Booming uranium prices could tempt Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. , the gold mining arm of Anglo American , into uranium exploration in Australia, a company executive said on Wednesday.
Anglogold, which already mines some uranium as a by-product from gold mines in South Africa, was looking at the potential for yielding uranium from the Tropicana gold prospect [...]

Cape Alumina Pty Ltd., part owned by Chinese aluminium group Chiping Xinfa Huayu Alumina Co Ltd., has gained approval to look further afield for bauxite in Australia, underscoring China’s hunger for the raw aluminium-making material outside its borders.
Cape Alumina is prospecting in Australia’s bauxite-rich Cape York region, where world No.2 miner Rio Tinto Ltd./Plc. also [...]

Australia’s Newcastle port, the world’s largest coal export terminal, has cut allocations for all producers for 2007 in a bid to ease severe ship congestion, potentially driving coal prices higher in a tight Asian market.
Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS), operator of Newcastle port, said in a statement on Wednesday that with the reinstatement of the [...]

Martial law in Guinea has forced the world’s biggest bauxite exporter, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG), to halt mining activities and deliveries of ore to the Kamsar port, company officials said on Wednesday.
Guinea, which holds a third of the world’s bauxite reserves, has been gripped by a wave of violent protests against President Lansana [...]

Australian biotech firm Virax Holdings Ltd. said on Monday eight big mining companies had agreed to pay for trials of its HIV vaccine in South Africa, which is battling one of the world’s worst AIDS crises. Virax applied to South Africa’s drugs regulator in September for approval to conduct a clinical trial of its [...]

Striking workers at the world’s largest copper mine, Chile’s Escondida, said on Saturday that negotiators trying to end a weeklong strike had not yet discussed the hard numbers needed for a salary deal.
“We’re still dealing with the social issues,” like warm food in the cafeteria, union Secretary Pedro Marin said.
Marin said talks could go on [...]

Australian iron ore miner Mount Gibson Ltd. launched a scrip takeover offer on Monday for fellow miner Aztec Resources Ltd. , valuing Aztec at about A$200 million ($150 million).
Mount Gibson said a successful takeover would create an independent iron ore company with the potential to produce 9.5 million tonnes a year of hematite ore from [...]

After more than a decade prospecting across China, world number-two mining company Rio Tinto Ltd./Plc said it still has not found the mother lode and was starting to look elsewhere.
“Rio Tinto has been undertaking mineral exploration in China for more than 11 years,” the company’s exploration director for Asia Tim Moody said.
“Although we have a [...]