Brazil’s Eike Fuhrken Batista is the world of mining’s richest man and has been on a roll so far this year, increasing his wealth by a third according to Bloomberg data.

But he took a few blows to the body on Tuesday.

After his oil and gas firm OGX – one of five public companies under Batista’s control – disappointed with reserve figures of only 110 million barrels at an offshore well called Tubarão-Azul or Blue Shark the company was beaten down 7.8%.

That decline and a generally bad day on the world’s stock markets meant $1,023,200,000 disappeared from Batista’s personal fortune on Tuesday.

Batista is now down to his last $30 billion and is in danger of dropping out of the top 10 if commodity stocks continue to slide. (The three who could catch Batista  – Wal-Mart’s Walton siblings  – only lost $100 million on Tuesday.)

A much more encouraging find on land by another Batista business could not reverse the steep declines.

CCX, Batista’s coal unit, also announced today that it discovered a 672 million tonnes reserve, making it the fifth largest coal deposit in the world, at San Juan in Colombia.

CCX is being spun off and will list separately on the Sao Paulo exchange on May 25.

Perhaps having a sixth publicly traded entity will help Batista cobble together another billion or so.

Click here for a profile of Batista >>

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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Independent Valuation of Gahcho Kué Diamonds

Actual Price per Carat $185 – up 38%
Modeled Price per Carat $122 – up 41%

(All values are in US Dollars)

Toronto and New York, May 5, 2011 – Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. (“Mountain Province”, the “Company”) (TSX: MPV, NY-AMEX: MDM) today announced the results of an updated independent valuation of the diamonds recovered from the Gahcho Kué Project. The valuation was conducted by WWW International Diamond Consultants Ltd. and took place at the London offices of the Diamond Trading Company in early April, 2011. All diamond values presented below are based on the WWW Price Book as at April 11, 2011.

Importantly, for the first time, the Gahcho Kué diamonds were grouped into larger parcels, each parcel representing diamonds from the Hearne, Tuzo and the separate lobes of the 5034 kimberlite. In the opinion of WWW, grouping of the diamonds into larger parcels increased the accuracy of the diamond valuation.

Patrick Evans, Mountain Province President and CEO, said: “The results of this independent diamond valuation reflect the strong performance of rough diamond prices since the previous valuation conducted on April 2010. Based on the analysis of leading diamond producers and analysts, the global diamond industry will experience peak diamond supply during 2011, with burgeoning demand – particularly from the robust Chinese and Indian markets – outstripping mine supply. There is a strong probability that rough diamond prices will continue to experience strong double digit increases as production from aging mines decrease and new mine supply falls short of growing demand. As the world’s largest and richest diamond development project, Gahcho Kué is well placed to enjoy excellent diamond price support as it prepares for production”.

In their report to Mountain Province, WWW stated: “The most valuable stone is in the Tuzo sample. This 25.13 carat stone is the largest stone in all of the bulk samples. The stone is an octahedron of H/I colour which WWW valued at $20,000 per carat giving a total value of $502,600″.

WWW added: “The stone with the highest value per carat sample is a 9.90 carat stone in the 5034 C/E sample. This is a makeable stone of high colour (D/E) which WWW valued at $24,000 per carat giving a total value of $237,600″.

Commenting further, Mr. Evans said: “Experience shows that during the mining phase larger populations of large, high value diamonds are commonly recovered, which has the potential to improve modeled diamond revenues. Besides the high-value 25.13 and 9.9 carat diamonds referred to above, several other large high-value diamonds of gem quality have been recovered from Gahcho Kué, including 7.0 carat, 6.6 carat and 5.9 carat diamonds from the 5034 kimberlite and 8.7 carat, 6.4 carat and 4.9 carat diamonds from the Hearne kimberlite. The presence of coarser diamonds is an important driver of overall diamond value at Gahcho Kué.”

Table 2 below presents models of the average price per carat (US$/carat) for each kimberlite. The modeled price per carat is determined using statistical methods to estimate the average value of diamonds that will be recovered from potential future production from Gahcho Kué.

For mine feasibility studies WWW recommends using the base case models for defining the resources and reserves. The “high” and “low” models are included for sensitivity analysis.

The WWW averaged modeled price per carat for the Gahcho Kué kimberlites is $122, which represents a 41 percent increase over the WWW 2010 average price. The WWW models use size distribution models (carats per size class) developed by De Beers.

Mr. Evans added: “The 2010 independent definitive feasibility study, under which the revenue assumption was based on the mean average of the April 2010 WWW and De Beers modeled diamond prices, reported a 33.9 percent IRR excluding sunk costs. Further, sensitivity analysis shows that a 10 percent increase in modeled diamond prices results in an approximate 3 percent increase in the project IRR. Accordingly, the 41 percent increase in the modeled price over the past year would result in an approximate 12 percent increase in the project IRR.”

Qualified Person

This news release has been prepared under the supervision of Carl G. Verley, P.Geo., who serves as the qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the “safe-harbor” provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company’s business or financial condition. Actual results could differ materially from those described in this news release as a result of numerous factors, some of which are outside the control of the Company.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Mountain Province Diamonds Inc.
Patrick Evans, President and CEO
Tel: 416-670-5114
401 Bay Street, Suite 2700
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2Y4
Phone: (416) 361-3562
Fax: (416) 603-8565
www.mountainprovince.com
E-mail: info@mountainprovince.com

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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Finding diamonds in Canada was, for many years, little more than a prospector’s hope. But with the discovery of diamonds in Nunavut in the early nineties, this hope became a reality that soon led to active exploration for the elusive gem throughout the country – specifically, on the Canadian Shield.

Canada became a diamond producer in October 1998, when the Ekati diamond mine opened about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. By April 1999, the mine had produced one million carats. And by 2003, the country became the world’s third largest diamond producer on a value basis, after Botswana and Russia.

Today, diamond exploration and discovery is undergoing a renaissance in Canada’s north that rivals the first wave of successful exploration. Most of the efforts are converging in Nunavut, the largest and newest territory of Canada.

Although the Canadian northern territories are not the easiest places in which to live and work, there are a number of junior and senior companies operating in these areas.  These companies have to deal with harsh climates, limited infrastructure and a very fragile environment. But as demand for minerals, particularly diamonds, continues to grow, both new and established operators are taking a more active interest in the region.

Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. is one of the protagonists of the new success story. The company revitalized the diamond exploration scene last year, by reporting a remarkable discovery of three major outcropping diamond-bearing kimberlites at its Chidliak property on Baffin Island.

Chidliak, located 150 km northwest of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut and the company’s earlier stage Nanuq project, located 300 kilometres north of Rankin Inlet in Nunavut, are both textbook cases of grassroots or greenfields exploration low-budget programs that were taking place while attention was focused primarily on DO-27.

The Chidliak program began in 2005, when BHP Billiton approached Peregrine with an offer to jointly explore southern Baffin Island. “The agreement was that, together, we would undertake a reconnaissance program that covered roughly the southern third of Baffin Island. We would fund it equally and then Peregrine would take the data and run with it,” says Peregrine President, Brooke Clements.

After the programs’ first year, during which the most promising properties were acquired, the funding responsibility fell to Peregrine alone, but BHP retained back-in rights.

Despite being discovered a year earlier than Chidliak, Nanuq is currently at about the same stage, for two reasons. Three kimberlite pipes have been found on each site, but those at Nanuq, while encouraging, do not offer the promising diamond counts seen in kimberlites tested at Chidliak. Future exploration work at Nanuq will be focusing on finding new pipes. Meanwhile, the work at Chidliak will be split between searching out new pipes and continuing to estimate the value of the one already known to hold diamonds.

A bit of luck also favoured Chidliak. “Usually, kimberlites are covered by soil and aren’t visible from the surface,” explains Clements. “But in the case of Chidliak, the sampling crew went to three promising sites and found not just indications of kimberlites, but outcroppings of the pipes themselves exposed on the surface. We were fortunate because we kind of jumped a year ahead of the normal sequence. Without drilling a single hole, we know we have diamonds and kimberlites with significant tonnage potential on the property,” he said of the significance of the outcroppings.

Clements describes the results as “exceptional,” and not just because the coarse diamond size distribution indicates potential for large commercialization of diamonds. Unlike most diamond-bearing kimberlites in northern Canada, which typically occur under lakes or are buried by overburden, the Chidliak kimberlites outcrop on the surface..

“It’s still early days but we’re very excited by the potential as we’ve identified more than 65 geophysical anomalies within the property,” says Clements.

Key Players

Until recently, Tahera Diamond Corporation was the best known name in Nunavut’s diamond scene. The company runs Jericho Diamond Mine, Canada’s third diamond mine and Nunavut’s first, located about 400 km (249 mi) northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Two and a half years after that high-profile startup, Tahera has abruptly ended production at the Jericho mine, forcing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government to take over.

Deloitte and Touche has since been appointed as receiver and contracted to undertake care and maintenance at the mine.

It is doubtful that a new owner will soon be found for Jericho.

Other companies currently exploring for diamonds in Nunavut are Indicator Minerals (Nanuq North, in a join venture with Peregrine Diamonds), Shear Minerals (Churchill), Diamonds North Resources (Amaruk) and Stornoway Diamonds (Aviat).

Stornoway, a Vancouver-based exploration company, is the dominant diamond explorer in eastern Nunavut and it has property stretching from the northern tip of the Melville Peninsula to Rankin Inlet on the western shore of Hudson Bay.

Stornoway shares interest in the Aviat property with BHP Billiton – which owns the Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories – and the Hunter Exploration Group. Two of Stornoway’s holdings, Churchill and Quilalugaq, are in the advanced exploration stage.

Governmental Support

To maintain Nunavut’s position as a jurisdiction of choice for mineral investment, the local Government developed a strategy entitled “Parnautit: The Nunavut Mineral Exploration & Mining,” which provides a framework of policies and actions to encourage mineral discovery and development. Released in March 2007, the goal of Parnautit is to create the conditions for a “strong and sustainable minerals industry that contributes to a high and sustainable quality of life for all Nunavummiut.” The plan addresses Nunavut’s regulatory and taxation regimes, workforce training, infrastructure development and environmental baseline availability.

Peter Taptuna, Nunavut’s Deputy Premier and Minister Responsible for Mines, explains that Nunavut also offers a Development Partnership Agreement (DPA) program that was introduced in 2006 as a means of extending the territorial off-road fuel tax credit (rebate) to developing and producing mines. Through these DPAs, Nunavut’s Government and mine operators work cooperatively in areas such as education and training, socioeconomic monitoring and mitigation, as well as in infrastructure development. As the physical and economic circumstances of no two mines are alike, so too each DPA should reflect the unique and shared needs of the mine operator and the local population. Proponents entering the regulatory phase are encouraged to begin negotiations on a Development Partnership Agreement for their projects.

For now, the reality of the diamond industry is much like the weather conditions in Nunavut- harsh. In spite of this, the Canadian industry is up to the challenge. While current prices, logistical challenges, inclement weather, personnel shortages and training needs remain concerns, all signs point to Nunavut seeing growth in mining operations in the near future, just in time to offer its diamonds to an eager market.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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Mining giant Rio Tinto sources said that Rio has unearthed a “remarkable” 12.76 carat pink diamond in Australia, the largest of the rare and most precious stones ever found in the resources-rich nation.

Named the Argyle Pink Jubilee, the huge rough stone was found at Rio’s pink diamond holdings in the Kimberley region of western Australia and would take almost 2 weeks to cut and polish, it was said.

“This rare diamond find is generating incredible excitement. A diamond of this calibre is unprecedented — it has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this precious gem and we may never see one like this again,” said Josephine Johnson from Rio’s Argyle Pink Diamonds division.

“The individual who gets to wear this remarkable pink diamond will be an  incredibly lucky person.”

The light pink Argyle Jubilee has similar colour tones to the 24-carat Williamson Pink given to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift which was later re-set into a Cartier brooch for her coronation.

The Williamson was discovered in Tanzania in 1947 and  ranks among the finest pink diamonds in existence.

Rio produces more than 90 percent of the world’s pink diamonds from the Argyle mine, and said, typically large stones like the Jubilee typically went to museums, were gifted to royalty or end up at prestigious auction houses like Christie’s for sale to the highest bidder.

Christie’s had only auctioned 18 polished pink diamonds larger than 10 carats in its 244-year history, Rio said.

When the Jubilee pink diamond has been cut and polished it will be graded by international experts and showcased globally before being sold by invitation-only tender later this year.

This 12.76 carat sparkling gem which was discovered at the Rio Tinto Argyle mine is among the largest and most valuable pink diamonds in the world.

The rarest of diamonds, pink diamonds have been  known to fetch about $1 million a carat on the market.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

www.www-gems.com

Black Coral & 1 carat pink diamond pendant for sale

Pink heart diamond 4.54 carats for sale

Pink diamond RBC 1.84 carats in ring for sale

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Received & published by Henry Sapiecha

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Integra Mining (ASX: IGR) achieved a gold production milestone of 100,000 ounces in early January at its Randalls Gold Project located 60-130 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie in Australia’s most prolific goldfield.

First gold was poured from the project in September 2010 and Integra ramped up to first commercial production in March 2011.

Managing director Chris Cairns said another significant milestone has been achieved by Integra’s operations people.

“This follows on from having been voted the Gold Mining Journal’s ‘Gold Miner of the Year’ for 2011. It is great to see the site based personnel receiving the well-deserved recognition of their industry peers,” he said.

Integra continues to unleash the potential of the Randalls project with assays last week from follow up diamond drilling at the Imperial prospect returning high grade gold-copper intersections including 6.2 metres at 13.43 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 1.5% copper.

Highlights also included an interval of 2 metres at 31.1g/t gold and 1.3% copper.

Mineralisation at the prospect is open along strike to the north where shallow WMC-era reverse circulation drilling intercepted 2 metres at 1.8g/t from 52 metres, and to the south where there is no reverse circulation drilling for some 200 metres.

Randalls has a JORC Resource of 30 million tonnes at 2.6g/t for 2.5 million ounces of contained gold.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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IN A landmark decision, the Land and Environment Court has held that one of New South Wales’ coalmines in Australia should have to pay to offset some of its greenhouse gas emissions as a condition of operation.

The provisional decision was a win for the Hunter Environment Lobby, represented by the Environmental Defender’s Office, which had appealed to the court over the Minister for Planning’s decision to both consolidate historical consent authorities of the Ulan mine, near Mudgee, and double its operational life and capacity to 2031.

The Xstrata and Mitsubishi-owned Ulan Coal Mines, backed by the minister, and the Department of Planning, had argued that offsetting the mine’s scope one emissions was discriminatory, given that there were at least 50 coalmines operating in NSW.

The government told the court the carbon tax regime was a preferable policy.

The provisional judgment was delivered on November 30, with parties due to thrash out its details and timetable on February 13, before final orders are made.

Justice Nicola Pain found that the power to impose conditions on major infrastructure projects – those captured by the now repealed Part 3A procedure – was wide.

”That this is the first such condition imposed on a coalmine in NSW is not necessarily discriminatory,” she said.

”It is simply the first occasion that has occurred.

”As other operating coalmines seek approval to modify or extend their operations, or new coalmines are opened, it would be open to the consent authority, which may be the minister, to impose a similar condition.”

Law firm Norton Rose, in a briefing update, said the implications of the ”landmark” decision spread beyond the coal industry

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TIN & TUNGSTEN MINING IN ENGLAND BY WOLF MINERALS

PLANS by ASX-listed Wolf Minerals to become a tungsten and tin producer from its Hemerdon project in south-west England have attracted a rare demonstration of government support for the jobs and wealth creation ability of mining projects.

Wolf announced last week that the support came directly from Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, the British Minister of State for Trade and Investment, following Wolf receiving planning consents for the Devon development.

In a letter to the company, Lord Green said Hemerdon was an important project to the community in terms of jobs and wealth creation, and to the British and wider European Union in securing supplies of tungsten.

”I am aware that tungsten ranks highly in both the British Geological Society and EU’s critical raw materials lists and that it has unique properties that are impossible to replace in certain specialised industrial applications,” the former HSBC chairman said.

The British Geological Survey in September listed tungsten as one of the top five strategically important metals.

Wolf is now working on securing $80 million in debt funding for the project, the development of which would serve to ease the grip China has on global supplies of tungsten. More than 80 per cent of global supply comes from China, which has curbed exports of the ”strategic” metal.

Tungsten prices rose by more than 30 per cent last year and are now more than eight times their level before taking off in 2003 in response to limited non-Chinese mine supplies at a time of rising consumption.

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