Legal frameworks need improving for environmental, social impact assessments on mines

The miner has finally completed the sale of assets from its Tarmac joint venture to a subsidiary of French engineering and construction group Bouygues.

It mined 7.2 million ounces of silver last year, or about the same than in 2014, but gold output fell 4% to 60,000 ounces.

BHP Billiton said Friday the dam burst at the Samarco iron ore mine in Brazil released 32m cubic metres of sludge, almost half earlier estimates.

Major commodity-producing countries are set to remain under intense finance strain in 2016, which will increase the risk of social unrest, says Verisk Maplecroft.

Prices fell Thursday for a second consecutive session. According to Metal Bulletin, the spot price for benchmark 62% fines dropped by 0.46%, or 20 cents, to $42.91 a tonne.

Only 0.6% of private capital raised in 2015 for natural resource investment is for mining projects–one wind farm fund attracted more than the entire sector.

Hopes pinned on Big 4 to exercise their "unprecedented pricing power".

The last time the weather event was present, it wrought havoc on the mining industry in Australia, with thermal and coking coal mines in Queensland hit by flooding from cyclones and heavy rain.

Canadian merchant bank Aberdeen International (TSX:AAB) has purchased a lithium-potash project in Argentina through a share purchase agreement valued at CAD$5 million.