mineral exploration project – commodity prices – mining stock- trade and market

Lihir Gold shareholders have voted almost unanimously to accept Newcrest Mining’s $10.6 billion scrip-and-cash takeover offer.

The deal will create the world’s fourth-biggest mining company.

With no sign of a white knight emerging, the vote, in Port Moresby yesterday, makes the acquisition almost a formality, with Papua New Guinea National Court approval of the deal scheme of arrangement the only hurdle.

At the meeting, 99.86 per cent of all votes cast were in favour of the deal, which will see Lihir shareholders receive 0.12 Newcrest shares and 22.5c for every...

Stocks in Australia’s biggest mining companies rose Monday as the government’s plans for a new tax on their profits were thrown into doubt after the nation’s closest election in almost 50 years delivered no clear mandate.

Trading in the rest of the market was flat, however, and Australia’s chamber of commerce urged companies to continue investing despite what will likely be two or three weeks of uncertainty about who will govern the country for the coming three years.

The center-left Labor Party — which has ruled for the past three years and remains in...

Stocks and the dollar dropped and Treasuries rallied, sending the yield on the two-year note below 0.5 percent for the first time, as lower-than-estimated growth in company payrolls added to evidence the economic recovery is slowing. Gold extended the longest advance since November.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.4 percent to 1,121.64 at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming a drop of as much as 1.7 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 1.1 percent, reversing earlier gains. Two-year Treasury yields fell to as low as 0.4977 percent. The dollar slumped to an eight-month low...

The Australian sharemarket closed three per cent higher for the week, as middling-to-positive leads from European stocks and Wall Street culminated in a solid weekly close, after China rejected reports it was considering reviewing its European bond holdings.

For the week, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index gained 3.15 per cent to 4,457.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index jumped 7.58 per cent to 4,479 points.

AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver said it looked like a correction in equities and commodities prices was under way, and a decent rally was beginning.

Nippon Steel Corp., Japan’s largest steelmaker, will pursue investments in iron ore and coal mines, joining rivals in a bid to curb costs and secure supplies of the steelmaking ingredients.

The company wants to supply 50 percent of its raw material needs by buying stakes in mines or developing new ones “as early as we can,” Executive Vice President Shinichi Taniguchi said March 4 in an interview in Tokyo. Mines partly owned by the mill supply 35 percent of its iron ore and 25 percent of its coking coal needs.

Goldcorp Inc. today reported gold production of 601,300 ounces at a total cash cost(1) of $289 per ounce for the quarter ended December 31, 2009. Fourth quarter adjusted net earnings(2) amounted to $182.7 million, or $0.25 per share, and operating cash flows before working capital changes(3) for the fourth quarter was $307.6 million or $0.42 per share. For the year, Goldcorp produced 2.42 million ounces of gold at a total cash cost of $295 per ounce, generating adjusted net earnings of $588.2 million or $0.80 per share and operating cash flows before working capital changes of $1.2 billion or...

The Mines Ministry is likely to give an in-principle approval to global giant Rio Tinto for its diamond mining project...

Shares of gold and copper exploration companies are the most likely to shine in the Canadian junior mining sector this...