Ivanhoe Mines excoriates Globe and Mail over Platreef report

New Gold Inc. (TSX and NYSE AMEX:NGD) today announces fourth quarter 2011 gold production of 100,671 ounces which resulted in record annual production of 387,155 ounces during 2011. The company, once again, met its gold production guidance range of 380,000 to 400,000 ounces during the year. Quarterly and annual total cash cost per ounce sold, net of by-product sales, were $561 and $448 per ounce, respectively.

The long-term fling between mining group Xstrata PLC (LON:XTA) and commodities trader Glencore International PLC (LON:GLEN) is getting serious. In a statement in response to increasing speculation about an upcoming merger, Xstrata confirmed today that it is in negotiations with Glencore.

llana Potash Corp (TSX:AAA) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced public offering of common shares of the Company. Pursuant to the terms of the Offering, the Company has issued 25,000,000 Common Shares at a price of $0.80 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $20,000,000.

Comment from Jeff Nichols suggests that Chinese gold production and consumption may be considerably higher than the statistics released by the country would indicate.

The Big Picture: News Stories in Photographs, a photojournalism blog, has a segment on coal photos.

BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) has approved close to a billion dollars to construct a new port facility in Western Australia.

The richest woman in the world, Gina Rinehart, on Wednesday dropped $200 million in "loose change" to more than double her stake in Australian newspaper group Fairfax to add to her shares in a television channel prompting questions about the mining magnate's motivations.

NovaGold Resources Inc. (NYSE Amex:NG)(TSX:NG) ("NovaGold" or the "Company") today announced that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters, led by RBC Capital Markets and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC under which they have agreed to purchase from NovaGold and sell to the public 26,400,000 Common Shares at a price of US$9.50 per Common Share.

ABB (NYSE: ABB), the leading power and automation technology group, and Thomas & Betts Corporation (NYSE: TNB), a North American leader in low voltage products, today announced that both companies’ boards of directors have agreed to a transaction in which ABB will acquire Thomas & Betts for $72 per share in cash or approximately $3.9 billion.