Billions of barrels-worth of shale oil found in southern England

Gold priced in Canadian dollars hit a record C$1,686.00 an ounce on Monday as a shock downgrade of the U.S. credit rating late on Friday sparked a rush among investors into assets seen as lower risk, and as euro zone debt concerns simmered.

AngloGold Ashanti is struggling after a big drop, and the prognosis is bleak in the eyes of one trader.

South African focused thermal coal mining producer Continental Coal Limited (ASX: CCC) confirmed an initial JORC compliant saleable coal reserve of approx. 44 Mt for the De Wittekrans Coal Project.

The Calgary Herald reports the debate over a controversial BC pipeline and port project to ship Alberta crude oil to Asian markets escalated recently with Canada's politicians and business leaders advancing new support for the initiative. Both federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives gave strong backing to the Northern Gateway Project with Oliver calling the pipeline in the national interest. Slowing demand in the US is also adding to pressure for a go-ahead on the pipeline that will stretch for more than 1,100km to a new port facility at Kitimat, northern BC and will cost $5.5 billion.

Reuters reports Canada's IPO market could roar back to life in the final months of 2011 after a dismal first half – but only if a fresh bout of global market turbulence doesn't overwhelm any revival. Investment bankers say commodity producers could get the market sailing again once the summer doldrums are over. In contrast to new listings mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector have stayed robust in 2011 and Canadian companies – both as acquirers and as the targets of buyers – dominated corporate finance activity in the first half shaking on 325 deals and accounting for almost two-thirds of all the metals and minerals transactions carried out around the world.

Gold futures surged as much as $45 in Tokyo trade on Monday to a record $1,697.70 an ounce on demand for an investment haven. The dollar slumped following Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the US long-term credit rating from AAA. Gold futures for December delivery was trading at $1,687, up $36 or 2,17% at 8:30 am Tokyo local time in electronic trading after reaching the all time high.

The Times Colonist has a look at the history of coal mining on Vancouver Island starting in 1912 and writing that the troubles started in Extension, a small mining community a few kilometres south of Nanaimo. Two coal miners were fired when they complained to management that unacceptable levels of explosive gas existed at the coal face. One of the workers headed north seeking a job in the mines of Cumberland only to find he had been blacklisted - not just in Cumberland but throughout Vancouver Island. Their memories of a seemingly endless stream of disasters, from single deaths to the 150 dead in the Nanaimo No.1 mine explosion and fire in 1887, kept them implacable in their demands for greater safety.

Dow Jones reports resource nationalism is the top business risk for the top 30 global miners, while supply capacity constraints ranging from skills shortage to infrastructure bottlenecks continue to dominate the top ten list, according to an annual survey by consultants Ernst & Young. Resource nationalism jumped to the top of the list this year from fourth in 2010 after 25 countries announced their intentions to increase their take of the mining industry's profits and others contemplate outright nationalization. Fraud, bribery and corruption sneaked onto the list of top concerns for the first time as a number of countries introduce or tighten rules for executives operating in countries that rank high on corruption indices.

Newmont Nusa Tenggara, a unit of US miner Newmont Mining Corp , said on Sunday there had been no significant impact on production from several days of protests at its Indonesian copper and gold mine. Local authorities have dispersed the protesters who since Aug. 2 had been blocking access and disrupting operations at the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in the island of West Sumbawa. Newmont also plans to review its job application process, which had been the focus of the protests. Batu Hijau aims to produce around 275 million pounds of copper and 275,000 ounces of gold in 2011.