The balance of the US coal industry may be tilting in the direction of the MidWest from Appalachia.

When Kim got involved with Kazakhmys (then called ZhezkazganTsvetMet) during the 1990s the Soviet era the state company was in complete disarray and debt laden. He turned Kazakhmys into a $6 billion company and amassed a personal fortune of $3.5 billion along the way.

Rio Tinto may attempt to re-enter the mining industry in Papua New Guinea after a distastrous experience in the 1980s, according to a report this week in PNGIndustryNews.net.

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and air-borne geophysics company GyroLAG are joining forces to bridge the skills gap between mining and engineering in South Africa, reports Mining Weekly.

“We are delighted to participate in TUT’s S&T train project. What a better way to help start young people on a track to becoming engineers, getting exposed to the industries behind two major modes of transport!” says GyroLAG CEO Dr Laurent Ameglio.

Gold prices hit a four-month low today as worries over Europe's financial health, particularly Greece and Spain, and massive trading losses for JPMorgan hurt stock markets and the euro, prompting investors to shelter in the US dollar.

Automated operations are winning over today’s mining industry. Whether it is autonomous trucks, tele operated drills and blasts or automated logistics applications, mines are increasingly introducing these kinds of equipment and solutions.

Mining giant Vale (NYSE:VALE) is having second thoughts about going ahead with its $4 billion Apolo iron ore project in southeast Brazil, which may be affected by the federal government's decision to create a nature reserve in the area.

The head office is just one among 800-odd mining companies clustered in downtown Vancouver. But even in a group so large it serves as the backbone of the city’s business district — and the world’s centre of mining expertise — Teck Resources stands out.

With the price of uranium down about 25% from levels reached before the Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan last year, the least the industry wanted to hear was what the latest edition of the Scotiabank Commodity Price Index had to say: the yellow material prices may well bottom in 2012.