Groups in Alaska have sued the U.S. Interior Department to block an offshore oil and gas lease sale that residents say threatens Arctic marine wildlife and the traditional Inupiat Eskimo way of life.
The North Slope Borough and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage on Tuesday, claim [...]

Xstrata Plc, the world’s fourth- largest nickel producer, said the company reached a “tentative” agreement with a union representing about 200 employees in Sudbury, Ontario, over a labor contract.
The United Steelworkers union Local 2020’s bargaining team unanimously recommended details of a new accord to the office, clerical and technical employees at the nickel operations in [...]

Houston Lake Mining Inc. is pleased to report that the Company has raised a total of $354,121.10 in a private placement financing subject to regulatory approval. This financing completes the December 2006 non-flow through financing and brings the total amount raised in recent financings to $1,771,074.58. The proceeds of the private placement will be [...]

VentureNet Capital Group, Inc. (VNTN) announced the purchase in the open market of 1,892,000 shares of Cotton & Western Mining, Inc. (CWRN) stock. Cotton & Western is structured to produce and sell iron ore on a global scale. Currently, the company is engaged in mining activities to provide the Asia Pacific steel manufacturing sector with [...]

Unico, Incorporated (OTCBB: UCOI), a natural resource company in the precious metals mining sector, today announced that the company has submitted a proposed amendment to its Large-Scale Mining Plan to cover expansion of the mill and processing facility at the Deer Trail Mine in Marysville, Utah.
The State of Utah’s Division of Oil, Gas and Mining [...]

The U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies in European trading Wednesday. Gold fell.
The euro closed at $1.3199, down from $1.3247 late Tuesday in New York. Later, in midday trading in New York, the euro fetched $1.3212.
Other dollar rates in Europe, compared with late Tuesday, included 118.72 Japanese yen, up from 117.92; 1.2228 Swiss francs, [...]

National Coal Corp. announced that it has signed definitive subscription agreements to sell three million shares of its common stock at the February 28, 2007 closing consolidated bid price of $4.65 per share. Daniel Roling, President and CEO of National Coal, has agreed to purchase 200,000 shares, and two institutional investors have agreed to purchase [...]

The coal industry took another hit when the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration denied Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad’s loan request.
DM&E had requested a $2.3 billion federal loan for its Powder River Basin project, originally proposed in 1998, the Argus Leader reported. Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman said the loan was too high-risk for taxpayers.
“It’s obviously [...]

TXU Corp. received permission Wednesday to move forward with plans to construct a coal-fired power plant in Central Texas. The plant is one of three that the company’s prospective new owners still plan to build.
A federal judge in Austin approved a settlement Wednesday among TXU, the Justice Department and Alcoa Inc. that allows TXU to [...]

Russian federal anti-monopoly service head Igor Artemyev expressed sharp disapproval Wednesday of a proposed merger between state gas monopoly Gazprom and coal giant Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEC), Russian news agencies reported.
“I am personally against it. I have a negative attitude toward this deal,” RIA Novosti quoted Artemyev as saying about the proposed merger of [...]