Esther Tanquintic-Misa

Canadian miner Corvus Gold obtained the $5.5 million needed to fund and push through with the planned works at its North Bullfrog project in Nevada.

Weeks before a parliamentary election, Mongolia has approved a draft law that bans or limits the potential ownership of any foreign state-owned companies of its massive natural resources.

It seems Lynas Corp. and its embattled rare earths processing plant in Malaysia could be included in a list of hot topics for discussion in what could be a most opportune timing as Malaysia signs a free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia on Tuesday.

China has expanded the number of rare earths it will export to the global market, from 10,546 metric tonnes to 21,226 metric tonnes, the country's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on Thursday.

As the health of the global economy, in lightning speed, turns from nasty to gloomier, even big spenders stop and pause to think if it ought to continue and pursue valiantly plans of improvement and expansion.Such was the case for BHP Billiton Ltd., as its very own chairman, Jacques Nasser, has already suggested the $80 billion it planned to invest on new mining projects by 2015 would rather be kept inside the safe momentarily.

As rising incomes help boost the demand of the safe-haven precious yellow metal gold in China, it is quite probable that the world's second-largest economy, also the world's largest gold producer, will topple long recognised India as the world's largest gold bullion market in 2012.

Japan's 10 utility companies, with no more nuclear power to turn to, burned natural gas to a record high in April this year compared to a year ago.

It looks the safety and development plan that is currently being modified by Chinese regulators and planners for its nuclear industry will have its stamp of approval by June.

Production of the precious safe haven yellow metal gold by Tanzania, Africa's fourth largest gold producer, jumped 13 per cent to 40.4 tonnes in 2011 from 35.6 tonnes in 2010, as companies increased production output prompted by the metal's rising price during the period in reviews.

The Japanese government together with a consortium of Japanese companies are poised to buy a 10 per cent stake in Chevron Corp.'s Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia for $4.35 billion.

Gold and copper mining company Anglo Asian Mining PLC's production and development plans for the Gosha gold deposit has been approved by the Azerbaijan government.

Areva, a nuclear power plant builder based in France, has teamed up with Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan on a joint exploration program for a possible uranium development project in Australia.

And so it goes. The issuance of the controversial temporary operating licence (TOL) for the Malaysian rare earths processing plant of Lynas Corp. continues to hang.

Not only numbers in the arrival of tourist exchanges are affected in the ongoing tensions between China and the Philippines, but also the potential income of the airline industry shuttling the tourists between the two Asian countries.

Japan, which has since expanded its energy mix in a bid to rely less on nuclear power, has scheduled a public forum of producers and consumers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Tokyo on September.

Natural gas and oil development projects near the Atlantic Ocean, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, could be facing potential damages in the coming months with the onset of the rainy season.

China, stronghold of the world's supply of rare earths, is set to carry out a proposal of uniting its many rare earths manufacturers into a one large company that represents the entire sector.

American rare earths miner Molycorp Inc. announced on Monday it will float in the market an offering of senior secured notes in the hopes of raising $650 million to help push its $1.3 billion acquisition plans of Canadian rare earth processor Neo Material Technologies Inc.

The government of Mozambique has announced it is currently preparing the necessary prerequisites for the international tenders it intends to make on the new oil and natural gas blocks in the Rovuma Basin in the far northern portion of the country.

China has started on Sunday the construction of what could be the world's largest capacity power transmission line capable of transmitting 37 billion kWh on average annually.

After hitting its lowest since early January on Friday, the safe-haven precious yellow metal gold edged a little on Monday, adding $3.39 an ounce to $1,581.69 by 0248 GMT.

The $29-billion Wheatstone LNG (liquefied natural gas) project of US giant Chevron Corp. is almost already a good done deal, with 80 per cent of sale contracts already covered.

Australian rare earths miner Lynas Corp. and its embattled processing plant in Malaysia continue to get caught in a nasty tug-of-war between the country's locals and its government which very much approves its presence.

India, currently embroiled in a coal supply shortage owing to various complicated issues at the home front, is set to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mongolia that will enable it to acquire a coking coal mine in the coal rich country.

China, in just barely less than a week, has sent again into orbit another remote-sensing satellite. Although this time, it has yet to confirm that this particular one launched was a spy satellite.

Lynas Corp had scored a stamp of safety approval from no less than the Malaysian Parliamentary Committee, which continuous the Australian miner's winning streak to get its controversial rare earths processing plant operational in Malaysia.

After numerous rejections and delays, Chinese banks are slowly invading the U.S. banking system.

At least nine trade cooperation agreements were signed on Wednesday between China and Colombia that included the possible construction of a railway infrastructure in Colombia and an oil pipeline that will run from Venezuela to Colombia's Pacific coast.

The Malaysian High Court has scheduled to hear in mid June the injunction application filed by Australian miner Lynas Corp. and its subsidiary Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd against independent media outlet Free Malaysia Today (FMT) and protest group Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) group.