London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 30 September 2008 - De Beers, African Diamonds, and Wati Ventures – the shareholders of Boteti – are currently in the concluding stages of discussions with the government of Botswana to resolve all outstanding issues surrounding the development of their AK06 project.

London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 30 September 2008 - Emerging diamond producer DiamondCorp plc says its Lace project in the Free State has achieved its first period of positive gross profit, and forecasts an exciting year ahead for the company.
 
Announcing the company’s interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2008, DiamondCorp CEO Paul Loudon said: “Operations achieved our first period of positive gross profit, despite issues with power, bad weather and problems in the re-crush circuit.The year ahead is very exciting for DiamondCorp, as we join the very small group of diamond mining companies operating a long-life kimberlite resource.,” said Loudon.

London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 30 September 2008 - European Union (EU) regulators have resumed their review of BHP Billiton’s US$118 billion (R944 billion) hostile takeover bid for the Rio Tinto group, potentially delaying their decision to next year.

Kinshasa, DRC – MININGREVIEW.COM --- 30 September 2008 - The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has extended the deadline for the review of mining contracts in the country from the original target date of today to 16 October.

Lusaka, Zambia --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 29 September 2008 - Production of cathode copper in Zambia rose 14.38% to 332 531 tonnes between January and July 2008, compared with output for the same period last year.
 
Reporting from the Zambian capital, Reuters quoted the Bank of Zambia as adding that the country had exported 315 992 tonnes of copper for the seven months to July, after exporting 265 803 tonnes in the same period last year.

Johannesburg, South Africa --- 29 September 2008 - The South African government is to discuss the creation of a state-owned mining company in terms of proposals which are due to be tabled before the country’s Mining Advisory Board in the near future.

Citing the country’s director-general of mineral and energy affairs, Sandile Nogxina, the Johannesburg-based Website Fin24 reported that proposals to establish a government-backed miner would go before the board, and that South Africa might also seek to replicate the actions of the Botswana and Namibia governments, which formed joint ventures with De Beers to mine diamonds.

New York, USA --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 29 September 2008 - De Beers – the world's biggest diamond company – is of the opinion that increasing gem sales in Asian markets will play a significant role in compensating for stagnant or reduced U.S. demand caused by the credit crisis.
 

London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 26 September 2008 - African Eagle Resources plc – a UK-based mineral resources company exploring for and developing mineral deposits in eastern and central Africa – claims it has never been in a stronger position than it is now.

Announcing the company’s results for the six months to 30 June 2008, chairman John Park said that despite its recent share price history, African Eagle’s fundamentals had improved considerably in the past year. The two key reasons were the company’s stronger than ever assets position, and the fact that market fundamentals were more likely than not to keep metals prices above the long-term average.

London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 26 September 2008 - Gemstone producer Tanzanite One Limited has outlined expansion plans and vowed to fight a takeover bid by its bigger rival, Gemfields Resources plc.
 
Gemfields – which has the rights to the Faberge luxury goods brand – announced a US$61.31 million (R490 million) takeover proposal earlier this month in a move aimed at expanding its range of products from emeralds.

London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 26 September 2008 - AIM-listed Central African Gold plc – a gold mining and exploration company focused on Africa – believes it has entered what will be a critical second half of its current financial year, but is confident of success.

Announcing its interim results for the half-year ended 30 June 2008, the company emphasised that its firm focus would be on ensuring that its key asset – the Bibiani mine in Ghana – remained on a path of sustainable and ongoing delivery as it entered the crucial second half of the year.

Dakar, Senegal --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 26 September 2008 - The government of the West African state of Guinea wants more talks with Rio Tinto – the London and New York-listed international mining group headquartered in the United Kingdom, and the world’s third-largest mining company – about its key Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. The US$6 billion (R48 billion) project is crucial to Rio's future production portfolio as it fights off a hostile takeover bid from rival miner BHP Billiton.

Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 25 September 2008 - ArcelorMittal – the world's number one steel company, with over 320 000 employees in more than 60 countries – has announced that a second worker has died at one of its plants in South Africa.

Revealing this in an interview with Reuters, the company explained that the worker had died of gas inhalation, bringing the death toll to two from the incident earlier this week at its Saldanha plant in the Western Cape province.

London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 25 September 2008 - GMA Resources plc – incorporated in Australia and listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market – has had a disappointing first half of 2008, with gold production at its Amesmessa mine in southern Algeria dipping sharply in the second quarter. The downward trend is expected to continue in the third quarter.

London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 25 September 2008 - Canadian-listed First Quantum Minerals Limited (FQM) – an emerging mining and metals company, and one of the faster growing copper producers in Africa – says it expects Zambia to agree to a compromise on its new mining tax regime in coming months.

London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 25 September 2008 - African Diamonds plc – the AIM and Botswana Stock Exchange-listed diamond explorer and emerging producer – says it expects to complete negotiations on a mining licence for its AK6 discovery in Botswana by the end of the month.