Frik Els , Editor

Reuters reports Romania has launched the sale of its biggest copper mine Cupru Min SA Abrud via a tender, the government's industry privatisation office said on its website. The deadline for bids is Jan. 17 deadline. Romania wants to sell 100% of the mine which sits on about 60% of the European Union member's copper reserves equal to roughly 900,000 tonnes. Cupru Min is based in Abrud, Alba County, Romania and operates the Roşia Poieni copper mine. The company says deposits amount to more than 1 billion tons ore with an average of 0.36% Cu and 1.8% S. Copper production began in 1983 and the designed capacity of the mine is 9 million tons of ore extracted and processed per year with expansion to 15 million tons per year.

BBC footage shows arrest being made in a campaign to crack down on dealers who buy stolen metal that has been launched by the Transport Police in Yorkshire, England. Copper theft on railways has led to thousands of hours of delays to passengers every year. Yorkshire authorities say the problem is costing them millions a month.

Klondike Silver has been acquiring over 80% of the Sandon, BC silver camp over the past 20 years and its land position is now at 23,000Ha. Historical output from Sandon area mines starting in 1890s is over $35 billion (at today's mineral value) of lead zinc and silver. Klondike owns a 100 TPD fully operational flotation mill in Sandon which processes material from local mines. In its prime Sandon had 29 hotels, 28 saloons, 3 breweries, theatres, opera houses, cigar factory, soft drink plant, 3 sawmills, 3 churches, x2 newspapers, a schoolhouse, hospital, numerous lodges, clubs, organizations and a curling rink and bowling alley (in addition to one of the largest ‘red light’ districts in Western Canada). Klondike Silver is also reviving the Gowganda and Elk Lake silver camps in Ontario.

The Courier-Journal reports the Kentucky surface coal mine where two workers were killed on Friday was cited earlier this year over the stability of a highwall. The two workers were employed by a blasting crew and they were trapped in or near their truck by falling rock and earth. Several other miners at the site were injured by falling rock and debris. Armstrong, which began mining operations at Equality in the fall of 2010, utilizes two draglines and the truck-and-shovel mining methods. The mine has been closed pending an investigation.

Reuters reports Peru's government on Friday brokered the first in a series of talks between townspeople and Newmont Mining in a bid to solve a conflict over water supplies at the $4.8 billion Minas Conga project, adjacent to South America's largest gold mine Yanacocha. Newmont was forced to shut down operations for two days at Yanacocha after protesters blocked access to the mine. Minas Conga, partly-owned by Peru's number one precious metals miner Buenaventura, would be the biggest investment ever in Peru's mining sector. Buenaventura reported a 6% drop in quarterly gold output on Friday.

Keystone XL should bring Canadian crude, which at the moment sells at a $30 discount, in line with global prices. At the same time a huge slice of the record profits announced this week by Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil will we wiped out. Here's why.

Barely a week after Anglo American announced that the $2.8 billion they splashed on expanding their flagship Los Bronces mine will start to bear fruit before year end, Chile's state-owned Codelco decides to exercise an option to acquire half of it. Codelco has passed on neighbouring Los Bronces, a smelter and a second mine before, but Chile's finance minister on Friday warned Anglo that it must honour the deal that dates back to 1978. Codelco has put together $6 billion but analyst say that short changes Anglo by billions. What must really gall Anglo, which seems to have been taken by surprise, is that they will have to pay around $1 billion in taxes on the transaction.

Rural communities in Queensland Australia are more than a little unhappy about state politicians and government agencies allowing mining firms like BHP to set up self-contained separate mining towns cut off from local communities or simply letting miners fly in and out without ever becoming part of local life.

A presentation made to the Zimbabwean parliament on Thursday details the secrecy, corruption and human rights abuses that accompany mining activities in the Marange alluvial diamond fields. Hundreds were killed and thousands of local miners were driven off claims when the army seized control of the area in 2008 and most observers believe an international ban on these gems are being widely flouted. The report alleges that in contrast to the official $200 million, as much as $2.8 billion – equal to all other tax revenues – found its way into a parallel government via the army, police, prisons and intelligence agencies which all have 'permits' to mine there.

Mining Weekly reports De Beers is going all out to create 5,000 non-mining jobs in Namaqualand over the next five years as it exits a region on the South African west coast where it has mined for the past 90 years. Projects include a wind farm, abalone culturing for export to China where it is a highly prized delicacy, a prison warden training facility and a joint venture with sister company Anglogold for undersea gold mining. The company has recently come under fire over plans to sell the properties including two towns to a much smaller outfit that will have to take responsibility for rehabilitation over a 970 square km area pockmarked by open pits.