TORONTO/STOCKHOLM, April 29 (Reuters) – Lundin Mining
(LUN.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares surged on Friday after a newspaper reported it
it was in talks to be acquired by a Chinese-led consortium,
although the Canadian copper miner said it was still exploring
sale options.

Stock in Lundin, initially halted at the market open, was
up more than 10 percent at mid-morning in Toronto to C$9.19
after the Globe and Mail newspaper reported a consortium headed
by China’s Jinchuan Group Ltd, and including sovereign wealth
fund China Investment Corp, was preparing a takeover bid.

TORONTO (Reuters) – A decision by Barrick Gold (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to diversify into copper with its C$7.3 billion ($7.7 billion) bid for Equinox Minerals (EQN.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may highlight its narrow range of ways to grow.

The world’s largest gold producer has only two obvious choices for growth: change its production strategy, as it did with the Equinox bid, or look for costly mega-deals with intermediate and senior gold producers.

BRAMPTON, Ontario, April 26 (Reuters) – The Toronto region
is where Canada’s 2011 federal election will probably be
decided as the Conservatives hunt for the extra seats they need
to turn their minority government into a safe majority one.

In the city of Toronto, which has a reputation for being a
fortress for the opposition Liberals, the Conservatives have
the aging populations of affluent electoral districts in their
sights, with a special nod to Jewish voters who like the
government’s pro-Israel stance.

TORONTO (Reuters) – An Ontario committee on Tuesday proposed tough terms that could force changes to the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE.L: Quote, Profile, Research) $3 billion (1.8 billion pound) bid for TMX Group (X.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), and refused to say if it backed the deal.

The all-party legislative report included nine recommendations — centring on regulation, structure, jobs, decision-making and the mining sector — and a request that the number of directors resident in Canada equal the number resident outside.

TORONTO, April 19 (Reuters) – A committee of Ontario
legislators made nine recommendations on Tuesday on the London
Stock Exchange’s (LSE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) C$3 billion takeover bid for TMX
Group (X.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, but took no
position on whether the deal should go ahead.

The recommendations — centering on regulation, structure,
jobs, decision-making and the mining sector — include a
request that the number of directors resident in Canada equal
the number resident outside Canada, and that regulators from
Ontario and other provinces oversee any fundamental changes to
the new group’s businesses.

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – The mining industry could face a serious shortage of tires by the end of this year and that could lead to delays at a time when demand for mining equipment is booming, the head of Caterpillar’s (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) global mining division said on Thursday.

The shortage could be similar to the mid-2000s, when the heavy equipment maker was caught off-guard as demand doubled for the giant tires used in mining trucks, increasing costs for miners and delaying production.

SANTIAGO, April 5 (Reuters) – HudBay Minerals (HBM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will
consider spinning off its gold assets into a separate company
once it completes a drilling program at the Lalor deposit in
central Canada, the company’s chief executive said on Tuesday.

Hot off the heels of its successful takeover of Norsemont
Mining, the company is also looking to buy more projects in
Peru, Chief Executive David Garofalo told Reuters on the
sidelines of the CRU copper conference in Santiago.