Aquila Resources and Sumitomo will form a joint venture to explore Aquila’s significant portfolio of coal exploration permits in Queensland. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between subsidiaries of both companies, Argos and Sumisho Coal Australia, does not include the Washpool hard coking and Talwood coal projects.
Condolences on the recent passing of Indonesia’s Vice Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, Wijajono Partowidagdo, while climbing Mt Tamboora on Sumbawa Island on Saturday afternoon as part of a mine site visit. He was keynote presenter at the OZMINE 2012 event held in Jakarta last week. 
Reed Mining Events will stage its flagship Asia-Pacific International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) again in Sydney during August next year. The company says overwhelming industry demand has led to the decision to return the exhibition two years ahead of its scheduled place on the global mining event calendar in 2015.
The Mongolian Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy and the Mineral Resources Authority is gearing up for its international ‘Mining Mongolia 90’ conference next month in Ulaanbaatar. The event will be held on May 9 and 10 in the Central Cultural Palace of the Mongolian Trade Union Building.