Brazil mining regulator says operations suspended at 54 unsafe tailings dams

Peru's Catholic Church intervened in reconciliation talks between the government of President Ollanta Humala and activists protesting the $5 billion Conga copper and gold mine project.

Gold and silver junior Eco Oro Minerals said it will to appeal a ruling by a Colombian court that ordered the Ministry of Mines and Energy to take action to “leave without effect resolution 3452", which is the company’s main mining title.

Chinese producer of bauxite Bosai Minerals Group halted its operations in Guyana on Friday due to violent protests against the miner that left at least three deaths on Wednesday, said the President Donald Ramotar.

Two employees of India’s Jindal Steel and Power were arrested on Friday and equipment confiscated in Bolivia, after the company abandoned its $2.1 billion El-Mutun iron ore project five days ago.

As subsidies for renewable energy are falling in the depressed European economies, which represent the world's largest market for solar technology, manufacturers have started looking to new markets and Chile seems to be the most attractive one.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) will start its $4 billion mill expansion at the Cerro Verde copper operation in Peru next year, said CEO Richard Adkerson a conference call to discuss second quarter results published Thursday.

Following a series of recent protests and other problems affecting mining companies with operations in Colombia, coal workers for the local unit of Glencore International went on strike late Thursday, causing the immediate halt of the company's operations in the country.

An Argentine court ruled Wednesday in favour of suspending Famatina, a gold exploration project led by Canadian company Osisko (TSX:OSK), until a new ruling outlawing mining near glaciers is applied in the area.

Chilean state giant Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, submitted Wednesday an environmental permit request to go ahead with its $12.8 million project to maximize the benefit from ore extracted from El Teniente copper mine, the company’s most profitable division. The initiative is part of the $2.2 billion expansion for El Teniente.