Asia Resource Minerals CEO von Schirnding steps down

Peabody Energy Corp. is leaving the door open for a rival bidder to step in for Macarthur Coal Ltd. by offering less for the Australian mining company than it did last year, even as profit is projected to double.

Bloomberg reports palladium and platinum fell today as amid concerns that the global economic recovery may stall.

Talon Metals has cranked up the resource estimate for its Trairão iron ore project in Brazil by 60%, the company said today, which puts the inferred resources at over a billion tonnes. Talon, based in British Virgin Islands, added another 414 million tonnes with an average grade of 33% Fe to its existing two target areas, bringing the total amount of iron ore to 1.102 billion tonnes.

Russia's Uralkali, who together with Belaruskali and North-American producers represented by Canpotex, control almost 60% of world production, said on Thursday its trading company raised prices for India by 32%. Uralkali's export arm will supply 1.2 million tonnes to India at $490/tonne (up from $370/tonne) through the end of March 2012. On Wednesday arduous negotiations between Canpotex and India ended in a two-step deal that increases the export price to $470/tonne for the fourth quarter and adding another $60/tonne next year. India has some 55 million small farmers and is the world's number one importer at over 6 million tonnes per year.

Canada's largest uranium producer lost 23% of its profits in the second quarter, as uranium sales volumes declined. In announcing its second-quarter results Thursday, Saskatoon-based Cameco also lowered its industry forecast in the wake of the Japan Fukushima nuclear crisis, which has slowed the expansion of nuclear power in Japan and resulted in Germany deciding to move away from atomic energy by phasing out and shutting down nuclear reactors.

AngloGold Ashanti reported record quarterly profits on Thursday of $342 million, up a whopping 68%, boosted by the precious metal's longest winning streak in almost a century. The world’s third-largest gold miner cut production guidance by over 4% and said it expected its cash costs to rise as much as $80/oz however. The Johannesburg-based company's CEO said the gold market is entering "a perfect storm" and that gold could “easily” break through $1,700 an ounce. December gold reversed its record setting pace by midday on Thursday to trade at $1,661.70 after touching $1,684.90 in early trade.

Newcrest Mining suspended work at its Gosowong gold mine in Indonesia on Thursday after it said nine people, mostly mine workers or contractors, were killed when a helicopter crashed en route to the mine.

Rio Tinto reported a surge in profits due to strong demand in Asia and higher metals prices on Thursday but shares in the company spiked lower in New York, opening down more than 7% and wiping more than $10 billion off the value of the globe's second largest miner. Net earnings for the first half year were $7.6bn, up 30% on the $5.8bn the firm made a year earlier. Commenting on the results chairman Jan du Plessis said the economic environment remains volatile but expected the Australia-based company continue to experience higher than average growth for the rest of the year. The company also said it was experiencing high cost inflation in some "mining hotspots" and cautioned that the strong Australian and Canadian dollar were impacting its profitability.

The world's top copper mine, Chile's Escondida, refused to improve a bonus to defuse a 13-day strike on Wednesday, presenting an offer the union said fell short, but that workers would vote on. Union leaders said the proposed bonus worth $5,760 failed to meet the expectations of workers who rejected the same offer from mine owner BHP Billiton on Friday.