The recovery of British Columbia’s mining sector, which languished for a decade in the deep freeze, was demonstrated Tuesday with the release of numbers that show exploration spending last year soared to an all-time high.

The $416-million tally, released by Minister of State for Mining Kevin Krueger, comes on the heels of a record $1-billion haul from the sale of oil and gas rights in the province for 2007.

It’s the latest in a string of increases in mineral exploration spending over the past five years, marking a reversal of a trend that saw spending in the sector dwindle to record lows in the 1990s.
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Extreme weather in central Queensland has severely disrupted operations at the BHP Billiton/Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) coal mines and the impact is expected to be felt for several months.

The workforce at BMA’s Gregory Crinum coal mine, about 50 kilometres north-east of Emerald, has been reduced to essential staff while it remains isolated by flood waters.

The areas surrounding Emerald, where most Gregory Crinum employees reside, has been officially declared a disaster zone following heavy flooding.
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Stock markets across Asia rebounded Wednesday, bouncing back from two days of big losses after a hefty, surprise rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index gained 2.04 percent, to close at 12,829.06 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index made a dramatic rally, closing up 10.7 percent at 24,090.17.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 4.4 percent to close at 5,412.3 after losing 7.1 percent the day before.
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GAIL (India) Limited, India’s top natural gas company, will set up a joint venture with China Gas Holdings Limited <384> through its overseas arm, GAIL Global Singapore, to increase its investment in China, an executive from the company disclosed.

It would be a 50:50 JV and incorporated in either Hong Kong or Bermuda. Three projects will be launched, including a compressed natural gas (CNG) project in Beijing, a coal-bed methane (CBM) project in Mongolia and a coal-based petrochemical plant in Yulin.
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Analysts said the production levels met market expectations and BHP was expected to post a half-year net profit of more than £3.6bn ($7bn).

Takeover authorities have given BHP until 6 February to make a bid for Rio.

Both Anglo-Australian companies, Rio also recently reported record production figures as the global commodities market continues to boom, despite fears of a recession in the US and the resulting worldwide stock market turbulence.

The UK Takeover Panel has given BHP until 6 February to make its bid for Rio, expected to be worth about $140bn, or else walk away from the deal.

Rio continues to maintain that BHP’s proposed offer fundamentally undervalues the company.

“current levels of drilling are insufficient to meaningfully slow decline rates, improve reservoir recovery or add sufficient new production capacity. The explosion in exploration licenses awarded in the last three years, the continual expansion of the number of new offshore rigs being ordered for delivery through and beyond the end of the decade, and the industry-wide, as well as our own plans to increase both capex and research and development spend are clear indicators of future growth. It is our view that only a global economic recession that lowers demand can flatten this trend.”
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Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto Ltd. has shrugged off concerns over the impact of a recession in the U.S., saying it would do little to slow the Chinese economic juggernaut driving the commodities boom.

The previously reserved mining giant has been stepping up the hard sell, with Chief Executive Tom Albanese giving a bullish presentation of the company’s prospects Friday as the deadline for a formal takeover offer from its rival BHP Billiton Ltd. looms.
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Kansas leaders say they’re in talks to avoid a standoff between the Legislature and the governor’s administration over a rejected coal plant, but a compromise remains elusive.

That’s because both Sunflower Electric Power Corp. and critics of its proposed plant refuse to budge. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius shows no signs of backing down, and neither do her legislative critics.

That could set up a legislative fight over the Sunflower project, which a Sebelius appointee, Kansas Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby, rejected last fall.
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China’s industrial heartland of Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, recorded an average of 75.7 days of haze in 2007, the highest level since the Communists came to power in 1949 and a ‘marked increase’ over normal years, according to a new report released by Guangdong’s meteorological bureau, Xinhua said.

The report found the industrial heartland of the Pearl River Delta, whose factories have powered China’s export growth, fared the worst.
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VRJ Petroleum is planning to finalise the development plan for the Doi Moi discovery in Block 9-03 at the latest by the third quarter of 2008 with the aim of starting production in 2010, according to a company spokesperson at one of the joint venture partners. The field is expected to produce between 15,000 and 20,000 b/d of oil when it comes on stream in 2010.

VRJ Petroleum first discovered oil in the block in 2006 when an exploratory well flowed oil at 3,800 b/d, according to information on Idemitsu’s Web site. The joint venture recently used Transocean jackup Trident XVII to drill a third exploration well, which reportedly flowed 4,150 b/d of oil. Read more » »