The Times Colonist has a look at the history of coal mining on Vancouver Island starting in 1912 and writing that the troubles started in Extension, a small mining community a few kilometres south of Nanaimo. Two coal miners were fired when they complained to management that unacceptable levels of explosive gas existed at the coal face. One of the workers headed north seeking a job in the mines of Cumberland only to find he had been blacklisted - not just in Cumberland but throughout Vancouver Island. Their memories of a seemingly endless stream of disasters, from single deaths to the 150 dead in the Nanaimo No.1 mine explosion and fire in 1887, kept them implacable in their demands for greater safety.

QMASTOR has been awarded a major contract with Canada's largest export coal terminal. In a major coup for the company, Westshore Terminals (Westshore) has selected QMASTOR to implement QMASTOR‟s Port Suite of products including PortVu, iFuse and QMetrics.

Boart Longyear (http://www.BoartLongyear.com • ASX: BLY), a leading integrated drilling products and services provider, has announced an all-new Spanish language edition of the company website.

Metso has acquired Copperstate Industrial Services, Inc., a mining services provider based inPhoenix, Arizona. The acquisition strengthens Metso's position as a leading service and technology provider for the mining and construction sectors. The company was transferred to Metso on August 1. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Outotec and Emirates Aluminium PJSC (EMAL) have agreed to terms for two contracts with a total value of over EUR 100 million. The deal calls for Outotec to deliver aluminum smelter technology to the second phase of EMAL's smelter expansion project located at Al-Taweelah in Abu Dhabi.

A new coal terminal proposed for Gladstone port's Wiggins Island in Queensland has met with delays for the third time this year, as the project's 16 coal company shareholders including Cockatoo Coal, Yancoal and Xstrata have still to raise all of the capital for the project. Costs for the first stage of the Wiggins Island coal terminal have escalated to A$3.7 billion ($3.9 billion) from A$2 billion in October 2010, a spokesman for the coal industry consortium that is backing the terminal said Wednesday.

Platts reports Monday three of the 40 companies named last week in a Rs160 billion ($3.56 billion) iron ore anti-corruption probe report in India have denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Karnataka, which accounts for a quarter of India's iron ore exports, banned iron ore shipments in July 2010 in a bid to curb illegal mining practices.

While some analysts argue that the continued climb in gold will increasingly rely on purchases by central banks, the world’s biggest asset manager is seeing a different pattern unfold.

FLSmidth has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% shareholding in Darimec S.r.L., an Italian company that designs and manufactures girth gears, pinions and custom made reducers mainly for the cement and minerals industries.

Copper Investing News delves into the history books and takes a look at copper mining on the island of Cyprus which is so closely associated with copper, that the word “copper” is actually derived from the Greek name for the island, Kupros. Cyprus’ copper deposits are being revalued and in 2010, around $13 million worth of copper was exported from Skouriotissa (pictured), the world’s longest producing commercial copper mine first explored in 1914 but exploited since the Bronze Age.