USA and Canada

The annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) has concluded this week in Toronto, and the consensus of opinion seems to be that 2011 is going to be a sensational year for the mining industry.

The PDAC convention is the biggest event of its kind in the mining calendar, and attracted record crowds this year—no surprise considering that the price of gold, silver, coal and almost every other mined commodity you can think of is at an all time high.

The new Miami Rental Car Center (RCC) has become a little safer now that the Miami-Dade Fire Department has taken delivery of a Rosenbauer Airwolf Quick Response Vehicle (QRV), designed to fight fires in structures with parking ramps and garages which traditional fire trucks cannot access because of their size and weight.

Rosenbauer is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fire fighting vehicles; the high-tech QRV, mounted on a Ford F450 crew cab, is able to maneuver inside tight areas of the RCC.

A new study from business services firm PwC finds that private companies in the United States are making talent management a top priority after identifying a shortage of skills in their workforce.

The largest skill gaps identified were in middle management (53 percent) and skilled labor (48 percent).

"Over the past two years, CEOs were focused on cost containment, making deep workforce cuts in anticipation of a protracted recession," says Ken Esch, a partner in PwC's Private Company Services practice.

Boeing has announced sale agreements with two Asian airlines for a combined total of 43 new aircraft, highlighting the significance of the region for aircraft manufacturers.

Hong Kong Airlines is to buy 38 Boeing aircraft, six 777 Freighters, 30 787-9s and two 787-8 VIP airplanes.

At the same time Air China signed an agreement for the purchase of five 747-8 Intercontinental jetliners. Air China is the first Chinese carrier to contract the passenger version of the new, fuel-efficient 747-8.

US food giant HJ Heinz is to acquire its first major business in Brazil, the world’s fifth most populous nation.

Heinz has agreed to buy an 80 percent stake in Coniexpress SA Industrias Alimenticias, which produces the Quero brand of tomato-based sauces, tomato paste, ketchup, condiments and vegetables.

Editors at Cars.com, a leading US on-line resource for buying and selling a car, are advising consumers not to let the price of gas panic them into buying hybrid or electric cars.

"When gasoline goes north of $4.00 a gallon, it changes the types of cars people shop for," said David Thomas, Cars.com senior editor. "We saw this in 2008 where the bottom fell out of the SUV market, and people gravitated toward smaller, and often hybrid, vehicles.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame announced its 2011 inductees today, recognizing the inventors of the sensor that enables cameras in cell phones, and the Universal Product Code (UPC) which we all know now as the bar code on our shopping items.

N. Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver will be recognized for their contribution to the invention of the UPC, the world’s most pervasive inventory tracking tool that has transformed the way consumers shop, and how businesses and retailers manage inventory.

Intermodal transportation is becoming increasing popular in the United States, with the price of road fuel likely to stay high for some time, and new government road safety regulations putting pressure on truck carriers.

Intermodal transportation integrates rail and truck services to move product to market more efficiently, using the rail network to carry cargo that would otherwise move via tractor trailer.

Deepwater drilling has recommenced in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since the drilling moratorium was imposed in June after the BP oil disaster.

Although the moratorium was officially lifted last October, Noble Energy is the first to receive a permit to resume drilling at its Santiago prospect in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico.