mining

MARKETS

Dec 21, 2009 3:19 PM CST

Dow Up 85; Alcoa, Intel Rally

Mining giants Bucyrus, Terex to merge

(Newser) - Stocks saw broad gains today as analysts upgraded blue chips Alcoa and Intel and big mergers were announced in the mining and health-care sectors, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Dow rose 85.25 points to close at 10,414.14.
The Nasdaq added 25.97, ending the session at

...

$20M Diamond Found

Sep 30, 2009 1:42 AM CDT

(Newser) - A giant diamond experts believe ranks among the top 20 gems ever found has been unearthed at a South African mine. The egg-sized, 500-carat sparkler was found at the same mine where the biggest diamond in history, the Cullinan, was found in the 19th century. The diamond is being analyzed...

Amazon Indians Win Repeal of Land Grab Laws

Jun 19, 2009 5:05 AM CDT

Amazon Indians Win Repeal of Land Grab Laws

Decision hailed as major victory for indigenous people

(Newser) - Peru's Congress has revoked two laws that led to bloody clashes between police and indigenous protesters, CNN reports. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of ditching the laws that opened up the country's Amazon region to mining, logging, and oil companies. Dozens of people died earlier this month when police moved...

Macabre Tourists Flock
to Mummy Museum

Mar 18, 2009 10:22 AM CDT

Macabre Tourists Flock to Mummy Museum

Mexican exhibit includes 56 fully preserved corpses

(Newser) - A Mexican museum tells the story of the local mining industry with an unusual exhibit: 56 mummified corpses. The bodies, from as early as the mid-1800s, were removed from crypts that had been tightly sealed, allowing the bodies to dry intact. Elsewhere mummies might be considered freaky, but in Guanajuato,...

Stocks Bounce, Dow Up 150

MARKETS

Mar 4, 2009 3:15 PM CST

Stocks Bounce, Dow Up 150

Optimism on Chinese stimulus felt around the world

(Newser) - Stocks made gains today as a rally in China’s Shanghai Composite lifted several sectors, the Wall Street Journal reports. Optimism over further stimulus efforts by Beijing lifted shares of firms in manufacturing, mining, and technology stocks around the world on hope of increased Chinese demand. The Dow Jones rose...

Road to Electric Cars Runs Through Bolivia

Feb 3, 2009 9:13 AM CST

Road to Electric Cars Runs Through Bolivia

Nationalism, socialism may make its lithium supply hard to tap

(Newser) - Are we about to replace our dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on foreign lithium? Almost half the world’s supply of the mineral—essential for the light, rechargeable batteries electric cars need—is found in Bolivia, where nationalist sentiment is running high, the New York Times reports. Evo...

Miner Rio Tinto
Cuts 14,000 Jobs

Dec 10, 2008 8:28 AM CST

Miner Rio Tinto Cuts 14,000 Jobs

Plan to reduce debt $10B also means cuts in spending on exploration

(Newser) - Global mining firm Rio Tinto will cut 14,000 jobs and scale back spending on exploration, reports the BBC, in a bid to slash its $40 billion debt 25% by 2010. The miner, the third largest in the world, said the “rapidity and severity of the global economic downturn"...

Slowdown Puts Mining Outfits
in Deep Hole

Nov 17, 2008 8:43 AM CST

Slowdown Puts Mining Outfits in Deep Hole

China's drop in demand further drives down commodities

(Newser) - Mining companies are shutting down production, laying off workers, and trying to sell excess product as the global economic slowdown drills into the industry’s profits, reports the Wall Street Journal. Metal prices dropped a record 35% last month, and nearly every mineral has been hit. Mining, once an economic...

Arctic Boom
Awash in
Green Risk

ANALYSIS

Jul 10, 2008 1:42 PM CDT

Arctic Boom Awash in Green Risk

Rush to tap vast mineral riches will tax area dearly without needed infrastructure

(Newser) - As the Arctic sea ice melts, it’s uncovering vast resources, leading to an international energy and mining rush. Companies are lining up to explore the region, and nations are reviving Arctic border disputes in hopes of tapping its wealth. But the exploitation of the area’s resources could have...

Clinton Helped Crony Land Mining Deal

Jan 31, 2008 12:14 PM CST

Clinton Helped Crony Land Mining Deal

After trip to Kazakhstan, buddy tapped uranium, Bill's charity got $31M

(Newser) - Two days after former president Bill Clinton took pal and mining mogul Frank Giustra to meet Kazakhstan's de facto dictator, Giustra landed a monster contract to mine uranium with state-run mining company Kazatomprom, the New York Times reports—despite his firm’s lack of relevant experience. Shortly thereafter, Clinton’s...

Mining Mergers May Take Page From Big Oil

Dec 18, 2007 3:08 PM CST

Mining Mergers May Take Page From Big Oil

Proposed consolidation could drive commodity prices even higher

(Newser) - When Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton announced its bid to merge with archrival Rio Tinto, the Wall Street Journal got déjà vu. The deal, which would combine the world’s largest and third-largest miners, looks a lot like the late-'90s megamergers that produced today’s Big Oil titans. “...

Mugabe Seizes Platinum and Diamond Mines

Nov 21, 2007 7:32 AM CST

Mugabe Seizes Platinum and Diamond Mines

Takeover likely to kill all remaining foreign investment

(Newser) - Zimbabwe's catastrophic economic situation got still worse yesterday as Robert Mugabe announced a new law giving the government controlling stakes in the country's platinum and diamond mines. The Times of London writes that the state may now take control of 51% of all mining companies and has to pay for...

Deal Could Forge Mining Goliath

Nov 9, 2007 5:19 AM CST

Deal Could Forge Mining Goliath

Sky-high demand for minerals driving mergers

(Newser) - The biggest mining company in the world is aiming to get even bigger. BHP Billiton's $142 billion bid for Rio Tinto has been turned down, but the firm is still keen to make a deal, reports the Wall Street Journal. The deal would be the second-largest in history, and the...

2,000 Miners Rescued in South Africa

Oct 4, 2007 6:34 AM CDT

2,000 Miners Rescued in South Africa

Workers emerge hungry but unharmed after 36 hours underground

(Newser) - About two-thirds of the 3,200 miners trapped yesterday when a lift shaft collapsed in a South African gold mine had been rescued by midmorning today, the BBC reports. They're being brought to the surface 75 at a time in a small shaft normally used for equipment; the remainder are...

Tests Will Tell
if Big Stone
Is Indeed Gem

Aug 31, 2007 8:23 AM CDT

Tests Will Tell if Big Stone Is Indeed Gem

Could be world’s largest diamond

(Newser) - A South African mining company will know soon if they’ve found the world’s largest diamond, with tests scheduled for next week. The light-green stone was found several days ago; experts say it may turn out to only a fluorite crystal, the BBC reports. A spokesman for De Beers,...

Which Came First: Quake
or Collapse?

Aug 8, 2007 5:19 PM CDT

Which Came First: Quake or Collapse?

It's geologists vs. mine owner on cause of Utah disaster

(Newser) - A cave-in method of coal extraction called “retreat mining,” recently okayed by regulators for Crandall Canyon, was more likely to have caused the Utah mine disaster than an earthquake, seismographers tell the Los Angeles Times. And they say the massive tremor was consistent with the type “induced...

Miners Dig for Gold in Belgian Museum

Mar 20, 2007 11:33 AM CDT