Australian mining mogul apologizes to China over ‘mongrels’ remarks

FairStar Resources (ASX:FAS) will spend $300 million to build a a mining operation at its Steeple Hill iron ore project in Western Australia. The company, which made the announcement on Monday, plans to recover alluvial iron ore deposits in phase one of the project, followed by a drill and blast operation for hard rock hematite in phase two and the recovery of magnetite in phase three. The company says it will not seek joint venture partners.

Passport Potash, Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PPI)(OTCQX:PPRTF) has signed a letter of intent to enter into binding agreements under which NZ Potash, LLC will sell to Passport its 50% ownership interest in HNZ Potash, LLC. Passport and HNZ Potash will strive to jointly develop their combined potash properties in the Holbrook Basin. When combined the properties will contain over 200,000 acres of mineral rights and will cover over 300 square miles. Following the release of Passport's NI 43-101 from SRK containing an exploration potential, the Company intends to jointly prepare an NI 43-101 resource report with HNZ Potash. Exploration activities of the combined companies that have been completed to date consist of over 50 drilled wells and over 100 lines miles of 2D seismic.

Gold mining in Scotland? Acch, you don't say. The BBC is reporting that Scotgold Resources Limited (ASX:SGZ) is seeking to develop Scotland's first commercial gold mine in Loch Lomond National Park. Planning officials have recommended that the plan to extract £50 million worth of gold and silver from a hillside near Tyndrum, be approved. The project has undergone a revision since being rejected by the park authority in August 2010. If the mine goes ahead, it wil be the first gold mining operation in 500 years, in a nation better known for Scotch and haggis than nuggets and bullion.

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In an object lesson on the fickle nature of junior explorer investment, dismayed investors took a huge chunk out of Viper Gold's stock on the Toronto Venture Exchange after trade resumed Monday afternoon. Viper lost 18% of its value to trade at 13c after it reported results for the verification sampling at its Campbell Lake property showed none of the high grade gold values – up to 10 grams a tonne – announced a fortnight ago. The initial grades sent the shares of the tiny Ontario explorer soaring to almost double of what it is worth now. The company said it is investigating the huge discrepancies after weakly anomalous values were found in 5 samples and the remaining 12 were "below detection level." Viper, which is also looking for gold in Peru, hit a high of 47c early this year.

As the price of iron ore continues to tumble, Chinese buyers of the crucial steelmaking ingredient are backing away from quarterly contracts in favour of cheaper monthly contracts or spot prices. Weakness in the market is “accelerating the move to shorter pricing methods and closer to spot,” said Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese, speaking to analysts in Sydney today, Bloomberg reported. While most (86%) of Rio's third-quarter sales were priced quarterly, Bloomberg quoted one JP Morgan Chase & Co. analyst saying that given that spot prices are lagging below quarterly contracts, "it would not be surprising to see some contracts reneged on" and therefore more movement towards spot prices.

The Australian government has approved the $1.3B takeover of Anvil Mining (TSE:AVM) by China-based Minmetals Resources Ltd. The deal announced on September 30th required approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board for the acquisition. The Minmentals offer of C$8 per Anvil share in cash represents a 38% premium on the $5.79 price the market was offering before the acquisition was announced last month. Anvil was trading at around $7.83 on Monday.

Gossan Resources Limited (TSX VENTURE:GSS)(FRANKFURT/FREIVERKEHR & XETRA:WKN 904435) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with East Mining Company SA ("EMC") of Athens, Greece, to investigate and examine the possibilities of acquiring mineral projects within Europe, on a non-exclusive basis, and initially to assess three potential projects in Greece. Additional projects may be pursued.

Continued improvement in demand, a company-wide focus on effectively managing the ramp-up through the Caterpillar Production System, and focused cost management drove third-quarter sales and revenues and profit for Caterpillar Inc. The company today reported third-quarter 2011 profit per share of $1.71, up 40 percent from $1.22 per share in the third quarter of 2010. Profit was $1.141 billion, an increase of 44 percent from $792 million in the third quarter of 2010. Sales and revenues of $15.716 billion, an all-time record for the company, were up 41 percent from $11.134 billion in the third quarter of 2010.