Impact Signs JV Agreement to Explore for PGE-Nickel-Copper Deposits in Botswana

Impact Minerals Limited has entered into a joint venture agreement with private company Manica Minerals Limited in relation to the Xade Project in central Botswana to explore for deposits of platinum group elements (PGE), nickel and copper.

The JV agreement relates to the Company’s Strategic Alliance to explore for PGE’s in southern Africa with Impalgold dust in black sandpage8a Platinum Limited, the world’s second largest producer of PGE’s.

Impact has been exploring for uranium in Botswana for over 2 years and has made four discoveries to date during its first drilling campaigns, mainly in 2010.

The exploration potential at Xade has been recognized by Impala and Impact is encouraged by their support for the first stage of work at the project.

The Xade Project

The Xade Project covers a very large aeromagnetic feature first identified in 1977 in a Botswana Government reconnaissance aeromagnetic survey. Further work in the early 1980s, and recent geophysical modeling and diamond drilling by Manica to depths of up to 650m, has identified the Xade Complex as a large gabbro intrusion with excellent potential to host deposits of PGEs and nickelcopper sulphides.

Manica owns 100% of the Prospecting Licences, with an area of about 11,000 sq km and that covers the entire extent of the ~280 km strike of the Xade Complex. The Project is close to excellent infrastructure and the very large Orapa diamond mine and is poorly explored (Figure 1).

The Xade Complex occurs in the North West Botswana Rift, an igneous province of similar age and geological characteristics to the Mid‐Continent Rift region of North America, and which hosts numerous major nickel‐copper‐PGE deposits, such as:

• the extraordinary Nokomis deposit of disseminated Cu‐Ni‐PGE mineralisation in the Duluth Complex (Duluth Metals Limited: Indicated Resource of 550 Mt at 0.64% copper, 0.2% nickel and 0.66 g/t total platinum plus palladium plus gold);


• the Eagle nickel‐copper massive sulphide deposit of Rio Tinto (3.6 Mt at 3.5% nickel and 2.9% copper); and


• the new PGE‐nickel‐copper discovery of Magma Metals Limited at the Thunder Bay North Project with an Indicated Resource of 8 Mt at 2.3 g/t platinum equivalent (platinum plus palladium plus copper plus nickel) or 591,000 ounces platinum equivalent.

The Xade Joint Venture Agreement

The agreement with Manica requires Impact to spend a minimum of US$50,000 within four months and US$1.2 million over two years to earn a 51% interest in the Xade project. Impact may then elect to earn up to a 75% interest by incurring the necessary expenditures to define an Indicated Mineral Resource.

Impact is currently undertaking detailed and systematic geochemical analyses of about 320 metres of Xade diamond core not previously analysed by Manica.

This work has been approved by Impala Platinum and will be funded from the Impala‐Impact Strategic Alliance Generative Budget, at no cost to Impact. Should Impala Platinum subsequently agree to participate in the Manica‐Impact Xade Joint Venture, it must spend a minimum US$1 million before withdrawal, and may elect to spend a further US$1 million to earn 50% of Impact’s interest in the Project.

It is anticipated that the results of the current work programme will be available in the first quarter of 2011.

Australia to Boost Investments in Liberia’s Agric, Mining Sectors

An Australian delegation led by the Prime Minister’s special envoy, Ms Joanna Hewitt, has disclosed plans by her governmcrushing machine suppliers in south africaent to assist Liberia in the areas of agriculture and mining.

Ms. Hewitt, on her first visit to Liberia, made the disclosure recently when she held talks with Vice President Joseph Boakai at his Capitol Building office. “Australia is concentrating on areas where its economic profile matches Africa’s potentialities and priorities, especially in agriculture and mining,” she said. “Australia is willing to share its expertise and experience in research and technology to boost agriculture production and mining in Liberia.” She mentioned the already growing number of Australian companies, including BHP Billiton which is actively pursuing exploration activities in iron ore and gold. Accompanied by Australia’s Ambassador to Liberia, Mr William (Billy) Williams, Ms. Hewitt told Vice President Boakai that the Australian Government was impressed with Liberia’s growth and...

S.Africa official: Mining audit results disturbing

A senior South African official said the country's mining sector is rife with problems including illegal drilling, rights sold on without permission and companies having complime kiln used in production of calcium carbonate in indiaeting claims to the same plot. The mining ministry has imposed a six-month halt on new prospecting bids from the start of September to overhaul mining laws, iron out irregularities in the way rights are awarded and audit existing exploration and drilling contracts.

Acting Chief Inspector of Mines David Msiza on Tuesday described the initial results of that audit as "disturbing" in a speech presented on behalf of Minerals Minister Susan Shabangu. The audit found cases of fronting, which led to "bogus transactions", and identified rights holders who had no idea of where their rights were located, while others failed to start prospecting as laid out in contracts, he said. South Africa is the world's biggest producer of platinum and ferrochrome and the fourth-largest gold miner. While the mining sector's influence on the economy has declined since the end of apartheid in 1994, it is still one of the top employers. Overall, the amount of new mining prospecting applications suggested a boom in the sector, which was not supported by evidence on the ground, Msiza said.

Gold Fields claims unfair playing field in payment of Ghana taxes among miners

Gold Fields is unhappy with the Ghana governmengap between coal crusher hammer breaker blockt over what it describes as the unfair level grounds in the payment of taxes and royalties.

According to the Johannesburg-based miner, it pays more taxes and royalties than any of the major mining firms in Ghana. Gold Fields is complaining that beginning 2012, the Ghana government wants to raise the corporate tax on mining from 25% to 35% as well as introduce a windfall profit tax of 10% despite the company’s stability agreement with government. “There isn’t a level playing field on taxes and royalties. We are paying higher royalties than the other major producers in that country. That’s not sustainable,” Chief Executive Officer Nick Holland told to investors December 5, 2011, according to a Reuters report. “And we will be subject to these taxes despite the fact that we have had a stability agreement in draft form with the government for many years. So that’s also not sustainable. There has to be a...

Africa may turn major iron ore exporter after 2020

Africa, regarded as the next iron ore frontier, is only likely to boost global supply from 2020 and only if countries overcome iprocess of making minerals powder industrynfrastructure and political hurdles, analysts and producers said this week. The market for iron ore, used in stainless steel production, is the second biggest commodity trading market in the world, valued at some $150 billion, said Phillip Killicoat, iron ore manager at Credit Suisse commodities.

Of that, Africa accounts for only about 2 percent, although it holds some 20 percent of the world's resources, he said. "Africa has enormous potential, never mind the fact that the iron industry itself is growing at a rate even faster than global GDP, driven primarily by East Asia," Killicoat told an African iron ore conference in Cape Town. Steel demand, spurred by China's economic growth, has recovered more than anticipated in 2010, with future growth expected to be powered by emerging markets to 2015 and beyond...

Karara Magnetite Reserves Increased 87% to 977.5 Million Tonnes

Gindalbie Metals Limited is pleased to report a substantial increase in the JORC compliant magnetite Ore Reserve for its Karara Iron Ore Project in Western Australia to 977.5 million tones.

The updated Probable Ore Reserve for the Karara Deposit now totals 977.5 million tonnes grading 36.5% Fe, 42.7% SiO2, 0.8% Al2O3, 0.09% P, and -0.7% LOI and follows a re-optimisation and re-design of the Karara open pit. The reserve upgrade has also confirmed the high quprecipitated calcium carbonate plantality of the Karara orebody with an extremely low waste-to-ore stripping ratio of 0.38:1.

The total reserve of 977.5Mt, including the nearby Blue Hills deposit, represents an 87% increase on the previously published Probable Ore Reserves (as reported in the Company’s 2010 Annual Report) of 522 million tonnes grading 36.6% Fe, 42.6% SiO2, 0.8% Al2O3, 0.09% P and -0.7% LOI.

Karara’s total JORC Compliant Resource of 2.518 billion tonnes grading 34.1% Fe, inclusive of the above reserves, remains unchanged. The updated Ore Reserves were calculated based on a re-optimisation of the Karara open pit which was undertaken as a result of:

• the inclusion of additional in-fill drilling results received from drilling conducted following completion of the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) in September 2007. This drilling further increased confidence levels in the resource, enabling the conversion of 96% of the resource of Indicated status, available for conversion to Ore Reserves;


• further refinement of the open pit design to further reduce the strip ratio and mining cost and reflect the latest changes in geology, geotechnics and the processing plant; and


• the availability of more accurate mining cost information due to the receipt of final tenders for contract mining.

The additional infill drilling conducted at Karara has significantly confirmed confidence in the deposit and in particular its ability to support continued upgrades in production capacity of magnetite concentrate up to the planned optimum of at least 30Mtpa.

The main Karara orebody remains open at depth and along strike to the north-west along the Karara Ridge, offering excellent potential for further additions to the Resource and Ore Reserve inventory as mining progresses.

Gindalbie’s Managing Director, Mr Garret Dixon, said the substantial increase in Ore Reserves highlighted the strength and quality of the Karara Project and its ability to support a rapid increase in production above the Stage 1 level of 8Mtpa of magnetite concentrate and confirmed that initial studies are taking place to achieve the earliest possible lift in production levels.

“The expanded Ore Reserve supports the move to reach higher levels of production with significant potential to increase the Ore Reserves further from the remaining resource once mining and production are underway,” Mr Dixon said. “This increase vindicates our decision to make a significant up-front investment in additional infrastructure capacity to support production levels above the Stage 1 start-up level of 8Mtpa of magnetite concentrate and 2Mtpa of hematite and provides the foundation for us to move sooner rather than later to unlock this growth potential,” he continued.

The cost of the infrastructure expansion program has been included in the revised Project Construction Cost estimate of $1.975 billion announced earlier this year

Some of the key areas where infrastructure has been upgraded include:

• An increase in the capacity of the high-voltage power line, from 132kv to 330kv, connecting Karara to the State grid at Eneabba. This is sufficient to accommodate an ultimate production capacity of more than 36Mtpa;


• Improved rail haulage capacity of the 85km spur line connecting Karara to the existing rail line from Morawa-to-Geraldton, increasing the capacity of the spur line to +36Mtpa. This line is being built as a dual gauge to allow conversion from narrow to standard gauge in the future;


• An increase in capacity of the iron ore storage facilities at the Port of Geraldton from 100,000 tonnes to approximately 255,000 tonnes. The installation of a dual-wagon tipper at Geraldton Port The improved facilities at Geraldton will allow an annualized capacity of approximately 14Mtpa;


• An expansion of the water pipeline supplying the Project to accommodate future production capacity of up to 16Mtpa.

Construction of the Karara Project is well underway, with first hematite production scheduled for the first half of 2011 with magnetite production from the concentrator to commence by December 2011.

Bell appoints new General Managers

Bell Equipment Sales South Africa (BESSA) has appointed Francois van Tonder as the General Manager of the Coastal Region while Les Lothian, who previously held that position, has been appointed as General Manager of the Central Region.

Van Tonder has a good perspective of Bell Equipment having joined the company in March 2007 as an Engineer in the fsag mill supplier copper ore south africa 2actory’s Product Verification and Validation (PV&V) Team. He specialized in the Structural Analysis of Bell’s Articulated Dump Trucks (ADTs) and after a year he started to manage that PV&V Testing Team.

In mid-2010 he was promoted to Programme Manager where he was responsible for new development projects through the Product Delivery Process (PDP) for ADTs as well as Sugar and Forestry machines.

Van Tonder lectured for five years in the field of Structural Mechanics in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Pretoria before joining Bell Equipment. He also worked for Armscor as a Project Manager and Engen Petroleum as a Sales Engineer.

The Coastal region includes KwaZulu-Natal, Nelspruit and Swaziland and as General Manager, Van Tonder is responsible for running Bell’s business in the area.

“Apart from working with people, I enjoy that this position offers new challenges every day,” he says. “In general I will be looking after the business holistically and aligning the business to support the Group’s initiatives. During the recession we were forced to run a lean budget and now it is my goal to ensure that we have the necessary resources in place to provide our customers with the high level of support to which they have become accustomed to and which I know we can provide.”

He added that he will also be focusing on developing employees so that skills levels are able to support the service levels to which the region aspires. “Improving our customer service levels will support product growth. We have a strong, motivated and dedicated team and they know what is expected of them,” he said.

Meanwhile Lothian joined Bell as GM of the Coastal Region in September 2007. He first found his way into the industrial sector after serving his articles with Price Waterhouse when he became a founding partner in a business dealing with specialised abnormal logistics. After eight successful years the business was sold and he joined Johnson Crane Hire and was later approached to join Bell Equipment.

He moved to the position of GM of the Central Region in February 2011 and is enjoying the challenge of heading up Bell Equipment’s largest region in South Africa, which extends from Middelburg in the East through to Kuruman in the West and from Tzaneen in the North to Bloemfontein in the South.

The region, which is serviced by eight Customer Service Centres, also has the largest machine population in South Africa and accounts for the lion’s share of Bell Equipment Sales South Africa’s revenue.

Comments Lothian: “Business is predominantly mining and construction driven, although all other sectors feature. The mining sector is particularly strong at present, stimulated by global demand for commodities while the construction sector is in a slow recovery period. We’ve also had some success through Public Sector spend and look forward to this trend continuing as government fulfils its commitment to improve infrastructure.”

He adds that he enjoys the “hands on” aspect of his position. “It’s all about getting the balance right; interacting with customers daily, building relationships and ensuring the operational units within the region meet Group expectations keeps me focused and my team stimulated,” he said.

“I have a philosophy of ‘right, first time right’, which is quite a challenge, however at Bell we are very team orientated and each member strives towards the same goal. Our products are world class and matching this with sound aftermarket delivery makes this challenge a whole lot easier.

“Our focus going forward is to develop our employees and raise their ability to deliver quality service, which our customers rightly demand and have become accustomed to over the years,” he said.

Mining Firms Meet on Australia Carbon Plan amid Voter Backlash

Australia’s government said a group of mining companies includini want to buy a rock crusherg BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Rio Tinto Group will meet today to suggest changes to Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s plan to introduce carbon trading. The discussions come amid industry and voter opposition to the proposal to begin an emissions trading system next July.

Support for the ruling Labor party fell to a 15-year low in a Nielsen opinion survey published in the Age newspaper yesterday, which showed 59 percent of voters oppose carbon trading. Under the system, companies would be charged a fixed cost per ton of carbon for the first three to five years before trading begins. The government, which is yet to announce the starting price, has said more than 50 percent of the carbon revenue would be used to assist households, with the rest to help companies adjust and to fund clean energy projects...

Pacific North West Announces $3,000,000 Private Placement To Fund Projects

Toronto Stock Exchange listed Pacific North West Capital Corp.on Tuesdayannounced a non-price for gypsum production line machinerybrokered private placement of up to 10,000,000 units at a purchase price of $0.30 per unit for gross proceeds of up to $3,000,000. Each unit will consist of one common share in the company's capital and one-half of one share purchase warrant, each whole Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one additional common share of the company for one year at a price of $0.35.

A portion of all the units may be flow-through units and will be priced a $0.35 cents per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the company and one-half of one share purchase warrant, each whole Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one additional non flow-through common share of the Company at $0.45 for a period of one year.

The proceeds from the private placement received from the sale of the units will be used for the further development of the River Valley PGM Project located in the Sudbury region of Ontario; the Destiny Gold Project, located approximately 75 km north of Val d'Or in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, Québec; and the Rock and Roll project located in the Liard Mining District approximately 9 km west of the Bronson airstrip and exploration camp in northern British Columbia. The project hosts precious metals rich, volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralization in a volcano-sedimentary host rock package.

The mineralization shows similarities to the gold and silver rich mineralization of Barrick Gold's past producing Eskay Creek mine; Part of the proceeds from the financing will also be used for the advancement of the additional projects that the Company currently holds in its portfolio situated in Québec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alaska, and for the acquisition of additional platinum group metals, precious metals and base metals projects in Canada, the United States and Africa.

Riversdale Responds to Reports About a Possible Take Over Bid from Rio Tinto

Riversdale Mining referscrusher machine models for query processing to reports in today’s editions of the Australian and the Australian Financial Review concerning a possible takeover bid by Rio Tinto for the Company.

From time to time the Company enters into confidential, non-binding discussions with third parties concerning possible transactions at either the corporate level or the asset level.

The Company has had discussions with Rio Tinto concerning a possible transaction at the corporate level for indicative consideration of $15.00 per Riversdale share. These discussions were undertaken in confidence and Rio Tinto advised the Company that it is not in a position to submit a proposal for the potential acquisition of the Company.

While discussions with Rio Tinto are ongoing, there is no certainty that Rio Tinto or any other party will proceed with any proposal for the acquisition of Riversdale or, if it does, the timing of such a proposal or the terms and conditions on which any such proposal will be made.

If the Company becomes aware of any additional information, requiring disclosure in compliance with its continuous disclosure obligations, the Company will provide that information to the ASX in compliance with those obligations.

Kryso Resources on track to start gold production from Pakrut in 2013

Kryso Resources told investors that it remains on track to start piron ore magnetite beneficiationroduction from its flagship Pakrut gold project in Tajikistan next year after making significant progress there during 2011.

During the year, the company undertook an ambitious exploration programme, which saw it achieve the highest amount of drilling in one year than ever before, resulting in a 40 percent jump in the Pakrut mineral resource to more than five million ounces of gold.

In the meantime, Kryso secured a mining licence for Pakrut, which runs until 2030.

On the financial front, Kryso secured a loan facility for a total US$93.5 million from its largest shareholder China Nonferrous Metals Int’l Mining (CNMIM) last month.

CNMIM also said it would exercise its warrants to subscribe for 73.3 million shares in the company, raising a further US$24 million.

Finalising the loan facility with CNMIM should enable the company to begin full scale construction imminently.

“We have made significant progress on the Pakrut Gold Project during 2011, including the commencement of construction of project infrastructure in October 2011,” said non-executive chairman of Kryso Tao Luo.

“We are on target to commence production in the fourth quarter of 2013.”

Running through Kryso’s financial results, losses increased 25 percent to US$1.39 million as administration expenses rose 69 percent to US$1.58 million and development work costs climbed 81 percent to US$4.78 million.

Rio Tinto trades under investigation after share crash

Some trades in the Australian listing of Rio Tinto are under investigation after the company's stockgranite stone crusher machine in malaysia lost nearly 98 per cent in four minutes and briefly dropped to its lowest level since the 1970s, the Australian Securities Exchange said today.

A series of trades between 11:24 and 11:26 AEST are being investigated, the ASX said. Exchange data shows a series of equity options combinations were traded at $1.43 to $1.91 between 11:24 and 11:26 AEST against a typical price of around $71.00 per share. A total of $489,981 in shares were shown changing hands at the subdued prices, giving an average price of $1.81 per share. However, a trader at Goldman Sachs said the stock had not actually reached that level. "It had something to do with some derivatives and I'm sure it will be unwound later in the day," said the trader, who didn't want to be named. All trades in the stock below $64.35 were cancelled after a review by the market's Dispute Governance Committee, the ASX said later.

Avion Awards EPCM Contract for Capacity Upgrade at Tabakoto/Segala Operations

Avion Gold Corporation announces the commencement of its planned 100% capacity upgrade at its Tmachine of stone crusherabakoto/Segala operations in Mali, West Africa by awarding an Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Management ("EPCM") contract to GENIVAR Limited Partnership of Montreal.

Avion plans to increase plant throughput from 2,000 tonnes per day to 4,000 tonnes per day. This project is anticipated to be completed in 2012.

Activities during 2010 will focus on detailed engineering analysis, and ordering of long lead time equipment. Most of the construction will take place in 2011, with commissioning planned in 2012.

Commenting on the EPCM contract, Mr. John Begeman, Avion's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "GENIVAR has a proven track record of building new process plants, and plant expansions, in West Africa. The EPCM contract is a major step towards Avion achieving its goal of increasing gold production to 200,000 ounces per year".

Rio Tinto approves US$200m funding for an expansion of Pilbara operations

Rio Tinto today announced US$200 million funding to prepare for the expansion of its iron ore operations in Western Australia.

The funding will allow dredging contracts to be issued as part of early works on the exmaquinarias piedras trituradas en uruguaypansion of the Cape Lambert port (CLB), supporting the Pilbara operations' overall capacity increase to 330 million tonnes a year (Mt/a).

The dredging is associated with the proposed construction of an additional 1.8 kilometre, four-berth jetty and wharf at Cape Lambert to increase its current annual capacity of 80 million tonnes by a further 100 million tonnes.

Rio Tinto's planned growth of its Pilbara iron ore operations to 330 Mt/a capacity consists of the following steps:

• 225 Mt/a by Q1 2011 - Dampier port systems efficiencies (in implementation)


• 230 Mt/a by Q2 2012 - Dampier port incremental gains (in feasibility study)


• 280 Mt/a by H1 2014 - CLB 1st 50 Mt/a increment (now in feasibility study)


• 330 Mt/a by H1 2016 - CLB 2nd 50 Mt/a increment (pre-feasibility completed)

Rio Tinto chief executive Iron Ore and Australia Sam Walsh said the dredging works would help ensure that subsequent decisions on the expansion of operations could be implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"Rio Tinto has a proven track record of managing large-scale iron ore expansion projects, and this decision should be seen in that light. It is important at this stage that we advance this process in an orderly manner, and this decision does that," Mr Walsh said.

"While the Australian Government's decision to abandon its Resource Super Profits Tax in favour of the proposed Minerals Resource Rent Tax was a major step forward, we remain cautious over what legislation will finally be in place."

The dredging works are dependent upon a number of government and other approvals, most notably that of the Robe River joint venture partners with regard to the Cape Lambert port.

Gem Diamonds awarded mining licence for Gope diamond deposit in Botswana

Gem Diamonds Limited is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Gope Exploration Company, has been awarded a mining licence for the Gope diamond deposit by the Government of the Republiccrushing plant optimisation of effeciency of Botswana.

The mining licence has been granted for a period of 25 years, during which time the Company envisages a phased approach to the construction of the mine, with an underground mine planned to improve the Company’s knowledge of the ore body, diamond valuation and metallurgical characteristics. After an initial period of mining, the production capacity will be scaled up to a higher steady state. The life of mine at Gope is currently estimated to be in excess of 30 years. Details of the mine plan and the relevant staged capital expenditure will be released at the time of the announcement of the Company’s 2010 results on 15 March 2011.

Integral to the mining licence approval process was the approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the Government of Botswana which was obtained in late 2008. The Company remains committed to continue working closely with the project’s affected communities and other interested parties.

Gem Diamonds’ CEO, Clifford Elphick commented: “I am pleased to be able to announce that Gem Diamonds has been awarded a mining licence from the Government of the Republic of Botswana for the Gope diamond deposit. This is the first step towards the development of the Gope deposit into a viable producing mine and is in line with Gem Diamonds’ stated strategy of providing a platform for sustainable growth for the Group through the development of its existing assets. The Gem Diamonds Board will shortly be looking to approve construction of the initial phase at Gope which aims to start production in 2013 in order begin to take advantage of the rising rough diamond market.

Botswana is a politically stable country with a strong history of diamond mining and is therefore an ideal country for Gem Diamonds to be investing into. Gem Diamonds remains committed to implementing sustainable solutions to the environmental and community related issues in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and we embrace the opportunity to continue our work with the project’s affected communities and other interested parties to ensure that the benefits of the Gope asset are realised for the community as a whole.”

Fortescue Metals Group Announces Signing of Co-operation Agreement

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd adviselist of stone quarry companies in ghanas that it will today sign a Cooperation Agreement with the Chinese engineering group China Gezhouba Group Company (“CGGC”) pursuant to Fortescue’s expansion planning for 95 million tonnes per annum (“Mtpa”) of capacity within its Chichester Hub.

The agreement commits both parties to negotiate and define an engineering and procurement role for CGGC, which would convert to a formal appointment, if mutually acceptable terms can be agreed.

Fortescue is currently well progressed in the implementation of its capital works program to increase production to 55 Mtpa from the Chichester Hub and completion of these works is expected within the March quarter of 2011. Planning for the next expansion phase up to 95 Mtpa is also advanced and the involvement of CGGC will bring benefits in areas such as procurement, engineering and overall project management oversight.

CGGC is one of China’s pre-eminent engineering and construction groups having completed major domestic and international infrastructure projects. CGGC also works closely with China’s export credit agencies and this may create a source of competitively priced finance should this be deemed desirable by Fortescue.

As advised to the ASX on 19 May, the expansion to 95Mtpa will proceed despite the proposed Resource Super Profits Tax (“RSPT”) as it is intended to implement the works program prior to the commencement of the tax in 2012 and noting that the expansion can be financed from internally generated cash flow.

Plans to take Fortescue beyond a 95Mtpa capacity remain on hold due to the RSPT impairment of operating cashflows that are required to support a separate project financing facility. There are certain conditions precedent to the CGGC Agreement being converted to an award including amongst others, Fortescue Board approval.

CIN Provides an Exploration Update on the Deadhorse Creek Rare Earths Project

Canadian International Minerals Inc. (CIN) is pleased to announce that a road building and stripping program has commenced on itflow chart of stone crushing plant in pdfs Deadhorse Creek ("DHC Property") rare earth element (REE) property.

The DHC Property consists of 75 units (1200 ha) in Walsh Township in the Thunder Bay mining division, is approximately 25 km northwest of Marathon, Ontario, and is traversed by Provincial Highway 17 near its southern boundary and the Deadhorse Creek logging road for most of its length north-south.

Fugro Airborne Surveys completed a high resolution magnetic and radiometric survey of the DHC Property between September 17-20, 2010 . Coverage consisted of 320 line km of traverse lines on 50 meter spacings and 32 km of tie in lines. The survey confirmed known areas of REE mineralization and delineated several new radiometric anomalies as well as structural features that may host or control REE mineralization.

The DHC Property has been intermittently evaluated (Gulf Minerals, Highwood Resources, Unocal Canada), with respect to its Yttrium, beryllium, zirconium and uranium potential since its discovery in 1977. None of this work has led to complete geological delineation of the prospect at depth or along strike, as neither a comprehensive diamond-drilling program nor a regional radiometric survey was previously undertaken.

A non NI 43-101 compliant mineral inventory report on the DHC property was filed by Unocal Canada (Moly Corp.) in 1987 with the Ontario Ministry of Mines; however, this was based only on surface trenching and small drill program. Unocal Canada was focused on yttrium at that time to supply its contracts with TV screen producers. Assaying was limited to yttrium, zirconium, beryllium, uranium and scandium leaving an unknown potential for other REEs.

CIN is focussing on the high grade zirconium/hafnium potential of DHC. A channel sample cut of one meter along an exposed outcrop yielded 9.0% zirconium oxide. (A.W. Knox, Unocal 1987) Recent limited reconnaissance sampling by CIN has yeilded 3.18 % zirconium oxide and 556 ppm hafnium over a one meter chip sample and 2.96% zirconium oxide and 637 ppm hafnium in a grab sample. (G. Arseneau, SRK Consulting Canada, 2009).

The present road building program will consist of approximately 2km in total of 4X4 and excavator access to old trenches with known mineralization as well as to new features identified on the airborne survey. Soil and overburden is in general thin but vegetation and thick moss hinders ready observation of rocks.

Once access is established to areas of interest, they will be stripped for geological mapping and sampling under the supervision of Dr. R. H. Mitchell, D.Sc., Ph.D., FRSC, Consulting Petrologist. Dr Mitchell has studied the mineralogy of DHC extensively and is a world renowned expert in alkaline rocks, which host the mineralization at DHC.

OZ Minerals Swings to First-Half Profit on Mine

OZ Miphilippine used ore crusher for salenerals Ltd., an Australian gold and copper producer, swung to first-half profit, benefiting from full output at its A$1.2 billion ($1.06 billion) Prominent Hill mine. Net income was A$405.7 million in the six months ended June 30, from a loss of A$585.6 million a year ago, Melbourne-based OZ Minerals said today in a statement.

The company reported last year’s loss following the sale of $1.6 billion of mines. Prominent Hill, which started in May last year, produced 60,145 metric tons of copper and 90,821 ounces of gold in the half, accounting for sales of A$589.9 million. Copper prices in London averaged 75 percent higher in the half, from a year ago. Profit, excluding a one-time gain for the reversal of an impairment charge of A$141.1 million, was A$230.5 million, OZ Minerals said. It had cash of A$1.43 billion, an increase of A$356.3 million, the company said in a presentation. OZ Minerals rose 1.2 percent to A$1.245 at 10:53 a.m. Sydney time on the Australian stock exchange. It will pay a dividend of 3 cents a share...

Gold steady, supported by inflation, rate concerns

Gold prices held steady on Tuesday, as investors weighed the news of Osama bin Laden's death against other factors inclhow to identify precious metal oreuding low interest rates in the United States and global inflation concerns. The death of al Qaeda's leader accelerated spot gold's drop to $1,540.39 from a record high of $1,575.79 on Monday, but trade has been mixed ever since.

"Over the last few weeks gold has become overbought," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong, expecting the market to remain volatile in the near term. The price level at $1,500 is seen as a strong support for gold, Fung added. Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $1,547.14 an ounce by 0612 GMT, after trading in a range of about $35 on Monday, its second-biggest one-day range since March 15. COMEX gold futures fell as much as 2.6 percent earlier in the day, before trimming losses to $1,547.90, down 0.6 percent from the previous close.

CSN increases stake in Rio Tinto target Riversdale Mining

Brazilian steelmaker CSN has raised its stake in Rio Tinto target Riversdale Mining, potentially complicating the Anglo-Australian mkitchen sink grinderajor's bid for the coal developer. The move raises a hurdle for Rio Tinto in its first major acquisition attempt since the global financial crisis and adds to mergers and acquisitions excitement surrounding coking coal miners, amidst an expected pickup in demand for steelmaking materials as the world economy rebounds.

In a regulatory statement, CSN said its holding in Riversdale was 17.58 per cent at February 8, up from 16.29 per cent at November 24. Rio Tinto has offered $16 cash per share for Riversdale, which has a 14 billion-tonne coal resource in north-western Mozambique. Since the start of February, the Brazilian company has spent $76.2 million at an average cost of $15.96 per share buying 4.8 million Riversdale shares, with roughly half of the holding bought at Rio’s offer price...