Ethanex Energy Inc. plans to seek bankruptcy court protection in the “immediate future,” according to its posting Monday with securities regulators.
The Basehor ethanol company has ended an agreement to buy a small ethanol plant in Nebraska and dismissed three of its six officials. Its decisions follow failed efforts to raise $1.5 million in interim financing.
Ethanex [...]

Plans to build an ethanol plant near Erskine have suffered another setback, with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency set to recommend that the project, proposed by Agassiz Energy LLC, complete a detailed Environmental Impact Statement before proceeding further. The recommendation comes as a result of the project’s 70-page Environmental Assessment Worksheet and its review process, [...]

The China Iron & Steel Association (CISA), a semi-official industry organization, has denied media reports that Australia’s largest miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd have been banned from selling iron ore in China.
CISA vice chairman Luo Bingsheng said there was no such ban at a media briefing here.
However, Luo also told reporters that [...]

The U.S. Interior Department’s Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sales on Wednesday reaped a record $3.7 billion - the highest amount ever in a U.S. government lease sale - as oil prices hovered above $100 a barrel, the Minerals Management Service said.
Flush with cash from record crude prices, short on reserves replacement ratios [...]

ZINIFEX Ltd has prevailed with its $790 million, three-month takeover battle for Allegiance Mining NL, announcing it has gained control of the nickel miner.
Lead and zinc miner Zinifex, which was born from the ashes of the failed Pasminco Ltd, said it had increased its stake in Allegiance to 51.1 per cent from 44.78 per cent [...]

The miner based in Hong Kong, Citic Pacific, announced an increase of 30 per cent in the capital necessary to finance the development of its iron ore mine Pilbara.
Citic Pacific Mining is developing a 5.2 billion dollar iron ore project 100 kilometres south-west of Karratha.
It is the largest operation planned magnetite mining and processing in [...]

Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam Sunday said the government has decided to withdraw customs duty on import of edible oil considering its soaring prices.
The National Board of Revenue would issue a circular in this regard within a day or two, he told reporters at a briefing at his Planning Ministry office.
NBR chairman Muhammed Abdul [...]

Skyrocketing oil prices are likely to curtail demand, a refining industry veteran said Wednesday.
“I think the price is going to mitigate consumption,” Tom O’Malley, chairman of Swiss refiner Petroplus A.G., told an industry conference here.
Price is the biggest single lever moving the market, he said.
A recession, which O’Malley said has already begun in the U.S., [...]

Some 1,500 coal miners staged a mass rally on Thursday on the front lawn of the state Capitol to protest legislation that they fear could eliminate their jobs.
The rally came two days after lawmakers narrowly defeated a bill aimed at stopping mining companies from blasting off mountaintops to expose coal deposits.
Gov. Steve Beshear made a [...]

Three senior Roman Catholic bishops on Wednesday stepped up their campaign against the mining industry, saying it destroyed both the environment and local communities.
“Mining in the Philippines not only destroys the environment but has become the vehicle for the violation of human rights, enthnocide of indigenous communities, and even deaths,” said Bishop Sergio Utleg [...]