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Thursday, October 29, 2009.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

South Africa-focused coal-miner Coal of Africa Limited will expand its Makhado coking-coal project area, in Limpopo province, after having entered into an exchange of prospecting rights agreement with joint-venture companies held by Rio Tinto and the Kwezi Group.

The joint venture companies Chapudi Coal and Kwezi Mining and Exploration, would give CoAL ownership over certain prospecting rights and interests over certain farms contiguous to the Makhado project, in exchange for other prospecting rights and farms.

CoAL's subsidiary, Regulus Investment, would pay Chapudi Coal a premium of 12,5-million-rand as part of the farm-swap agreement.

On Wednesday, Israel rejected accusations by a UN panel of experts that the Middle East nation may be involved in the illegal export and sale of so-called "blood diamonds" from the Ivory Coast.

Israel's Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai said he was shocked by what he called "false accusations" in the experts report to the UN Security Council on international compliance with UN sanctions imposed on the Ivory Coast.

Along with Israel, the panel also named the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Guinea and Liberia as some of the countries that needed to step up efforts to enforce a four-year-old UN embargo on buying rough diamonds mined in the Ivory Coast.

The Security Council is expected to renew for another year embargoes on arms and rough diamond sales and other sanctions on the Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, which is still recovering from a civil war.

Also making headlines:

Global miner Rio Tinto is looking to mend relations with Chinese metals firm Chinalco by making a joint investment in Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine project.
Iron-ore miner Kumba Iron Ore manages to elbow steelmaker ArcelorMittal South Africa out of its claim to be part of the 8,5-million-rand Sishen South project.
African Copper appoints a Zambian professor to its board.
And, TSX-listed Tiomin is seeking clarification from China's Jinchan Group, after receiving a notice of intent to terminate an agreement in which the Chinese firm was to buy 70% of Tiomin's Kwale mineral sands project, in Kenya.

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