Demand for cobalt, tantalum and rare earth metals – seen as critical minor metals necessary for the continuation of the modern way of life – would continue to increase, but a mining consultancy group said on Monday that there was a risk of supply disruptions. Speaking at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Core Consultants MD Lara Smith cited the political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where 50% of the world’s cobalt reserves were found, as a potential risk to supply.

Global iron-ore production showed a healthy increase of about 8% in 2011, compared with 2010, but the increase was not as impressive as previous years, Raw Materials Group cofounder and partner, Magnus Ericsson, said on Monday. Speaking at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, he said that the bulk of the world’s iron-ore still went to China, with the Asian giant importing 680-million tons.

Junior mining company South African Coal Mining Holdings (SACMH) on Monday reported the appointment of Solly Mokoetle as an independent director and chairperson of its board of directors. Mokoetle, a former group CEO of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and chief content officer at Telkom Media, is an executive director with more than 30 years senior management experience and operational knowledge in spearheading and leading multimillion rand management projects.

Great Basin Gold (GBG) continues to face challenges in the production build-up programme at its Burnstone mine in South Africa, it reported on Monday, as production from the mine fell 6 000 oz short of its revised guidance. The mine, near Balfour, produced 23 361 oz of gold in the year ended December 31. Fourth-quarter output remained flat at 6 470 oz.

Canada's Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp said it restarted gold production at its Jerritt Canyon mill in Nevada, United States. Yukon-Nevada, which also owns gold, silver, zinc and copper assets in Canada's Yukon territory and British Columbia, said it expects the plant to produce 9 000 oz of gold in February and 12 500 oz in March.

There was no shortage of investors calling KGHM’s near-C$3-billion December bid for Vancouver’s Quadra FNX Mining cheap, but the target said on Monday Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said shareholders should give it the thumbs up. “There have been no alternate offers and there are no governance concerns,” Quadra quoted the ISS report as saying.

Mining needed to be positioned as a catalyst to drive other changes in the South African economy, Planning Minister Trevor Manuel said on Monday. Manuel told a Mining Indaba panel discussion organised by law company ENS that the South African mining industry’s contribution to the South African economy had shrunk from R103-billion in 1993 to R93-billion in 2009, despite the global commodity boom.

The World Bank has outlined a number of recommendations to help West African countries boost the level of local content in the mining industry. Releasing a report on increasing local procurement in West Africa at the yearly Investing in Africa Mining Indaba gathering in Cape Town, World Bank operations officer Kristina Svensson said that these resource-rich countries should use mining to catalyse private-sector investment.

Any debate about a rent resource tax would be subjected to exhaustive consultation with the mining industry, says Trevor Manuel, who adds that nationalisation is "not smart".

Steady growth in industrial production and the lessening of inflation risk would moderate the gold price, according to Credit Suisse.

Randgold Resources will invest $1 billion in developing new mines over the next two years, but booming gold revenues mean it will not need to issue new equity.

Harmony made record operating profits of R2.1bn in the December quarter as its South African mines increased yield and dropped operating costs.

A highly anticipated ANC report on the state's involvement in mining contains proposals to fundamentally alter the face of South Africa's industry.

About 4,000 influential people will gather in Cape Town from Monday to network and appraise the state of play in Africa's fast-evolving mining sector.

The unprotected strike paralysing Impala Platinum's flagship mining complex in Rustenburg represents a rebellion against the National Union of Mineworkers by its members.

Top executives at trader Glencore and miner Xstrata are hammering out the final details of an $80bn takeover, which could be announced as early as Tuesday.

The appetite for luxury in these financially strained times remains stable, if not outstanding.

Anglo American Platinum has made public the long-awaited restructuring of its investment in empowerment partner, Anooraq Resources, in a radical R5bn plan.