Vale closer to $9 billion Chinese streaming deal – report

Talon Metals has cranked up the resource estimate for its Trairão iron ore project in Brazil by 60%, the company said today, which puts the inferred resources at over a billion tonnes. Talon, based in British Virgin Islands, added another 414 million tonnes with an average grade of 33% Fe to its existing two target areas, bringing the total amount of iron ore to 1.102 billion tonnes.

Rio Tinto reported a surge in profits due to strong demand in Asia and higher metals prices on Thursday but shares in the company spiked lower in New York, opening down more than 7% and wiping more than $10 billion off the value of the globe's second largest miner. Net earnings for the first half year were $7.6bn, up 30% on the $5.8bn the firm made a year earlier. Commenting on the results chairman Jan du Plessis said the economic environment remains volatile but expected the Australia-based company continue to experience higher than average growth for the rest of the year. The company also said it was experiencing high cost inflation in some "mining hotspots" and cautioned that the strong Australian and Canadian dollar were impacting its profitability.

The internet is fast growing into one of the Australia's strongest economic drivers, with a new report commissioned by search giant Google showing it had contributed more than $50 billion towards the country's gross domestic product last year. That sum equates to 3.6% of the economy, putting it on par with the economic value of iron ore exports according to the survey. While impressive, the figure is still dwarfed by the sums involved in iron ore mining in Australia and elsewhere, something Gina Rinehart can attest to. Rinehart, 57, is set to become the world richest person as her wholly-owned mines go into production in a couple of years, netting her a tidy $10 billion in annual profits.

Cashed-up Rio Tinto is expected to post a first-half net profit of more than $US8 billion, driven by prices of iron ore, aluminium and copper. The earnings season gets into full swing tomorrow when the miner reports, with consensus among analysts for a 39.1 per cent jump in first-half underlying profit from $US5.77 billion to $US8.03 billion. The iron ore division is expected to contribute nearly 80 per cent of the net profit, lifting its performance by more than 50 per cent a year ago to about $US6.2 billion.

Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan may soon have another foreign investment headache on his hands, as a Chinese entrepreneur says he has Beijing's backing to step around Australian investment rules and become the world's fourth force in iron ore. Liu Han, chairman Hanlong Group said the company could achieve it within 10 years, giving China ''a say'' in iron-ore price negotiations and stem as much as $80 billion in national losses flowing to the big producers.

African Minerals Ltd., closed up 7.1% in London on Monday after completing an investment accord with Shandong Iron & Steel Group Co bringing the counter's gains for the year to 57% and giving it a market capitalization of some $3.6 billion. Shandong will invest $1.5 billion for a 25% stake in African Minerals' massive the Tonkolili iron-ore project in Sierra Leone. Phase I of the project will cost $1.2bn and includes railway and port reconstruction in the war torn country while phase II and III will add another $8 billion to the bill. Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest nations, is attracting increasing investments in its natural resources which also include diamonds and bauxite.

Sunday's resignation of a state-level Indian politician brought down by a fraud scandal related to iron ore exports is likely to shake the confidence of foreign investors in Canada, says a top Indo-Canadian banker. Hari Panday, founder of the ICICI Bank in Canada, urged the Indian government to explain its mining policies to Canada — the "mining guru of world" — as well as to important mining jurisdictions Australia and South Africa.

A giant Afghan iron ore deposit may provide hope for the prosperity of the country, but the Afghan government is not able to ensure the mine is managed properly and profiteering warlords could spark further violence, a graft watchdog said on Sunday

The chief minister of a southern Indian state who is accused of being at the centre of a $3.6 billion mining fraud resigned on Sunday, AFP reported. B.S. Yeddyurappa, 68, head of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka, was named earlier this month in a report into corrupt mining practices by the Karnataka state ombudsman. The minister was accused of enabling illicit iron ore mining.