Blankenship served time in prison for safety violations connected to a 2010 disaster that killed 29 miners and is seen as the weakest of the three candidates in the upcoming primary.
Chinese companies continue to aggressively try securing steady supply of lithium, a key ingredient in the making of batteries that power electric cars.
BHP forecasts reforms in China’s steel sector will continue to hand an advantage to suppliers of higher-quality iron ore and coking coal as consumption of the alloy keeps growing well into the next decade.
Amid concerns Indonesia could exhaust existing minable coal reserves of 13 billion tonnes 25 years, the government is considering measures to push miners to carry out exploration work before they can obtain permits to increase output.
Qatar Investment Authority stepped in after the sellers -- a consortium of QIA itself and mining giant Glencore Plc -- told CEFC it wouldn’t proceed with the original deal announced in October.