Wescan Goldfields Inc. is pleased to announce it has received an initial package of 83 coal permit certificates from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources. These permits are adjacent to the claim block hosting the major coal discovery previously announced by Goldsource Mines Inc. (”Goldsource”) (see Goldsource news releases dated April 22 and April 28, 2008). The permits allow Wescan to aggressively explore the area for coal and cover a period of one year with two possible six-month extensions and convertible to a 15-year lease.
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ArcelorMittal (referred to as “ArcelorMittal”, or “the Company”) (New York: MT; Amsterdam: MT; Madrid: MTS; Paris: MTP; Brussels: MTBL; Luxembourg: MT), the world’s leading steel company, today announces results for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2008.

H108 highlights:
- Sales of $67.6 billion, up 31% compared with H107
- EBITDA(1) of $13.1 billion, up 35% compared with H107
- Net Income of $8.2 billion, up 65% as compared with H107
- Capital expenditure of $2.3 billion in H108
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Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service on Wednesday announced it has opened an investigation into the pricing practices of two more mining companies as politicians struggle to keep a lid on soaring steel costs.

Just days after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s public attack on Mechel, the country’s largest coking coal producer, for alleged price-fixing and tax evasion, the antitrust authorities added Evraz Holding, which is partly owned by Kremlin-friendly businessman Roman Abramovich, and its affiliate Raspadskaya Coal to the companies being investigated.
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Mining giant BHP Billiton’s said it had suspended operations at its South African Klipspruit coal mine after a worker was killed in an incident early on Tuesday, the company said on Wednesday.

BHP said mining had been suspended pending the results of an investigation by BHP Billiton and government authorities, and it was not immediately clear how much output would be lost.

“Mining operations at Klipspruit Colliery have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation,” BHP said in a statement. Another worker was critically injured, BHP said.

Canada’s biggest diversified mining company has made a major shift away from metals to coal.

Teck Cominco Ltd.’s $14-billion (U.S.) offer for Fording Canadian Coal Trust - the largest coal sector deal in history - amounts to a major bet by Teck on continued strength for the commodity, which is used to make steel and is fetching record prices.
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The UAE emirate of Ajman is investing Dh8.8 billion in various infrastructure projects plus a coal-driven power plant.

“Ajman’s buoyant real-estate market has great potential,” said Mohammed Al Zarah, the vice-president of Dubai-based Great Properties, in a statement yesterday. The company is a consortium put up by various investors in the Gulf Co-operation Council bloc.

He added that the investment includes the Dh500 million allocated by the emirate for infrastructure such as roads, the Dh800-million sewerage system launched recently and the country’s first coal power plant worth Dh7.4 billion ($2 billion).

Ajman’s real-estate market is ranked third in the UAE after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with respective market share of 10 per cent, 50 per cent and 30 per cent. The six mega-projects under construction in Ajman have a total value of Dh40.8 billion, or 10 per cent of the current projects being developed across the country.

Al Zarah said a new coal-driven power plant, set for completion in three years, would support the infrastructure development in Ajman needed to cope with the tremendous increase in residential projects across the emirate. Read more » »

Coal generates 80 per cent of the country’s power and has been the predominant fuel of China’s economic boom. State energy authorities have given warning of long-term coal deficits at power plants in the world’s second-largest energy user. China, also the world’s biggest consumer of coal, could continue to face coal-related disruptions into the winter.

Energy experts believe that China’s coal shortage could trigger its worst spate of blackouts and brownouts in four years, hitting the metals and manufacturing sectors especially hard.
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Mining group Rio Tinto said yesterday it is to spend $2.15bn (£1.09bn) to expand production of its Corumbá iron ore mine in Brazil to almost 13m tonnes a year.

The mine currently produces about 2m tonnes and Rio Tinto is aiming to use the increased output to service markets in Latin America, the Middle East and Europe.

Rio Tinto, fighting a $150bn takeover bid from rival BHP Billiton, said it would also conduct a feasibility study for a second round of expansion at Corumbá which would boost output to more than 23m tonnes a year. Read more » »

Mining giant Teck Cominco said Tuesday it will buy up all of the Fording Canadian Coal Trust for close to $14 billion in cash and stock. The deal is just the latest in a growing string of giant acquisitions centered on coking coal, a key raw material for certain steel mills.

Coking coal prices have gained more than 50 percent since April 1 to $250 a ton or more, driven by tight supplies and demand from China, India, Russia, Europe and Brazil. When combined with the soaring cost of scrap metal, iron ore and other raw materials, mining interests such as Teck Cominco and international steel companies have begun snapping up coal producers in the U.S. and overseas. Read more » »

Inmet said Tuesday it earned $67.7 million or $1.40 a share for the three months ended June 30. That compared with earnings of $138.1 million or $2.86 a share for the same 2007 period. Gross sales fell 12 per cent to $281.5 million from $320 million.

Inmet said net profits in the quarter were hurt by lower zinc prices, which cut sales by $53 million. The company’s bottom line was also affected by $18.6 million in foreign exchange losses, while the 2007 quarter benefited from a $12 million investment sale gain.
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