Local shares have closed lower, dragged down by losses in Australian mining giant BHP Billiton.The market also had a weak lead from overseas markets, after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke deflated investors' stimulus hopes.The All Ordinaries

European Goldfields has raised its total resource and reserve estimates due to revised figures from its Skouries and Olympias projects in Greece, prompting a rise in its shares.

BBC's Jeremy Clarkson, a car enthusiast who hosts the show Top Gear, ran a documentary on an underground mine in Kalgoorlie, Australia, and learned about the exceptional wear-and-tear exacted on the vehicles. "Here, 2,700 feet down there are machines that have never and will never see the light of day. In one mine there are 300 miles of roads and that means the only means to get about is in a car. They are used for getting men, machines and explosives to the face, and then getting the hell out," narrates Clarkson.

Supplies in the U.S. copper scrap market remained tight at the start of the third quarter, as a lingering slump in industrial demolition rates made material, especially higher-grade material, harder to come by.

Shares in the platinum and precious metals mining company rose as much as 6.4% at the start of the session to an intraday high of $4.98 before the broad market soured during Fed Chairman Bernanke’s second day of testimony on Capitol Hill.

"Many of the Opera House diamond merchants' clients are from Israel...they are no strangers to terror and blasts," said Vasant Mehta, a leading merchant who was at home recovering from fever when the blast tore through Mumbai's congested diamond district.

Gold hit a record high for the second day running yesterday on rising fears of debt default and future inflation. Spot metal touched an intraday best level of $1 594 (R10 933) an ounce and set a record fix of $1 592.50 in the morning in London before dropping back to $1 590.50 at the afternoon fix.

Gloucester Coal has completed two acquisitions designed to create a leading Australian coal miner worth about $2 billion. Gloucester said it had completed the purchase of Donaldson Coal Holdings, which owns three NSW coal mines, from Asian commodities trader Noble Group.

Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas said on Thursday it agreed to pay at least $1.16 billion to have long-term access to iron ore resources, seeking to battle a surge in prices for the key steel ingredient. Usiminas signed an agreement to rent mining rights owned by MBL Materiais Basicos for the next 30 years, it said in a securities filing. Usiminas will also buy 6 million tonnes of iron ore reserves at $12.50 per tonne from MBL, as well as a processing facility.