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Ivanhoe Mines Ltd said it expects a ruling on an arbitration dispute with Rio Tinto, its largest shareholder, to be delivered within a couple of weeks.

Mozambique has no plans to impose local ownership requirements on its mining industry and it will not seek overly high government stakes in mining ventures that could deter investors, its national director of mines said.

Ivanhoe Mines said on Monday that construction at its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia will be 70 percent complete by the end of 2011, with commercial production seen in the first half of 2013.

China, the world's largest iron ore purchaser, has held talks with with Vale SA, Rio Tinto Group, and BHP Billiton Ltd. in order t set a new pricing system after a large crash in market prices.

A slide in iron ore prices has driven miners to alter costly quarterly contracts to please Chinese clients, but spot pricing, which magnifies the impact of price swings, is still distant.

The government of Guinea will use 35 percent of a $700 million windfall from Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto to rebuild the mineral-rich West African nation's broken infrastructure, a Guinean official said on Sunday.

Swiss investment bank UBS disclosed Friday its top 10 commodity stock picks, all of which fall into one of four categories, thermal coal, iron ore, gold and merger and acquisition opportunities.

The Mongolian government, Ivanhoe Mines and partner Rio Tinto have agreed to back a 2009 investment agreement for the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit, ending discussions over possible changes.

Ivanhoe Mines said on Monday it has advised the Mongolian government it is not prepared to renegotiate a landmark ownership deal at the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia's South Gobi region.

Global miner Rio Tinto is fighting a legacy of bad publicity as it tries to persuade the Mongolian public a $10 billion copper deposit it took over from Ivanhoe Mines last year is in safe hands.

Mongolia's quest to renegotiate a 2009 deal to develop the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit might create a crisis of trust for foreign investors, but analysts said the decision could help it through a difficult legislative session starting next week.

Zimbabwe is hurting investor confidence and stalling recovery by promoting a law to force the transfer of foreign-owned firms to local ownership, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe is hurting investor confidence and stalling recovery by promoting a law to force the transfer of foreign-owned firms to local ownership, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe will soon probe foreign-owned firms to establish their level of compliance with a law requiring them to sell at least a 51 percent shareholding in their Zimbabwean operations to locals, an official said on Tuesday.

Shares of Ivanhoe Mines fell more than 12 percent on Monday after Mongolia said it plans to renegotiate a landmark deal related to the development of the huge Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project.

The Mongolian government will seek to accelerate the timetable to increase its stake in the country's giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project to 50 percent, Mining Minister Dashdorj Zorigt said on Sunday.

Global mining giant Rio Tinto will respond to any request from the Mongolian government to discuss its investment in the country's giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit, but still expects the original 2009 agreement to be honoured.

Namibia's Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) on Wednesday served Rio Tinto's Rossing uranium mine with a strike notice after failing to reach a deal in talks over output incentives, with a stoppage expected to start on Friday.

The Mongolian government is discussing possible changes to a 2009 investment agreement for its massive copper-gold deposit at Oyu Tolgoi, media reports quoted the country's Finance Minister S. Bayartsogt as saying on Tuesday.

Guinea is launching a comprehensive review of mining contracts to root out 'unconscionable provisions' granted by previous administrations in the West African state, Mines Minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana told Reuters.

Guinea's parliament adopted a new mining code that more than doubles the share the West African state can take in mining projects to 35% and toughens procedures for acquiring development permits, the government said on Saturday.

Investors were cautious on Monday on the prospect of rivals challenging Peabody Energy's (BTU.N) bid for Macarthur Coal (MCC.AX), though sources familiar with the matter said potential suitor Anglo American (AAL.L) was studying the books.

Zimbabwe has reduced penalties for foreign companies that violate a government mandate to sell a majority of their shares to locals, according to a government notice obtained on Thursday.

President Robert Mugabe said on Monday Zimbabwe would punish firms from Western states who have slapped sanctions on senior officials in his ZANU-PF party, warning that global miners including Rio Tinto could be hit.

Chinese smelters expect supplies of copper concentrate to rise as early as late 2012, paving the way for higher charges, as neighbouring Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine starts to come onstream, industry sources said on Tuesday.

The Rio Tinto, a 100 km long river in Southern Spain that originates in the Sierra Morena mountains of Andalusia.

According to various reports, Gina Rinehart, an Australian mining executive, is one the verge of becoming the richest person on the planet.

NASA, European Space Agency test out some Mars space gear in Antarctica and Spain respectively.

The Australian share market shrugged off negative sentiment in early trading on Monday, to close slightly higher as the big banks made up for softness in the resources sector. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had risen 9.8 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4861.9 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had gained 6.1 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 4945.4 points.