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Friday, May 8, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Darren Parker.

Making headlines today:

On Friday, Zambia selected Chinese firm NFC Africa as the new investor to run the closed Luanshya Copper Mines. Luanshya is due to restart production at the end of May.

Zambia's President Rupiah Banda announced the sale of the 85% shares to China Nonferrous Metals Mining.

The LCM shut down the Baluba copper mine and abandoned the development of the sixty-thousand ton a year Mulyashi project last December, saying it had been making losses because of low global metals prices and other effects of the global economic crisis.

On Friday, Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland promised that the company's poorly-performing Beatrix gold mine, in the Free State, would be back over the hundred-thousand ounce a quarter mark in the future. Beatrix's production slumped 25% in the March quarter.

Holland pointed out that Beatrix represented a very substantial six-million-ounce orebody and had been well capitalised.

Gold production at Beatrix decreased in the March quarter. This is the only one of Gold Fields' nine mines to report lower March-quarter production.

Also making headlines:
ASX-listed Bonaparte Diamond Mines advances the viability of its marine phosphate project.
Harmony Gold reports a 5% increase in headline earnings.
US platinum-group metals miner Stillwater reaps the benefits of its restructuring plan.
And, iron ore company Cape Lambert bids for ASX-listed CopperCo's assets.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit miningweekly.com.