New $15bn coal mine in Australia to hire over 5,000 workers

Country risk is one of the most important factors in mining, and a new study ranks Australia as the seventh best place to mine in terms of risk. Topping the list was Finland, which got a low score of 7, followed by Chile (9.7), Burkina Fasso (11), Botswana and Sweden (11.3), U.S. (11.4), Brazil (11.9), Canada (12.4) and Argentina (13.1).

One shouldn't compare pears and squares but there is no better indication that coloured diamonds are spearheading record auction prices than news that a yellow weighing slightly less than the 33-carat flawless D-colour Liz Taylor wore every day, is expected to fetch three time as much as the Hollywood legend's gem when it goes on sale next month.

Low levels of zinc and copper are associated with miscarriages in pregnant women, Digital Journal reports. Scientists at the University of Granada compared data from two groups of women — with one half having suffered miscarriages and the other half who had normal pregnancies — and found that lower levels of zinc and copper in the women who had miscarriages, suggesting a deficiency of one or both elements could be involved.

Is it possible to get lithium without actually mining it? Martin LaMonica in his "Green Tech" blog explains how. LaMonica reports that Simbol Materials has started a plant in California that is able to extract metals from the discharge brine of geothermal plants:

Selwyn Resources Ltd. ("Selwyn") (TSX VENTURE:SWN) is pleased to announce additional drill results from the XY West deposit at Selwyn Project, Yukon.

The price of the most abundant rare-earths are set to extend their decline from records this year as Japanese manufacturers, including Toyota the world’s top REE consumer, switch to recycled materials or eliminate the need for REEs altogether. Prices of certain elements such as cerium used to polish TV screens and lenses are already down 40% after months of break-neck price hikes while lanthanum which finds its way into nickel-metal hydride batteries has shown similar declines. However, the price of some REEs such as samarium used in jet fighter electrical systems are showing no signs of decline despite increasing 25-fold in just three years.

Russian mining group Severstal plans to boost production of coking coal and expects iron ore mines in Liberia and Brazil to come online by 2017, the company said Thursday in a presentation to investors in London. CEO Vadim Larin predicted the price of both materials used in steelmaking will remain high and forecasts limited supply growth as current market turmoil delays new projects, Platts reported:

Copper is crashing, Europe is dithering, China is looking shaky and markets are sliding, but there were three slivers of sunshine from the U.S., data showing that the world's largest economy may be more resilient than first thought.

Enterprise Products Partners and Enbridge on Thursday announced a proposed new 800 kilometre (500 mile) pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma – the pricing point for US crude – to the Gulf of Mexico. The Wrangler Pipeline would have the capacity to carry up to 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Although the glut at Cushing has eased this year it is the main factor behind US crude trading near a record discount of $25/barrel to the international Brent benchmark. Canadian heavy oil from the oil sands – all of which goes to the US – sells for $10+ less than US crude, meaning oil sands developers have to deal with an effective oil price of $60-$70 a barrel. Unlike the controversial Keystone XL, Wrangler does not cross international boundaries and won't have to be approved by US president Barack Obama.