‘Land no one else wants’ gets solar as coal-and-nukes era fades

Resource Capital Research detects some good news in the uranium sector, namely acquisition plays for Hathor Exploration and Extract Resources, but sector performance will remain poor for the first quarter of 2012.

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Dec. 11, 2011) - Suncor Energy reported today that it has declared force majeure under its contractual obligations and is suspending its operations with the General Petroleum Corporation (GPC) in Syria.

Announcing its third quarter on Thursday, Harry Winston (TSX:HW) reported a $4.7 million loss and said it is keeping some of its diamonds on ice.

VANCOUVER, Dec. 9, 2011 /CNW/ - Encanto Potash Corp. ("Encanto" or the "Company") (TSXV:EPO) (OTCQX:ENCTF) is pleased to report the closing of its previously announced (see press release dated November 16, 2011) non-brokered private placement of 12,940,000 units for aggregate gross proceeds of $2,976,200. The proceeds will be used to provide the Company with working capital for engineering studies, marketing and general administrative expenses.

A new zinc mine in Canada's Northwest Territories has received environmental approval. Canadian Zinc Corporation (TSE:CZN) said Friday that its Prairie Creek Mine has cleared an environmental review by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, meaning the mine can proceed to the next stage of regulatory approvals.

The owner of what was once Nunavut’s first and only diamond mine, Shear Diamonds Ltd., on Dec. 8 struck a deal with a Belgian diamond dealer that will give Shear the cash it needs to recover and sell diamonds from the mothballed site’s existing stockpiles.

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 9, 2011) - Strait Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:SRD) ("Strait Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a binding agreement (the "Agreement") with Teck Peru S.A. ("Teck Peru"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teck Resources Limited ("Teck"), giving Teck Peru an option to earn up to a 75% interest in the Company's Alicia copper-gold property ("Alicia" or the "Property") in Peru by spending up to $30 million on exploration at Alicia or delivering a pre-feasibility study, making $500,000 in cash option payments and exercising the warrants referred to below. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 9, 2011) - Strait Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:SRD) ("Strait Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a binding agreement (the "Agreement") with Teck Peru S.A. ("Teck Peru"), a...

Eric Friedland reports that he has exercised rights under the rights offering of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. ("Peregrine") completed on December 6, 2011 to acquire deemed beneficial ownership of a total of 2,818,465 common shares of Peregrine, representing 2.5% of the deemed outstanding common shares of Peregrine.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan on Thursday announced the settlement of its litigation with Mosaic over their respective rights and obligations at Mosaic's Esterhazy mine. Potash Corp says the end of the legal battle "dovetails" with its expansion programme designed to increase production to 17.1 million tonnes a year by 2015.