$6 billion private capital ready to invest in mining

Rio Tinto Alcan will begin an orderly shutdown of approximately one-third of its production at its 438,000 tonne Alma smelter in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec after initiating a lockout at the facility earlier today.

2011 will go down as the year when the wind fell out of the sails of economic recovery and serious storm clouds gathered on the horizon.

Interest in the future of Enbridge's $5.5-billion Northern Gateway proposal will rise next year, as public hearings are set to begin on Jan 10.

CAW Members at Caterpillar in London have voted 97.8 per cent in favour of a strike, if necessary, at a meeting held this morning. Approximately 90 per cent of members participated in the vote.

The Bucko Lake Mine in Manitoba is scaling back operations due to a fall in nickel prices.

Canadian Silvercorp Metals (TSX: SVM-News)(NYSE: SVM-News), China’s biggest silver miner that was accused this year of accounting and production fraud in anonymous letters to authorities, has retained independent consultants to confirm resource estimates at four of its properties.

Family and friends are trying to find Matthew Huszar, a University of British Columbia geology graduate, who has been missing for 12 days.

Due to the high Australian dollar and low molybdenum prices, Moly Mines says the Spinifex Ridge molybdenum/copper project is sub-economic and the company won't be developing it.

CALGARY, Dec. 28, 2011 /CNW/ - Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (TSX: ATH) is pleased to announce that MacKay Operating Corp. (MacKay Opco) has received full regulatory approval from Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board and Alberta Environment and Water for the MacKay River commercial oil sands project.