The price of iron ore spiked to a one-month high today, with benchmark Australian iron ore rising to $140 a tonne. FT (sub required) reports that Chinese steelmakers, which halted purchases last month amid concerns about an economic slowdown and tight credit conditions, are able to obtain import financing. That, combined with higher steel prices, is boosting iron ore prices.

Japan's top nickel producer, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., is predicting a glut in the supply of the metal. Bloomberg reports a global nickel surplus may soar in 2012 to the highest in four years as Europe’s debt crisis and a sluggish U.S. economy cuts demand: Supply will likely exceed demand by 54,000 metric tons in 2012, the biggest surplus since 2008, said Toru Higo, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.’s general manager of nickel sales and raw materials. Demand outstripped supply by 63,000 tons last year, the first deficit since 2006, before moving to a surplus of 11,000 tons this year, Higo said.

Goldcorp said on Monday that the Quebec government has given the green light to its Eleonore project, allowing Canada's second largest gold producer to start full construction at the mine in Northern Quebec. The project, which is located in the James Bay region of Quebec, is expected to boost Goldcorp's output by 600,000 ounces of gold a year, with cash costs under $400 per ounce.

A new Col Joy training facility has opened in Brisbane, Australia, designed to keep mining industry workers current in health and safety, communication, first aid, and more, reports NewsMaker.

With two large air conditioned training rooms built to resemble real workplace conditions such as simulating confined space working conditions, providing electrical switchboards in a realistic setting, and offering a state of the art fire training simulator, a wide range of training courses like mining training are available to make sure that workers and employers are informed, updated, and adhering to the stricter government occupational safety legislation.

Mining companies in Zambia may have to scale down their operations to cope with higher mining taxes recently imposed by President Michael Sata's new government. Reuters quotes the general manager of the country’s chamber of mines, Frederick Bantubonse:

Crazy Horse Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:CZH)(OTCQX:CRZHF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that its new management has completed a review and scoping study of the Taysan Copper-Gold Porphyry Project in Batangas Province on Luzon Island in the Philippines.

Cameco (TSX:CCO) (NYSE:CCJ) announced today that it has increased its all-cash offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hathor Exploration Limited to $4.50 per share, which values the fully diluted share capital of Hathor at approximately $625 million.1 Cameco's increased offer will expire at 12:01 a.m. (Vancouver time) on November 29, 2011, unless further extended or withdrawn. "Cameco's increased offer to Hathor shareholders provides an attractive premium over Rio Tinto's offer and makes sense for Cameco given our unique position in the Athabasca Basin," said Tim Gitzel, president and CEO of Cameco.

Overall construction at Oyu Tolgoi continues to advance on budget and reached a 54.4% level of completion at the end of Q3'11. Key elements of the project, including the concentrator complex, primary crusher and tailings-thickening ponds, remain ahead of schedule. Total capital invested in the project to the end of Q3'11 was approximately $3.2 billion. Facilities required for first ore production in mid-2012 remain on schedule and commercial production is expected to commence in the first half of 2013.

Working as a mining machine operator is the fifth deadliest occupation in the U.S., just above policing but less dangerous than fishing or farming. In August the U.S. Bureau of Labor released a compilation of occupations with highest fatality rates. Fishing had the highest fatality rate in 2010 with 116 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers, while mining machine operators suffered 23 fatalities, or 38.7 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. The fatality rate for police and sheriff's patrol officers was 18.