Sandspring rethinks Toroparu in Guyana

Peruvian presidential front-runner Alejandro Toledo said on Wednesday if elected he would talk with extractive industries about possibly introducing a tax on windfall profits as commodities prices surge. Toledo, who in his first term from 2001 to 2006 helped lure billions in foreign investment to Peru, said voters need to see concrete benefits from mining, oil and gas activity.

Yamana Gold today announced an arrangement, subject to formal documentation, with Xstrata Queensland Limited and Goldcorp Inc. that would see the ultimate integration of Agua Rica into Minera Alumbrera. Agua Rica is a 100% Yamana-owned, development-stage project in the province of Catamarca, Argentina and is located approximately 35 kilometres from the currently operating Alumbrera mine

Antofagasta will pay a special dividend of 100 cents a share, the Chilean miner said on Tuesday as it posted a jump in full-year earnings on higher copper prices and production. Earnings per share rose to 106.7 cents, from 67.7 cents, as revenue grew 54.5 percent to $4.58 billion.

Great Panther Silver Limited has updated its mineral resources at the company's 100%-owned Topia silver-gold-lead-Zinc mine in Durango, Mexico. The 2011 mineral resource estimate, by Vancouver-based Roscoe Postle Associates (RPA), comprises measured & indicated ("M & I") mineral resources of 171,000 tonnes at 864g/t silver, 1.56g/t gold, 7.53% lead and 4.37% zinc (7.44 million silver equivalent ounces), a 36.3% increase over the 2009 resource estimate.

Responding to rising metals prices and more stable markets, most mining companies increased exploration budgets in 2010. The result was a 45% increase in estimated worldwide nonferrous metals exploration spending over 2009. Regionally, Latin America (led by Mexico, Peru, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina) was the top exploration destination in 2010-a position it has held for the better part of two decades-while Canada was the top country overall. Gold was the leading target, attracting more than half the global exploration budget total, with copper a distant second.

Finnish headquartered metallurgical technology specialist Outotec has been awarded a contract to supply the copper effluent treatment at Codelco’s new MinaMinistro Hales […]

One of the three rescue capsules built to rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped underground last year will be on public display at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange, to be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (south building) from Sunday, March 6 to Wednesday, March 9.

New Gold had their best year in 2010, with increased production and declining costs resulting in record earnings and cash flow, the B.C.-based company said on Friday. Consolidated revenue for the year was $530 million compared to $324 million in 2009, which the company attributed to higher production rates and elevated gold prices. Earnings from mine operations jumped 129% to USD$203 million, compared to $89 million in the previous year.

The combination of increased production, strong cost control and metal prices made 2010 the best year in Fresnillo’s history, says CEO Jamie […]