A French research institute, Ifremer, has discovered substantial

deposits of cobalt off the islands of Tuamotu near Tahiti, says the French government.

Production was halted Oct 22 at Boliden AB’s Aitik copper mine near Gallivar in northern Sweden when 400 of the mine’s 440 workers walked off the job to protest against the company’s plans to cut back the workforce by 150. The mine produces about 40 tonnes of silver and 1.5 tonnes of gold as well as 40,000 tonnes of copper annually.

U.S. mine production of gold in the first half of 1986 was up 27.3% from the same period a year earlier, according to figures released by the U.S. Interior Department’s bureau of mines. Mine production of gold rose to 239,769 oz in June from a revised 227,237 oz in May and from 158,213 in June, 1985, while production in the January-June period totalled 1,336,245 oz compared to 1,049,773 for the same period in 1985.

U.S. mine production of silver in the first half of 1986 fell 23.7% compared to the same period a year earlier, according to figures released by the U.S. Interior Department’s bureau of mines. Silver production in the January-June period totalled 17,218,201 compared to 22,565,829 for the same period in 1985.