Three ABB gearless mill drives up and running at Mina Ministro Hales, Chile

New York brokerage GFI's announcement on Tuesday that it now offers on-screen iron ore swap trading is the latest indication that the economics of the world's foremost dry bulk commodity are being changed fundamentally. Started in 2008, derivatives trading in iron ore is up fourfold this year after setting a record in July as investment banks enter the massive market in numbers. The world's top three miners – BHP Billiton, Vale and Rio Tinto – control nearly 70% of the 1 billion tonne annual seaborne trade and dominate price talks. The benchmark China import price for iron ore has tripled since late 2008 to $177 a tonne.

Swedish private equity firm IK Investment Partners has agreed to exit material size reduction company Magotteaux for €550m. Magotteaux, which provides crushing and grinding products to industries involved in mining, cement, quarries and recycling and coal power stations, will be bought by Sigdo Koppers, a Chilean mining supply and construction group.

Shares in South Africa's Gold Fields, the world's fourth-largest gold producer, fell over four percent on Tuesday in its biggest one-day drop in 18 months as bullion's latest rally looked overdone.

Twenty-six miners remained trapped Tuesday in a flooded coal mine in northeast China, Xinhua reported. The illegal coal mine in Boli county of Heilongjiang province belonged to the Hengtai Coal Mining Co. Ltd.

Canadian Natural Resources said on Tuesday its Horizon oil sands operation has resumed production after a seven month gap caused by a fire. The Calgary-based company said expects to reach full capacity of 110,000 barrels per day of syncrude – a light oil manufactured from bitumen – by next week. The Horizon outage led to a shortage of syncrude which helped Alberta’s producers attract a premium of $18 above benchmark US oil. That premium is now shrinking and is set to return to normal levels of a slight discount. Last week the spread between US crude and North Sea Brent reached a record margin of $26 a barrel. Western Canada Select in turn trades at $13 a barrel below US levels which on Tuesday was $84 a barrel.

Gold futures dropped for the first time in more than a week on Tuesday as global equity markets posted gains, buoyed by better-than-expected data from China. Gold for December delivery fell $19.80 or 1% to $1,873.50 an ounce at the start of trade in New York's Comex. On Monday the December contract rose $39.70, or 2.1%, Monday to settle at $1,891.90. Bullion is up 16% in August, heading for its best monthly performance since September 1999. Silver for December delivery in New York declined 1% to $42.94 an ounce after earlier touching $44.295, the highest price since May 3. It’s up 39% this year.

Standard & Poor's has kept its BBB- long term corporate credit and ruAA+ Russia national scale ratings on Russian mining and metal group MMC Norilsk Nickel on CreditWatch with negative implications.

While miners in Chile, South Africa, Indonesia and Mexico downed tools recently to strike for higher wages, those working in the Canadian mining sector can take comfort in knowing that their pay packets are expected to grow fatter than workers in other Canadian industries. According to a report by consulting firm Hay Group, which surveyed 660 Canadian employers, companies expect to see wages climb 2.8 per cent on average across their work force in 2012, with salary gains of 3.8 per cent in the mining sector and 3.7 per cent in the oil and gas field.

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 127 million tonnes in July 2011. This is 11.5% YoY higher than July 2010.