Anglo vows to quit Los Bronces $3B expansion if it affects nearby glaciers

Lumina Copper (CVE:LCC) announced on Thursday intersects of 646 meters grading of .93% copper equivalent at the Taca Taca copper-gold-molybedenum project in Argentina. Lumina also reported drilling results of 2.69% copper equivalent in 50 meters of grading. Lumina was up 23 cents to 7.08 on Thursday. At the end of the week, was back down $6.71.

Barrick Gold Corp. ABX -0.07% said that its Pierina gold mine in Peru may operate until 2018. Minera Barrick Misquichilca SA, the company’s Peruvian unit, told the Peruvian securities regulatory agency on Wednesday

Shares of Primero Minerals (TSX:P) crashed 13% Thursday after a month-long strike and lower-than-anticipated gold grades at its San Dimas silver/gold mine in Mexico forced it to revise its 2011 guidance. The Toronto-based company said it will produce 80-85,000 ounces of gold this year compared to the previous estimate of 90-100,000 ounces. The silver production target remains unchanged at 4.5 to 5 million ounces of silver.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2011) - Astral Mining Corporation (TSX VENTURE:AA)(TSX VENTURE:AA.WT)(PINK SHEETS:AAMJF)(FRANKFURT:A7DA) ("Astral" or "the Company") is very pleased to announce commencement of diamond drilling on its 4,168ha Los Crestones gold-silver project, located within the Sierra Madre gold-silver belt of western Mexico in Sinaloa state. Three parallel vein/breccia zones, named Corona, Bohemia and Indio will be tested in this first-ever drilling program at Los Crestones. Astral plans to complete a minimum of 2,500m of HQ and NTW sized diamond core drilling during the program using a highly mobile diamond drill supplied by Energold Drilling Mexico.

Outotec has signed a contract with Chilean Codelco, the leading copper producer in the world, for the design and delivery of concentrator technology to Codelco's new Mina Ministro Hales mine in northern Chile. The contract value is approximately EUR 24 million, half of which was booked in Outotec's second quarter and the rest in the third quarter order intake.

Union workers at Peruvian copper producer Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde said late Friday that they plan to hold a two-day strike starting Sept. 7 to seek a salary increase.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating a Calgary-based company over allegations of bribery in Mexico. The Mounties are checking whether Blackfire Exploration Ltd. made monthly payments to a local mayor to prevent protesters from interrupting the mine's operation, says the CBC:

MarketWatch reports Mexico has overtaken Peru as the world's top silver producer as output in the Andean nation has seen a sharp decline during the first six months of 2011. In the January-to-June period, Mexico turned out 1.88 million kilograms (60.4 million ounces), compared to 1.63 million kilograms in Peru, according to government figures.

Reuters reports that force majeure was lifted at Escondida on Friday at Escondida, the world's largest copper mine. The Chilean mine, whose majority owner is BHP Billiton, was under force majeure on July 27 after a union strike. Force majeure is a clause in legal contracts that frees a party from meeting its obligations due to events beyond its control, such as strike or civil unrest or extreme weather.