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Venture capital is one of the pulses of the industry, and so a headline that VC investments are dropping by double digits is enough to catch the eye of anyone involved in the high tech ecosphere. But when you look at more data, things don't look bleak. On one hand, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, investment is down:\n\nIn the second quarter of 2008, quarterly venture capital investment in U.S. companies slipped below the $7 billion mark for the first time in 18 months. According to the Quarterly U.S. Venture Capital Report released today by Dow Jones VentureSource (http://www.venturecapital.dowjones.com), investment fell 12% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year with $6.64 billion put into 602 deals, the lowest quarterly deal count since 2005. The $7.58 billion invested in second quarter of 2007 was the second-highest quarterly totals recorded since the end of the dot-com boom in 2001.\n\nYet it's not all bad news because there was " steady deal activity and investment in the first half of the year," according to Dow Jones VentureSource director of global research Jessica Canning.\n\n"The movement of venture dollars from the traditional areas of information technology and health care toward burgeoning sectors like renewable energy, power management, and agriculture - or 'clean technology' areas - proves that venture capitalists are making good on their promise to tap opportunities in the massive energy market," said Ms. Canning.

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN) Tuesday said it expects copper treatment and refining charges to continue falling.

Zambia's copper output this year, which is already under threat from intermittent power outages, will be hit by the delay to the start of Lumwana mine's copper output this month, an industry official told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- A pre-feasibility study at the Pebble copper project in Alaska is underway, with assessment of all options expected during 2009, the project's joint venture partner Anglo American PLC (AAUK) said Thursday.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index (ST:SXXP: news, chart, profile) ended 0.9% lower to 277.59, with markets missing an upturn in the U.S. when crude-oil prices fell sharply. The metals sector was in full retreat as platinum futures tumbled for a second session amid worries about global auto sales, sparked by the $15.5 billion loss from General Motors, BMW's profit warning and weak July sales in the U.S. Copper futures also fell sharply, and copper miners had a difficult session. Kazakhmys (UK:KAZ: news, chart, profile) shares fell 9.5%, Xstrata (UK:XTA: news, chart, profile) shares fell 5.9% and Boliden (SE:BOL: news, chart, profile) lost 5.4%.

MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) has boosted the size of the copper and uranium resource at its giant Olympic Dam mine in South Australia state, which is slated for a multibillion dollar expansion.

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Chinese demand for commodities, and copper in particular, won't disappear but will moderate in the near term, Bret Clayton, chief executive of copper at Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) said Wednesday.

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) expects historically high levels of copper supply disruptions to keep the market tight in the coming years, Chief Executive for copper Bret Clayton said Thursday.

SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) said Tuesday it expects stainless steel demand to be robust over the long-term, underpinned by China's ongoing urbanization and industrialization, the miner said in a presentation to analysts on a site tour at its nickel operations in Western Australia.

SANTIAGO -(Dow Jones)- Copper output at Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile, or Codelco, the world's largest copper mining company, rose in the first quarter to 371,000 metric tons from 347,000 tons a year earlier, Codelco Chief Executive Jose Pablo Arellano said Thursday.

Amid the global economic crisis, one sector that has not contracted but has actually expanded is the utilities infrastructure in the Middle East. The government of Dubai announced in January that it will spend AED 37.7 billion (US$10.3 billion) as part of its 2009 budget. A considerable part will be spent on infrastructure projects and power networks will be a significant portion of this plan. According to data provided by Dow Wire and Cable, the regional demand for medium and high voltage cables amounts to 270,000 km and this is expected to rise in the next 2-3 years. While there is still growing demand for medium and high voltage cables, there is currently shrinking demand for smaller products such as building wire.

SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- Copper mine supply could struggle to match forecast demand growth in the period to 2013, Macquarie Bank said in a report dated Tuesday. The bank said copper demand was expected to be 4 million metric tons higher in 2013 than 2009, implying that a significant number of new mine projects will need to come onstream to balance the market.

MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) said Tuesday it has boosted the total ore reserves at its Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia state, although ore grades have fallen slightly.

China's Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group Inc., which is 25%-owned by three foreign companies including Standard Chartered PLC ( STAN.LN), plans to raise CNY1.5 billion ($214.3 million) through a Shanghai listing, a company executive said Tuesday.