Canada's biggest iron ore producer, Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC), has said it will invest $435 million in the first of a three-stage expansion of capacity at its Labrador City mines and concentrator.  IOC, which is 58.7 percent owned by the mining and metals giant Rio Tinto, is reinstating a program suspended in 2008 when steel production was slashed during the global economic crisis.

A UK exploration company currently drilling off the Falkland Islands has said it has discovered oil.

Toronto-based Kinross Gold has purchased a $600 million stake in Vancouver-based Red Back Mining, it has been announced.  The C$600 million ($583 million) deal will give Kinross 9.4 percent of Red Back, which runs two mines in West Africa, including the highly regarded Tasiast deposit in Mauritania.  The stake will give Kinross a foothold in a gold mining area with high growth potential, with some analysts suggesting that the move could indicate an imminent takeover.  Red Back owns 90 percent of the Chirano gold mine in Ghana, and 100 percent of the Tasiast gold mine.

Peugeot Citroen, FranceÔÇÖs largest carmaker, and ChinaÔÇÖs Changan Automotive Group Co. have signed an agreement to set up a joint venture in China, it has been announced.

Swiss engineering group ABB has agreed to buy Atlanta-based Ventyx for more than $1 billion, it has been announced.  The move will boost ABBÔÇÖs position in the management of energy networks, as well as strengthening its position in North America. Zurich-based ABB, which sells power equipment to utilities and oil & gas companies, is buying Ventyx from San Francisco-based private equity company Vista Equity Partners. Ventyx provides software to utilities and grid operators, enabling them to better match electricity generation with consumption.

Swiss engineering group ABB has agreed to buy Atlanta, US-based Ventyx for more than $1 billion, it has been announced.

Goldcorp Inc., the worldÔÇÖs second-largest producer of gold by market value, plans to sell its Guatemalan silver mine for $505 million to CanadaÔÇÖs Tahoe Resources Inc.

Norsk Hydro, Europe's third-largest steel producer, has agreed to buy key mining assets from Brazil's Vale in a deal worth $4.9 billion (approximately Ôé¼3.7 billion).

The Prestige Group, South Africa’s largest specialist cleaning company, has its sights set on becoming a complete one-stop-shop for facilities management. CEO Johan Du Toit explains to Gay Sutton how good people management is a key element of the company’s success.

Adapting its business strategy to suit the local market is a skill that JHI Property has already perfected—and one that will prove invaluable as it eyes further expansion on the African continent. Andrew Pelis talks to project manager Jaco Nel to find out more.

One might expect recent economic conditions to have created the greatest concern for Africa’s property management market; but it is the reliability of contractors that remains the pre-eminent factor for Johannesburg-based JHI Property.