[img:Uranium%20town_0.JPG|First Uranium’s
Ezulwini uranium plant
‒ troubled times continue]Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 20 December 2011 - First Uranium could retrench up to half of its employees at its struggling Ezulwini plant, and has stated that its workers will have to prove their worth over the Christmas period to minimise layoffs.

[img:New%20Rio%20stad_0.jpg|The Palabora pit,
with mine headgear
just visible at the
front left]Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 20 December 2011 - South Africa's largest copper producer, Palabora Mining Company, says it has been granted the conversion of its mining rights.

The company said in a statement here that the Department of Mineral Resources had approved and granted the conversion of its old order mining rights into new order mining rights, in terms of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

[img:Financing%20bu_0.jpg|Artist’s impression
of Standard Bank’s
new Johannesburg
headquarters]Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 20 December 2011 - While the macro-economic environment is looking uncertain, evidence suggests that financing for mining projects in Africa is available, says Standard Bank.

Standard Bank director of mining and metals Vaughan Wickins said that in 2011 alone there had been a number of financings for new mine-related developments, reports I-Net Bridge.

[img:DRDGOLD%20pi_0.jpg|DRDGOLD’s 50km
pipeline linking the
Crown and City surface
retreatment plants to
its Ergo operation]Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 20 December 2011 - DRDGOLD Limited ‒ the world’s largest producer of gold from surface retreatment ‒ has announced the pending transfer of the listing of its common stock from the NASDAQ Global Select Market (NASDAQ) to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

[img:Facilities%20bg_0.jpg|Moatize railway station
‒ new rail links to be built
to existing and new ports]Maputo, Mozambique --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 19 December 2011 - Annual coal production in Mozambique is expected to total 100Mt by 2020, which will require the construction of new rail and port facilities to cater for the transport of the coal from the mines at Moatize to the coast.

[img:Blanket%20la.thumbnail.jpg|Number Four Shaft
at Caledonia’s Blanket
gold mine, which the
Zimbabwean government
says it is taking over]Harare, Zimbabwe --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 19 December 2011 - The government of Zimbabwe is considering paying an amount of US$3.7 million to the Caledonia Mining Corporation and assuming ownership of the Canadian-based company’s Blanket gold mine in Zimbabwe.

[img:Vision%20bl_0.jpg|Ethiopian minister
for mines Sinkinesh
Ejigu]Addis Ababa, Ethiopia --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 19 December 2011 - African Union (AU) ministers have adopted a declaration of intent to implement their Africa Mining Vision into Action.

Rwanda daily “The New Times” reports that this was the final result of the second African Union ministerial conference on a sustainable future for Africa's extractive industry, held in the Ethiopian capital. The Africa Mining Vision proposes a number of ways in which mineral resource development can be implemented on a country-by-country basis.

[img:Universal%20ka_0.jpg|Exploratory drilling
at Universal Coal’s
Kangala project in
South Africa]Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 15 December 2011 - ASX-listed Universal Coal is pitching to supply coal from its planned Kangala mine to Eskom’s Kusile power station, despite the fact that Anglo American Coal holds the contract to supply Kusile.

[img:Glencore%20fa_0.jpg|Shanduka Group
chairman Cyril
Ramaphosa]Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 15 December 2011 - Swiss-based Glencore International, the world's largest commodities trader, has agreed to sell a stake in Shanduka Coal for about US$84 million, ceding a majority holding to its venture partner led by former politician and union leader Cyril Ramaphosa.

[img:Harmony%20yt_0.jpg|Loading ore in the
pit at Hidden Valley ‒
all activities have
stopped for the moment]Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 15 December 2011 - Harmony Gold Mining Company ‒ South Africa's third largest gold producer ‒ has announced that it has halted operations at its Hidden Valley joint venture operation in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

[img:Keaton%20lo_0.jpg| ]Johannesburg, South Africa --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 14 December 2011 - Keaton Energy Holdings Limited ‒ poised to acquire Leeuw Mining and Exploration (Pty) Limited (LME) ‒ has announced that the minister of mineral resources has consented to a change in control of that company, in terms of Section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).  

[img:Baobab%20-%20Pic%201_0.JPG|Cutting drill core
at Baobab’s Tete
operation]London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 14 December 2011 - Mozambique-focused explorer Baobab Resources plans to find a strategic partner to help finance its project in Mozambique’s Tete province and start producing iron ore and titanium concentrate as of 2015.

Company CEO Ben James told Reuters that pre-feasibility studies would be carried out in 2012 and that the company needed between US$500 million and US$750 million to launch production.

[img:BHP%20ste_0.jpg|One of BHP Billiton’s
many coal operations
around the world]Melbourne, Australia --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 14 December 2001 - BHP Billiton ‒ the world’s biggest mining company ‒ says it will provide funding to assist a group of black investors led by Pembani Group (Pty) Limited to buy a stake in its South African energy coal unit.

[img:Mining%20af_0.jpg|The African Union
‒ a new move towards
implementation of a
mining policy for the
continent]Addis Ababa, Ethiopia --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 14 December 2011 - African ministers responsible for mining and mineral resources development are meeting in the Ethiopian capital this week for the final formulation and implementation of a mining policy framework for the continent.

[img:Workers%20si_0.jpg|Eduardo Mondlane
university in Maputo
‒ only trains 20 to 30
engineers, geologists
and metallurgists a
year]London, England --- MININGREVIEW.COM --- 13 December 2011 - The rapid expansion of the activities of energy companies is drying up all of Mozambique’s qualified workers, leading the government to launch exceptional measures, including a review of the country’s labour law.