Australia signs uranium export deal with India

As controversy continues to rage over mining in Zimbabwe's Marange alluvial diamond fields, Voice of America reports a deal has been reached to sell Marange diamonds. According to the World Diamond Council, the agreement allows two Marange operations to sell diamonds on the international market and a third, run by a Chinese miner, will be allowed to resume sales following third-party verification. The agreement, reached in Kinshasa, Congo, was ratified by members of the Kimberley Process, which is a system to prevent the sale of so-called "blood diamonds". The United States opposed the decision by abstaining from the vote.

Greg Johnson, President and CEO of South American Silver (TSE:SAC), explains the development valuation cycle, and how silver companies gain value throughout the exploration process. This video shows investors that if they are able to identify high quality deposits early in the development cycle, they can make large profits.

A mining industry consultant says the high processing costs and level of expertise required in bringing rare earth mines into production means most of them will fail. In an interview with Reuters, Jack Lifton, founder of Technology Metals Research, said of the 244 companies hoping to extract REEs, less than 4% will be profitable: "The choke point for all the companies is the question of what they can do with the concentrated REM ore once it's above ground. You can extract the rare earths together, but then you have to separate them...the world's REM separation capacity is 99 percent Chinese and they have unused capacity," Lifton said. "The Chinese overwhelmingly control this and that is the key to the rare earth industry. Without separation capacity, all you have is a loss-making ore concentrate company."

Perth Mint announced that it minted a one-tonne gold bullion coin that is worth over $55 million. It is the world's largest gold bullion coin. The previous record holder was a coin produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. Dimensions of the coin are 80 centimetres wide and over 12 centimetres thick. Watch the video on how the coin was made.

The decision to hold a referendum on the euro zone debt deal is roiling the markets. S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 1.68%, and the TSX Venture Exchange has lost 2.65%. Spot gold fell from yesterday's close of $1,715.10 and is currently trading at $1,707/oz. Gold majors Newmont Mining declined 2.06% and Barrick Gold slid 2.16%. Prime Minister George Papandreou announced a surprise referendum on the euro zone deal that was reached last week.

Swedish engineering firm Sandvik AB (STO:SAND) announced today that 365 employees will lose their jobs as a result of company restructuring. The firm said the cuts resulted from a policy implemented in September at its Materials Technology division whose main objective is to "sustainably reduce the overall cost structure by approximately 500 MSEK over a two to three year period, through such measures as reducing costs for staff and administration..." The layoffs will affect 500 Sandvik employees worldwide including 365 in Sandviken and Hallstahammar, Sweden.

A mining watchdog agency created to hold Canadian mining companies accountable is being called toothless. The Office of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor was formed in 2009 to probe complaints about Canadian companies abroad, but the Toronto-based agency has so far only received two complaints, one of which was dropped because the mining company chose voluntarily not to be investigated, CBC reported: "The whole counsellor position is toothless," said Toronto-based lawyer Murray Klippenstein who is involved in a case against a Canadian mining company. "It's basically a whitewash .… It's a bogus PR job, as a cover for business as usual."

A centuries-old Chinese gold coin has been unearthed in the Yukon. The Vancouver Sun reports that the coin, which dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1662 to 1722), was discovered by archeologists near the proposed Casino mine being developed by Western Copper and Gold Corp. (TSE:WRN).

Dale Alan Madson, 42, a Leadman Operator at Stillwater Mining died in a mining accident on Monday at the company's Stillwater Mine. Madson was working on the 3800 level of the mine The accident is being investigated by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. No other details of the accident were released. Mining operations were suspended following the incident and will resume with the evening shift today.