TORONTO, March 4 (Reuters) – A growing sense of caution
gripping the mining industry is having a big impact on
exploration service providers such as Major Drilling Group
International Inc, which posted a quarterly loss on
Monday and offered little hope of an early turnaround.

The mining sector’s new emphasis on austerity in the face of
stagnant metal prices has led to a sharp pullback in exploration
spending. Juniors and more established miners alike have delayed
or canceled exploration programs, clouding the outlook for Major
and its rivals for years.

TORONTO, March 3 (Reuters) – Zenyatta Ventures Ltd,
the top performing mining issuer on TSX Venture Exchange in
2012, is banking on a rare type of natural graphite that it says
can compete on a quality level with synthetic graphite, while
costing much cheaper to produce.

The Thunder Bay, Ontario-based company is in the very early
stages of developing its Albany project in northern Ontario, a
vein-type graphite deposit. Vein graphite, also known as lump
graphite, is currently only produced in Sri Lanka.