Mining companies pursue merger

Two North Idaho mining companies will merge if an agreement announced Friday is approved by shareholders.

Shoshone Silver Mining Co. would exchange one share for two Kimberly Gold Mines Inc. shares. The Wallace company has also advanced Kimberly $200,000, secured by a promissory note, to pay off that company’s debt.

Kimberly owns the Rescue Gold Mine and the Kimberly Gold Mine, both proven gold producers in Idaho County. Shoshone owns mining properties in Idaho, Mexico and elsewhere.

In its announcement of the transaction, Shoshone said Kimberly’s technical team will also be a significant asset to the combined companies.

“This acquisition represents another part of Shoshone Silver’s strategic plans to focus on development activities and to diversify our asset base in past producing historic mining districts while maintaining a tight control over overhead cost and corporate debt,” said President Lex Smith.

NEW YORK

Salaries likely to see modest gain

U.S. workers can expect skimpy raises in their base salaries next year, but top performers may still fatten their paychecks with merit compensation.

A study released today by Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm, found base pay will rise by 3.8 percent in 2009, marking the seventh consecutive year of flat growth.

One-time performance-based pay, however, is expected to grow by 10.6 percent. That’s down slightly from 10.8 percent this year and 11.8 percent in 2007.

MEXICO CITY

Money sent back to Mexico drops

The amount of money Mexicans sent home suffered its sharpest drop on record in July as the U.S. economy slowed and the dollar fell, Mexico reported Monday.

Remittances – Mexico’s second-largest legal source of foreign income after oil – dropped by 6.9 percent in July compared to the year before.

“This is the sharpest drop we have seen,” said Jesus Cervantes, director of economic measurement for Mexico’s central bank. The worst previous year-over-year monthly decline was 6.3 percent in January.

Cervantes said that over 20 percent of Mexican migrants work in construction in the United States, a sector hit particularly hard by the U.S. mortgage crisis.

Staff and wire reports