Gabonese State-owned mining company Société Equatoriale des Mines (SEM) and Dubai-based group Navodaya Trading DMCC (NTDMCC) have announced a joint-venture (JV) partnership to explore and develop the manganese deposit in Okondja, in eastern Gabon.

Low capacity utilization of two subsidiaries of State-owned IDCOL (Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha Limited) has resulted in production loss of `134 crore during 2008-2013.

Production from the first furnace at the Lion ferrochrome complex Phase 2 (Lion II) expansion project, in Limpopo, South Africa, which is owned by the Glencore-Merafe chrome joint venture (JV), started on April 6, 2014.

Tata Steel Ltd’s chromium mine in Odisha must remain shut till 10 July when a case filed by its competitor for redistribution of the mine comes up for its next hearing, according to an Odisha high court order reviewed by Mint.

TSX-V-listed project developer Avanti Mining said it had started construction of its C$812-million Kitsault molybdenum mine, a significant past-producing mine, located in northern British Columbia.

An Australia-based environmental activist faces the possibility of a two-year prison sentence, in Malaysia, after being arrested while protesting against the world’s largest rare earth refinery.

It is reported that Shenzhen GEM High-Tech Co. ,ltd signed a framework agreement June 26th, 2014 to acquire 60% stake in Yangzhou Ningda Noble Metal Co. at tentative price of 312 million yuan ($ 50.61 million).

Premier African Metals (LON:PREM) will now focus on its RHS tungsten project in Zimbabwe, while the viability of a pilot plant at its Zulu pegmatite deposit is also under study.