With Japan the third biggest buyer of global jewellery, Tuesday was a tough day for London-listed Gem Diamonds to announce results.

The world’s third-largest gold miner said heavy rains in Australia have affected output at its Sunrise Dam mine.

First Quantum Minerals posted a US$455 million profit in the third quarter, the Vancouver-based company reported on Tuesday. That compares with $227 million in earnings in the three months ended December 31, 2009. Sales of copper in Q3 were down from the same period last year, from 98,171 tonnes in Q3 2009 to 76,290 in the third quarter of 2010. However, the company ended the year with $1.385 billion in its treasury compared to $959 million in the previous year's Q3.

Capstone Mining made a dramatic move into the black last year, earning a US$72.6 million profit compared to a loss of $18.3 million in 2009. Revenues grew from $250 million in 2009 to $310 million last year. The Vancouver-based company had US$192.4 million in the bank at the end of the year, up from $118.4 million the year previously.

US demand for pipe is forecast to advance 6.6 percent per year to $38.6 billion in 2015, according to MarketResearch.com. Gains will represent a substantial turnaround from the declines of the 2005-2010 period, in which pipe demand was hampered by an economic recession and a sharp drop in building construction spending.

As Japan teeters on the brink of a disaster at its Fukushima DaiIchi nuclear power plant, Cameco chief Jerry Grandey suggests the […]

U.S. coal miner Consol Energy has agreed to a hefty $5.5 million fine and $200 million in pollution control to reduce mining […]

The six-week strike at Teck's Elkview coal mine is coming to an end, Canadian Press reported Tuesday morning. The Vancouver company and Local 9346 of the United Steelworkers of America have reached a tentative five-year collective agreement covering about 700 workers at the mine, located in southeastern British Columbia. The union ratification vote is to be completed by Saturday. If the new labour deal is ratified, Teck expects full production at the mine to resume by next Tuesday.

Adults will soon be able to complete an apprenticeship in 18 months under a plan to provide an extra 1000 workers for the mining sector.

The Gillard Government is expected to announce today the $2 million in co-funding for the adult apprenticeship project that came out of an inquiry from Federal Labor MP Gary Gray into the jobs demand in the resources sector over the next 20 years.

Traditional apprenticeships take four years and the low pay is unattractive to older workers. Under the scheme, recruits can stay employed or join the workforce of a participating mining company.