MDM Engineering (AIM: MDM) has announced that it has been awarded the contract for the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for controversial Africa-focused diversified mining company Central African Mining & Exploration Company (CAMEC)'s Licence 871L coal project in Mozambique.

CAMEC is an AIM listed mining and mineral exploration company with a portfolio of coal exploration licences in Southern Africa, but is perhaps better known for its DRC copper/cobalt operations and, most recently its Zimbabwean platinum development.

An initial assessment of the licence area has revealed that the project Licence 871L has 'world class' potential. CAMEC has initiated the PFS with a view to fast-tracking development of the project into production.

CAMEC had earlier announced a JORC compliant resource for Licence 871L, which is located in Mozambique's coal-rich Tete province, of 1.033 billion tonnes in April this year, although it reckons its licences in the area may hold over 3 billion tonnes. At that time, CAMEC CEO, Andrew Groves, stated "The publishing of a coal resource in excess of one billion tonnes underpins our belief that our licence areas in Mozambique contain world class coal deposits. In tandem with SRK we have predominantly targeted the L871 licence due to its location and amenability to open pit operations and the shallow nature of the horizons. The next step is to implement a feasibility study to fully assess the production potential of the project and realise its inherent value."

Exploration work conducted by CAMEC identified eleven coal zones partially exposed in surface outcrop that extended to a depth of at least 250m. These are said to remain open ended, over a strike distance in excess of 7.5km. The outcropping coal horizons have a combined thickness of around 120m, dip at approximately 12 degrees north, and are generally unaffected by dykes and sills. The shallow dip should make these horizons amenable to large scale open cast mining.

The scope of work for the PFS will see MDM providing the process plant and infrastructure design as well as the related capital and operating cost estimates.

The MDM Engineering team has a 20 year track record of undertaking scoping and feasibility studies, including designing and constructing some 52 metallurgical plants throughout Africa.

Interest in Gold Licenses for Egypt's Eastern Desert

Some 17 companies from countries including Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Australia, Cyprus and Iraq are interested in gold exploration licences in Egypt's Eastern Desert, the petroleum minister said.

"It's clear that gold is starting to create a success story," Sameh Fahmy said on Thursday at a news conference, when asked about interest in the bidding round for gold exploration in seven blocks in the Eastern Desert. Bids are due by October 7.

The news conference followed a signing ceremony for a licence worth $4.5 million for Cypriot firm Matz Holdings to explore for gold and minerals in an area of 590 square km, also in the Eastern Desert.

Matz Holdings already operates with an Egyptian partner in Hamash, around 30 km from the new concession.

Zeinhoum el-Alfi, Director of Hamash Company, Matz Holdings' Egyptian partner in the area, said the Hamash mine had already produced 60 kg of gold this year and that the partners hoped ultimately to produce 1 tonne of gold per year from the mine.

Egypt said last year it wanted to produce 8 tonnes of gold from its mines in 2009.

Output had stalled since the late 1950s, when the volume mined was considered too small to be profitable.

Egypt's gold sector got a boost in 2007 when a memorandum of understanding was signed with the International Finance Corp (IFC), the private sector lender of the World Bank, to replace antiquated mining laws.

Egypt's old regulations, based on profit-sharing, made it virtually impossible for foreign mining players to exploit the reserves, while local companies lacked the capital or expertise to develop a commercial, home-grown industry.

Since then, firms from Canada, Australia, Europe and the United Arab Emirates have won bids to explore for gold.

Top African Copper Producer Urged To Draw Up Mining Policy to Boost Investment

Zambia, which implemented some heavy mining taxes at the height of the commodities boomed, most of which have since been withdrawn, has been urged to set a more investment friendly mining policy.

Foreign mining firms in Zambia, Africa's top copper producer, want the government to adopt mining policies that will boost investment at a time when copper prices are recovering.

Nathan Chishimba, president of the Chamber of Mines of Zambia (CMZ), which represents interests of the mining firms, said companies wanted stable and longterm policies that would reduce risk to their investments.

In 2008, Zambia introduced a 15% profit variable tax, 25% mineral windfall tax -- which it scrapped in 2009 -- and raised corporate tax to 30% from 25%, upsetting foreign mining firms.

Zambia said recently it will not refund foreign mining companies millions of dollars they paid in taxes when the controversial law was in force, but could revise existing taxes.

Chishimba said Zambia was set to achieve the targeted production of 600,000 tonnes of copper this year.

"The country can achieve the target provided that all other factors such as reliable supply of power and other logistical arrangements are met," Chishimba said.

Some of the foreign mining companies operating in Zambia include Canada's First Quantum Minerals, London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, Equinox Minerals and Glencore International AG of Switzerland.

ASIA

Saudi Arabia's Largest Mining Firm to Spend $25m on Magnesite Plant

The new plant is expected to cost US25,3m and will produce 140 000 tonnes per year.

State-controlled Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Maaden) said it signed an agreement with local firm Olayan Descon to build a magnesite processing plant.

The plant will cost 95 million riyals (US$25.3 million) and produce 140,000 tonnes per year of magnesite over the next 20 years, Maaden said in a statement on the bourse's website.

Maaden, Saudi Arabia's largest mining firm by market value, did not say how much a stake it will hold in the joint-venture.

The plant will turn white mineral magnesite into caustic calcinated magnesia which can be used in agriculture, construction, and fuel additives and dead burned magnesia which can be used for glass and refractory production.

The contract with Olayan Descon covers both mine infrastructure work and the construction of the processing plant, Maaden said.

The plant will be in the southern city of Medina and process magnesite deposits from the al-Gazalah, about 100 miles southwest of Hail, Maaden said in a statement.

Maaden is investing about 60 billion riyals to develop the kingdom's phosphate, bauxite, gold and industrial minerals and help reduce its reliance on oil. Maaden's gold output reached 146,000 ounces in 2008.

Sino Gold Expansion Trail in China

Sino Gold has an option agreement to acquire the Caijiagou gold project in Liaoning Province in north-east China where there is an open pit mine, a new processing plant and an exploration licence covering 17.5 square kilometres.

Under the deal Sino Gold can acquire a 70% stake in Caijiagou for $US7.9 million within 12 months and then the remaining 25% for a further $US4.4 M within 24 months.

The project is in an established mining district with coal, iron ore and gold mines, and the city of Beipiao is about 30 kilometres to the south and is near to a high speed train line being constructed between Beijing and Shenyang.

Sino Gold has an 82% stake in the Jinfeng gold mine in Guizhou Province, now China's second largest mine with 2008 output of 151,000 ounces. It also has 95% equity in White Mountain in north east China's Jilin Province that began production in January this year and is set to produce 65,000 oz annually.

It's third gold mine is set to be Eastern Dragon in Heilongjiang Province which the company says has potential to produce low-cost gold.

BHP to Sell Major Indonesian Coal Project

BHP Billiton Ltd. plans to sell its Indonesian coal project after deciding not to proceed with the project on Borneo Island, an Indonesian government mining official said recently.

In June, BHP Billiton said it would not go ahead with the Haju trial coal mine in Central Kalimantan because it did not fit with its long-term investment strategy.

"We have received a letter from the firm saying they are resigning from the project and plan to sell their interest to a third party," Witoro Soelarno, secretary at the directorate general of mineral, coal and geothermal at the energy and mines ministry, said. "It will be business-to-business and the government will not meddle in,"

The global financial crisis and sharp falls in metals as well as coal prices have forced some companies to abandon or put on hold their plans to bring new mines on stream.

Haju was stage one of the Maruwai coal project, the 100 percent BHP Billiton owned metallurgical coal deposit, in Central Kalimantan which was expected to produce 1 million tonnes of metallurgical coal -- used for steel-making -- per year.

In June last year, the firm announced it would invest $100 million to develop the project which was expected to start producing in the middle of this year.

Some companies have shown interest in buying BHP Billiton's coal project. Indonesian private equity fund Saratoga capital was interesting in buying the project, its chairman Edwin Soeryadjaya said in an interview.

AUSTRALIA

Chinese Miner to Buy Australian Coal Producer Felix Resources

China's state-owned Yanzhou Coal Mining Co (1171.HK) has agreed to buy Australian coal producer Felix Resources Ltd (FLX.AX) in a deal valued at A$3.5 billion ($2.9 billion).

Yanzhou, China's No. 4 coal producer by market value, will pay A$18.00 per share cash, including special dividends.

The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, including from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board.

Study on Major High Grade Outback Copper Project

A mine study for the high grade Redbank copper project in the remote east of Australia's Northern Territory is now expected at the end of this month.

Redbank Copper Ltd (ASX: RCP) said a study due would provide a detailed analysis and refinement of optimal methods for developing the Redbank copper project in the Northern Territory. Redbank's managing director Bruce Morrin said the company was working towards starting operations in the first half of next year.

Redbank Copper was also reviewing initial results from its latest exploration programme on high grade sulphide targets and Morrin said that initial drilling results released in July "demonstrate the considerable likelihood of a resource upgrade in tonnes and grade."

Data on the Intierra information service showed that a best intercept in July on the Punchbowl prospect was a section of 31 metres from 182m depth grading 2.5% copper including 10m @ 4.4% Cu, and that this hit was in a region that gave high grade intersections in an earlier drill campaign.

This year, Redbank Copper increased its holding adjacent to the Queensland border in a region where significant copper, cobalt, phosphate, manganese and uranium discoveries have been made.

It's holding now covers 3,700 square kilometres in the McArthur Basin region, and takes in discoveries that have already provided an inferred JORC resource of 1.718 million tonnes grading 1.7% copper for a contained 29,000t of copper. There is also an already established zone within which there is an inferred-indicated 5.2 Mt @ 1.4% Cu for 75,000t of contained copper.

The company, which has Stirling Resources Ltd - managed by Michael Kiernan - as major shareholder, says it wants to look at an annual production target of 7,500t of copper in concentrates.

Ramu Nickel Project Construction Recommenced

The PNG government has allowed construction at the big Chinese controlled Ramu nickel project to recommence following a month's halt on health and safety concerns.

Construction of Papua New Guinea's Ramu nickel mine and processing plant has been allowed to restart after being halted for a month due to health and safety concerns, PNG's chief mines inspector said recently.

Work on the project, majority owned by Chinese state-owned China Metallurgical Construction Group Corp, was disrupted in June by fighting between workers after an industrial action. PNG ordered a halt to operations at Ramu on July 21 and all staff withdrawn from the site on health and safety grounds.

PNG chief mines inspector Mohan Singh said permission to recommence construction at Ramu had been granted on condition that ongoing safety conditions are met.

Sign said the "non critical" conditions remaining must be met on a daily basis, but should not affect the project's timetable.

The Ramu project, estimated to cost $1.7 billion, is scheduled to start production in late 2009 and is designed to supply stainless steel mills in China.

Australia-listed Highlands Pacific Ltd (HIG.AX: Quote), which owns 8.56 percent of the project, has said the month stoppage over health and safety would not affect construction time.

Australian Nickel Miner Steps Up Production

Western Areas NL confirmed recently it would develop the Spotted Quoll discovery to double production through the company's regional Cosmic Boy nickel concentrator to a target 20,000 tonnes of contained nickel next year.

Managing director Julian Hanna said that in addition to opening up Spotted Quoll and expanding mill capacity it would start a feasibility study for a substantial underground mine at Spotted Quoll that could be developed from within the open pit, on the basis it could start up in mid 2011.

He said work on expanding the concentrator should start next month.

"The expansion schedule should result in first production from Spotted Quoll overlapping first production from the high-grade T5 ore body at the Flying Fox mine in the March quarter, 2010," Hanna said.

As a result the company expects to be in a strong position to benefit from any improvements in the nickel price. Average cash costs from the Flying Fox mine for the past 12 months were about US$2/lb and similar costs were expected from the Spotted Quoll open pit.

The Spotted Quoll open pit will be a bonanza in nickel mining terms with an ore reserve of 386,000 tonnes grading 5.1% nickel for a contained 19,900t nickel. The deposit's mineral resource is 2 million tonnes @ 6.2% Ni for 125,460t Ni down to 640 metres.

Target production for Spotted Quoll in 2011 is 11,500t Ni and for 6,300t in 2012, with a transition to underground mining during that year.

Western Areas also announced today that it had reached a heads of agreement to acquire the BioHeap sulphide leaching technology from Pacific Ore Ltd.

The agreement provides Western Areas with an option period of up to six months to conduct due diligence on the process, to assess global patents and licences and conduct test work on a range of low-grade sulphide ores in the Forrestania region.

Hanna said a large amount of test work has been carried out on a range of nickel and copper deposits around the world, and the technology has been "successfully applied" at the Radio Hill nickel mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

Western Areas has about 128,600t of nickel in low grade resources in the Forestania region.

AMERICAS

Centerra Gold to Be Put Up For Sale

Expectations are that parent company Cameco Corp will sell its 49 percent stake in the gold miner Centerra Gold.

Uranium producer Cameco has long planned to divest the holding, but expectations of an imminent deal picked up after Centerra inked a much-delayed ownership agreement with Kyrgyzstan in April regarding its Kumtor mine, removing a major overhang on the stock.

Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported recently that Cameco has hired investment bankers to go ahead with a public stock sale that could raise more than C$600 million ($555 million).

The deal, which will be conducted by RBC Dominion Securities and CIBC World Markets, would sell the stock at somewhere above C$6 a share, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.

A Cameco official wouldn't comment on the report in the Globe or whether the company has hired bankers.

Rio to Sell North American Coal Mines

Rio Tinto will offload the bulk of its remaining North American coal assets via an initial public offering (IPO), tentatively valued at US$500 million.

The sell-off will be completed via a spin-out of Cloud Peak Energy Inc, a Rio subsidiary which holds four mines in the Powder River Basin; Spring Creek and Decker (50%) in Montana, and Cordero Rojo and Antelope in Wyoming.

Rio said that the operations contain two of the five largest coal mines in the region.

The Jacobs Ranch mine was recently slated for sale by Rio to Arch Coal Inc for US$761 million. The future of the remaining North American asset, the Colowyo mine in Colorado, is uncertain. In January, Colowyo was separated from the Rio Tinto Energy America (RTEA) unit in preparation for divestment. The sale is yet to be concluded.

Rio Tinto London spokesman Nick Cobban said: “We did want to divest all of the RTEA assets but Colowjo has some economic circumstances which meant we couldn’t include it in this IPO.”

The Jacobs Ranch sale hit a setback in May, with the US Federal Trade Commission seeking further information from Rio regarding the deal. “It’s still pending approval, and we expect to close the transaction in the second half,” Mr Cobban said.

He dismissed the suggestion the Jacobs Ranch deal was in doubt. In fact, two weeks ago, Arch closed a US$600 million note issue to fund the acquisition.

Regarding the expected IPO windfall, Mr Cobban said the US$500 million value was chosen as a requirement of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and not necessarily indicative of the anticipated price of the assets.

The recent production history of RTEA mines suggests Cloud Peak Energy could reap much more than the Jacobs Ranch deal.

Jacobs Ranch produced 38.2Mt of coal in 2008, while Antelope produced 32.5Mt, Cordero Rojo produced 36.3Mt, Spring Creek produced 16.3Mt and Decker produced an attributable 3Mt (Rio’s 50% share).

Oz Platinum Explorer with High Grade Pgm/Copper/Nickel Drill Results to List in Canada

Keith Watkins, managing director of Magma Metals (ASX: MMB), told delegates at the Diggers & Dealers Forum in Kalgoorlie recently that the plan to also list in Toronto should take place by the end of this year, and currently the company has an undiluted market capitalisation of $A98 million.

The company has been reporting high grade intersections of platinum group metals (PGM) with significant copper and nickel which Watkins said could represent 40% of production revenue.

Drill intersections from the Thunder Bay North project on the northern edge of Lake Superior in Canada have included hits of 63 m @ 5.66 grams/tonne PGM, 0.7% copper and 0.3% nickel.

A total of 50,000 metres of drilling has been carried out and some of the other good hits were 7.35m @ 11.29 g/t PGM, 61m @ 5.71 g/t PGM and 5.5m @ 17.3 g/t PGM, 2.88% Cu and 1.29% Ni.

The structure was known for a strike length of 3.7 kilometres and is open along strike.

Watson said the first JORC Code and NI 43-101 resource estimates were "imminent."

The system has been drilled out into Lake Superior and Watson said the concept for eventual mining would not be dissimilar to that used on diamond mines in northern Canada.

Watson said only 15% of the target area has been explored and Thunder Bay North was already emerging as a comparable size to other magma conduit systems around the world containing PGM, nickel and copper mines and deposits.

A scoping study should begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

A positive point for development was that the project was close to infrastructure, just north of the city of Thunder Bay and close to arterial roads and a major railway system.

The company has mining giant Anglo American plc as major shareholder with a 12% stake.

Ecuador Officially Creates State Mining Company

The government of Ecuador has signed a decree creating National Mining Co (NMC). Citing the country's Oil and Mining minister, Germanico Pinto, Associated Press says the state-owned enterprise will be formed in three months.

Santiago Cordovez, executive director of the country’s Chamber of Mines, stated that the NMC will have access to concessions via an auction process in competition with other private entities, although it would get priority consideration.

Escondida Restarts Its SAG Mill Operation, Terminates Force Majure

Chile's Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, said recently it had restarted operations of its SAG mill after it finished repairs.

Output at Escondida had dwindled during the first quarter in part due to the failure of the SAG, or semi-autonomous grinding, mill, which is used to pulverize rock.

The mine said in a letter to the Chilean market regulator that it had terminated the force majeure it declared on Escondida operations in October.

The mine said the mill restarted on Aug. 2.

BHP Billiton has a majority stake in Escondida, which produced 155,956 tonnes of copper in concentrates in the January-March period and 78,273 tonnes of copper cathodes.

Output in 2008 fell 15 percent due partly to the repairs at the mill. The mill's closure forced Escondida to declare force majeure on deliveries of some concentrates.

Teck Sells Mexican Gold Project Interest for $150 Million

Teck Resources will sell its majority interest in the Morelos gold project in Mexico for just over $150 million in cash and stock to junior-listed Gleichen Resources, the companies said recently.

The sale, worth $150 million in cash and 4.9 percent of Gleichen's outstanding shares, worth about C$800,000, is part of an asset sale plan by Teck to help pay off debt taken on last year to finance its takeover of Fording Canadian Coal Trust.

Teck currently owns 78.8 percent in the Morelos property, while the rest is owned by Goldcorp (G.TO: Quote). The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

In a statement, Gleichen said the deal is conditional on the company raising $175 million through a best efforts private placement of subscription receipts. Macquarie Capital Markets and Jones, Gable & Company acted as financial advisors to Gleichen, it said.

Teck borrowed nearly $10 billion to buy Fording at the top of top of the market last year, just before resource prices plunged and credit markets froze up.

Significant New Gold and Silver Zone at Minefinders' La Bolsa

Minefinders Corp Ltd announced positive results from the its 2009 drill program at its 100 percent owned La Bolsa property located in Sonora, Mexico, saying step-out drilling has encountered a significant new zone of gold and silver mineralization approximately 200 meters east of the current La Bolsa resource.

These initial drill results confirm the presence of high-grade gold and silver mineralization including 6.0 meters containing 12.063 grams per ton of gold and 109.8 grams per ton of silver and 20.5 meters containing 2.099 g/t Au with 35.4 g/t Ag.

Six of the 19 drill holes completed during the current drill campaign targeted this new area of mineralization. While these results represent a significant expansion of the mineralized zone at La Bolsa, additional drilling is required to assess the extent and full potential of this newly discovered mineralization.

In addition to core drilling in progress, a reverse-circulation drill rig has been mobilized to site to accelerate resource definition and expansion efforts.

Minefinders has also commenced a pre-feasibility study of the economic viability of a mine at the La Bolsa property and expects to have results available in another NI 43-101 compliant technical report by the end of 2009.

The shallow dip of the majority of mineralization in close proximity to the surface and favorable metallurgical characteristics suggest a mine plan that will incorporate low-cost open-pit mining in combination with simple heap-leach recovery of gold and silver.

EUROPE

Korab Announces Ukraine Project Plans

Australian explorer Korab Resources plans to restart mining at the Bobrikovo gold project in the Ukraine this year after a definitive feasibility study indicated a profitable project with low start-up costs, the company said.

Korab is targeting a production of between 14,000oz and 16,500oz of gold in concentrate for a pre-tax profit of around $4m to $5.4m in 2011 and 2012.

Revenues from the initial phase will be used to expand the project's processing plant capacity from to 300,000t a year from 120,000t and modify the processing circuit to improve gold recovery rate.

The capital costs of the project are expected to be between $2.2m and $2.8m and Lugansk Gold, Korab's subsidiary and the owner of the project, is exploring various financial options.

Gold processing would begin by early 2011 and will initially process high grade ore with an average grade of 4.18 g/t, Korab said.

Stratex Gold Exploration JV with Centerra Gold

Stratex International PLC (AIM: STI), the junior exploration company with substantial interests in Turkey, announced another milestone this morning in the form of a joint venture with mid-tier gold producer, Centerra Gold Inc (TSX: CG).

The joint venture will see Centerra fund a US$3 million, three year exploration program at Stratex's Öksüt project to earn a 50% interest in the project. Centerra is also reimbursing Stratex for exploration costs of approximately US$0.13 million.

In 2008, Stratex undertook approximately 2,700 meters of drilling at the Ortaçam Zone within the Öksüt Project. Highlights of the drilling included 62.45 meters grading 2.16 grams per tonne gold (in oxide) from hole ODD-3 and 219 meters grading 2.54 grams per tonne gold in hole ODD-12. Drill hole ODD-8 returned 270 meters from surfaced grading 1.16 grams per tonne gold in oxide and minor sulphide, including 40.7 meters grading 2.76 grams per tonne gold in oxide from 77 meters.

Additional mapping over an 8 square kilometre area identified four other outcropping zones which have yet to be drill tested. Stratex also noted last year that it had indentified anomalous concentrations of gold, copper, molybdenum and bismuth which "may be indicative of a concealed porphyry system".

Work at Öksüt Project is expected to get underway in the second half of this year, with trenching and drilling planned.

Once Centerra has met its commitments to earn a 50% interest, it will have the option to earn a further 20% by expending an additional US$3 million over the following two years.

Stratex's total portfolio covers 11 licence blocks in central and western Turkey totalling approximately 1,690 sq km.

Poland to Sell More of Copper Miner KGHM

Poland's government will go through with a further sell-off of copper miner KGHM, with the plan being to sell a 10 percent stake to help the ailing state budget, Prime Minister's aide was quoted as saying.

The Treasury in June announced a controversial plan to sell between 10 and 42 percent of KGHM, sending the stock price down and causing numerous government officials, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk, to object to the move.

"We have agreement as to the issue that KGHM will not disappear from the list of the companies to be privatised," Michal Boni, who leads a team of ministers working on the list, told Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

Unnamed government sources told Wyborcza the move to sell 10 percent of KGHM would be only a first step on a road to complete privatisation of the company.

The miner, in which the state controls 42 percent, is valued at 17.2 billion zlotys ($6 billion), making the 10 percent stake worth over 1.7 billion zlotys.

Sale of Europe's second largest copper miner stake was one of main elements of the ambitious sell-off plan that would bring 36.7 billion zlotys into the state coffers, but went against Tusk's promises made during the last election.

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