Avion Resources has revealed that drilling programmes at two gold projects in Mali have been completed.

A combined total of 15,341 metres was drilled by the firm at the Segala and Tabakoto locations in the West African nation.

Exploration at the Segala deposit discovered a new zone of gold mineralisation along a north-westerly trend and one hole returned a grade of 2.72 g/t over 73.5 metres.

"Positive" results were also obtained at the Tabakoto area, situated around 5km away from the Segala project.

Significant figures included 7.41 g/t gold over 73.5 metres, 3.23 g/t gold over 3.4 metres and 5.24 g/t gold over 1.5 metres.

"Avion believes that the gold mineralization at Segala displays good continuity," remarked spokesman Don Dudek.

He added that results from the second project provide "good potential" for development.

Meanwhile, mining firms from Melbourne have become key organisations in the emerging gold industry in Senegal, according to Australian newspaper the Age.

Bear Lake Gold is planning to add an extra drill to aid the exploration programme being conducted at Larder Lake.

President and chief executive officer Francois Viens said that the addition will speed up work at the site, where targets deeper than 1km below the surface are being explored.

"The current drilling program on the Bear Lake gold zone is progressing well and returning some outstanding gold intercepts," he remarked.

Past work has determined that gold values increase at the project below the depth of 400 metres. Gold mineralisation has also been established below 750 metres, where one hole encountered 19.4 g/t gold over 9.5 metres.

Three drill rigs are currently active on site and the fourth will be put into operation in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Exmin Resources and Canarc Resource have agreed on a joint venture on the Batopilas project in Mexico.

Sierra Gold has announced that it has delivered two "state-of-the-art" gold processing plants to west Africa.

The technology used by the equipment, which has been sent to Sierra Leone, allows for a more environmentally-friendly process with no chemicals and less water use.

It will also speed up production by over ten times and provide up to a 98 per cent recovery rate.

Furthermore, the units are portable and can easily be moved from location to location, which will be beneficial when new gold discoveries are found.

Chief executive Doug Evans commented: "The company is looking forward to moving into the next stage of development … this is a giant step forward from our present local methods of processing gold."

The company has also launched a brand-new website designed to keep shareholders informed of developments within the firm.

Meanwhile, several countries on the continent are planning to implement a harmonised mining code that will help to ensure all nations benefit from their resources, according to AllAfrica.com.

High River Gold Mines has announced that it has reached the commercial production stage at its Berezitovy mine in Russia.

During September mill throughput totalled 80,487 tonnes, reaching an average capacity utilisation of 65 per cent, exceeding the target that had been set by the company.

The firm revealed that previously damaged equipment had "performed much better than expected" and that new apparatus is on site ready to be installed if required.

Gold production at the mine for this year is expected to amount to approximately 45,000 ounces.

In addition, the Taparko-Bouroum gold mine is expected to be restarted in early November after the delivery of a new custom-made gearbox.

Meanwhile, Highland Gold recently revealed that the Novoshirokinskoye site is on track to become the company’s second producing mine of 2008.

Spokesman Duncan Baxter said: "We look forward to seeing further progress being made during the rest of the year."

Nanotechnology scientists in New York are aiming to improve alternative energy applications, it has been reported.

Researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Centre for Functional Nanomaterials – located in Long Island – have focused their efforts on developing cleaner energy technology, according to New York University’s ScienceLine blog.

A "major research effort" is currently underway to design nanomaterial catalysts that create energy-efficient methods of producing power.

One project is aiming to generate clean-burning hydrogen fuel by producing a catalyst that splits water into its two components – hydrogen and oxygen.

It is essential that work at the site is undertaken in a clean room as dust will look like a "giant boulder" compared to the nanoparticles that the scientists work with.

Gold nanoparticles are particularly useful as a catalyst, as highlighted by recent work conducted by a team from Lehigh University, Cardiff University and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.