Europe Top Stories

Canada’s diamond industry icon sells last stake in Ekati mine

Charles “Chuck” Fipke is selling his remaining 10% interest in…

Mongolia blames Rio Tinto for delays at Oyu Tolgoi

The move aims to shift blame for delays away from…

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Going cheap – Alaska mine worth $300 billion

Alaska's Pebble deposit presents big problems for Northern Dynasty, the junior Canadian miner that wants to cash out of its sole asset. Pebble has an eye-popping recoverable resource of 67 million ounces of gold and 55 billion pounds copper with some molybdenum thrown in for good measure which at today's prices is worth over $300 billion in total. The Vancouver company shares the venture with Anglo-American but the $4.7 billion development costs could be too rich even for the London-listed giant's blood. Apart from the problem of finding a heavyweight buyer for its 50%, Dynasty also faces opposition from a $150 million a year salmon fishery near the site and local environmental protesters who have enlisted the support of Hollywood celebrities like Robert Redford.

India to boost gold demand by end of 2011

Gold demand, which dropped in the second quarter of this year, is expected to strengthen by the end of 2011, driven by robust jewelry buying in India and China and recovery in investment demand, senior World Gold Council (WGC) officials said.

Romios is Pleased at the Granting of a Contract for the Design and Construction of the Northwest Transmission Line

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 9, 2011) - Romios Gold Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RG)(OTCBB:RMIOF)(FRANKFURT:D4R) ("Romios" or the "Company") is pleased to report that on September 2, 2011 Valard Construction Ltd., one of Canada's largest power line contractors, announced that the team of Valard Construction Ltd and Burns & McDonnell, two high-quality contractors capable of providing turnkey solutions for power system requirements, have finalized a contract with BC Hydro for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Northwest Transmission Line (NTL), a 344-kilometre (213-mile), 287- kilovolt transmission line between Skeena Substation and a new substation to be built near Bob Quinn Lake in northwestern British Columbia.

World scrambles for rare earths after latest China crackdown

Reuters reports prices of most rare earth elements – used in consumer electronics, defence and green energy industries – have risen since Wednesday after of local government crackdown on mining, with three major producers slated for closure. The news follows an announcement from the EU that it is building a stockpile of a variety of REEs and that a high-level meeting of officials from Europe, the US and Japan will take place in Washington early next month to discuss supply security. The price of some REEs such as samarium oxide used in jet fighter electrical systems has increased 25-fold in just three years.

Gold dragged down by dollar spike, profit-taking

Gold slid on Friday, closing its worst week since June, as profit-taking by investors and a spike in the U.S. dollar outweighed the desire for a safer haven. Gold tumbled in early U.S. hours on apparent investor liquidation, but clawed back much of its loss by mid-afternoon as the resignation of European Central Bank policymaker Juergen Stark reignited aversion to riskier assets. But even as US stocks fell nearly 3 percent and other commodities tumbled, gold came under renewed pressure as two weeks of extreme volatility for bullion rattled some confidence in its bull run -- despite the prospect of a second recession.

Rio Tinto invests US$310 million for Pilbara coastal water project

Rio Tinto will invest US$310 million to assure a sustainable water supply for its iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, ensuring a sufficient resource to accommodate the expansion of annual production capacity up to the planned 333 million tonnes (Mt/a). The coastal water supply project, which involves construction of a new borefield and pipeline system, will be completed by mid-2013, coinciding with the first ore from the planned increase in production capacity to 283 Mt/a.

Bitcoin proves once again the underlying problem with gold: Krugman

Bitcoin, a new and private form of currency exchange, got some attention from Paul Krugman in a column who drew parallels between it and gold, finding that both markets are susceptible to underlying problems of "money-hoarding, deflation, and depression." BitCoin, which is well-examined in an article by James Surkowieki, is an alternative form of currency exchange.