Comment from Jeff Nichols suggests that Chinese gold production and consumption may be considerably higher than the statistics released by the country would indicate.

The Big Picture: News Stories in Photographs, a photojournalism blog, has a segment on coal photos.

BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) has approved close to a billion dollars to construct a new port facility in Western Australia.

The richest woman in the world, Gina Rinehart, on Wednesday dropped $200 million in "loose change" to more than double her stake in Australian newspaper group Fairfax to add to her shares in a television channel prompting questions about the mining magnate's motivations.

NovaGold Resources Inc. (NYSE Amex:NG)(TSX:NG) ("NovaGold" or the "Company") today announced that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters, led by RBC Capital Markets and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC under which they have agreed to purchase from NovaGold and sell to the public 26,400,000 Common Shares at a price of US$9.50 per Common Share.

ABB (NYSE: ABB), the leading power and automation technology group, and Thomas & Betts Corporation (NYSE: TNB), a North American leader in low voltage products, today announced that both companies’ boards of directors have agreed to a transaction in which ABB will acquire Thomas & Betts for $72 per share in cash or approximately $3.9 billion.

Times of Zambia reports that the Zambian government is planning to increase its share of mining firms from 20% to 35% but is not planning a wholesale nationalization.

Vietnam's central bank wants to "mobilize" gold from citizens which it says are hoarding 300 – 500 tonnes to free up funds for socio-economic development in the communist country.

This year could be the best for manganese producers, particularly for Asian countries, as the "Manganese: Global industry markets and outlook, 2012," released today suggests.