Frik Els , Editor

CTV reports a US federal appeals court threw out an antitrust class-action lawsuit accusing seven companies of engaging in a global conspiracy to raise the price of potash since 2003 on the grounds that it could not rule on the alleged wrongful conduct on markets in India, China and Brazil. The defendants included Agrium, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Mosaic Co., and four companies that conduct mining operations in Russia and Belarus: Uralkali, Silvinit, Belarusian Potash and International Potash. Together the groups produce some 70% of the world's potash.

After a three-week hunt Canada's Silvercorp Metals on Friday found the alleged short-sellers behind an effort to drive down the company’s stock price. The company is suing two New York-based websites – Chinastockwatch.com and Alfredlittle.com – for spreading false information. While Silvercorp was trading down 1.4% in early afternoon trade losses among silver heavyweights were much deeper with bellwether Silver Wheaton skidding 11% as the precious metal plummeted 17.7% to barely above $30/oz. Silvercorp is up 0.6% over the last two trading days against the S&P TSX index which has bled 7%. It was the worst trading day for silver in decades.

December gold suffered another day of steep losses, dropping $82 an ounce, or 4.7%, to $1,659.50 in New York in noon trade on Friday, as investors were forced to raise cash to cover losses suffered on global stock markets this week. Copper extended its sharp declines on the London Metal Exchange falling as much as 7.3% to $7,115.75 a metric ton. Prices declined for a sixth day in a row losing 14% this week and have now slumped 26% from the record high of $10,190 set in February. Silver was hardest hit on Friday, plummeting 11.2% to $32.48. One metals analyst summed up the day this way: “We’re in a downward spiral, and no one knows when it’s going to end."

Weak manufacturing data from China and a US economy deemed to have "significant downside risk," saw benchmark North American crude futures drop more than $5 to just above $80 a barrel, bringing the discount to international oil prices to more than $25. The biggest oil sands player, Suncor Energy (TSE.SU), tumbled 6.8% to C$26.21 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, bringing its year to date losses to more than 30%. Canadian heavy oil – all of which goes to the US – sells for $15 less than US crude, meaning oil sands developers have to deal with an effective oil price of $60-$70 a barrel that puts at risk many of the $100 billion of projects on the go in Alberta.

AFP reports a recent outbreak of fighting between rival armed groups in the Central African Republic – one of the poorest countries in the world – vying for control over diamond mines left 43 dead, an army source said Thursday. The toll originally stood at 30 following week-long clashes in the central town of Bria which erupted on September 11. Officials said the clashes are between the Ronga and the Goula, two rival ethnic groups who have feuded over the region's diamond mines for years.

Stornoway Diamond Corporation, involved in the discovery of over 200 kimberlites in seven Canadian diamond districts, has provided an update on its 100%-owned Renard Diamond Project saying it now expects a longer life and increased annual output of some 2 million carats. The company said the release of the feasibility study for the $450 million project is imminent and it could start producing in 2015. Stornoway last week joined the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index, a move which should increase the appeal of the counter among institutional investors.

Gold failed to capitalize on the stock market rout and December futures tumbled 4% or $74/oz to $1,734/oz by early Thursday afternoon as the Fed warned of "significant downside risks" and pessimistic economic data from China further damaged sentiment. Silver was hardest hit and platinum and palladium prices came under pressure as well. December silver slid -9.8% or almost $4 to $36.50 an ounce while October platinum lost -4.9% or $87 and palladium for December delivery traded down -8.1% to $655. One trader summed up the day this way: “The textbook ideas, the things we follow, the things we believe to be so are being shot to pieces for the moment and it’s very difficult to trade other than for a long-term view.”

A new Fraser Institute study shows when adjusted for population, Calgary in Alberta is by far the Canadian leader in the concentration of corporate headquarters, with 6.0 corporate head offices per 100,000 people in 2010, double that of Toronto. This concentration in the country's oil heartland is important because of the spin-off effects associated with corporate headquarters. Support professionals such as lawyers, consultants, and accountants tend to establish themselves near these headquarters and create a larger professional community, a greater concentration of knowledge, and easier access to high quality services for other companies nearby.

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he can't imagine the Obama administration rejecting the proposed Keystone XL oilsands pipeline, arguing the final decision should be a "complete no-brainer." Harper made the comments in an interview with Bloomberg News during his trip to New York for meetings with US business leaders and at the UN. The proposed $7 billion, 3,190km Keystone XL pipeline connecting Alberta’s oil sands to refineries on the US Gulf Coast should help Canada move closer to the international benchmark for crude instead of US pricing which trades at a discount of more than $25. Canada currently pumps 2 million barrels per day to the US, with more than half coming from the oil sands.

News that the Mongolian government is rethinking a 2009 deal that gave Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto a 66% stake in the massive Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper project has sent the shares of Ivanhoe down more than 9.5% in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon, while Rio's ADRs gave up over 6% in New York trade. The bad news appears to have led to a bust-up between the two companies, with Ivanhoe founder and CEO Robert Friedland saying on Wednesday Rio's senior management has been making "unauthorized and incomplete" statements about Oyu Tolgoi and that he will take the matter up with the world's number three miner. Ivanhoe is closely tied to Mongolia where it also controls SouthGobi, a producing coal mine. SouthGobi plummeted 10% on Wednesday.