It was a momentous week for Amur Mining (LON:AMC) which, after years of waiting was awarded a mining licence for its Kun-Manie project in the Far East of Russia.
Robin Young, chief executive, was delighted with the terms and conditions of the twenty year permit, which he said gave considerable leeway to advance the project.
House broker SP Angel added Amur has done what many had thought impossible for a small western company, namely to work through the Russian licensing system to gain a production licence on a project which is considered to be of national strategic significance.
Elsewhere in the mining sector, there was good news to be had for a number of companies.
Mongolia-focused Kincora Copper (CVE:KCC) received a boost on Tuesday - as the government reached agreement with mining giant Rio Tinto(LON:RIO) over expansion at the huge, world class Oyu Tolgoi project.
The administration inked the underground mine development and financing plan with Turquoise Hill Resources and Rio Tinto, meaning work on the US$5bn delayed underground expansion can now begin after a long-running dispute.
In other copper mining news, Kazakhstan-focused Central Asia Metals(LON:CAML) has completed its latest expansion phase on time and within budget.
The US$13.4mln programme to extend its solvent extraction electro-winning facility will see output jump to 15,000 tonnes of copper a year from over 11,000 tonnes last year.
Elswewhere, copper miner Rambler Mining (LON:RMM) returned to profit and generated cash in its latest quarter despite weather affecting the amount of ore it processed.
The Newfoundland miner produced 3,989 tonnes of concentrate in the three months, 14% lower than the previous quarter. Metal produced comprised 1,043t of copper, 1,106 oz of gold and 8,305 oz of silver.
Sphinx Resources (CVE:SFX) said it intercepted high grade mineralisation as part of drilling at the Preissac nickel-copper-platinum project.
Four holes were completed at the site in Quebec for 917 metres, building on historical data, magnetic surveys and groundwork.
In precious metal news, Stratex International‘s (LON:STI) associate Goldstone (LON:GRL) has identified two potentially new gold zones at Homase/Akrokerri in Ghana.
Auger samples from gold targets along-strike and close to the existing 602,000 deposit at Homase/Akrokerri identified the mineralisation.
To base metals - Poseidon Nickel (ASX:POS) has signed an agreement to sell a contractual right to mine the Silver Swan underground mine on its Black Swan tenements in Western Australia to Caeneus Minerals(ASX:CAD) for $1.5 million.
Silver Swan is not in the company’s current development plans due to its depth and complexity. The sale will reduce project overhead costs by up to $300,000 per month and could provide future scrip income.
From selling to buying and Bushveld Minerals (LON:BMN) has an made an offer to mop up the outstanding shares in Madagascar coal group Lemur Resources.
The vanadium explorer owns 63.6% of Lemur already and said it had received indications that 10% of its shareholders would accept the offer.
Meanwhile, Ormonde Mining (LON:ORM) shareholders have given their seal of approval to Oaktree Capital’s proposed project financing for the Barruecopardo tungsten project in Salamanca, Spain.
As a result Oaktree will now provide around US$100mln to finance the Barruecopardo development, and in return it will receive a 70% stake in the mine.
Finally, St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) is gearing up to shortly start a closely-watched drilling program for massive nickel sulphides at its under-explored East Laverton project in Western Australia.
The company has now added additional targets to the campaign, which will test at least seven high quality targets that include strong EM conductors from the last week of May.