Amazon rainforest’s riches up for grabs as Brazil to open indigenous reserves to mining

Fourteen miners in northern Mexico are trapped underground after a gas explosion, BBC News reported Tuesday. According the story, rescuers have been unable to contact the men due to high levels of methane gas in the mine shaft. The accident happened close to the U.S. border at a small artisinal mine in the northern state of Coahuila.

Canada's Primero Mining Corp said the month-long strike at its San Dimas gold-silver mine in Mexico had ended and it did not expect the strike to hurt its full-year production outlook.

Greystar Resources Ltd. (TSX:GSL)(AIM:GSL) is pleased to announce receipt of a positive scoping stage Preliminary Assessment under National Instrument 43-101 ("Scoping Study") for an underground only operation at its 100%-owned Angostura gold-silver project in northeastern Colombia. Image by Greystar Resources Ltd.

BHP Billiton today announced that the partners of Samarco had approved the US$3.5 billion (BHP Billiton share1 US$1.75 billion) Fourth Pellet Plant Project at Samarco (Brazil). The expansion will increase Samarco iron ore pellet production capacity by 8.3 million tonnes to 30.5 million tonnes per annum (100% basis). First pellet production is expected in the first half of calendar year 2014. BHP Billiton President Iron Ore, Ian Ashby, said “Samarco is a low cost supplier of high quality iron ore pellets and over the last several years has been very successful in growing its resource base. This investment builds on its resource and operational strengths and will further improve Samarco’s competitiveness and market position.”

Brazilian Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:BGC) ("Brazilian Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced bought deal private placement, including the full exercise of the $3,003,000 Underwriters' option (the "Offering"). Under the Offering, the Company issued an aggregate of 16,445,000 common shares (the "Common Shares") of the Company at a price of $1.40 per Common Share for gross proceeds of $23,023,000. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to advance the Company's gold projects in Northern Brazil, and for general corporate purposes.

Troy Resources NL (ASX & TSX: TRY) disclosed today that follow up drilling on the Kamila South East zone produced more significant results from the high grade Inca Vein. An earlier assay produced 14.7 metres grading 7.79 grams/tonne gold and 1,292 g/t silver (26.24 g/t Au equivalent), and subsequent drilling produced more positive results.

The latest bonanza grade gold-PGM drill results from the Serra Pelada project in Brazil are making it easy for Colossus Minerals (TSX: CSI) to live up to its name. Since 2007 Colossus Minerals and 25-percent joint-venture partner COOMIGASP have been pushing the southwestern extent of high-grade gold, platinum and palladium mineralization beyond a historic open-pit mine.

Colossus Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Colossus")(TSX:CSI) is pleased to announce additional assay results from the 25,000 metre surface drilling program at the Serra Pelada Gold-Platinum-Palladium Project, the Colossus-COOMIGASP Joint Venture located in Para State, Brazil. "Drilling such high-grade gold, platinum and palladium approximately 700 metres down plunge from the outcrop of the Central Mineralized Zone in the historic Serra Pelada pit continues to demonstrate the robustness of this mineralized system," commented Ari Sussman, Colossus CEO. "We wait with great anticipation for early 2012 when construction of the underground decline advances to the point that enables the Company to see the Central Mineralized Zone first hand and extract the first of three 2,500 tonne bulk samples from it."

Revolver Resources Inc., (TSX VENTURE:RZ) ("Revolver") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an arm's length letter of intent with Oculus Mining S.A. ("Oculus") effective April 11, 2011, relating to a reverse takeover transaction (the "Transaction"), pursuant to which Revolver proposes to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Oculus from the shareholders of Oculus (the "Oculus Shareholders") on a pro rata basis. Trading in the shares of Revolver has been halted in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") and will remain halted until such time as all required documentation has been filed with and accepted by the TSXV and permission to resume trading has been obtained from the TSXV.