Donner Metals Ltd. has announced that the Bracemac-Mcleod mine as been revised and development to reach the Mcleod zone may be reached a reach ahead of schedule. The mine design has been revised to access the McLeod Zone with two ramps by early 2013 as opposed to late 2013 under the original plan. This change will be accommodated within the existing development budget and reschedules production from McLeod to commence in late 2013 as opposed to mid 2014 under the original schedule. The new development plan improves the overlap and timing of production from both the Bracemac and McLeod zones. Once access is available at McLeod, delineation drilling will be focused on the West McLeod Zone and the McLeod Deep Zone. Both zones are currently in the Inferred Mineral Resource category with favorable potential for additional mineralization. Underground exploration drilling will also be focused on the potential for expansion of mineralization beyond known mineral resources and mining reserves.

Strikes at BHP’s BMA mines are likely to continue. Workers from Saraji and Norwich Park are likely to strike for 10 days from the 25 February, according to reports. Workers had only recently come back from a seven day strike. There are reports continued strikes could lead to the closure of Norwich Park which is a marginal operation. Up to 1Mt of coking coal was reportedly lost in the seven day strike.

Beacon Hills Resources has completed its Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") for its Minas Moatize Coking Coal Project. Based on 4Mtpa ROM production with an average of 2.2Mtpa saleable coking and thermal coal, mine life for the Minas Moatize operation is estimated at 11.5 years. The Minas Moatize has total JORC mineable reserves of 42.7Mt, with a marketable reserve of 23.5Mt, of which 8.7Mt will be coking coal. Capex for the project is estimated at US$148m, excluding contingency. The company estimates average mine operating cost at US$58.5/t FOB Beira. Mining and processing is expected to account for over 45% of the total cost. Three coal products are expected from the project - export coking coal with max 9.5% ash (ADB), export thermal coal with min 5970kcal/kg (NAR) and domestic thermal coal product with ash content up to 40-45% (ADB). However, the ramp up of Minas Moatize is closely tied with rail developments. Beacon Hills currently has a contractual agreement to truck 0.5Mtpa of coal from the mine to Port of Beira. The company is working closely with other major producers such as Vale and Rio Tinto to increase capacity initially to 6.5Mtpa by mid-2012 and to 12Mtpa by the end of 2012.

Trading house Vitol has confirmed talks with South Sudanese officials over the construction of a small crude oil refinery in South Sudan which would start producing in 2013. Though the country is rich in crude oil and it is still highly depend on imports of refined petroleum products from neighbouring countries such as Sudan. It is estimated that the new refinery will use 10,000 barrels per day and the output will be around 35-40% of the total - 3,500 barrels per day. Currently, South Sudan haltered all of its crude oil production after the dispute between the country and its neighbour Sudan escalated in late February. After the split of South Sudan from Sudan last year, both countries can not agree on transit fees to be paid by South Sudan for the usage of Sudan's pipeline which transport crude oil from oil fields to export terminals.

India's second biggest crude oil refiner Bharat Petroleum has announced to cut down its oil imports from Iran by 10% this year, indicating support of the US and EU sanctions against Iran. Concurrently, India is seeking additional import volumes from Saudi Arabia - at least an increase of 27% over the same period. In the mean time, Iran is offering extra oil supplies to Asian refineries as it seeks to retain market share after announcing to halt oil export to some European refineries. Since last year, Iran and the Western world are in constant political power struggles over Iran's intentions to boost its nuclear program.

Royal Dutch Shell has proposed a cash offer for Mozambique-focused Cove Energy plc which values the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Cove at approximately £992.4 million (US$1.6 billion). This would represent a premium of 73% to the closing price of Cove's share price as of 4 January 2012, the last business day prior to Cove's announcement of the sale process for the company. East Africa is a major prospective hydrocarbon province, which has seen a significant increase in exploration activity in recent years. Shell already has interests in Tanzania, and the acquisition of Cove would mark Shell's entry into new hydrocarbon provinces in Kenya and Mozambique, with significant potential for new LNG from recent gas discoveries offshore Mozambique, and further complementary exploration positions in East Africa. In Mozambique, the Rovuma offshore basin is a frontier exploration area that holds large resources of natural gas reserves, suitable for LNG projects. According to Cove, the play represents the potential for 30+ Tcf and 6 LNG trains.

Siberian Coal Energy Company (SUEK) has acquired 24.91% of voting shares of the Murmansk Sea Port. The price of the deal has not been released. Earlier, the port announced that three little-known companies purchased 47.65% of its shares. It was originally claimed that all companies acted on behalf of SUEK and that the total consideration paid for that was in the region of $260 million. Murmansk port is one of the largest hubs for coal export in North-West Russia. It processed approximately 11Mt of export coal in 2011 and currently has capacity of 14Mtpa for coal export.

Abcourt Mines Inc. has announced that it has intersection a high grade silver zone in the western part of the Abcourt-Barvue Zinc-silver ore body. From 240.0 to 244.70 meters, the average grade is 1,386.16 grams of silver per tonne and 5.57% zinc over 4.7 meters. This includes a section of 1.30 meter from 243.40 to 244.70 meters in the hole with a grade of 4,696.00 grams of silver and 11.75% zinc. This new finding will add to the existing resources and reserves that are designed to be upgraded will the current drilling program.

China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) has received an endorsement of the National Development and Reform Commission to construct a 200kbpd refinery in Northern Hebei province. This announcement brings the Sinopec a step closer to secure the necessary approval to commence its planning phase. The refinery will be located in the Beijing-Tianjin area, a traditional stronghold of rival China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC). The Caofeidian refinery is expected to cost approximately 21.4 billion Yuan (US$3.4 billion) and only a few kilometres away from the crude oil port in the Bohai Bay which is capable to dock very large crude oil carriers.

It is reported that Taiwan's China Steel is looking at spending $T3.06bn (~US$104m) to take 10% ownership in a coal mine in Australia. About half of the investment will be used to buy the share of output right at the MDL 162 site in Qld, Australia, whilst the rest will be spent on building facilities and on future developments. The MDL 162 site is Curragh South project owned by MCG Company. The mine is proposed to be an open cut operation and will capacity to produce 6Mtpa ROM coking coals. Commissioning of the project is expected in 2015/16. China Steel's investment will secure annual output of 0.6Mt of coking coal. It will also raise the company's self-sufficiency in coal supply from 3% to 7%.

Walter Energy has reported coking coal sales of 2.4Mt in the December 2011 quarter, sales has increased significantly as a result of acquisition of Western Coal in early 2011. Total production for the year to around 8.7Mt, excluding first quarter 2011 pre-acquisitions met coal sales from Western Coal. In the December quarter, hard coking coal sales is reported to be around 1.9Mt, with the average selling price of US$244/t. Sales of LVPCI were 0.52Mt, with the average selling price of US$212/t. Average cash cost for HCC is estimated at around US$132/t, whilst cash cost for LVPCI is estimated at around US$143/t. For 2012, Walter Energy is aiming between 11.5-13Mt of coking coal production, comprise of approximately 75% hard coking coal and 25% PCI.

Total has announced the finalisation of its farm-in agreement with Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) for an interest of 33% 1/3, covering licences EA*-1, EA-2, the new Kanywataba license and the Kingfisher production licence. All these licences are located in the Lake Albert region where oil resources have already been discovered, with a remaining important potential to be explored. Total will be the operator of EA-1, while Tullow will operate EA-2 and CNOOC Ltd (CNOOC) will operate the Kanywataba license and the Kingfisher production licences (both of them being from the former EA-3A block). This last step in the acquisition follows the recent signing of new Production Sharing Agreements between Tullow and the Government of Uganda and the granting of the Kingfisher production licence, consolidating the mining rights in this transaction for a consideration close to US$1.5 billion. In the last months, Total has been actively preparing for its future operations as operator of licence EA-1 and has established an office and team in Uganda. In parallel, the Group has been working closely with Tullow and CNOOC on development options for the resources of the Lake Albert Basin, combining all the potential synergies between the licences, which will be presented for approval by the Government of Uganda later in 2012.

Solid Energy has stopped underground mining at its Spring Creek Mine, near Greymouth, in accordance with a Prohibition Notice issued this morning by the Department of Labour's (DoL) Mines Inspectorate on the basis of three recent incidents at the mine. Barry Bragg, Solid Energy's Chief Operating Officer, says the incidents occurred due to breakdowns in systems at the mine but adds, "in each case there were multiple safety controls in place which proved effective. "The company views these incidents very seriously. They should not have happened," Mr Bragg says. "We recognise that expectations for underground mining have been raised substantially. Solid Energy fully supports this. We will work very closely with the Department to ensure we meet our and their expectations prior to resuming mining at Spring Creek." Work to maintain the safety and security of the underground environment will continue. The stoppage of underground work is not expected to affect the mine's customers as the operation is currently in a development phase with limited coal output. Spring Creek employs about 230 personnel — mineworkers, tradespeople and professional specialists — with about 40 people working underground at any given time.

Repsol and its partners, Anadarko Petroleum and Tullow Oil, have made a new hydrocarbons discovery offshore Sierra Leone. The Jupiter-1 well was drilled in an area that already has produced successful results in 2010 and 2009, confirming the significant potential of this region in Africa. The consortium (Repsol 25%, Anadarko, operator, 55% and Tullow Oil 20%), drilled the Jupiter-1 well in block SL-07B-11, to a total depth of 6,465 meters (21,212 feet) in 2,199 metres of water. The well encountered net pay of 30 meters. The partners plan to drill an appraisal well, Mercury-2, to evaluate existing resources and to determine their quality. The Jupiter-1 find follows the discoveries in the area of the Venus B-1 well, drilled in 2009, and the Mercury-1 well, drilled in 2010. This is an area which, until now, has been largely unexplored and which is confirming its importance for the industry.

Alara Resources Limited together with its joint venture partner, United Arabian Mining Company (Manajem), has provided a maiden JORC Resource Statement for its Khnaiguiyah Zinc-Copper Project located in Saudi Arabia. Highlights include 26.4 Mt at 3.9% Zinc and 0.12% Copper (4.3% Zinc Equivalent); and 7.0 Mt at 0.8% Copper. The company believe that a 1.0 - 1.5 Mtpa throughput Zinc and Copper mine with a 10 year mine life is now possible. This maiden JORC Resource Statement was produced as part of the Definitive Feasibility Study being undertaken. With the current Resource Statement now completed, work is underway on mine optimisation and scheduling studies to produce a Reserve Statement for the Project. Provisional Environmental Approval was granted by the General Presidency of Meteorology and Environmental Protection in Saudi Arabia earlier this year in January. AME expects the DFS to be completed in the second quarter of 2012.

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation has renegotiated an iron ore supply contract with Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works OJSC for 2012. The revised contract is in line with regional CIS pricing, which is currently at approximately a 15% discount to world FOB prices based on the Platts system. ENRC has agreed to supply MMK with a minimum of 8Mt in 2012

Gindalbie Metals has announced a maiden Mineral Resource estimate of 1.48 billion tonnes grading 27.15% Fe for its 100%-owned Lodestone Magnetite Project, located 45km south-east of the Karara Iron Ore Project in Western Australia’s Mid West region. The deposit is estimated to contain a resource of 1.5Bt grading 27.15% Fe. The Lodestone magnetite deposit extends over a 7km north-south strike length, and ranges in width between 200-600m. Initial analysis indicates the potential to produce a premium magnetite concentrate grading more than 63% Fe with low impurities, in particular phosphorous.

The Collahuasi mine in Chile has resumed extraction operations at the mine site. Operations had been halted due to severe weather conditions in the northern region of Chile which has been affected by heavy snow and hail in the past few days. AME estimates the one-day production halt will not significantly affect the mine's production, it should be noted however the copper-rich region in Chile is vulnerable to harsh weather conditions which may undermine the country's mined copper supply as witnessed in 2010.

Henan Shenhuo reported 700kt primary aluminium production and 600kt alumina for the year of 2011. For 2012, the company revealed that it will target to produce 620kt primary aluminium and 770kt alumina.

National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released the circular “Guidelines on Promoting Economic Development of Guizhou Province”, which includes a policy to reform power prices and a possibility to introduce direct supply between power station and big power consumers in the region. It is expected when the direct supply is taken place, Chalco Guizhou Branch will be able to save a substantial amount on its power bill. In addition, the branch also announced that it is currently running at all capacity of 400ktpy, recovering from a power disruption starting from September last year due to power shortage.

Novolipetsk, NLMK's main production site in Lipetsk, has started hot tests at its new 2Mtpy ladle furnace (LF). The new LF will be used for the secondary treatment of steel prior to casting at continuous casting machines. A similar facility was started up last year. The total cost of the two LFs is about RUR2.6 bn (~$87.24 million). The new LF will be the fourth of its kind commissioned in Lipetsk (two 4Mtpy LFs were launched in 2010). As part of Stage II of NLMK's Technical Upgrade Programme, the LF project will bring the total capacity of LFs at the Lipetsk site to 12Mtpy.

Rio Cristal Resources Corporation has announced the first independent National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource estimate for its Cristal zinc oxide deposit at its Bongará Property in Northern Peru. An initial measured and indicated resource at the Cristal Project of 1,273Mt of zinc oxides grading 7.55% zinc was established. The resource was based on 9,139 meters of drilling, revealing potential for additional zinc discoveries as only 3% of the Bongará project area has been drilled to date.

IronClad Mining has achieved a further capital raising of approximately $3m and will be used towards a $5.8m environmental bond to the South Australian Government for the Wilcherry Hill Iron Ore project located on Eyre Peninsula. The payment of the bond is required to begin mining under the company’s program for Environmental Protection and Rehabilitation, which received approval from the State Government last year.

On the last Sunday of February, Iran has halted its oil shipments to British and French crude oil refineries. This constitutes the latest blow in the conflict between the West and Iran over Iran's nuclear program. Last month, the European Union imposed sanctions against Iran, freezing of the country's central bank asset an oil embargo to begin in July in order to force the country to rethink its ambitions. However, Iran forestalled the EU cutting exports to the EU last Sunday. Financial markets reacted promptly to these news and crude oil prices soared to nine-month heights. However, AME believes this news is somewhat overvalued. Both, Britain and French, curtailed oil purchases from Tehran to less than 3% of daily needs and are therefore capable to continue there operation with any major frictions.

Mongolian Mining Corporation announced that the second module of the Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP) at its Ukhaa Khudag has been commissioned on 16th Feb and is currently in midst of trial operation. The CHPP has the capacity to process 5Mtpa ROM coal and will enable Ukhaa Khudag to have processing capacity of 10Mtpa. A third CHPP is scheduled to be commissioned in late 2012/early 2013. This is will take total processing capacity to 15Mtpa ROM.

NuCoal has acquired Plashett Coal project, an advanced exploration project with an exploration target (open cut and underground) of between 89Mt and 300Mt, with SSCC and thermal coal. The completion of the transaction will be subject to certain conditions, including Nucoal obtaining shareholder approval, government approval, a drilling program to be agreed by the parties and land access and compensation agreements being agreed over the area. NuCoal managing director Glen Lewis said the acquisition was aimed at boosting NuCoal’s mineral resource base in the Upper Hunter and providing development, operational and financial synergies and flexibility for its Doyles Creek and Savoy Hill projects. “The proposed acquisition of the Plashett coal assets, subject to shareholder approval, is another significant step in realising our stated corporate strategy of becoming a multi-mine coal company focused on developing high-quality coal assets in the NSW Upper Hunter region,” he said. “We intend to commence exploration on the Plashett [exploration licence] as soon as we can.

Paragon Minerals Corporation has reported its first National Instrument 43-101-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate for the Lemarchant volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit on its 100%-controlled South Tally Pond project in central Newfoundland. Highlights of the Mineral Resources Estimate include: - Indicated Mineral Resource of 1.24 million tonnes grading 5.38% zinc, 0.58% copper, 1.19% lead, 1.01 g/t gold and 59.17 g/t silver (15.40% ZnEQ) using a 7.5% zinc equivalent grade cut-off. - Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.34 million tonnes grading 3.70% zinc, 0.41% copper, 0.86% lead, 1.00 g/t gold and 50.41 g/t silver (11.97% ZnEQ) using a 7.5% zinc equivalent grade cut-off. Preliminary metallurgical results indicate positive metal recoveries but additional test work is warranted. AME has updated its record of the South Tally Pond accordingly and will continue to track updates for this project.

Kiselevsky open cut mine has won the right to explore and develop the Istoksky area of Titov coal deposit in Kemerovo region. The winning bid was approximately 84 million roubles ($2.8m). The 4.6 sq km area is estimated to hold over 70Mt of thermal coal and anthracite resources.

Shanxi province based steel group Taiyuan Iron and Steel Company produced 5.61Mt of iron ore concentrate in 2011, up 100kt from the previous year. The company is aiming to produce 5.9Mt of iron ore concentrate in 2012. This target will be largely supported by the commissioning of the Yuanjiacun mine in Lvliang City. Upon completion, the mine is expected to have an annual run-of-mine ore capacity of 22Mtpa.

Caledonia Mining Corporation announces it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MoU") to sell 51% of the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe to Indigenous Zimbabweans for a paid transactional value of US$30.09 million. Further details of the MoU are subject to a confidentiality agreement, and further announcements will be made. Latest production figure of Blanket mine indicates gold production of 10,533oz in December 2011 quarter and cash operating costs of $583/oz in September 2011 quarter.