CIC, Mongolia Miner Reach Deal

By Yiannis Mostrous: Mongolia is a small country rich in natural resources. When it comes to coal, the country is ranked fairly high among coal producers, with estimated coal deposits of up to 152 billion tonnes. Coking coal accounts for about 35 percent of the country's coal deposits. Source: Various sources, including Global Investment Strategist

ByMarshall Hargrave:Over the past five years, the global mining sector has undergone an intense period of consolidation. A few companies like BHP (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) made sizable acquisitions at the height of the commodity boom.

A prefabricated six-story hotel, once destined to house BHP Billiton Ltd. workers, is sitting in 126 boxes stranded on the Melbourne city docks. The stalled project is a sign of the deepening global slowdown in mining. The contents were to have been assembled 1,990 miles away at Port Hedland, where BHP planned to use the hotel as temporary housing for its estimated US$22 billion harbor expansion to export more iron ore. That was before the world’s biggest mining company scrapped its plan, and the hotel developer went bust.

China Investment Corp., the country's sovereign wealth fund, is in advanced discussions to invest around $300 million in Mongolia-focused miner Hong Kong Lung Ming Investment.

China Investment Corp., the country's sovereign wealth fund, is in advanced discussions to invest around $300 million in Mongolia-focused miner Hong Kong Lung Ming Investment.

By Leo Liu: A new frontier country driven by resource-based economy

Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata on Tuesday announced plans for a friendly takeover of iron ore miner Sphere Minerals, which is active in Mauritania, in a deal worth 428 million dollars (378 million US).Xstrata said its subsidiary Sidero would buy all shares in Sphere at 2.50 dollars per share -- prompting them to jump 89 cents, or 57.4 percent, to 2.44 dollars after a trading halt.Xstrata said the target, a mining and exploration company with three large iron ore projects in Mauritania, would complement Xstrata Coal's bulk mining and project development capabilities.