Romanian start-up offers clean alternative to cyanide in gold, silver extraction

Only four to six new producers might emerge outside of China to serve the demand for rare earth metals over the next five to ten years, according to analysts at a rare earth conference in China. The Metal-Pages(TM) Minor Metals and Rare Earth Conference was held in Beijing, China on September 13-17, 2011. The main reason cited for so few mines is the relatively small demand for rare earth metals outside of China. Most of the major electronic manufacturing resides within China.

Subsitution is driving rare earth demand down, according to analyst Dudley Kingsnorth speaking at an industry conference in China. Kingsnorth is executive director of Industrial Minerals Company of Australia. Dudley told the Metal-Pages(TM) Minor Metals and Rare Earth Conference in Beijing last September that he is dropping projected demand of rare earth oxide per annum to 170,000 tonnes from a previous forecast of 195,000. For example manufacturers of rechargeable batteries may start using lithium ion materials instead of a nickel-metal hydrid, which uses the light rare earth lanthanum.

Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI), one of the world's top five coal producers, declined 5.14% on Friday after lowering guidance. Arch Coal expects earnings to be $900 million to $1.0 billion range and adjusted earnings per diluted share to be in the range of $1.00 per share to $1.40 per share. "The reduction in earnings guidance resulted largely from lost metallurgical coal production at the Mountain Laurel complex," said the company in a statement.

Nautilus Minerals (TSE:NUS), a Toronto-based miner seeking to extract minerals from the ocean floor, uploaded some multimedia showing how it will mine the sea floor. The company is exploring for copper, gold, silver and zinc in seafloor massive sulphide (SMS) deposits, equivalent to land-based volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits such as Kidd Creek in Canada. The company's main focus is Solwara 1 Project, located off Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean. The mineralised zone is about 1.3 km long and up to 200 m wide. It has been drilled up to depths of 19 m below the seafloor. Water depth is approximately 1600m.

KTWO reports that Cameco plans to hire 70 full time workers for its in-situ Gas Hills project in Wyoming. Cameco is currently waiting for its environmental assessment from the Bureau of Land Management before it begins work. It expects to receive clearance and begin work by 2013. Gas Hills is estimated to have total proven reserves of 10.6 million lbs of U3O8.

The price of US crude oil crashed through the $80/barrel level on Friday afternoon bringing its losses to more than 10% in September and suffering its worst quarter since the 2008 recession. At the same time the discount on Western Canada Select widened to $10.50/barrel meaning oil sands producers now sell some of the cheapest fuel on the planet. The international benchmark for oil was pegged at over $102 on Friday. Canada exports 2 million barrels of oil per day and a lack of pipelines means all of it goes to the US Midwest, the pricing point for US crude.

The Thiess Sedgman Joint Venture (TSJV) has been awarded a A$85 million contract to design, procure, construct and commission a Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP) at the Codrilla coal mine on behalf of Macarthur Coal (C&M Management), the manager of the Coppabella Moorvale Joint Venture (CMJV).

The strike at Highland Valley Copper Mine in British Columbia could soon be over, local media is reporting. Kamloops This Week reported that a late-night bargaining session between Teck Resources and United Steelworkers has resulted in a tentative collective agreement. The mine's 1100 employees voted 99.5% in favour of a strike on Wednesday.

Argentina may be salivating over an abundance of natural resource riches, but getting it out from under the ground could push local water supplies to the breaking point.