China Minmetals Rare Earth starts new mining project in Hunan

Pressured by Asian and European steelmakers not wanting to be locked into expensive iron ore contracts, Vale SA has bent to a new system that would see lower quarterly prices.

Anvil Mining, a copper producer in the Democratic Republic of Congo, announced Wednesday China's Minmetals Resources has extended its $1.3 billion takeover offer for the second time, to January 11 next year. The extension comes as violence and allegations of vote rigging mar the DRC presidential election, for which full results is now only expected later this week. Anvil is also undergoing an audit of its leases with the DRC's state-owned Gecamines.

The Vale Beijing, the globe's largest bulk carrier, is disabled in a Brazilian port and shipping agents tell Reuters the vessel had ruptured its hull. If the $110 million vessel should sink it could also turn out the be the final nail in the coffin of Vale's disastrous strategy to tighten its grip on the world's annual 1 billion tonnes sea-borne iron-ore trade. China, the world's number one market for the steelmaking ingredient to where Vale ships about 45% of its output, turned away another carrier in the fleet earlier this year.

Korea Resources Corporation (KORES) has reached a definitive agreement with Canadian Frontier Rare Earths Ltd. to secure a 10 per cent interest in the Zandkopsdrift rare earth element mining project in South Africa. The contract, signed in Johannesburg on Thursday, involves an investment by KORES in both Frontier and in the large-scale rare earth element project owned by the Canadian company, along with an off-take agreement that could commit up to 31 percent of future production.

Interfax-China reports that about half of China iron ore miners – mainly small and medium-sized firms – have suspended production in the face of dwindling profit margins.

Tom Albanese says "assumptions that the floor price would not go much below $120 a tonne might be valid next year but not long beyond that."

Forbes reports billionaire investor George Soros is placing a very particular bet on gold by buying $40 to $50 million in shares of a Chinese jeweler ahead of its $2.8 billion IPO. Founded in 1929 Chow Tai Fook is bigger than Tiffany's and is named after founder Chow Chi Yuen and “Tai Fook” means fortune, prosperity and luck in Chinese.

De Beers' second mainland China standalone was opened earlier this week. De Beers Diamond Jewellers has opened a second store in China, in The Friendship Mall in Tianjin, its second standalone in six months.

North American stock exchanges are on a tear today after central banks made more funds available to lenders, giving investors hope for a way out of the European debt debacle. The markets were also cheered by better than expected private sector job growth in the United States. The mining-heavy S&P/TSX Composite was up 2.5% to just over 12,000 at time of writing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 384 points, or 3.3%, the most on a closing basis since Aug. 11, according to Bloomberg. Spot gold was up $32 from yesterday to $1747 which is just above the 20-day moving average of $1744, noted Kitco. Silver was up marginally to $32.86 from yesterday's $31.92, while benchmark copper was up more than 5% to a two-week high of $7,885/tonne. Zinc, lead, aluminum and nickel were also up from Tuesday.