The Australian reports a mining safety specialist who quit New Zealand's fatal Pike River coal mine over concerns it was too dangerous will present crucial expert testimony to the royal commission into the disaster, which killed 29 men. Peter Sattler went public last week for the first time to claim Pike River lacked critical equipment required in Australian mines, which could have avoided the enormous methane explosion that ripped through the mine near Greymouth on November 19. The move comes as, for the first time since the blast, rescue experts prepare to enter the mine, in a step towards recovering bodies and recommissioning the operation.

Dynacor Gold Mines more-than-doubled its sales revenues in the first quarter, prompting the gold mining and exploration company to release an upbeat full-year production outlook. For the first three months of the year, the Peru-focused company posted revenues of $14.7 million, compared to $6.1 million in the prior year period. Dynacor also sold 10,083 ounces of gold during the latest quarter, compared to 5,342 ounces of gold a year earlier.

Market sources indicate a serious Chinese contender has finally decided to make a bid for Metorex, in opposition to Vale’s $1.1bn cash offer for the South African company. There has been speculation in the market over such a development since the Vale bid was announced in mid-April, with Jinchuan Mining singled out as the most likely bidder. Jinchuan is the company which now controls Wesizwe Platinum after heading up a Chinese consortium which paid some $940m for 51% of Wesizwe.

The London Metal Exchange has approved Ravenna as the latest point of good delivery for non domestic LME Steel Billet, with effect from September 16th 2011. The addition of the Italian port will enhance the contract’s warehousing network in Europe, encouraging the steel industry to further utilise the contract. LME Steel Billet is now listed in 12 locations in seven countries.

The Saudi Ministry for Mineral Resources has granted the first mineral exploration license for the Selib North Project to a Saudi-Turkish joint venture in which KEFI Minerals has a 40% stake and is the operating partner. The company has also received approval for two other licenses and are awaiting final approval from the Supreme Committee of Concessions in Riyadh, KEFI said in a statement. The project is located in central Saudi Arabia, 65km south-southeast of the Al Amar Gold Mine, which is currently being operated by Ma’aden. In 2007, mineral resources for the Al Amar Gold Mine were estimated at a total of 2.0 million tons.

Japanese steel firms Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metals are likely to retain Tata Steel as partner for India, post their proposed merger. Nippon Steel has a tie-up with Tatas and Sumitomo Metals has a partnership with Bhushan Steel. Industry sources said that the new entity, formed out of Nippon-Sumitomo's existing businesses, will keep only one firm as its India ally and the balance is tilted towards Nippon's long-standing partner Tata Steel rather than Sumitomo Metals' Bhushan Steel, which has a marketing and technology tie-up with the Japanese firm.

BNAmericas reported that Vancouver-based tailings processor Amerigo Resources has resumed operations at its Minera Valle Central complex in central Chile's region VI. The company said that the plant is once again in production, processing both fresh and old tailings from the El Teniente mine. Amerigo halted operations on June 6th 2011 as a result of the ongoing strike by 11,000 contract workers at state copper producer Codelco's El Teniente division. Amerigo's sole business is to process copper and molybdenum tailings from El Teniente, which is by far Codelco's most profitable division.

The state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. plans to revive production at three gold mines, the state-controlled Herald said today, citing Deputy Mines Minister Gift Chimanikire. […]

Reuters reports that zinc prices ended May slightly firmer, recovering from an early rout but the prospect of a sizeable supply surplus this year and next will continue to weigh on the market, especially if other metals weaken. Ms Claire Hassall of consultancy CHR Metals said that market watchers were concerned about weakness in the Chinese economy. The general feeling is that demand is not particularly strong in China at the moment using latest car sales figures as an illustration of the source of these worries.

Korea Resources Corporation as says that its Boleo copper project in Mexico with Canada’s Baja Mining Corporation will begin production in 2013, supplying South Korea with about 30% of the mine’s output. The mine on Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula is expected to produce 38,000 tonnes of copper annually for 23 years starting in the H2 of 2013, according to the the Seoul based company which owns 30% of the project along with other Korean partners. Baja Mining holds the remaining 70% of the mine.