Wildcat Silver Corporation (TSX-V: WS) (“Wildcat” or “the Company”) announces that it has closed the $13 million private placement of 10 million […]

The Pebble Partnership has approved US$91 million of program expenditures this year with the objective of completing a prefeasibility study next year, which will lead to the beginning of permitting for the massive Alaskan copper, gold and molybdenum project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Activities to be undertaken this year at the Pebble Project include engineering to complete a pre-feasibility project design in 2011, as well as environmental studies to finalize an Environmental Baseline Document in preparation for project permitting.

Connected with the Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Geologists (EFG) this year in Budapest will be a workshop on "Geology at different education levels in Europe" on May 19th. A fieldtrip to the Balaton Lake and the Bakony-Balaton Geopark will also be also offered the following day, including a visit to the area of the catastrophic red sludge spill.

Wayne Swan has rejected calls for a large boost to permanent migration. Instead, he claims that his budget will create 500,000 new jobs and drive unemployment to 4.5 per cent. Short-term shortages in the mining and other industries can be met through temporary skilled migration, he argues, but permanent skilled migration is not the way to go.

"I don't see the need for a dramatic increase in permanent skilled migration," Mr Swan told The Courier-Mail. "I think what we have to do in the first instance is train Australians."

Tool and machinery maker Sandvik's (SAND.ST: Quote) first-quarter operating margin was blown south of analysts' forecasts by currency headwinds, sending its shares down more than 3 percent. The maker of metalworking tools, mining equipment and specialty steels was among the hardest hit in Sweden's engineering sector during the financial crisis, but has since been buoyed by a rapid recovery in demand.

After lengthy deliberations involving several software vendors, Fortescue Metals Group, Australia's third largest iron ore producer after BHPBilliton and Rio Tinto, has picked MineSight for its mine planning software needs. "We decided to use MineSight because we found it to have a comprehensive suite of mine planning capabilities most suited to our operations and a demonstrated track record of quality improvements," said Andrew O'Dowd, FMG's Manager of Operations Planning.

Indian state-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) has raised the domestic prices of its aluminium products by 4,000 rupees ($90) per tonne, except for rolled products, a senior company official said on Tuesday. The prices have been increased in line with the London Metal Exchange (LME) rates, the official who did not wish to be identified due to company policy, told Reuters.

Canada's Primero Mining Corp said the month-long strike at its San Dimas gold-silver mine in Mexico had ended and it did not expect the strike to hurt its full-year production outlook.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts coal to remain the dominant fuel for power generation until 2035 despite projected strong increases in natural gas and renewable fuel use over the same period. EIA’s revised Annual Energy Outlook, released last week, shows coal’s share of the market dropping to 43% in 2035 from 45% in 2009, but remaining the largest fuel source as gas use is forecast to rise to 25% from 23%.