Protests halt top copper mines in Peru from shipping, cut off supplies

Brazilian Gold Corporation jumped 13.5% on Wednesday on three times usual trading volumes, after announcing positive metallurgical test work at its São Jorge deposit in northern Brazil.

Even after today's heavy losses it is still showing gains for the year of 86%.

Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) increased its quarterly dividend by 33%, as the company announced Wednesday a 3% increase in its first-quarter profit.

Yamana Gold (TSX:YRI) announced that net earnings increased 15% to $170 million, $0.23 per share in first quarter of 2012.

Newmont Mining could reallocate project funds if an ongoing evaluation of the environmental impact study for its $4.8 billion Conga mine turns economically unfavourable, CEO Richard O'Brien said.

Anglo-Swiss Xstrata Plc. (LON:XTA) reported today mixed production results for its first quarter, with copper production declining 18%, but said operating and financial performance remains strong.

The Supreme Court of Chile suspended Goldcorp's (GG: NYSE; G: TSX) environmental permit for the El Morro copper-gold project.

For centuries, pilgrims have thronged to the Chilean mountain town of Andacollo – to worship at the historic church and to mine the dusty hills for copper. Now a new wave of pilgrims is worshipping at the altar of Andacollo – Canadians, in the form of Teck Resources Ltd., which that has spent more than US$ 440 million expanding an open-pit copper project on the edge of town.

The Argentine supreme court has ordered the national and the San Juan provincial governments to submit the environmental reports that were used to approve Canadian miner Barrick Gold's (NYSE: ABX) bi-national Pascua Lama gold-silver project, a source from the court told BNamericas.