U.S. Supreme Court upholds Kensington mine tailings permit
In a decision issued this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision by federal agencies allowing a unit of Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. to place tailings from its Kensington gold mine near Juneau in a nearby lake.
In doing so, the court sorted out some of the confusion arising from conflicting direction in the authority [...]
Xstrata, Anglo American say they’re discussing merger
Responding to press speculation, Anglo American plc confirmed over the weeked it has received a preliminary proposal from Xstrata plc “which may or may not lead to a transaction involving the Group.”
Shortly afterward, Xstrata confirmed that “it recently sent a written proposal to the board of Anglo American seeking their consideration of a merger of [...]
HudBay to close Flin Flon copper smelter by 2010, then refinery
HudBay Minerals Inc. said this morning it expects to close its copper smelter in Flin Flon, Manitoba before July 1, 2010, and its copper refinery in White Pine, Michigan shortly thereafter.
The financial impact of the smelter closure on the company will be minimal, it added, as the processing costs from the sale of concentrates are [...]
Trial mining, drilling boost Hollister resources by 27%
The overall contained gold-equivalent ounces at its Hollister in Nevada’s Carlin Trend have increased by 27% from 2.3 million in June 2008 to 2.9 million, Great Basin Gold Ltd. said this morning.
At a cut-off grade of 0.25 opt, the combined measured and indicated mineral resources contain 1.45 million gold-equivalent ounces grading 1.167 opt for gold [...]
Baja Mining gets good news on manganese recovery at Boleo
Baja Mining Corp. said today that a key milestone has been achieved towards manganese metal production at its Boleo project in Baja, Mexico. [...]
With market up, Thompson Creek to boost moly output by 10%
Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. said yesterday it now expects production and sales of molybdenum from its own mines will be in a range of 22 million to 26 million pounds in 2009, up from previous guidance of 20 million to 24 million pounds.
“In response to the recent improvements in the molybdenum market, the company [...]
Rio Tinto breaks up with Chinalco; to issue $15.2 billion in “rights”
Rio Tinto has decided to break off its proposed relationship with Aluminum Corp. of China, once valued at almost $20 billion, paying the Chinese state firm an agreed-to fee of $195 million, and instead issued new stock rights to bring in a gross of $15.2 billion for its plc and Ltd. entities.
Rio Tinto will use [...]
New Gold and Western Goldfields complete their merger
New Gold Inc. and Western Goldfields Inc. have completed their business combination, the firms said this morning, creating a firm expected to produce more than 330,000 ounces of gold this year from properties in California, Mexico and Australia.
The transaction was completed by way of a plan of arrangement that was approved by the New Gold [...]
Gold demand surges as investors turn to wealth preservation
Fears of future inflation and ongoing financial uncertainty led investors to continue to flock to gold in 1Q09, seeking out its proven wealth preservation qualities. Total demand for gold in the quarter rose 38% year on year to 1,016 tonnes, representing [...]
Freeport-McMoRan’s Adkerson named Copper Man of the Year
Richard C. Adkerson, president and CEO of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., will receive The Copper Club’s Ankh Award naming him The Copper Man of the Year 2009 in recognition of his strong leadership at Freeport and in the global mining industry.
The award will be presented at The Copper Club’s 2009 annual dinner June 3 [...]
