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Northern potash and coal port gets $15 million from BC government

Premier Christy Clark announced on Monday a $15-million contribution for a $90-million road rail utility corridor project, phase one of a planned $300-million development at the Port of Prince Rupert. The $90-million Road Rail Utility Corridor Project will expand Ridley Island's terminal capacity to help meet growing demand from Asia for Canada's natural resources. The project includes construction of new inbound and outbound rail lines and the extension of on-site rail and utilities. The BC government says that the investment will create over 570 direct construction jobs over the life of the project and will further provide up to 4,000 operational jobs after all construction is complete.

Selwyn Resources Ltd.: new high-grade mineralization extends XY West to the Northwest

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 19, 2011) - Selwyn Resources Ltd. ("Selwyn") (TSX VENTURE:SWN) is pleased to provide additional information on the discovery of zinc-lead mineralization northwest of XY West deposit, as described in the August 15, 2011 news release, within an adjacent fault panel. These new drill results support the significant mineral potential of the Selwyn Project now that high-grade zinc-lead mineralization has been traced over 2,900 metres in the XY Central-XY West deposits area. This drilling was conducted by Selwyn Chihong Mining Ltd. ("SCML"), the joint venture company equally owned by Selwyn and Chihong Mining Canada Ltd. Chihong Mining Canada Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co. Ltd. The location of the new drill holes and lenses can be found on drill plan maps available at www.selwynresources.com.

Aurizon Mines Ltd.: two new high grade gold zones discovered at Marban

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 19, 2011) - Aurizon Mines Ltd. ("Aurizon") (TSX:ARZ)(NYSE Amex:AZK) is pleased to report the discovery of two new high grade mineralized gold zones at the Marban Block property, located in the Malartic gold camp, Abitibi region of Quebec. "These are extremely encouraging results for us," said George Paspalas, President and CEO of Aurizon. "The original premise for entering into the Marban joint venture was to test for both extensions of the current known gold mineralization in the top 300 metres, and to test for vertical extension at depth. These results confirm that premise." VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 19, 2011) - Aurizon Mines Ltd. ("Aurizon") (TSX:ARZ)(NYSE Amex:AZK) is pleased to report the discovery of two new high grade mineralized gold zones at the Marban Block property, located in t...

First signs of potash demand destruction as India sales plummet 58%

The Hindu Business Line reports disproportionate price increases of fertilizers are clearly playing out, with sales of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) falling 21.6% and muriate of potash (MOP) plunging 58% during the kharif (monsoon) planting season. The more than 50 million small farmers in India that depend on the soil nutrient have also had to contend with a weak rupee that caused domestic MOP prices to rise by as much as 91%. India imports some 6 million tonnes of potash a year with current pricing around the $500/tonne level. Chinese and Indian consumption drove the potash price from $100/tonne in 2004 to almost $900/tonne in the run up to the 2008 recession when the boom went bust and prices rapidly fell back to $350/tonne.

Keystone oil sands pipeline ‘absolutely’ will happen

TransCanada CEO Russ Girling, told the EnergyNow program airing on Sunday that the proposed $7 billion, 3,190km Keystone XL pipeline connecting Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the US Gulf Coast is “absolutely” going to happen and the show quotes US Energy Secretary Steven Chu as saying "having Canada as a supplier of our oil is much more comforting than to have other countries supply our oil.” The oil sands industry feeding Keystone XL has tripled in size since 1995 and the US government estimates that Canada may double its current output of heavy crude by the end of this decade. Canada currently pumps 2 million barrels per day to the US, with more than half coming from the oil sands. A final decision on Keystone XL by US President Obama is expected before the end of the year.

Mbada overtakes Murowa as Zimbabwe’s biggest producer

Mbada Mines (Pvt) Ltd, which operates in Zimbabwe's Marange diamond area, is producing more than 150,000 carats a month, surpassing Rio Tinto's Murowa mine as the country's largest diamond producer, according to the firm's chairman, Robert Mhlanga. Rio Tinto's Murowa diamond mine produced 178,000 carats in 2010 and 125,000 in the first half of 2011.

Australia’s first potash miner wants to break Canadian grip on market

Encouraged by test work that revealed extraction potential using its own technology at one of the world’s largest known glauconite deposits, Perth-based Potash West on Wednesday expanded it exploration tenure by almost 40% to 2,905km² in Australia's wheatbelt. The company raised $6 million on the Sydney bourse in May this year hoping to become the first Australian firm to break into the lucrative potash market dominated by about 10 mainly Canadian companies. Global potash prices currently average $500 a tonne, up more than 40% from 2008-recession lows.

Zimbabwe softens tone on foreign mining companies

A Zimbabwe government official says a law forcing foreign companies to surrender 51 percent stakes to local people was "an aspiration," not a hard target, Reuters is reporting: "This is a negotiated process, it is not an issue that is dictated to companies. It is more to deal with evaluating and negotiating with each company," Prince Mupazviriho, the permanent secretary in the mines ministry, said during a mining conference on Thursday. The new position by the government is a change from the previous hard-line edict suggesting the 51% requirement was set in stone.

Northwest Transmission Line begins service in 2013

The Northwest Transmission Line, which will bring power to number of potential mines in British Columbia, will be in service by the end of 2013. Rohan Soulby, Director, Export Transmission Development for Powerex, provided an update on the project during a Thursday luncheon with the Vancouver, BC Branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Soulby said that the line will be able to do 300,000 kW when it comes into service. With further upgrades, he said the ultimate capacity of the transmission line will be north of 400,000 kW.