Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Australian banker Westpac Bank, the country's second largest by market capitalisation, has been granted a license by the Indian central bank to set up a branch in the region.

Strike one for Lynas opponents.Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp., whose Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) facility in Malaysia is almost complete but still unoperational, has scored a win against the locals who contested the authenticity of the rare earths temporary operating licence (TOL) issued by the country's Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) in early February.

Rare earths neodymium and dysprosium, critical components needed to create high-performance permanent magnets to support certain technologies, have been found in the brink of supply in the coming years, according to a research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Materials Systems Laboratory.

Iran has announced a jump in its gold reserves allocation to 320 tons after a discovery of three new gold mines showed 16 tonnes of proven net gold reserves, the Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.

In a bid to concentrate on the development of its Talisman Gold Mine Project near Waihi in New Zealand, Heritage Gold NZ has announced plans to break up the company into two separate entities, replacing its chairman and transfer non-core assets to a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Overall outlook for iron ore consumption and trade continues to look bright even as Chinese demand for the raw commodity may wither in the next years.

Developing economy India has forged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Afghanistan which outlines a cooperation for the development of the war-torn country's iron and steel sector.

A new estimate by an independent mining-industry consulting firm has elevated the proven and probable rare earths reserves at the Mountain Pass, California rare earths mine of American miner Molycorp Inc. to as much as 36 per cent.

Gold imports by the world's leading buyer of the precious safe haven yellow metal fell more than 55 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, marred by the ongoing nationwide strike of gold bullion traders and jewelers protesting India's proposed hike in import duty on gold bars, coins and platinum.

The first phase of construction works on the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Malaysia is nearly completed, with just the temporary operating license (TOL) left as the final fuel to totally ignite the rare earths plant into full operation.

Ampella Mining, a gold explorer focused in West Africa, has put up the sale sign albeit concerns it might not be able to hit the sale funds it expects.

Indian jeweler and watch maker Titan Industries has gotten an approval from the federal government to directly import gold for domestic sales, as the country's bullion traders and jewelers protests' entered their 17th day on Monday.

On Sunday, China released its official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) which, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) and National Bureau of Statistics, showed that manufacturing activity in the world's second-largest economy improved to 53.1 in March, up from 51.0 in February. It was also Beijing's highest in 12 months.

The already much-delayed $12 billion steel mill project of South Korean steel group POSCO in India hit yet again another snag, as a newly established government body placed the project on hold pending environmental review processes.

China is set to launch on April 8 a rare earths industry association in a bid to curb the rampant domestic illegal mining of the precious metal commodity as well as regulate its rare earths players.

Appetite for gold, already sidetracked by a rising and improving dollar, will all the more get relegated to the background as investors turn to palladium and other industrial metals in a bid to diversify portfolio holdings.

Swiss bank UBS AG on Thursday slashed by 18 per cent its earlier gold price forecast for 2012 to $1,680 an ounce from $2,050 an ounce spurred by positive observations of a slowly improving fiscal health in most major economies.

At least 16 oil offshore blocks in East African Tanzania will be put up for oil exploration licensing beginning September, according to a geologist at state-run Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation.

Adelaide, South Australia based oil and gas producer Beach Energy will be undertaking a convertible bond rights offer to generate a total of A$345 million or $364 million to fund its various project initiatives in the next two to three years, including a fully underwritten 1 for 8 entitlement offer to raise A$195 million and an offer of senior unsecured convertible notes to raise about A$150 million.

Global energy giant Chevron Corp.,announced on Wednesday construction works at its $29-billion Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Western Australia is well underway, with more than half of the gas already committed to Japanese companies.

Steel production by India has risen 6.8 per cent to 63.894 million tonnes during the April 2011 to February 2012 fiscal period, the country's steel minister announced.

India's total coal output by the 2016-17 financial year has been forecast to jump 43 percent to 795 million tonnes (MT) from the estimated 554 MT in the current fiscal year, India's Minister of State for Coal told Parliament on Monday.

Positive coal sales generation during January and February has prompted China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd. to declare its 2012 sales volume could likely reach 425 million tonnes to exceed earmarked targets.

Eager to cement an apparent budding friendship between India and South Korea, the two countries on Sunday announced plans to increase their annual bilateral trade to $40 billion by 2015.

Frequent riders of budget airliners flying short-haul routes in Asia have another airline alternative to use as Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd. and China Eastern Airlines Corp. announced the establishment of a joint venture (JV) that will give birth to a Hong Kong-based budget airline craft.

Global miners Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Vale SA, in a testament to China's global influence in the supply and price movements of iron ore, have decided to link hands with Beijing and join the Asian country's new spot trading platform for the raw commodity.

In an apparent firm demonstration of its commitment to reduce its gas emissions contribution, China has announced it will start controlling domestic production and corresponding usage of coal in the next five years through 2015.

Australia has signed a A$30 billion currency exchange deal with the world's second largest economy, China, to foster bilateral trade and investment, in what could also be seen as a confirming testament to the yuan's increasing buying power and global market reach.

Despite sales of automobiles in China seen to lose its spark this year owing to economic cuts and rising fuel costs, domestic car manufacturer Chery announced on Wednesday it has reached an agreement with Indian-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to create and set-up a joint venture project in China.