Mercator Minerals has secured a permit for operating its El Pinar porphyry copper project in Mexico.

Kinross Gold (K.TO) erased 19.46% of its value, with shares dropping to $10.65 a share on Tuesday, after it disclosed that it will take ". . . a material non-cash accounting charge, primarily relating to the goodwill recorded for the Tasiast mine in connection with the 2010 Red Back acquisition."

Australian Mining reports: Atlas Iron's chief executive says the miner may need an extra 1000 workers in three years, highlighting once again the severe skills shortage for miners that will continue in Australia into 2012.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last week also indicated mining jobs were in demand across Australia. While total job positions in Australia have fallen by 181,000, the new figures showed resources states QLD and WA were still hungry for mining jobs, posting a rise in available positions. Like other companies in the Pilbara, particularly BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue Metals Group, Atlas is pursuing aggressive expansion targets.

Newmont Mining, the world's fourth-largest gold miner, says it plans to spend $3.0 to $3.3 billion on capital expenditures in 2012.

FLSmidth has been awarded contracts worth a total of approximately USD 85m (approximately DKK 500m) for equipment supplies to a copper producer in South America.

South African platinum group metal production was down 2.7 percent for the three months ended November 2011 compared with the three months ended August 2011.

After a rough 2011, uranium companies started January looking up.

The Argyle diamond mine, long a dominant force in the global diamond market saw production drop 14% year on year during the last quarter of 2011.

In what is likely to be upbeat year for Australian mining M&A, some large Asian and U.S. companies are ready to bet on the country's coal, iron ore and uranium assets to meet booming demand for power.