Apart from developments in Japan and the expiry of the Russia-US nuclear weapons agreement Beijing restarting its construction programme after a review will support oxide prices.

Rates for Capesizes have plunged 98% to just under $4,000 a day from the eye-watering rate of $234,000 set in June 2008 while the Baltic Dry Index which measures overall shipping costs has declined 48% this year alone.

The since departed head of the institute which has staff of 78 was paid in excess of $500,000 per year and the organization racked up more than $54 million in "operational expenses" in the first two years including "conferencing in empire-style Parisian ballrooms" and being entertained by celebrity chefs in Tokyo.

Gold Fields Ltd. may have to settle for a shorter than planned mine life for a gold project in the Philippines due to permit restrictions, a government official said.

A change in Indonesia’s mineral export rules has pushed up the cost of coal for Indian buyers, who source 70 per cent of their coal imports from the southeast Asian nation, making about 9,000 MW of imported coal-based projects in the country economically unviable.

Spanish coal miners armed with homemade rockets and slingshots have clashed with police over the country's austerity measures.

De Beers considered a bid for BHP Billiton's 80% stake in Canadian diamond mine Ekati, but has now become the latest interested party not to submit an offer, perhaps leaving the door open for jewellery retailer Harry Winston to pick up the massive producer for a bargain price.

Exploration and development company Ncondezi Coal has signed a framework agreement with Mozambique’s Ministry of Mineral Resources for its 4.7-billion-ton Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant Ncondezi coal project, in the Tete province.

Mike Niehuser, founder of Beacon Rock Research, discusses the cloud of uncertainty hanging over Argentina in an interview with The Gold Report.