Lundin Mining grabs Brazilian mine from Yamana in $1B deal

Reuters reports unionised Chilean workers at Collahuasi, the world's third most productive copper mine, halted production on Saturday in a strike demanding a wage bonus, but were back at work on Sunday after after reaching an agreement with management, the company and union said. Collahuasi is owned by Switzerland's Xstrata and the Britain-based Anglo American. Collahuasi produced 504,000 tonnes of copper in 2010, when output was hit by a month-long strike. The mine expects to produce 500,000 tonnes of copper this year. It supplies roughly 3% of the world's copper, half that of Chile's other giant copper mine Escondida.

Reuters reports Peru's government on Friday brokered the first in a series of talks between townspeople and Newmont Mining in a bid to solve a conflict over water supplies at the $4.8 billion Minas Conga project, adjacent to South America's largest gold mine Yanacocha. Newmont was forced to shut down operations for two days at Yanacocha after protesters blocked access to the mine. Minas Conga, partly-owned by Peru's number one precious metals miner Buenaventura, would be the biggest investment ever in Peru's mining sector. Buenaventura reported a 6% drop in quarterly gold output on Friday.

The recent softening of iron ore prices will likely be short-lived, says the world's largest exporter of the steelmaking ingredient. In releasing its third-quarter results, Brazil-based Vale SA (NYSE:VALE) is forecasting high prices "for a long period ahead" because of growing demand from developing countries and constraints to supply growth. The iron ore giant therefore indicated it needs to stay ahead of the game for when the price rise demands a quick reponse:

Barely a week after Anglo American announced that the $2.8 billion they splashed on expanding their flagship Los Bronces mine will start to bear fruit before year end, Chile's state-owned Codelco decides to exercise an option to acquire half of it. Codelco has passed on neighbouring Los Bronces, a smelter and a second mine before, but Chile's finance minister on Friday warned Anglo that it must honour the deal that dates back to 1978. Codelco has put together $6 billion but analyst say that short changes Anglo by billions. What must really gall Anglo, which seems to have been taken by surprise, is that they will have to pay around $1 billion in taxes on the transaction.

TORONTO, CANADA--(Marketwire - Oct. 27, 2011) -

Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) ("Newmont" or the "Company") today reported consolidated revenue of $2.7 billion for the third quarter of 2011 and $7.6 billion year-to-date, as well as operating cash flow of $1.3 billion for the third quarter of 2011 and $2.7 billion year-to-date.

In a move that seems certain to slow foreign investment, the government of Argentinian President Fernandez de Kirchner has passed a law requiring oil, gas and mining companies to repatriate future export revenue. The Vancouver Sun reports: "President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, in her first move since being re-elected Oct. 23, changed a 2002 decree requiring companies such as Repsol YPF SA, Total SA, Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Pan American Energy LLC to to keep at least 30 percent of their export revenue in the country." Effective immediately, resource companies will have to repatriate (convert into pesos) all of their export revenues.

Bellhaven Copper & Gold (CVE:BHV), a Canadian exploration company operating in Panama and Colombia, received a 10.2% equity interest investment by IAMGOLD Corporation which will subscribe for eleven million units of Bellhaven at C$0.55 per unit. In mid-October, IAMGOLD (TSE:IMG) said it was going start buying new companies that would complement its core strengths, established relationships with foreign governments and working experience in Africa and the Americas. "The private placement will build our treasury to approximately $9.6 million, allowing us to ramp-up the exploration programs at La Mina," said Paul Zweng, Bellhaven's interim CEO and director.

In an object lesson on the fickle nature of junior explorer investment, dismayed investors took a huge chunk out of Viper Gold's stock on the Toronto Venture Exchange after trade resumed Monday afternoon. Viper lost 18% of its value to trade at 13c after it reported results for the verification sampling at its Campbell Lake property showed none of the high grade gold values – up to 10 grams a tonne – announced a fortnight ago. The initial grades sent the shares of the tiny Ontario explorer soaring to almost double of what it is worth now. The company said it is investigating the huge discrepancies after weakly anomalous values were found in 5 samples and the remaining 12 were "below detection level." Viper, which is also looking for gold in Peru, hit a high of 47c early this year.