Technical issue disrupts BHP’s Olympic Dam copper smelter

Ivory Coast can double gold output within two years from the current 7 tonnes per year as more miners seek to tap its estimated 200,000 tonnes of reserves, an industry association official said on Friday. "We can double production very quickly within the next two years, because there are several companies carrying out exploration, and it is likely that new sites could start production," said Michel Mian, president of the Interprofessional Mining Group (GPMCI) and head of Australia's Newcrest (NCM.AX) Ivorian operations.

Rhodium will climb as much as 35% to $2,800 an ounce by the end of the year on increased carmaker demand and production difficulties for mining companies in South Africa where the metal is produced as a byproduct of platinum mining, according to a report by Standard Bank released on Monday. Mainly used in emissions reducing converters and in the chemical and glass industries rhodium is down 14% this year after three annual surpluses but jumped 21% in the week after Deutsche Bank introduced a physically backed exchange-traded product at the end of May. The price of rhodium hit an all-time record high above $10,000 in 2008.

Endeavour's Youga Mine in Burkina Faso produced 20,056 ounces of gold during Q1 2011 at cash cost of $664 per ounce sold1. Endeavour reiterated its production guidance for 2011 with a production target of 84,000 ounces of gold at cash cost of approximately $600 per ounce sold1. At March 31, 2011, the Corporation had cash & equivalents and marketable securities of $196 million and was debt-free.

iverstone Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RVS)(OTCQX:RVREF)(FRANKFURT:3RV) is pleased to report further results from the drill program on the company's Karma Project in Burkina Faso, West Africa (see map on website: http://www.riverstoneresources.com/i/maps/110608-100504_GG1_2_Cartoon.jpg). The holes are part of an ongoing RC drill program on the Goulagou I zone of the Karma Project. The program is designed to both fill-in and expand the known mineralization at Goulagou I, which remains open in all directions, especially to the west and at depth. Map of the Karma Project by Riverstone Resources Inc.

Bloomberg reports: De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, is considering an expansion of its South African Voorspoed mine to extend the life of the operation by as much as eight years as prices for the gems climb. De Beers will complete a study this year on a proposed expansion that would prolong the mine’s life to “2026 or 2028,” rather than 2020 as currently planned, Mine Manager Mpumi Zikalala said today in an interview at the site near Kroonstad. It’s too early to estimate the cost of the project, which may include an underground section, she said.

Ethiopia is set to hit its target of more than doubling mining exports to an annual $1 billion ahead of time, the country's mining minister told Reuters, as it promotes gold extraction, but also fertilizer ingredient potash. Ethiopia, though still reliant on commodities like coffee for revenue, is expected to earn around $500 million from mining exports in the financial year to next July, the minister said. It had targeted doubling that over five years from 2010/11.

De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer told a Washington audience Thursday that Africa has a bright future if its leaders embrace globalization and allow the private sector to flourish.

South African mining output rebounded strongly in April, rising by 12.4% year-on-year, after contracting 1.4% in the previous month, a report by Statistics South Africa showed on Thursday. Year-to-date production increased by 5.2%, on the back of surging output of nickel, manganese, platinum group metals and copper but gold production continued to lag, only managing a 1.5% increase. Analysts warned that the outlook for the rest of year was clouded by scheduled wage negotiations across the industry that could lead to strikes and a strong currency which hampers competitiveness.

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers' central committee on Wednesday backed the country's Freedom Charter clause on nationalization and the ruling ANC party's resolution of 2010 to look at a greater role for the state in the economy. NUM is the largest union and represents the majority of workers in South Africa's mining industry. Through its affiliation with the Congress of South African Trade Unions it is also part of the country's ruling alliance, which next year will make a formal decision on the nationalization of the resource sector, long the bedrock of the African nation's economy.