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

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.

Mongolia Energy Corp, a former technology company that remade itself into a natural resources developer in 2007, will deliver its first coking coal cargo this August and is also looking at projects beyond Mongolia, a senior executive said.

Mineral rich Mongolia is attracting more attention from global investors after a deal in October with Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto to develop the $3 billion Oyu Tolgoi mine, one of the world’s biggest untapped copper and gold deposits.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set itself an April 28 deadline for ruling on the $US116 billion ($127bn) West Australian iron ore merger between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, a delay of two months on its target.

Last month, the ACCC said it had delayed its findings on the merger and had requested more information from BHP and Rio.

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

Rio Tinto Group, the third-largest mining company, raised its 2009 forecast for iron ore output by as much as 7.5 percent as demand from steelmakers recovers.

Rio will produce 210 million to 215 million metric tons from operations in Australia, Canada and Brazil after a “strong performance” in the second and third quarters, the London-based company said today in a statement.

South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index rose 89.27, or 0.4 percent, to 24,609.03 by 12:40 p.m. in Johannesburg.

The following are among the most active stocks in the South African market today.

Anglo American Plc (AGL SJ), the diversified mining company that makes up almost 10 percent of South Africa’s benchmark stock index, climbed 3.94 rand, or 1.7 percent, to 233.50 rand. Baosteel Group Corp. offered 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) for a 30 percent stake in Anglo American’s Minas Rio iron-ore mine in Brazil, the London-based Observer reported, without saying where...