Goldsource drills near surface gold at Salbora in Guyana

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) will undertake the next phase of its five-year, $2.1 billion investment plan for its Baie-Comeau, Deschambault and Becancour smelters in Quebec. "The plan will move the Quebec smelters down the aluminum cost curve by 13 percentage points and contribute to Alcoa’s goal of achieving an overall 10-point improvement. The plan will also increase production capacity by 120,000 metric tons per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said the company, which announced the approval on Monday. Alcoa estimates that 6,800 job-years will be sustained during the construction, and there will be $500 million of economic spin offs for the region.

Taseko Mines' hopes were kept alive when the Minister of the Environment, Peter Kent, ordered the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to set up a panel to examine the company's New Prosperity copper-gold mine. "The Minister of the Environment instructed the Agency to design a process that will thoroughly assess whether the proposal addresses the environmental effects identified in the environmental assessment of the original Prosperity project. He also directed the Agency to ensure that information obtained during the previous environmental assessment is used to the extent possible in order to ensure a timely decision," said the agency in a statement. The review, which will include public hearings, are supposed to be wrapped up in a year.

Just a few weeks ago analysts thought the jobs – 20,000 during the building phase alone – and economic benefits would easily outweigh environmental concerns and push the Obama administration to approve Keystone XL. But now, after a summer of protests culminating in Sunday's 10,000 strong White House encirclement and on top of Nebraska's vow to force a rerouting, the US State Department’s inspector general on Monday ordered a "special review" of the Obama administration’s handling of Keystone XL following complaints from members of Congress that the process has been tainted by conflicts of interest.

Taseko Mining should be hearing from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency on whether the revised Prosperity Mine proposal can go ahead. Taseko Mines (TSE:TKO) estimates its proposed New Prosperity copper-gold mine, to built in near Williams Lake in British Columbia, would generate $9.8 billion in tax revenues for the federal and BC government over the next 20 years. The Vancouver-based company is taking another run at developing the $1.5-billion project after the federal government rejected it last fall.

Cameco (TSE:CCO), the world's largest uranium producer, said Q3 earnings were 30% higher at $104 million or 26 cents a share compared to the same quarter last year. However, losses on foreign exchange derivatives have driven up costs for the year. Net earnings for the first nine months of 2011 were $186 million or 47 cents per share diluted. In 2010 net earnings were $311 million or 79 cents per share. The company also said that lower earnings and higher prices were weighing on all three sets of businesses: electricity business, uranium business and fuel services business. Cameco's stock opened on Monday 2.66% lower at $21.08 per share.

If you thought it had slipped onto the backburner, you'd be wrong. The Keystone XL pipeline is back in the news, this time courtesy of prime time TV actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, better known as Jerry Seinfeld's witty ex-girlfriend in the '90s blockbuster sitcom. Louis-Dreyfus is the latest Hollywood star to go public against TransCanada's $7-billion project to transport Canadian oilsands crude from nothern Alberta to Texas refineries. Her appearance this week in a Youtube video by environmental group Tar Sands Action follows similar public appearances by Daryl Hannah, Robert Redford, Mark Ruffalo and other celebrity activists.

Junior zinc producer Canadian Zinc (TSE:CZN) reported a $5.3 million loss in the third quarter, which it attributed to higher exploration expenses and losses in the value of its shares in a Fijian mine.

The cash at the world's top six mining companies is estimated to top out at $144 billion by end 2013 and M&A activity this year is already up 67% over 2010. The gold sector has been leading the frenzy and the stock market is where they will be looking to find additional ounces.

In the midst of Canada's bleak October job report, Statistics Canada reported one bright spot: that the resource sector added 12,000 jobs. Canada, overall, lost 54,000 jobs in October pushing the unemployment rate up .2% to 7.3%. Statistics Canada says that the bulk of the decline in occurred in manufacturing, followed by construction. However, natural resources employment has grown by 5.0% over the past 12 months. The service sector remained unchanged.