Truck manufacturer and distributor Powerstar reports that the company has started tapping into the South African construction and mining markets with its low-cost durable trucks. Powerstar executive officer Frans Cloete says that many construction and mining operations in South Africa and in neighbouring countries are situated in remote and isolated areas where maintenance and manoeuvrability of trucks, as well as poor road infrastructure, are pressing issues.

Powerscreen, one of the world’s leading providers of mobile crushing and screening equipment, has launched the new Powerscreen® 1500 Maxtrak, the largest addition to the highly successful Powerscreen® Maxtrak range which includes the 1000, 1000SR and 1300 models.

Australia-based iron ore development company African Iron Limited (ASX: AKI) is pleased to announce a greater than 80% increase to the aggregate exploration target size at its 80%-owned Mayoko Iron Ore Project, located in the Republic of Congo, West Africa. Image of a drilling rig at the Mayoko Iron Ore Project, by African Iron Limited.

After an initial 5% jump, shares in Arabian American Development Co was flat at midday on Wednesday on four times usual volumes following news of a $37m injection into the Texas-based company's Saudi mine by a fund controlled by the League of Arab States. Shareholders in the 44-year old Nasdaq-listed company saw the value of their investment rise a cool $107m as a result of the transaction. The gold, silver and copper mine in a Yemen border province is the only non-government mine in the Saudi kingdom and is scheduled to begin production early next year.

Reuters reports Zimbabwe could take over mines that fall short of laws requiring them to sell majority stakes to locals by September, a government minister said on Wednesday. Mineral-rich Zimbabwe has the world's second largest known platinum reserves after neighbouring South Africa and foreign miners working there include Zimplats Holdings, a unit of Impala Platinum, global mining giant Rio Tinto, and Anglo Platinum.

SouthGobi Resources announced today that the Mineral Resource Authority of Mongolia (MRAM) has issued mining license MV-016869 to its wholly-owned Mongolian operating subsidiary SouthGobi Sands LLC. The new license pertains to the resource previously disclosed by the Company under NI 43-101 standards as the Soumber Deposit.

As part of its Silver Series, VISTA Training has launched two online training modules for trainees in the fields of mining and construction: Heavy Equipment – Intro & Safety and Heavy Equipment – Pre-Use Inspection.

The Silver Series gives equipment owners convenient access to task-focused training on many types of heavy machinery, on demand. These affordable modules are designed to help trainees to become proficient and safe equipment operators, and make it easy for equipment owners to schedule training when and where it's most convenient for them. They're also ideal for smaller companies that may only need to train a handful of new operators per year.

A Reuters feature article on Wednesday tells how forced to sell his animals and flee his dried-up lands, former herder Sainbuyangiin Tsagaan-Ovgon is now hoping mining profits will let him return to his native Gobi. The 72-year old, who admits he knows nothing about stocks, will soon receive 536 shares in the Mongolian company that owns the world's largest coking coal deposit.

The Top 10 Metals & Minerals Industry projects in Canada are dominated by large-scale oil sands and metal mining projects. What was once considered a large project is being dwarfed by today's mega-projects. Projects exceeding $1 billion are no longer rare, but commonplace. Currently, there are 67 projects in Canada with a total investment value (TIV) of $1 billion or more.