mineral exploration project – commodity prices – mining stock- trade and market

Stocks in Australia’s biggest mining companies rose Monday as the government’s plans for a new tax on their profits were thrown into doubt after the nation’s closest election in almost 50 years delivered no clear mandate.

Trading in the rest of the market was flat, however, and Australia’s chamber of commerce urged companies to continue investing despite what will likely be two or three weeks of uncertainty about who will govern the country for the coming three years.

The center-left Labor Party — which has ruled for the past three years and remains in...

China’s gold producers will extend this quarter’s rally as demand for the precious metal increases and inflation exceeds government forecasts, according to Central China Securities Holdings Co. and Guoyuan Securities Co.

Zijin Mining Group Co. and Zhongjin Gold Corp., the nation’s two biggest bullion producers, are good investments as consumer prices are expected to rise around 3.5 percent this month, Li Jun, a Shanghai-based strategist at Central China, said in an interview yesterday. Inflation accelerated to 3.3 percent in July, the highest since October 2008.

“In this...

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is likely to call an election on Saturday, broadcaster ABC reported on Friday, in a move that could seal the fate of the Labor government’s proposed mining tax.

The government aims to raise A$10.5 billion from 2012 under the watered-down 30 percent tax agreed by global miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata, but the conservative opposition has vowed to dump it.

Opinion polls published in Fairfax and News Ltd newspapers put Labor ahead of the conservative opposition at 52 percent versus 48 percent. For a Reuters poll trend, see:...

Macarthur Coal Ltd., the world’s largest producer of pulverized coal used by steelmakers, raised its full-year profit forecast as sales increased, bolstering speculation the company may be a takeover target.

Profit, excluding accounting adjustments, may be between A$115 million ($96 million) and A$125 million for the 12 months ended June 30, compared with its earlier forecast of A$103 million to A$113 million, Macarthur said today in a statement.

The Brisbane-based company rose 5.2 percent yesterday after Thailand’s Banpu Pcl agreed to buy the rest of Centennial Coal Co. for...

Fights about proper ownership of natural resources, especially mined product, have been a feature of Australian public policy debate since early settlement. Lack of consultation, arbitrariness and an overweening and greedy government famously caused the Eureka rebellion.

Fast forward to today, we have all these ingredients minus the muskets, plus retrospectivity, sovereign risk, slavering international competitors such as Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa, and a growing capital strike.

Much of the future impact of the Rudd government’s new mining tax is thought to fall on...

The Australian sharemarket closed three per cent higher for the week, as middling-to-positive leads from European stocks and Wall Street culminated in a solid weekly close, after China rejected reports it was considering reviewing its European bond holdings.

For the week, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index gained 3.15 per cent to 4,457.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index jumped 7.58 per cent to 4,479 points.

AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver said it looked like a correction in equities and commodities prices was under way, and a decent rally was beginning.

Essar Group said its purchase of Trinity Coal Corp., the Indian company’s first overseas coal mine acquisition, will help lock in raw materials with...

Asian stocks rose, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to a six-week high, as better-than-estimated U.S. jobs data and a pledge by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to support...