ISIS mints gold dinar

Australian environment minister, Tony Burke, has told GVK and #4 mining billionaire Gina Rinehart to improve four areas of their $6.4 billion Alpha Coal project if they want to gain Federal environmental approval.

Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) has drastically cut its accident and injury rates in the six months since a landmark $210 million settlement, which spared the company criminal charges over the 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 workers, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Canadian Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI) (NYSE:AUY)(LSE:YAU) announced a $400 million acquisition Monday of Argentina-focused junior miner Extorre Gold Mines (AMEX:XG) (TSX:XG), which has an appealing gold-silver project in the South American country, while also saying it plans to boost its dividend by 18%.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Mines went on the defensive on Monday about allegedly granting mining licenses to companies with close connections to the government. It qualified those accusations as uninformed and a “double standard."

Edgewater Exploration Ltd. arranges $120 million debt financing with Credit Suisse AG and Barclays Bank PLC to to develop the Corcoesto Gold Project, Galicia Spain.

The risk of a Greek exit from the Eurozone "has moved towards next year," and "markets will be concerned about how narrow the margin of victory" was for the pro-bailout party say analysts.

Spanish coal miners armed with homemade rockets and slingshots have clashed with police over the country's austerity measures.

Kyrgyzstan's economy will grow by barely a quarter of the 7.5 percent originally forecast because of the collapse in output from the nation's flagship venture with Canada's Centerra Gold.

The three losing bids were all from the US and the deal marks a decisive shift in the commodities trading business away from Chicago and London to Asia.