JOHANNESBURG (Keith Campbell at miningweekly.com) – China’s Shougang group, the country’s fourth-largest steelmaker, has announced that it is going to invest $1-billion in its Peruvian iron-ore mining subsidiary, Shougang Hierro Peru.

This was announced by Shougang group President Wu Bin after a meeting with Peruvian President Alan Garcia.

This investment will boost Shougang Hierro’s production capacity to 10-million tons a year of iron-ore by late 2010. This will double the Peruvian operation’s production.

Shougang has been active in Peru since 1993 and Shougang Hierro is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese group.

With its head office in Lima, Shougang Hierro is the largest iron-ore producer on the west coast of the Americas. It operates a mine with openpits, beneficiation plants and a port.

These are located on the Peruvian coast, some 525 km south of Lima. Read more

While it will certainly ensure more business, the soon-to-be passed mining bill is likely to discourage large multinational mining companies from investing in Indonesia, putting the future of the industry at stake, mining groups warn.

A new permit system, which will replace the Contract of Work (CoW) system, is the primary thing deterring firms from investing here, chairman of the Indonesian Coal Producers Association, Jeffrey Mulyono, told The Jakarta Post.

“I won’t be surprised if we will see some of them pulling out of this country,” Jeffrey said, adding that some miners had planned to cancel investments, including British-Australia mining giant BHP Billiton, which has already withdrawn their US$4-billion investment plan in Maluku.

He argued that the bill would only serve the interests of small and medium sized miners and only hinders the operation of big players.
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State-owned Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd, the only agency to undertake exploration of coal reserves in the country, is outsourcing about 10 lakh meters drilling task to other companies. The move will help to expedite production of coal for power and steel sectors.

A coal ministry official said that the company has been asked to step up its exploration and drilling activities to meet future demands of coal. “The government is taking measures to strengthen CMPDIL. The company will double its in-house drilling capacity to 4 lakh meters per annum and outsource most of the task to public and private sector companies,” a senior official in the coal ministry, who did not wish to be quoted, told ET. CMPDIL is a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL).
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Subsequent to an announcement, a June 12th, 2008 press release, of a proposed Joint Venture program between Royal Standard Minerals Inc. and Sharpe Resources Corp. to jointly explore and develop coal projects in Eastern Kentucky, the Boards of Directors of Royal Standard Minerals Inc. and Sharpe Resources Corporation have completed a 50-50 Joint Venture agreement to jointly pursue the exploration and development of coal projects in Eastern Kentucky. The agreement was approved and executed on November 21, 2008 and is subject to regulatory approvals, according to Roland M. Larsen, Qualified Person.

The information presented in this press release is subject to the various regulatory approvals. The economic viability of these projects is uncertain and is contingent upon coal pricing and mining conditions that could affect the project economics.
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Higher demand for mining equipment prompted a Watertown company to invest $4 million in an expansion that will add about 70 jobs.

Angus Industries designs and makes operator cabs that are assembled onto equipment used for construction, agriculture and mining.

The company will use the additional space to make large cabs for mining equipment. It’s also expanding its engineering division. Read more

Every segment of the mining industry and the companies that support it continue to enjoy great success with no end in sight despite trouble on Wall Street, industry leaders said Monday at a national conference and trade show.

Much of the optimism can be attributed to the unprecedented demand from China and India, said Harold Quinn, president and CEO of the National Mining Association.

“The boom in worldwide mining activity and the equipment to bring those products to market has arguably been the biggest economic success story of the year,” he said at MINExpo International 2008, which opened Monday in Las Vegas. He expects the gathering to be the largest ever with more than 35,000 attendees—50 percent more than the last such expo in 2004.
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, —- (Marketwire via COMTEX via FOX) —-Fox Resources Ltd. (formerly Waverley Biotech Inc.) (“Fox” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:FAX) is pleased to announce that it obtained the final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”) on its Qualifying Transaction (the “QT”), the financings and the name change.

The Otter Gold Property

The Company entered into a three year mining option agreement (the “Mining Option Agreement”) dated May 27, 2008 to acquire the Otter Gold Property located in the Spences Bridge Gold Belt near Princeton, British Columbia. The acquisition of the Otter Gold Property constitutes the Company’s QT under the rules of the Exchange for Capital Pool Companies.

The Otter Gold Property is being acquired from a private arm’s length British Columbia company, 665777 B.C. Ltd. (“665777″), which is owned by Mr. Tim Henneberry of Mill Bay, B.C. (30%), Mr. Rolland Menard of Kamloops, B.C. (30%), Mr. Brent McEwen of Kamloops, B.C. (30%) and Ms. Martina Hobbs of Kamloops, B.C. (10%). Read more