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Tensions over mining and coal seam gas (CSG) exploration have boiled over at a mining conference in Sydney, with activists warning rural NSW could soon resemble an industrial wasteland. As industry heavyweights gathered to discuss the future of mining at

Kazakhstan, strategically placed between China and Russia, has a wealth of mineral riches which it is eager to profit from. While Kazakhstan is probably best known for its oil, changes are on the horizon as mining companies flow in searching for copper, gold, zinc and other natural resources.

Chile is proceeding with a massive coal mine on an island in Patagonia near the southern tip of South America despite a high-profile viral video protest campaign and accusations that billionaire President Sebastian Pinera's shareholding in the developer Copec constitutes a serious conflict of interest. A similar campaign last year forced Pinera to reconsider a thermoelectric plant close to another wildlife attraction and a recent poll put his approval rating at only 26%, below even that of dictator General Pinochet, who ruled the country for 17 years from 1973.

Fast-disappearing Oilsands Quest is a prime example of the risks of trying to go it alone in the oil sands. Slack crude prices and a sluggish US economy may now force other small players into mergers and reverse a slowdown in oil sands deals that have plunged 63% this year to $8.5 billion worth of transactions.

Global miner BHP Billiton is looking to build a new rail line between some of its inland Australian coal mines and the coast in a move that could threaten dominant coal haulage firm QR National, a newspaper said on Thursday.

Kazakh miner ENRC said a keenly awaited governance review was on track to deliver a fully independent board that would take all stakeholder interests into account, when posting first-half profit at the top end of expectations. Kazakh miner ENRC, whose image has been tarnished by the purchase of an asset the Congolese government expropriated from Canadian miner First Quantum last year and a very public boardroom spat, announced a three-month corporate governance review in June.

An Edmonton court was told on Wednesday that Norwegian energy giant Statoil will admit to some environmental infractions in relation to water use at its oil sands operations in northern Alberta. The news comes on the same day that the state-owned company announces a North Sea oil field discovery with total yield of between 500 million and 1.2 billion barrels of oil, making it the largest discovery there in 30 years. Around 70 oilfields are in production on the Norwegian continental shelf, producing some 2.1 million barrels per day. Canada's oil sands produce 1.5 million bpd, a figure that is expected to more than double by the end of the decade.

Impact  Silver Corp.  announced  on Wednesday additional drill results for the planned open pit Capire mine in the 200-square-kilometer Mamatla Mineral District, in central Mexico. Production plans at Capire are to first install a 200-tonne-per-day pilot plant (already purchased) to optimize mining and processing parameters toward planning for a larger operation in the future.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (pictured) said on Wednesday he will nationalize the gold industry, from mining through to processing, and move bullion reserves held in Europe to Venezuela's central bank. Toronto-listed Rusoro is the only large gold miner operating in Venezuela and the country does not feature in the top 20 global gold producing states. In late afternoon trading Rusoro had lost 6.67% in above average volumes. Rusoro holds a 50% interest in the Isidora gold mine that produced some 100,000 ounces last year. The Chavez government holds the rest.