MINING.COM Staff Writer

Astra Mining, an Australian diversified mining company, has signed an option agreement to fund the acquisition of an operating gold mine in Cambodia which presently has an exploration licence.The agreement provides Astra with a majority interest in Petone Mining (Asia) which has the acquisition agreement for the mine. A mining licence will be applied for prior to production expansion of the mine.

The Star Phoenix reports on Thursday BHP Billiton plans to spend an additional $488 million at its Jansen potash project east of Saskatoon, Canada bringing the company's total investment to $1.2 billion. If converted to a mine Jansen would have a maximum operational capacity of eight million tonnes per year and would cost an estimated $12 billion. Production could start in 2015 with an estimated life of mine of 70 years.

Saudi Arabian Mining Company, also known as Ma’aden, and Alcoa, the aluminium giant, have secured the funds for Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina Company, which is 74.9% and 25.1% owned by the two companies, respectively. The company will oversee the construction of a bauxite mine and an alumina refinery, which will cost $3.6 billion, part of the $10 billion Ma’aden-Alcoa joint venture project that will also see the construction of an aluminium smelter and rolling mill at Ras Az Zawr.