Astronomers discover diamond the size of Earth

A day after news of an onerous new mining royalty and taxation regime in Peru, Namibia, the world’s biggest miner of offshore diamonds and a top four uranium producer, drops plans for a huge jump in the corporate tax rate for miners and mineral export levies. Deputy Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein said on Wednesday, the country has withdrawn a proposal to increase the tax on non-diamond miners to 44% from 37.5% and will instead propose a windfall tax when international prices for the commodities are high. Namibia was one of 25 countries around the world that recently announced their intentions to increase their take of the mining industry’s profits or impose ownership and other restrictions.

The charitable foundation run by Sprott Assett Management's chief executive, Eric Sprott, announced Wednesday it is selling 2 million units in Sprott Physical Gold Trust and using the money to buy silver. The closed-end mutual fund trust holds 97% of its total net assets in physical gold bullion in London Good Delivery bar form. Eric Sprott is a well known investment manager and gold bug in Canada and personally holds 6,000,000 units of the trust worth about $94 million based on Wednesday's mid-afternoon price of $15.74 .

QMASTOR Limited – the leading supplier of software solutions for the global mining, ports, power and bulk commodity industries – was announced as the recipient of the Services Exporter Award at the Hunter Central Coast Export Awards 2011. Listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, QMASTOR's systems are used to manage over 750 million tonnes of bulk commodity movements per annum. QMASTOR supports its global client base through offices located in Australia, Africa, South America and North America.

Iberian Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:IZN) today announced financial and operating results for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2011, with comparative figures for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2010. The Company reported net income of $47.80 million for Q2 2011, representing $0.13 per share.

David Frum, former President Bush speech writer and now blog publisher, inveighed against the gold standard one more time. "The United States adhered to the classic gold standard for a surprisingly short time: from 1873 until 1934 with a brief time-out during World War I. And for most Americans, the gold standard of 1873-1934 delivered pretty miserable results, including two terrible depressions (1893-1896 and 1929-1940) plus the long grinding squeeze of the deflation of 1873-1893," writes Frum.

Reuters reports Peru's mining firms have agreed to pay higher royalties in an overhaul of the current system, sources on both sides of negotiations between companies and leftist President Ollanta Humala's government said on Tuesday. Under the new system, companies would pay royalties based on their operating profits, not sales and will be be similar to the system used in Chile. The new royalties rates still need to be defined, but they would likely be higher than the current rates of 1% – 3% charged on sales. The initiative comes as mining companies in Peru plan to invest $42.5 billion over the next decade, mainly in copper and gold projects. Peru is the world's largest miner of silver and the second-largest miner of copper.

World no. two iron ore producer Rio Tinto announced on Wednesday it is suspending operations at two mines in Pilbara, Western Australia following the fatality of a worker. "Operations at Brockman 2 and the adjacent Nammuldi mine site will remain suspended until further notice," the company said in a statement. The 27-year old man was fatally injured shortly after 8:00pm while changing out a hydraulic cylinder on a front-end loader. One other work-mate was with him at the time.

The world's number two miner provided funding and logistical support as far back as March 2010 for Red Dog, a movie about a kelpie roaming the mining towns of the Pilbara region and now finds itself one of the principal investors in Australia's number one hit movie of the year. There is a statue in the cattle dog's memory in Dampier, which is one of the towns in the 1970s to which he often returned in the region where most of Australia's iron ore is mined today. Iron ore exports alone contribute some 3.6% or $50 billion to Australia's economy.

Bloomberg reports the proposed expansion by South Africa's Royal Bafokeng Platinum follows an increase in demand for platinum which has gained 19% in the past 12 months to $1,818/oz. Steve Phiri, RB Platinum CEO said demand is likely to exceed supply in the next three years, while a shortage of palladium, typically mined along with platinum, may rise to 1 million ounces in 2014. South Africa produces more than three-quarters of global supply.