Frik Els , Editor

Rescue work in a flooded coal mine in Guizhou Province has been terminated, 14 days after a flood trapped 23 workers underground. The rescue work in Niupeng Mine, located in Pingtang County, was halted at 4 p.m. Saturday. The miners were very unlikely to be alive, according to an assessment by rescue experts. Twenty one workers remain missing while two bodies have been retrieved from the mine. The area where the miners are believed to be has been completely submerged. While 406,000-cubic meters of water had been pumped out during the past 14 days, flood water was still pouring into the pit.

After rejecting a deal reached by fellow tribesmen, hundreds of Marri tribesmen backed by their chief blocked transportation of coal from Chamalang in Balochistan Pakistan to other parts of the country on Saturday. The blockade follows weeks of deadly skirmishes for control of the coal fields that hold recoverable reserves more than 500 million tonnes. The high-quality Chamalang coal mines were first discoverd in 1885 (see historic map) when the country was under British rule and a 30-year bloody war between the Pashtoon Luni and Marri tribes over the recoverable reserves were ended only after the Pakistan Army intervened in 2006 and mining could restart. The latest dispute is between the Marri leader who signed the peace treaty with the Luni and the leader of the separatist movement in Balochistan.

Australian iron ore developer WPG Resources said on Friday it will bring forward its Buzzard direct shipping ore project at Hawks Nest in South Australia. Drilling at the site has already commenced so that the mine can operate in parallel to its flaghship Peculiar Knob project (pictured) growing output to 5 mtpa. WPG stock received a lift on the news and ended Friday's trading in Sydney up more than 4%, bringing its gains for the year to 24%.

Neighbour South Africa's influential Business Day reports as Zimbabwe’s shaky unity government inches ahead with extensive electoral reforms ahead of fresh elections now expected next year, the prospect of the country’s army seizing power looms large. In recent weeks, the military’s top brass has taken on a visible role in the country’s political affairs and has been brazenly opposed to security sector reforms. The military seized control of Zimbabwe's rich diamond fields in Chiadzwa in 2006 and most observers believe an international ban on these gems are being widely flouted.

After surging last week, industry bellwether Molycorp led a slide in rare earth mining stocks with a 5% drop by early afternoon on Thursday on news China is raising REE export quotas for the second half of the year in reaction to a WTO ruling. The exact impact of the decision is not yet clear: the new quotas only bring 2011 exports in line with last year prompting the EU to call it "highly disappointing." And fresh data from Lynas Corporation, world no. 2 outside China, show the price of a basket of eight REEs jumping 140% in just over two months.

Shares in Canada’s Bear Creek Mining Corporation bounced by over 4% at the open on Wednesday after the company announced it was launching legal action against the Peruvian government to regain its license for a mining concession in the south of the country. Peru cancelled Bear Creek’s licence in late June after protests against the Santa Ana Silver project resulted in five people being killed by police at an international airport 160km away from the site. Bear Creek’s injunction comes weeks ahead of the swearing in of the South American nation’s new leftwing president Ollanta Humala (pictured).

The Namibian reports 500 workers at Rio Tinto's Rossing uranium mine in Namibia downed tools on Tuesday in a dispute over production incentives. The news comes in the wake of a senior Rio Tinto executive telling Dow Jones on Monday that the mine – which accounts for over 5% of world production of uranium oxide – is losing money at the current price of under $55 per pound of U3O8. Rossing which lies partly inside the Namib-Naukluft Park (pictured) has produced uranium since 1976. Rio Tinto owns 70% while the Iranian government with 15% is the second largest shareholder.

Proving that nothing is a sure bet – not even the development of prime bitumen fields – Oilsands Quest on Tuesday suffered a second day of heavy losses, dropping 10% shortly after the open. The losses come after the company said it will ask for more cash from investors because its almost one-year long global quest to find a heavyweight partner has come up empty handed. It is also bad news for Saskatchewan’s oil sands aspirations as Oilsands Quest was hoping to build the province’s first thermal mine but does not have the wherewithal to go it alone.

Shares in Vancouver-based Great Panther Silver recovered early losses to trade in positive territory by midday Tuesday after the company reported disappointing silver output at its two 100%-owned silver and gold mines in Mexico. The counter opened down more than 3% before turning positive after announcing a 6% drop in silver production as a result of falling grades and unsold inventories at its Guanajuato operation which the company ascribes to an oversupply of concentrate on the world market. Silver Panther is still up 35% over the month after investors picked up the stock following record first quarter earnings.

Shares in Anfield Nickel's jumped more than 4% to within striking distance of a year-high on Friday after the company released the results of its economic assessment of the Mayaniquel project in Guatemala. Anfield said the project may generate approximately 700 permanent jobs and 800 direct jobs during the three year construction period and potentially $1.8 billion in taxes and government royalties payable to the Guatemalan government.