‘No discussion taking place with Glencore’: Rio Tinto

Mining Review reports the government of Tanzania has allayed fears over likely land disputes between uranium investors and local residents in the Ruvuma region of southern Tanzania, and is confident that the envisaged uranium project in the area will be operational late next year. The controversial uranium mine is located inside the Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s second-largest wildlife sanctuary and a Unesco heritage site. Australia’s Mantra Resources project in the southern part of the 54,600-square kilometre park is estimated to have 53.9 million pounds of uranium oxide deposits which is worth some $2.7bn at current market prices. Officials claim that mining would only involve about 1% of the park’s overall area and that income accrued from mining would help fund upkeep of the park, but environmentalists have slammed the plan.

Bloomberg reports AngloGold Ashanti, the third- largest producer of the metal, is scaling back a $3 billion, 10-year programme to extend is Mponeng mine outside Johannesburg, South Africa. Mponeng is the world's deepest mine and extends about 4 km (2.5 miles) underground. To meet an output target of 5.5 million ounces of gold by 2015, AngloGold will speed up expansion outside its South African base where barring technological breakthroughs, gold reserves are too deep to be mined profitably and safely. South African gold miners have to contend with some of the highest cash costs in the industry which at some properties are almost double the global average of $620 per ounce. AngloGold's most recent quarterlies showed production at Mponeng declined 8% to 117,000 ounces at $587/ounce.

The US coal industry has settled on an unlikely candidate to build America's largest coal terminal. Bellingham is a small coastal city 32 kilometers south of the Canadian border known for being one of the few cities in the US to rely solely on solar and hydro-generated electricity and its innovative building efficiency program. Plans are now underway for a new $500 million bulk dry goods facility to ship 28 million tonnes of coal and potentially 8 million tonnes of potash to Asian markets and HuffingtonPost reports the plans have sparked a fierce fight in this otherwise quiet college town of 81,000 residents.

The Maritime Executive reports iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 5.7 million tons in October, a decrease of 11 percent from September, but an increase of 13 percent compared to a year ago. October loadings also were up 7.2 percent compared to the month’s 5-year average. Shipments from US ports totaled 5.1 million tons, an increase of 18 percent compared to a year ago. However, loadings at Canadian ports slipped 16.3 percent from a year ago.

Reuters reports copper hit a one-month low on Wednesday, pressured by worries about the outlook for demand after factory growth in top consumer China slowed in November, a poor bond sale in Germany intensified concerns about the euro zone debt crisis and US efforts to tackle its budget continued to flounder. Three-month contracts for the red metal fell to a one-month low at $7,168 a tonne in intra-day trade in London and extended its losses in New York where it was trading at $3.27 a pound by early afternoon, its lowest level since October 25 and down 30% from its 2011 high of $4.61 set in February. Copper used in the power, telecoms and construction sectors is often seen as a barometer for economic growth, but a new research report suggests "Dr. Copper is Dead" and that the red metal, along with oil, have actually been lagging other economic indicators. In short: things may well be even worse than the fall in the copper price suggests.

Uncertainty regarding the never-ending euro crisis and weak data from China sent gold and markets lower. The S&P/TSX Composite Index is off 1.88% and the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index is down 1.93%. Yesterday, gold broke through $1,700 mark but is now back trading at $1,680.

Canadian gold royalties company Franco-Nevada aims to raise C$340-million in an equity offering, it said on Tuesday. The TSX- and NYSE-listed firm said it would use the cash for acquisitions, working capital and general corporate purposes.

Canada's net crude oil exports will triple by 2035 due to in situ production and not hydraulic fracturing, according to a report by the National Energy Board released on Tuesday. Oilsands accounts for 55% of Canada's oil production today rising to 85% 24 years from now. "By 2035, in the Reference Case, oil sands bitumen production is projected to reach 811 thousand m³/d (5.1 million bbl/d), three times the production for 2010."

Fears over the direction of Vale, the world’s biggest miner of iron ore by volume, renewed this morning as the company’s CEO Murilo Ferreira announced late on Monday that he will submit to the Board of Directors a proposal for a new structure of the Executive Board. Investors have been particularly cautious of management changes at the miner since Brazil’s government helped push out Roger Agnelli, Vale’s former chief executive, at the end of his mandate in May. The company said that the restructuring aims to establish an operational model with clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each business unit.