Lonmin warns of $2bn write-down, 6,000 job cuts

Already running at a loss or struggling to stay in the black, most thermal coal mines in Australia's Queensland are now facing additional challenges as exports drop and major projects wind back.

A 2200 MW coal power plant opened in Cologne is being lauded for aiding Germany’s transition from nuclear power to renewables. 



If everything goes as planned, at the end of this week Chile’s Codelco and Anglo American will sign a long-awaited agreement that would end one of the biggest business disputes in recent decades.

Angola's state-run diamond company Endiama has partnered with six other firms in order to explore a mining concession in the regions of Lunda Norte and Sul.

Anglo American (LON:AAL) has completed its acquisition of a 40% stake in the De Beers Group from the Oppenheimer family, which has had a major ownership stake in the diamond mining, distribution and marketing company for more than 80 years.

Central banks demand for gold in the second quarter reached 157.2 tonnes, a record high and more than double last year's Q2.

Alrosa said the sales were a measure aimed at maintaining acceptable price levels as the company's clients signaled that they were experiencing financial trouble in 2H 2011.

"Illegal miners rushed to be the first in the bottom of the pit but the sides collapsed, burying them all."

Over the past three months, gold has been in a tight trading range between $1,540 and $1,640. However, several well-known hedge funds recently made large moves regarding the safe-haven asset.