Anglo-Australian diversified miner Rio Tinto announced today it has completed the formation of its joint venture with a group led by China's Chalco, subsidiary of state-owned aluminum giant Chinalco, to operate the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.

Patagonia Gold (LON:PGD) (TSX:PAT), an Argentina-focused gold and silver producer, said today it achieved rapid progress in 2011 and is on track towards its goal of producing 200,000 ounces of gold per year by 2015.

Canadian junior mineral exploration and development company Westridge Resources (TSX-V:WST) is living up to its ‘Midas’ touch’ reputation among market watchers, after the company announced today it has extended high grades in the El Padre Vein, at its Charay Project in Mexico.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYX:CAT), the world’s largest manufacturer of earthmoving equipment by revenues, injected some optimism on the U.S. economy today, after announcing profits for the first quarter well above of Wall Street expectations.

SABRTech Inc., a small Canadian company committed to producing and supplying biofuel for the aviation industry, it’s the winner of an international clean technology competition launched last September by the government of Nova Scotia.

TSX- and JSE-listed First Uranium (TSX:FIU) (JSE:FUM) announced it will stick with an earlier announced deal to sell the Ezulwini gold and uranium operation to Chinese-owned Gold One, with shareholders due to decide on June 13.

A disease all-too-familiar to early coal miners from Europe and North America has found its way to China- where technology for making coalming safer is still decades behind the West.

One of the world's oldest, rarest, and most coveted diamonds is going up for auction at Sotheby's.

In 1992 in the junior mining sector, nobody was paying attention to diamonds. Then Lac de Gras was discovered. Within four years, there were 200 diamond exploration companies. Twenty years later, there are six junior companies still in the game. The REE junior space will be similar, but in a shorter timeframe.