LONDON (Reuters) – Guinea, one of Africa’s poorest nations despite abundant natural resources, has urged the G8 to back its battle with corruption by helping trace shell companies used to hide crooked deals and track dirty money flows.

The resulting increased prosperity, President Alpha Conde said, would help stem growing radicalism in a region already threatened by unrest in Mali that has placed Guinea and its neighbors at risk of becoming conduits for drugs and guns.

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) – Russian miner Polymetal
, battered by a sharp drop in gold and silver prices
this year, said on Thursday it does not expect to write down the
value of its precious metals reserves at current prices, in part
thanks to a weakening rouble.

After a once-in-a-generation plunge in gold prices in April,
bullion has languished around $1,400 an ounce for the last
month, and analysts have raised concerns that could force miners
to write down the value of reserves and projects. Australia’s
Newcrest Mining took a $6 billion hit last week.

LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) – Rio Tinto’s Simandou
mining project in Guinea will miss a 2015 first production
target, Guinea’s mines minister said on Wednesday, as the two
sides hammer out issues including the financing of its costly
infrastructure.

Simandou is one of the world’s largest untapped deposits of
iron ore. The project’s development – along with associated rail
and port infrastructure – could cost $20 billion or more and is
expected to galvanise the region and turn Guinea into a major
exporter.

LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) – Guinea’s mines minister said on
Wednesday an estimated 2015 first production date for the
portion of the Simandou iron ore deposit held by Rio Tinto
would not be met.

“In 2011, the first date of production agreed with Rio was
2015. Today, the reality is this cannot be respected,” Mines
Minister Mohamed Lamine Fofana said.

LONDON/MOSCOW, June 12 (Reuters) – Two Russian metals firms
which blazed a trail into the FTSE 100 are set to drop out of
London’s blue chip index this month, leaving questions over
relations with investors, appetite for mining stocks and the
benefits of a cumbersome premium listing.

The departure of precious metals miner Polymetal
and steelmaker Evraz after less than two years signals
the end – for now – of a move into the major league that had
been expected to pave the way for more Russian arrivals.

LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) – Miners Rio Tinto and
Glencore Xstrata have held early-stage talks to consider
a plan that could combine thermal coal assets in Australia as
both sides battle low prices and high costs, two sources
familiar with the plan said.

Rio and Glencore both have large thermal coal mines in the
Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, and face benchmark
prices that touched three-year lows last year and have
languished below $100 a tonne since May 2012 – even as labour
and other costs soar in Australia.

LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) – Israeli billionaire Beny
Steinmetz has agreed a cash settlement to end a legal dispute
with a former London-based business adviser, closing a chapter
in a multi-billion dollar battle over mineral wealth in Guinea.

BSG Resources (BSGR), the mining arm of Steinmetz’s business
empire, has been at odds with Guinea for months over the right
to mine half of Simandou, one of the world’s largest iron ore
deposits, as the government reviews contacts.

LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) – A recovering U.S. auto market
cushioned catalyst maker Johnson Matthey’s drop in
annual profit, sending its shares to an all-time high as it
forecast steady progress due to tougher rules on vehicle
emissions.

Johnson Matthey, the world’s largest maker of catalysts that
control vehicle emissions, was badly hit by the impact of weaker
metals prices on its division that refines, markets and
distributes platinum – used in catalytic converters – and other
precious metals.

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) – Shareholders in Kazakh miner ENRC
staged a muted rebellion on Wednesday, as they sought
to rein in the board’s powers to sell and buy stock even as they
overwhelmingly voted in favour of pay and backed all directors.

After months of damaging boardroom rows, corruption probes
and regulatory inquiries, ENRC’s board gave little detail at the
company’s annual shareholder meeting, remaining silent on both
the progress of prosecutors’ graft investigations or a potential
buyout offer from its founders.

LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) – West African neighbours Guinea,
Sierra Leone and Liberia should work together to resolve a dire
lack of rail, port and power infrastructure that has held back
the region’s mining ambitions, a senior Liberian government
official said.

Sam Russ, deputy minister of operations at the ministry of
mines in Liberia, said the region should collaborate on export
links to make the most of major iron ore deposits, pointing to
potentially lucrative cooperation with Guinea to the north.