sector, promising faster project approvals and changes to immigration to increase manpower, while enviromental groups will receive closer scrutiny from the Canadian Revenue Agency.

The Royal Canadian Mint will stop producing pennies this fall, announced Finance Minister Jim Flaherty during his budget speech on Thursday.

Canadian exploration companies feel their industry association doesn’t hear them, Neal Smitheman, a lawyer who represents junior mining companies in disputes with First Nations, told CBC.

Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Limited (TSX: LIM) is pleased to announce that it has received environmental approval and project release from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for its Houston iron ore mining project in Western Labrador.

Bitumen is expensive to extract, upgrade and refine and cannot compete with the many new shale oil plays, which have pushed US production to its highest level in a decade.

Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corp will pay $81.25 million to acquire a 25% ownership in the Marathon PGM and copper project owned by Stillwater Mining.

Alison Redford, the premier of the Canadian province of Alberta, promised on Wednesday to spend $3 billion on clean-up projects in the oil sands.

AuRico Gold pulled the trigger on its Australian operations on Tuesday, selling the Stawell and Fosterville mines to Crocodile Gold Corp for up to $105 million.