Chinese steel mills delay iron ore restocking, eye cheaper alternatives

China's Sichuan Hanlong Group made a bid to buy out the shares it doesn't already own in West African iron ore exploration company Sundance Resources, valuing the private conglomerate at A$1.4 billion ($1.5 billion). Last week, Hanlong, which is seeking to expand its reach in global resources, launched a A$144 million takeover bid for Bannerman Resources, which is looking for uranium in Namibia.

Rescue work in a flooded coal mine in Guizhou Province has been terminated, 14 days after a flood trapped 23 workers underground. The rescue work in Niupeng Mine, located in Pingtang County, was halted at 4 p.m. Saturday. The miners were very unlikely to be alive, according to an assessment by rescue experts. Twenty one workers remain missing while two bodies have been retrieved from the mine. The area where the miners are believed to be has been completely submerged. While 406,000-cubic meters of water had been pumped out during the past 14 days, flood water was still pouring into the pit.

The Silver demand in China is on up. Imports of silver to the China have reached new highs, and analysts maintain that demand for this year will only continue to grow. The growth comes not only from industrial and jewelry demand, but also from the increased investments in silver as a hedge against market losses and inflation.

Joy Global, one of the world's leading heavy-equipment mining companies, will take over China-Based International Mining Machinery Holdings Ltd. According to a statement released on Thursday, Joy Global will purchase 534.8 million shares of IMM for HKD 8.50 a share representing 41% of the company. Total cost will be USD$538 million. Subject to regulations, Joy Global will purchase the remaining shares of IMM at a later date.

After surging last week, industry bellwether Molycorp led a slide in rare earth mining stocks with a 5% drop by early afternoon on Thursday on news China is raising REE export quotas for the second half of the year in reaction to a WTO ruling. The exact impact of the decision is not yet clear: the new quotas only bring 2011 exports in line with last year prompting the EU to call it "highly disappointing." And fresh data from Lynas Corporation, world no. 2 outside China, show the price of a basket of eight REEs jumping 140% in just over two months.

Mining equipment maker Joy Global, Inc. (JOYG: News ) is close to acquiring Chinese coal-mining equipment maker International Mining Machinery Ltd. (ICMHF.PK), according to Bloomberg on Wednesday.

The prospect of mining the ocean floor may seem far-fetched, but China, motivated by its insatiable hunger for resources, has opened its eyes to the idea. According to a story in The Japan Times, China will attempt to plunge the Jialong - the world's deepest-diving manned submersible - 5,000 metres below the surface of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and North America, exceeding the craft's previous depth of 3,759 metres.

Market sentiment buoyed as Chinese macroeconomic data surprised to the upside, temporarily overshadowing ongoing debt problems in the Eurozone. Oil prices climbed with the front-month contract for WTI crude oil rising to 97.96 and the equivalent Brent

Chinese imports rose for the first time in three months in June as buying from overseas became profitable and supply tightened after consumers drained local stockpiles. There are “strong signs” that the country will “come back and buy in a more aggressive way,” according to Codelco, the top producer. Prices slid 3.7 percent in the first six months of the year as demand waned. The metal has gained 46 percent in the past year, reaching a record $4.6575 on Feb. 15.