The president blamed the illegitimate practice for costing the country millions of dollars in lost revenue due to the environmental degradation, reports the Africa Review.

As well, in recent months, the situation has gotten worse with miners taking the law into their own hands. Two Chinese citizens were arrested for shooting at two Ghanaians and another 80 are in immigration custody waiting to be deported. 

The president also vowed to pursue local citizens and ministers who are involved with illegal activities.

Additionally, the government said it would support sustainable small-scale mining and improve infrastructure.

The task force will also close legal loopholes allowing gold exporters to trade in secret. Further, it will encourage the local purchase and export of minerals — right now only privately owned  foreign companies are licenced to export independently.

Image: file photo

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In a submission to the industry's Chamber of Mines, which negotiates for employers, NUM said it wants an entry-level wage of $750 (7,000 rand) per month minimum for surface workers and $850 (8,000 rand) for men underground.

Currently, those on the surface earn $500 monthly (4,700 rand) and those underground  earn $530 (5,000 rand). That's a 60% increase for workers in the shafts.

For more experienced and skilled workers, as well as for other wage categories, NUM said it wanted a 15% increase.

Impala Platinum said Friday the country's mining industry cannot afford wage increases and new strikes are likely in the coming weeks of negotiations, according to another report by Reuters.

In 2012, South Africa mining firms lost billions in revenue due to job action and more than 50 people were killed during the strikes.

Related

Labour strife continues at South African mines

Workers strike at Lonmin's South African mine

Image: GovernmentZA, Creative Commons, Flickr

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Frontpage image courtesy World Gold Council

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The bank said in a brief statement it is supporting the government so it can develop mining in the country's northeastern mountains, according to the Associated Press.

Two mining companies began testing in the area for gold, copper and silver last year and their results indicate metals could be worth $20 billion.

When the legislation might be passed is unclear. While the Haitian prime minister said last fall the government hoped to pass a new mining law in six months, the country's parliament is controlled by representatives who are opposed to mining. Further, the senate has empty seats and no  elections have been scheduled.

The new mining law would set out royalties for the government — between 9% and 12% — as well as environmental protection.

Image: George Allen Penton / Shutterstock.com

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Members of the National Union of Mineworkers started the job action at the Rustenberg-area mine due to a dispute about bonus payments with the owner LANXESS, a global chemicals company.

A union representative said the company had issued a court injunction Friday to make the workers return to work but it had only angered them further and the strike is still ongoing. The union plans to meet with management on Monday to attempt to resolve the dispute.

Labour strife is mounting in the country is mounting and is expected to worsen as wage talks and job cuts take place.

As the centre of South Africa's platinum belt, the Rustenberg area holds 80% of known global reserves of the metal.

Impala Platinum (JSE: IMP) said the country's mining industry cannot afford wage increases and new strikes are likely in the coming weeks of negotiations, according to another report by Reuters.

Mining firms are hurting from the decline in platinum prices — almost 20% in the last two years.

Additionally, unions are becoming more aggressive, especially the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which is also in a power struggle with rival NUM.

The AMCU leader threatened Friday to bring the country's economy to a standstill.

Concerns about a strike at Anglo American Platinum (JSE: AMS), which has said it will cut 6,000 jobs and mothball two mines, sent the rand down to a four-year low against the dollar on Thursday.

Image: Herby Hönigsperger, via Wikimedia Commons

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The company told the Mail and Guardian that employees had returned to work Friday and labour-management talks continued.

Members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union refused to work Tuesday while calling for the office closure of their rival, the National Union of Mineworkers, at Lonmin.

AMCU's president told workers Wednesday to go back to the mine and stop the job action as a case to recognize the union as the majority representative was before a government commission.

The strike stopped production at 13 Marikana shafts near the town of Rustenburg.

Related: Workers strike at Lonmin's South African mine

Image: GovernmentZA, Creative Commons, Flickr

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The China National Petroleum Corporation will operate the project in the northern part of the country in the Amu Darya basin, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Eventually, the project is expected to supply enough domestic energy for Afghanistan to stop importing oil.

Turkish, Kuwaiti and UNited Arab Emirates companies are developing the country's biggest oil project in the Afghan-Tajik basin, also located in the northern region.

Afghanistan's untapped mineral and energy reserves are estimated to be worth trillions of dollars.

Image: Shutterstock.com

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The provincial environmental assessment office said the required information was not received from Compliance Energy Corp. (TSX: CEC.V) for the proposed Raven coal mine near the Comox Valley on the east side of the island.

In its review document, the government said there were hundreds of application deficiencies including insufficient information about environmental impacts on air quality and water, mitigation of long terms effects from industrial waste and tailings, as well as a lack of consultation with Aboriginal people.

The Raven coal deposit holds about 72 million tonnes of measured and indicated coal suitable for the metallurgical and thermal markets.

Compliance Energy can resubmit its application.

Image: deeanne, Creative Commons, Flickr

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The company said it's unlikely larger miners, like BHP or Vale, would acquire it owing to antitrust legislation in the US.

Cargill Inc. still owns $8 million in shares even though the potash company was split off from it two years ago. Mosaic said it would start negotiations with the private company about buying back its outstanding 129 million shares.

After that, the Minnesota-based producer said it plans to grow through new joint ventures, mine expansion and possibly acquire smaller companies, like Intrepid Potash Inc. (NYSE: IPI) in Denver or Incitec Pivot Ltd.(ASX: IPL) in Australia.

The company said rather than developing new mines, expansion at existing mines, a.k.a. brownfield projects, are the most viable at current commodity prices.

Potash was selling for $410 per tonne at the Port of Vancouver recently — a 19% decrease compared to the year before.

Image courtesy Mosaic

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In an interview with Reuters, company chief executive David Redding discusses the new Liberty gold project as well as the company.

Located north of the capital of Monrovia, the gold mine is expected to produce 120,000 ounces per year over an eight year span with production on track for the last quarter of 2013.

The post VIDEO: Aureus Mining sets up Liberia's first commercial gold mine appeared first on MINING.com.

At a time when many investments offer low returns, many investors will fill a bag with precious stones and hope they will be worth a fortune some day.

Check this chart about the rising prices of gemstones.

Unlike diamonds, though, the $10 billion coloured gems market is mysterious and poorly understood.

This Wall Street Journal video illustrates the issues.

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MOSCOW, Russia – The introduction of the synthetic heavy-duty diesel engine oil, Mobil Delvac 1™ ESP 5W-40, has delivered significant performance benefits for Mexican customer Construplan, including the reduction of oil consumption and the extension of oil drain intervals¹. This advanced oil is part of ExxonMobil’s comprehensive range of high performance lubricants and services which have been designed to help optimise the safety and productivity of mine site operations when compared to conventional mineral oils.

At the La Herradura mine, located in Sonora Desert of Mexico, Construplan operates more than 40 pieces of heavy-duty equipment, including large trucks, heavy-duty pickups and excavators that rely on Mobil Delvac 1™ synthetic heavy-duty diesel engine oil. Along with heavy loads, the equipment at the mine is often subjected to extreme conditions – ranging from 50 degrees Celsius (125⁰ F) in the summer to -10⁰ C in the winter (-14⁰F).

Since implementing Mobil Delvac 1 in its operations, Construplan has reported significant benefits, including enhanced equipment performance, increased uptime, improved fuel economy and extended oil drain intervals when compared to conventional mineral oils. As a result, Construplan leaders say they have been able to reduce oil consumption, minimise used oil waste, and maximise the overall productivity of their equipment and people.

Mobil Delvac 1 branded heavy-duty engine oils are part of comprehensive offer to the mining industry, which include Mobil SHC™ synthetic oil and greases, and Mobil DTE™ Series high-performance hydraulic fluids. These products are formulated to help mining companies achieve their safety and productivity related goals, and can deliver a range of performance benefits, including prolonged equipment life, improved energy efficiency and extended oil life when compared to conventional mineral oils.  The Mobil industrial range of lubricants includes:

•  Mobil SHC™ 600 Series – Mobil SHC 600 oils can deliver a service life up to six times longer than competitive, mineral oil based, gear and bearing lubricants.  Also, in independent university laboratory testing, and statistically validated field tests, the Mobil SHC 600 Series have demonstrated their ability to deliver an energy savings of up to 3.6 percent².

• Mobil DTE 10 Excel™ Series – High performance hydraulic oils that provide long oil life and help minimise deposit formation in severe hydraulic systems.  In addition, in controlled laboratory efficiency testing, Mobil DTE 10 Excel was measured to provide up to a 6 percent³ improvement in hydraulic pump efficiency compared to standard hydraulic oil, when operating in typical hydraulic applications.
• Mobilgrease XHP^TM MINE Series – These greases are specifically designed to meet the needs of off-highway and mining equipment that require lubricants which offer exceptional extreme pressure / anti-wear performance, and will remain in place even in tough conditions, including high sliding and high temperatures.

“With mining equipment often subjected to extremely heavy loads and operating in challenging environments, mine operators can sometimes find it challenging to find the right solutions that will help enhance efficiency and increase productivity,” said Umut Urkun, Industrial Lubricants Marketing Advisor – Europe, Africa & Middle East, ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants.  “We have worked closely with mining professionals for more than 50 years to obtain the necessary insights required to formulate products that help to maximise productivity in a safe and cost-efficient way.”

Alongside its high quality lubricants, ExxonMobil offers its proprietary online oil analysis service, Signum™ Oil Analysis. Signum enables operators to proactively monitor the condition of lubricants and address conditions which have the potential to lead to unscheduled downtime and increased costs.

At Mining World Russia, ExxonMobil will be showcasing its extensive offering of advanced lubrication solutions, in pavilion 2, hall 6, stand J02.  For more information about Mobil-branded lubricants and services, please contact the ExxonMobil Lubricants Technical Help Desk on TechDeskEurope@exxonmobil.com or +420 221 456 426, or visit www.mobilindustrial.com

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The CBO, tasked with providing nonpartisan budget analysis for the U.S. Congress, estimates that the deficit this year—at 4.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—will be less than half as large as the shortfall in 2009, which was 10.1 percent of GDP.

The good news is tempered by coming higher spending in the years ahead, due to higher health costs and growing interest payments.

[Budget] shortfalls are projected to increase later in the coming decade, reaching 3.5 percent of GDP in 2023, because of the pressures of an aging population, rising health care costs, an expansion of federal subsidies for health insurance, and growing interest payments on federal debt. By comparison, the deficit averaged 3.1 percent of GDP over the past 40 years and 2.4 percent in the 40 years before fiscal year 2008, when the most recent recession began. During the next 10 years, both revenues and outlays are projected to be above their 40-year averages as a percentage of GDP.

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Creative Commons image by puuikibeach

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En route from Ecuador, the box full of gold was unloaded onto a motorized luggage cart by five airline crew members. An hour later, the cart was found at the terminal gate without the box of gold.

Police did not say who owned the gold or where it was originally headed.

The FBI is looking into the theft.

Coming in mainly from Mexico and Colombia, Miami's No. 1 import is gold and  last year it was valued at almost $8 billion. Almost all of the bullion is headed for Switzerland, according to Reuters.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

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Like gold, silver has been getting hammered. Since the start of year, spot silver has dropped by one-quarter. It is currently trading at $22.53 an ounce.

The Silver Squeeze – An infographic by the team at The Silver Squeeze Free Infographic

Creative Commons cat picture by ansik

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