Newcrest grabs majority stake in Canadian copper-gold mine

Quadra FNX Mining announced second quarter 2011 profits up 75% at $63.8 million and revenues up 76% to $298 million on Wednesday, but was not spared the stock market mayhem and was trading down over 2% by midday on Wednesday bringing its losses for the month to 18%. The results of the Vancouver-based copper miner with operations in Ontario, the US and Chile were only marred by a jump in cash costs to $2.33 per pound of copper, but after raising $500 million during the quarter now sits on a healthy $1 billion in cash.

NTVKenya reports that a rare earth company in Kenya is facing angry opposition from residents who want the company to stop exploration work. The project is located on the south coast, 85 kilometers from Mombasa. The exploration license was issued to Cortec Mining Kenya, a South African company that was incorporated in Kenya last year.

Silver Quest Resources (TSX VENTURE:SQI) ("Silver Quest" or "the Company") is pleased to report drill results from 11 holes (BW-171 through BW-179, BW-181 and BW-182) drilled in the current 20,000 metre drill campaign to expand the resources on the Davidson Gold Project claims, a joint venture with New Gold Inc., which is the operator of the joint venture. Silver Quest has a 25% interest in the joint venture. The project is approximately 110 kilometres southwest of Vanderhoof, BC.

North Country Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:NCG) (NCG or the "Company") announces the third tranche of results from the 2011 drill program at the Three Bluffs Gold Project in the Committee Bay Greenstone Belt located northeast of Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada. Drilling has intersected high grade gold to depth and along strike, west of the current resource area at the Three Bluffs and Three Bluffs West zones, increasing the strike length of the core Three Bluffs zones to over 1300 metres. Drilling has also confirmed the presence of mineralization over an additional 700 metres of strike between the Three Bluffs West and Antler zones.

Kimberley Process members may be regretting their decision in June to allow Zimbabwe to export diamonds, with a new BBC documentary showing security forces beating and raping prisoners at two camps in the Marange diamond fields. The New York Times reported on the release Monday of the documentary "Panorama", which said the camps held workers recruited by the police and the military to diamonds for them, and then demand a large share of the profits: "According to the report, a released prisoner who was not named said guards at the camps were beating prisoners three times a day, with 40 lashes at a time. Dogs were loosed to bite shackled inmates, and imprisoned women were frequently raped, the program said."

Newfoundland-based Altius Minerals has expanded its exploration agreement with number-one US iron-ore miner Cliffs Natural Resources to include a new project in northern Labrador, it said on Monday. Image of serpentinized ultramafics with Cr pods in the Pipestone Pond area, by Altius Minerals

Shares of North American base metal miners tumbled on Monday along with the price of copper, zinc, and nickel after the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by S&P amplified fears of a global economic slowdown.

After the S&P downgrade announced Friday evening, North American markets opened Monday and tumbled. The Australian stock market, measured by the S&P/ASX 200, finished the day down 2.91%, while the S&P/TSX composite was down 3.4% in morning trading to 11,796, its lowest level since August 2010. Gold breached $1,710 an ounces before settling back to $1,700/oz.

The Calgary Herald reports the debate over a controversial BC pipeline and port project to ship Alberta crude oil to Asian markets escalated recently with Canada's politicians and business leaders advancing new support for the initiative. Both federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives gave strong backing to the Northern Gateway Project with Oliver calling the pipeline in the national interest. Slowing demand in the US is also adding to pressure for a go-ahead on the pipeline that will stretch for more than 1,100km to a new port facility at Kitimat, northern BC and will cost $5.5 billion.