Future of mining in Ecuador to be decided by gov’t — SolGold

Three lawmakers from President Ollanta Humala’s ruling Gana Peru party resigned on Monday over the government’s handling of protests against -Xstrata last week, warning that social and environmental protests are threatening billions of dollars of mining projects.

Nine mining firms, both local and international, have joined forces to create a cluster that promotes the development of local businesses, which in turn should bolster the mining industry in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta.

After making a deal to combine with privately-held Absolute Gold last May, GoGold Resources (CVE:GGD) has now filed a NI 43-101 showing the mineral interests it acquired from Absolute are a resource containing 37.1 million ounces of silver equivalent and 741,000 ounces gold equivalent.

Metso has signed a contract with Codelco, Chile's State-owned mining company, to supply big cone crushers for a process improvement project in the Chuquicamata division. The contract also includes an automatic control system for crushers delivered by Metso.

The main source of silver to the Spanish crown during the 1500s, the Mexican state of Zacatecas is again enjoying the attention of foreign investors.

Copper suffered another sharp drop in New York on Friday with traders reacting to bad economic news from the US in the form of dismal jobs numbers, a crisis in Europe that seems to be stressed to breaking point and a steep drop-off in growth in China, Brazil and India.

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales announced he will consult the indigenous communities of the Altiplano before authorizing the eventual exploitation of the silver and indium deposit of Mallku Khota, currently under exploration by Canadian South American Silver (TSX:SAC).

Brazil Potash Corp. announced it has secured $58 million for potash exploration at the Amazon Basin project, where it plans to build a $3.5 billion to $4 billion mine.

Chile, the top copper producer in the world, will not be able to keep mining for the red metal, gold and other minerals if the country doesn’t find a solution to the pressing energy needs, experts believe.