Proactiveinvestors United Kingdom (In Brief) RSS feed

DSG International says cost savings plans on track

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:42:00 +0000

Major European consumer-electronics retailer DSG International (LSE: DSGI) said it remains on track to deliver cost savings of £50m in the current financial year to 1 May 2010 and a further £150m over the following 3 years, as it updated investors on progress of its ‘Renewal & Transformation Plan’.

Over the past twelve months, DSG has conducted a review of its store portfolio, and has subsequently exited 152 stores exited across Europe and it is currently accelerating its roll-out of new format ‘Megastores’ and ‘2-in-1’ stores.

"The Renewal & Transformation plan is making significant changes to the group and we have started to see the benefits of this work. The new store formats are popular with customers, particularly the Megastores and the combined 2-in-1 stores”, DSG chief executive John Browett said. The company has identified 70 Megastore locations in the UK, 33 of which will be open ready for Christmas 2010, and the opening of 60 2-in-1 stores are also planned this year.

The company has also rolled out its e-merchant platform in 2009, to Dixons.co.uk, PC World.co.uk and Currys.co.uk. The new platform, operated by PIXmania, provides improved functionality, easier navigation for customers, better product information and accessory attachment, DSG said. The company noted that it currently generates approximately £1.4bn of annual sales through the internet across Europe.

Imagination Technology on track to hit targets in 2010 and 2011 as markets recover

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:13:00 +0000

Imagination Technologies Group (LSE: IMG), a maker of processors for mobile devices and consumer electronics, said it was on track to hit its performance targets, expecting to ship 120 million units this year and meet the guidance of 200 million shipments in the next financial year.

Imagination Tech said interest in its technologies across many partners and markets has been on the rise as the group has concluded a number of several licensing agreements and is currently progressing more “sizeable agreements” with both existing and new partners. The business performance was helped by a recovery in the semiconductor design activities over the recent months, which boosted small and medium sized companies after only top tier businesses were able to maintain R&D (research and development) spending.

Business engagements have stepped up in the current year, leading to a build-up of what the group called “healthy and active pipeline of prospects” and a number of licensing agreements that are in advanced negotiation and contractual stage.

“However, as always, it remains difficult to predict the precise timing of deal closure, particularly as the decision making process of some companies is still influenced by the economic environment, albeit to a lesser extent than last year,” Imagination Tech said in the statement.

The ramp-up of volumes of existing and new end-user products has grown and is expected to improve further due to increased wins in the group’s established markets such as mobile phone, PMP, TV/STB, PND/navigation, and the growing and developing markets for netbooks, tablets, gaming devices and in-car electronics dashboards.

This is expected to help Imagination Tech hit its target of 200 million product shipments in the 2010/11 financial year and achieve 120 million shipments in the current year.

The group added that its PURE business continued making significant progress with revenues in the run-up to and during Christmas.

Lloyds sees profitable 2010, notes better-than-expected bad debt trends

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:52:00 +0000

Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) said its trading performance has been strong in the first 10 weeks of 2010, and it believes it will be profitable on a combined businesses basis in 2010. Lloyds said it is pleased with its performance against each area of recent guidance, the bank's net interest margin is trending in line with recent guidance which has supported a good level of income growth.

The company noted an improving situation in terms of it impairment provisions , or bad-debt write downs, saying impairments are trending at lower levels than anticipated. The company now expects to deliver a better impairment performance in 2010 than previously stated, for both the retail and corporate businesses.

Costs have remained well controlled and are lower than the equivalent period in 2009, Lloyds said.

Lloyds’ current economic and regulatory assumptions remain unchanged since the 2009 preliminary results, and it intends to publish its interim management Statement on 27 April 2010.

Golden Gate Petroleum to commence drilling at Bowtie West prospect in April

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:22:00 +0000

Golden Gate Petroleum (ASX: GGP) has announced that the Bowtie West prospect in Texas is to commence drilling operations in early April with the spudding of the Sugar Valley # 1 well.

The Sugar Valley # 1 well will be drilled to an approximate depth of 13,000 feet to test the Vicksburg sandstone reservoir known as the Tex-2 formation. Yarras Texas LLC, GGP’s wholly own subsidiary, is paying 20% of the drilling costs to earn an 18% in the prospect.

The Bowtie prospect is a moderately risked exploration prospect with prospective reserves estimated at over 50 billion cubic feet of gas and around 1.7 million barrels of oil.

Analogue producing wells exist nearby with initial production rates greater than 8 million cubic feet of gas per day and over 500 barrels of condensate per day and have cumulative production of more than 10 billion cubic feet of gas.

The company said the reservoir sands at Bowtie West are visible on seismic with a strong amplitude anomaly that extends widely over the prospect and could represent a much larger prospective reserve than estimated.

The strong amplitude anomaly equals thick reservoir sand which has been calibrated in nearby prolific Vicksburg producers.

Pluton Resources updates assay results at Irvine Island Iron Ore Project, WA

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:22:00 +0000

Pluton Resources (ASX: PLV) has received assay results for the first 2 holes of Phase II drilling on Hardstaff Peninsula, Irvine Island, Western Australia (E04/1172).

A second phase of drilling on Irvine Island is targeting an extension to an Inferred Resource of 54Mt at 49% iron (Fe) identified from drilling in 2008.

Phase II drilling is targeting a total of >100Mt at Hardstaff Peninsula of mixed grade Direct Shipping Ore and feed ore for beneficiation, and up to a further 30Mt of predominantly Direct Shipping Ore from the Isthmus region.

Phase II drilling is primarily targeting iron mineralisation contained within a rock unit called the Yampi Member. This is the same unit that is mined on the adjacent Cockatoo and Koolan Islands.

Results for the Yampi Member (16m @ 49.05% iron, 18m @ 50.22% iron) are consistent with targeted extensions of the current Inferred Resource of 54Mt @ 49% iron (Fe), including 25Mt @ 54% iron (Fe).

Test work by the CSIRO has shown that lower grade feed ores from the Yampi Member ranging in grade between 28.6% iron and 46.8% iron (Fe) are well suited to concentration (beneficiation) using conventional methods.

These ores have been shown to produce concentrates of >66% iron (Fe) at high mass and iron recoveries.

Test work has shown that additional concentrate can be produced from rocks overlying the Yampi Member.

These rocks are referred to as the Wonganin Sandstones. The Wonganin Sandstones were originally considered as waste, but feed materials grading between 25.4% iron and 32.2% iron have yielded iron concentrates of >66% iron (Fe). They are now considered as an additional resource target to the Yampi Member.

Results from the Wonganin Sandstones are slightly better than expected, with selected intersections of significantly higher grade than those tested by the CSIRO.

Higher feed grades can ultimately result in higher mass recoveries and lowered costs during iron concentration.

Levels of impurities other than silica remain universally low. Drilling on Irvine Island is continuing. Samples have been submitted from Holes ID12A and ID12B.

The company said these holes extend to the western edges of Hardstaff Peninsula and outside the current Inferred Resource area of 54Mt at 49% Fe. Visual interpretations of these holes are positive and results are pending.

Royal Resources drilling intersects uranium at Uravan Belt in Colorado

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:21:00 +0000

Royal Resources (ASX: ROY) has completed the initial drill testing of the Bush Canyon prospectin the Uravan Mineral Belt in Colorado, USA.

The first phase of drilling, comprising four holes for 1,140 feet (347m) returned 1.5 feet (0.45m) @ 0.118% (1180 ppm) eU3O81 from 337.8 feet (103m) in the last hole.

Immediate follow-up with the redrilling of the first three holes to greater depths and drilling of an eighth hole returned 1.4 feet (0.42m) @ 0.020% (200 ppm) eU3O8 from 341.6 feet (104m).

The uranium mineralisation is associated with copper mineralisation, in the form of azurite and malachite, a common association seen in the larger uranium deposits in this district.

Bitumen and other carbonaceous matter was also noted in the cuttings, a good reductant and necessary for uranium mineralisation.

The Bush Canyon prospect occurs on claims held by the Colorado Plateau Partners Joint Venture
(CPPJV) in the Egnar area of western Colorado.

The CPPJV is a 50:50 JV between Lynx-Royal (Royal 90%, Lynx E&M LLC 10%) and Toronto Stock Exchange listed Energy Fuels Resources (TSX: EFR) and is managed by Royal Resources.

The Bush Canyon target is based on an extension of an historic prospect drilled by the Cotter Corporation of the USA in the 1980s and purportedly containing uranium oxide grades of around 0.25%.

The CPPJV drilled a preliminary hole in the area in 2008 (EG-08-007) to 500 feet (152m) with no significant intercepts. Re-assessment of the geometry and stratigraphy of the area determined the present drilling target.

The company said neither of the two intercepts reported is of a grade typical of the historic ore grades (> 0.20% uranium oxide), but both are significant; in many cases in the Uravan Mineral Belt, minor mineralised holes can be lateral to deposits by only tens of feet.

Importantly, the intercepted mineralisation is open to the east and west.

A second phase of drilling, comprising up to ten holes, is being considered in the light of proposed drilling elsewhere in the Uravan Belt. At time of writing, all drilling activities have ceased in the area due to excessive snow cover and are unlikely to recommence until late May.

Phosphate Australia updates Highland Plains Project, NT

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:20:00 +0000

Phosphate Australia (ASX: POZ) has reported metallurgical testwork results (Metallurgical Report #4) from the Highland Plains material after it has been separated into two separate size fractions. These size fractions are designated the ‘coarse’ and ‘fine’ fractions.

Highlights include magnetic separation successfully applied to flotation end-products to achieve high quality rock phosphate grading to 35.6%P2O5 with a low combined contaminant value of 1.7% Fe2O3 plus Al2O3.

Marketing work commences for the Phosphate Australia “PhosAus Rock” product with early positive feedback from industry participants.

The company said work is now focussed on improving the flotation process for the fine fraction with the aim being to produce a first-pass flow sheet for the entire metallurgical process as rapidly as possible.

This is planned to underpin the commissioning of a metallurgical scoping study in the second quarter of this year.

Spitfire Resources commences key coal drilling programs in Tasmania

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:19:00 +0000

Spitfire Resources (ASX: SPI) has announced the commencement of programs of diamond and RAB drilling at its two key thermal coal projects in the Derwent Valley and Fingal Tier regions of Tasmania.

The new drilling programs mark the commencement of Spitfire’s 2010 exploration field season and come ahead of the commencement of a major new manganese exploration program at the company’s flagship South Woodie Woodie Project in Western Australia’s East Pilbara.

An initial 10-hole drilling program has commenced at the Langloh (Hamilton) Coal Project, representing the first exploration program to be conducted in this area since the early 1980s.

Spitfire’s Managing Director, James Hamilton, said the company was pleased to commence the first drilling program on its Tasmanian coal properties since acquiring the projects from Black Rock Energy Pty Ltd in 2008.

“The current drilling program follows extensive and detailed planning in conjunction with our consultants over the past 12 months,” he said.

“Drilling will target the opportunity to expand the existing resource at Langloh and to test the extent and quality of outcropping coal seams at Avoca. In addition, diamond drilling will be undertaken to extract samples for a detailed 3-month program of coal quality analysis which will be crucial to determining the next steps."

“We intend to fully evaluate the development potential of the Tasmanian coal assets once we have a full suite of data available on coal quality and resource potential,” Hamilton added.

The Langloh Project comprises a granted tenement covering an area of 103 square kilometers in the Derwent Valley region.

The project area was extensively drilled and sampled by Capricorn Resources and Petrecon Australia between 1981 and 1982, with a total of 28 holes completed for 1,413 metres of drilling.

This resulted in the definition of an initial JORC compliant In Situ Inferred black coal resource of 10 million tonnes within an area approximately 7.25km long by 4.5km wide.

Three seams were delineated averaging 3.6 metres in cumulative width and lying within a maximum 45 metres below surface.

Three RAB holes will test for extensions to the existing resource, which remains open both along strike and at depth. A further seven diamond holes will be drilled to extract samples for coal quality analysis.

The Langloh Project is favourably located with respect to infrastructure. Historical and recent analysis of the coal suggests that it is of medium calorific value, possibly suitable for export markets in Asia.

Following completion of the Langloh drilling a second program comprising 23 holes of Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drilling and 2 diamond drill holes will be undertaken at the Avoca Project.

The key objectives of the drilling are to extract samples for coal quality analysis and test the area’s coal bearing potential.

Coal has been mined in the area surrounding Avoca almost continually since 1923. The historically worked seams display significant thickness of up to 3.6m in places.

Extensive exploration was conducted in the region by Western Mining Corporation (TAS) Pty Ltd in 1977, Shell Company of Australia in 1980 and by the Avoca Transport Company Pty Ltd in the late 1980’s.

Western Mining Corporation stated that “coal analysis has indicated some of the coal to possess coking properties.”

Spitfire is currently awaiting analysis of assay results and final metallurgical test work from the Diamond and RC Drilling program completed at its Tally-Ho Deposit, part of the South Woodie Woodie Manganese Project, last Quarter. This drilling successfully delineated a north-eastern extension of the mineralisation.

Once this information has been properly analysed, an updated JORC compliant resource estimate will be completed.

The Company is also gearing up for a major 2010 exploration push at South Woodie Woodie after identifying multiple priority targets from geophysical and geological work.

Spitfire said a further announcement will be made detailing the scope and objectives of this program ahead of the commencement of drilling, which is anticipated in April 2010.

Archer Exploration shares spike on Ketchowla Manganese Project drill results

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:19:00 +0000

The results from a 45 reverse circulation (RC) holes (643 m) drilling program at Archer Exploration’s (ASX: AXE) Ketchowla Manganese Project, near Burra in South Australia’s midnorth, are now available.

The holes tested a variety of targets in a 140 sq km area. Many of the holes intersected intervals of mineralisation exceeding 5% manganese.

Results include 6m @ 21.9% Mn, 8m @ 15.6% Mn and 4m @ 29.3% Mn. High grade intervals of 1m @ 36.1% Mn, 1m @ 33.6% and 1m @ 31.7%.

Results also include up to 0.34% Cu, 0.14% Co; 0.24% Ni and 0.15% Zn and prospective areas at K1 and K2 are yet to be drill tested.

Rock chip sampling in the K1 and K2 areas has identified copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) mineralisation.

These metals appear to be associated with manganese (Mn) in the historic workings at K1 and in small exposures of manganese in rubbly outcrop or in small pits up to 4.7km north of the workings.

The K1 workings and the north part of K2 were not drill tested, because of the steep terrain. However, holes K1RC001 and K1RC004 drilled immediately north of K1 workings to test the potential extension of the mineralisation confirmed the association between manganese, copper, cobalt, nickel and zinc at depth.

The company said another encouraging aspect of the results from K1001 and K1004 was the width of manganese mineralization intersected below small rubbly manganese outcrops < 1m wide on a scree covered slope. This highlights the potential of the 4.7 km northern extension of K1.

The original 2,500m drill program was only partially completed, because of the unavailability of the track mounted rig originally contracted to carry out the program.

Access was restricted to relatively flat areas, because the replacement rig was truck mounted. This meant the steeper and most prospective areas of K1 and K2 were not drill tested.

Archer is currently analysing the results of the recent drill program and planning further work, which will include additional drilling and bacterial heap leach testwork of the manganese, copper, cobalt, nickel mineralization at the K1 prospect.

Archer Exploration shares were trading up today.

Westgold Resources appoints two new non-executive directors to board

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:17:00 +0000

Westgold Resources (ASX: WGR) announced that it has appointed Warren Hallam and Paul Cmrlec to the board as non-executive directors.

Hallam is a Metallurgist and Mineral Economist with over 25 years experience across a range of business and commodity markets.

Notably, Hallam brings to Westgold both his extensive commercial experience and his involvement with the development and commissioning of processing plants specifically within the gold industry.

Hallam’s commercial acumen and technical expertise compliments the current skill set of the Westgold board.

In recent years Hallam has been the Managing Director of Metals Exploration Limited, an Executive Director of Metals X Limited and is currently the Managing Director of Westgold’s 29.6% shareholder, Metals X Limited.

Cmrlec holds a Bachelor of Mining Engineering degree from the University of South Australia. Cmrlec specialises in underground mining engineering and has held a number of operational and planning roles, including the position of Underground Manager at several Western Australian gold mines.

He was previously the Group Mining Engineer for Harmony Gold Australia and is currently the Group Mining Engineer for Metals X Limited.

His recent experience includes the general management of major feasibility studies for the Wafi Copper-Gold deposit for Paua New Guinea, and the Wingellina Nickel-Cobalt deposit in the Central Musgraves region of Western Australia.

Direct liaisons with Traditional Landowners, their representatives and government stakeholders have been a key requirement in both of these roles.

Mark Okeby has resigned as a director of the Company.

Castlemaine Goldfields to raise A$30.0 million from share placement

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:16:00 +0000

Castlemaine Goldfields (ASX: CGT) has now closed the capital raising announced on 15 March 2010, having received firm commitments from existing shareholders and new institutional and sophisticated investors.

An aggregate placement of 750,000,000 new ordinary shares at an issue price of A$0.04 per share was made, to raise A$30.0 million. This is an increase from the A$25.5 million announced on 15 March 2010.

It is CGT’s intention to announce its notice of annual general meeting next week containing the resolutions requiring shareholder approval, including the issue of this new equity to investors participating in the capital raising to complete the acquisition of the Ballarat Gold Project.

CGT’s Share Purchase Plan (SPP) to Australian and New Zealand registered shareholders also at A$0.04 per share up to A$15,000 per shareholder is expected to be posted to shareholders on 23 March and is expected to close on 16 April 2010 and is not subject to shareholder approval.

Managing Director Gary Scanlan commented, “this commitment is an outstanding recognition of the company transforming opportunity to be had in the acquisition of the Ballarat Gold Project for a cash outlay of only $4.5m."

"Actions are in progress to enable drilling to commence immediately after we receive shareholder approval to complete the transaction," he added.

Norwest Energy shares rise on potential for shale gas in Perth Basin, WA

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:15:00 +0000

Norwest Energy (ASX: NWE) has noted with interest the release to the ASX by AWE (ASX:AWE) on 17 March 2010, stating that it is pursuing shale gas in the Perth Basin, Western Australia.

In particular AWE refers to its acreage interest in the basin including EP413.

Norwest has a 55.606% interest in EP413. In addition Norwest has interests in other permits in the Basin with shale gas potential. The total acreage, net to Norwest, is 376,211 acres (1522.5sq.km).

Norwest is watching AWE’s activities with interest as it progresses its shale gas initiatives.
AWE is currently conducting its Woodada Deep Coring program to test the shale gas potential of the Woodada licence that adjoins the southern boundary of EP413.

“The Perth Basin shale gas potential is of significance to Norwest,” said chief executive Peter Munachen.

“If you follow the US shale gas plays such as the Marcellus and Barnett, it’s all about acreage. We have the acreage and we know that the shale is present throughout the Basin. It’s now about dealing with the technical issues such as determining the recoverability of gas and whether it will be a viable commercial proposition,” he added.

Given Norwest’s acreage interest in the basin, the company is well placed to capitalise on the
shale gas play in the event that AWE has success with its Woodada Deep shale gas testing
program.

Norwest is in a particularly strong position because the company’s acreage contains three shale sequences that are present throughout the basin – the Kockatea Shale, the Carynginia Formation and the Irwin River Coal Measures.

Target shale sequences are up to 1000m thick (within EP413) and the WA gas market is strong with LNG netback pricing.

Additionally, the company has extensive acreage with a Norwest permit footprint of more than 1,000,000 acres (about 4050sq.km) (with 376,211 acres (1522.5sq.km) net to Norwest). Also, the Perth Basin has existing infrastructure, including pipelines.

Norwest Energy shares rose 7% to 3 cents in trading today.

Mindax kicks-off highly anticipated drill program at WA uranium project

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:15:00 +0000

Mindax Limited (ASX:MDX) has updated progress at the Yilgarn Avon Joint Venture between Mindax Energy Pty Ltd (50% and manager) and Quasar Resources Pty Ltd (50%).

Drilling has recommenced at Mukinbudin, 200 km northeast of Perth where high grade uranium was defined in earlier exploration work.

A further 70 holes for 6000m are to be drilled adjacent to anomalous intercepts where economic grades of roll front sedimentary uranium mineralisation were encountered in October 2009.

This drilling will further define the Jindarra area where YAA0184 encountered 37-38m 1m @ 1690ppm U (equivalent to 0.20% U3O8) and YAA0188 encountered 38-41m 3m @ 1243ppmU (equivalent to 0.15% U3O8).

The intercepts compare very favourably in terms of both grade and thickness to economic uranium mineralisation elsewhere in WA and further vindicate the search for uranium in this palaeochannel system, now clearly an emerging new uranium province.

The YAJV control 2640 square km of tenements in the area which include 275 km or 75% of prospective channel.

Quasar Resources Pty Ltd is an associate of Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd. Heathgate is the operator of the Beverley-Four Mile uranium mine in South Australia.

Dragon Mountain Gold encouraged by initial drilling at Wa Wu Gou prospect in China

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:14:00 +0000

Dragon Mountain Gold (ASX: DMG) has announced the completion of the initial 1,500 metres exploration drilling at the Wa Wu Gou prospect. The prospect is within the Liba License for its Lixian Gold Project in Gansu Province, Central China.

The Wa Wu Gou prospect is located between the established Zhao Gou and Ma Gou gold deposit. This is the first pass for the targeted area. Initial results show gold mineralisation in the system. Initial assay results from the drill cores indicated some good gold mineralisation at various widths.

DMG’s Executive Director, Robert Gardner said, “this initial drilling information in the Wa Wu Gou prospect shows encouraging results for the first drill holes. We are optismistic on this untested area and eagerly waiting for further results.”

The drilling program is being carried out using wire line triple tube diamond core equipment. The objective is to examine the geological characteristics and continuity of the structures identified by previous mapping, trenching and surface sampling undertaken by Tianshui Geological Group, an exploration arm of the Gansu Non-Ferrous Metallurgical Bureau.

The prospect area has a strike length of approximately 800 metres.

The gold mineralisation is fine grained and generally found associated with pyrite and to a lesser extent arsenopyrite, hosted by fault breccia in a shear system within sandstones,siltstones of the Qinling Fold Belt.

The company said this drilling program will provide information necessary in the DMG’s planning for a more systematic, detailed and expanded exploration program at the prospect.

Sipa Resources optimistic that tenements form part of Tropican Gold province

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:13:00 +0000

Sipa Resources (ASX: SRI) has received results from 850 in-fill calcrete samples at its Heraclitus and Theofrastos Prospects.

Drill targets have been defined along 15 Kilometres of Gold Anomalies at Woodline.

These are located within the Woodline Gold and Basemetals Project, covering a large area within the emerging Tropicana Gold Province as well as underexplored greenstones of the Kalgoorlie Gold Province.

The results show that the Heraclitus and Theofrastos anomalies contain at least 15 kilometres of northeasterly striking mineralised trends above 20 ppb gold, which peak at 266 ppb.

In February, the southern tip of an eight kilometre long by two kilometre wide gold-incalcrete anomaly at Heraclitus was RC drilled - all seven holes intersecting significant mineralisation of up to 9g/t gold within a lode which is up to 35 metres thick.

Mike Doepel, managing director of Sipa Resources said while it was still early days, to put Heraclitus and Theofrastos in perspective, the five million ounce Tropicana gold resource and the new Boston Shaker discovery (only 500 metres northeast of Tropicana announced two days ago by IGO), lie within a three kilometre portion of larger northeasterly mineralised trend, in a similar geological setting to Woodline.

In comparison, Heraclitus and Theofrastos sit on similar northeasterly trends, and with some 15 kilometres of strike, are well capable of encapsulating multiple finds like Tropicana and Boston Shaker.

He said “We have been working for a number of years within the very large Woodline Project and are now refining our search areas into discrete mineralised zones that we can target with focussed drilling”.

There appears to be further evidence that Sipa tenements may form part of the emerging Tropicana Gold Province. Infill sampling will better define more gold-in-calcrete anomalies prior to drilling.

YTC Resources reports Tasmanian Tin JV to commence

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:12:00 +0000

YTC Resources (ASX: YTC) noted the announcement by Metals X Limited (ASX: MLX) of the commencement of an unincorporated Joint Venture with YT Parksong Australia Holding Pty Ltd (the Yunnan Tin Group Partners).

Yunnan Tin Group Partners have acquired an initial 50% interest in MLX’s Tasmanian Tin Operations.

Both MLX and the Yunnan Tin Partners hold a 50% interest in the Joint Venture. The Tasmanian Tin Operations include the world class Renison tin and base metals mine.

MLX and the Yunnan Tin Group Partners have established a jointly owned operating company, Bluestone Mines Tasmania Joint Venture Pty Ltd to manage the operations for and on behalf of the Joint Venture parties.

YTC has worked closely with the Yunnan Tin Group Partners in the introduction, assessment and negotiation of this transaction under an alliance agreement with the Yunnan Tin Group (YTG).

Under the terms of the YTC-YTG Alliance Contract Agreement YTC will receive a $1.5m success fee and reimbursement of its consulting costs incurred.

In addition to the success fee, YTC will be paid an ongoing management fee equal to 5% of the Yunnan Tin Group Partners’ after tax net profit for providing ongoing management, supervision and advice to the Yunnan Tin Group Partners in relation to the Joint Venture.

Orocobre completes marketing for C$20 million Canadian equity offering

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:11:00 +0000

Orocobre (ASX: ORE) have announced that the company has successfully completed marketing of its previously announced C$20 million (AU$21.44 million) Canadian offering of subscription receipts.

The offering will consist of 10,000,000 Subscription Receipts to be issued at a price of $2.00 (AU$2.15) per Subscription Receipt.

Completion of the offering is subject to execution of subscription agreements by investors and receipt by the Company of subscription moneys. Both of these events are expected to occur on or about 31 March 2010.

Following the sale of the Subscription Receipts, the company will use commercially reasonable efforts to qualify the ordinary shares issuable upon the conversion of the Subscription Receipts by filing a prospectus in each of the provinces of Canada in which purchasers of the Subscription Receipts reside and to obtain a final receipt and to list the company’s ordinary shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Approval of the TSX Listing will be subject to the company meeting all applicable TSX listing criteria.

The proceeds of the Offering will be held in escrow pending the issue of a final receipt for the Prospectus and the completion of the TSX Listing.

If the Escrow Release Conditions are satisfied the Subscription Receipts will be converted into an equivalent number of ordinary shares in the company.

Perseus Mining continues fine form in West African gold project

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:10:00 +0000

West African-focussed Perseus Mining (ASX/TSX: PRU) received assay results from drilling at the company’s flagship Central Ashanti Gold Project (CAGP), formerly known as Ayanfuri, in Ghana and the Tengrela Gold Project in the Ivory Coast.

At Tengrela, best results included from Core hole SD088 - 26.4m at 7.4g/t Au from 83m, including 11m at 14.4g/t Au from 90m and RC hole SLC157 - 26m at 9.7g/t Au from 84m to the end of the hole including 2m at 112.2g/t Au from 104m.

While at CAGP, results included Core hole FBDD060 - 22m at 6.4g/t Au from 191m including 1m at 112.9g/t Au from 200m; and Core hole ABDD147 - 75m at 1.6g/t Au from 274m.

Drill samples were assayed by 50g fire assays by Transworld Laboratories Ghana Limited, a part of the Intertek Genalysis group.

Drilling for the past six months was predominantly focused on infill and extensional resource drilling on CAGP’s western group of deposits, Abnabna, AF-Gap and Fobinso, and infill drilling on Tengrela Gold Project’s Sissingue deposit.

A$689 million-capped Perseus is moving owards production within 18 months. At the same time it seeks to grow the Company’s current Proven and Probable reserves of 55.5Mt at 1.2g/t Au containing 2.1Moz of gold and Measured & Indicated resources of 49.2Mt at 1.2g/t Au containing 1.9Moz of gold.

Jupiter Energy asks for trading halt, J-50 drill results pending

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:09:00 +0000

Jupiter Energy (ASX: JPR) requested a trading halt for its securities after trading hours yesterday, until Tuesday 23rd March or until the release of an announcement on initial drill results from the J-50 well. Drilling had encountered more hydrocarbon shows this week.

Gulfsands Petroleum snubs ‘wholly inadequate’ approach, press points to Indian suitor

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:08:00 +0000

Gulfsands Petroleum (AIM: GPX) confirmed it has rejected the preliminary approach it announced yesterday regarding a possible offer for the company. Gulfsands said the board was unanimous in its view that the unsolicited approach was wholly inadequate and materially undervalues the company.

It has been speculated that the un-named suitor is a large Indian oil company. The Financial Times, citing sources close to the situation, said the Indian company’s approach would value the Syria-focused oil explorer at more than £400m. Additionally the FT noted that, in competition with China, the Indian government is encouraging domestic companies to acquire foreign assets.

Other reports identified China’s fourth largest oil company, Sinochem, as a potential bidder for the company. However the views of market commentators are mixed, with varying opinions of Sinochem’s appetite for the potential acquisition of Gulfsands. Sinochem is the co-developer of Gulfsands’ Block 26 project in Syria, following the former's 2009 acquisition of Emerald Energy.

Gulfsands Petroleum is an independent oil and gas company which is focused on the development of its assets in Syria and Iraq. The company also produces oil and gas from a portfolio of properties in the United States.

Cluff Gold says production levels are ahead of 2010’s 100,000oz target

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:30:00 +0000

Cluff Gold (AIM: CLF; TSX: CFG) said the levels of production at the Kalsaka and Angovia mines are above the company’s current target of 100,000 ounces in 2010, Cluff produced a total of 19,288 fine ounces of gold in January and February 2010. The gold was subsequently sold at an average price of US$1,112 per oz, and the company’s cash position improved by US$3.4m in the two month period ro stand at to US$5.7m on 28 February 2010.

Cluff has a portfolio of mineral interests at various stages of development in Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone. The Angovia gold mine is located in Côte d'Ivoire, and the Kalsaka gold mine is located in Burkina Faso.

"We are delighted to announce record production from our two mines at Kalsaka and Angovia in the first two months of 2010”, Cluff chairman and chief executive Algy Cluff commented. “The results are ahead of our production forecasts and we are confident that this strong performance will continue throughout the year".

For the two month period, the Kalsaka mine produced 14,887 ounces and Angovia produced 4,401 ounces, the corresponding operating cash costs were US$547 per ounce for the gold produced at Kalsaka and US$797 per ounce for the gold produced at Angovia.

Cluff said that Kalsaka production is ahead of forecasts due to a number of factors, including the recovery of gold from fine ore processed in Q4 2009 and together with the impact of modifications to spraying efficiency and improved stacking methodology.

Angovia production is in line with current expectations, and Cluff is finalising a technical study on potential modifications to the processing plant there which have the potential to improve operational efficiency.

Additionally, the group noted that it has made significant progress in resolving the ongoing VAT issues it flagged last month. Cluff has recovered a total of US$4.3m in VAT, which has been recovered in Burkina Faso, with US$1.3m in February and US$3m in March. The company also said that signing the mining convention in Côte d'Ivoire will also improve cash flow, as it will not be paying VAT to suppliers and contractors with effect from 1 March 2010.

Morning news wrap: RIo Tinto, Rubicon Software, Cluff Gold, Gulfsands Petroleum

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:11:00 +0000

In FTSE 100, miner Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) has signed a non-binding MoU (memorandum of understanding) to set up a JV (joint venture) covering the development and operation of the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.

In AIM, software developer Rubicon (AIM: RUBI) released its half yearly report, saying revenues declined 25%, while pre-tax losses narrowed to £62,000 from £103,000.

Africa focused gold deposit developer Cluff Gold (AIM: CLF) said it produced a total 19,288 oz (ounces) of gold in January and February 2010.

Oil and gas company with assets in Iraq, Syria and Gulf of Mexico, Gulfsands Petroleum (AIM: GPX) has rejected a preliminary approach received on 18 March regarding a possible offer for the company.

Fox-Davies Capital Daily Newsflash including Gulfsands Petroleum, Borders and Southern and Cluff Gold

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:06:00 +0000

Gulfsands Petroleum (GPX) rejected the unsolicited approach received yesterday regarding a possible offer for the Company. The Board is unanimously of the view that the proposal was wholly inadequate and materially undervalued the Company. The Board is confident in Gulfsands' strategy to become one of the pre-eminent exploration and production companies in the Middle East and to continue to demonstrate tangible growth.

Comment: The FT was reporting this morning that the approach might have come from a large Indian oil company at a likely level of 350p. Gulfsands’ board, advised by Royal Bank of Canada, is understood to be unwilling to recommend any offer that is below 400p.

Borders and Southern (BOR) announced that the Company has appointed Mirabaud Securities LLP as its joint broker with immediate effect. Panmure Gordon & Co continues to act as NOMAD and joint broker and Ocean Equities Ltd continues to act as joint broker to the Company.

Cluff Gold (CLF) announced record gold production of 19,288oz for the first two months of 2010. Operating cash costs for the two months were US$547/oz of fine gold produced at Kalsaka and US$797/oz of fine gold produced at Angovia.

FTSE 100 seen higher after US jobless claims and UK unemployment fall

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:54:00 +0000

The FTSE 100 is set to tack on 0.2% after ending Thursday flat, whilst the Dow Jones Industrial Average is projected to remain at exactly same level after adding 0.4% yesterday.

Yesterday’s economic data included employment updates from both the US and UK. UK unemployment fell by 33,000, while the jobless rate declined to 7.8% to post the first quarterly decline in nearly two years. US jobless claims data showed a decline of 5,000 to 457,000, while a drop to 455,000 was expected. Meanwhile, US inflation stayed unchanged in February following a 0.2% increase in the previous month.

In the UK, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) emerged atop the leaderboard with a 4% gain. Credit information group Experian (LSE: EXPN) followed, advancing 2.2%, while beverage group SABMiller (LSE: SAB), temporary power provider Aggreko (LSE: AGK), security services group G4S (LSE: GFS) and hedge fund manager Man Group (LSE: EMG) all added slightly more than 1.5%.

Part-nationalised banks RBS (LSE: RBS) and Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) were the heaviest fallers with losses of 3.6% and 3.2% respectively. Miners Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) and Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) followed, shedding 2.3% and 2%. Copper miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and banking group Barclays (LSE: BARC) declined 1.8%.

America’s two other key indices, S&P 500 and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite were flat.

Asian stocks performed well as all of the main indices posted gains with the exception of Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which was flat. China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.7%, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 0.75%, South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.65% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved up 0.2%.

Commodities

Oil prices were slightly lower today. May Brent Crude dropped to US$81.24/barrel, while US light, sweet crude declined US$81.98/barrel.

Precious metals also inched lower. Gold slid to US$1,123/oz, while silver and platinum retreated to US$17.39/oz and US$1,624/oz respectively.

Base metals were higher. Copper and nickel rose to US$3.40/lb and US$10.30/lb. Zinc wer steady at US$1.04/lb.

FTSE 100 seen higher as Asian stocks gain, Dow Jones up 0.4%, commodities fall

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:51:00 +0000

The FTSE 100 is set to tack on 0.2% after ending Thursday flat, whilst the Dow Jones Industrial Average is projected to remain at exactly same level after adding 0.4% yesterday.

America’s two other key indices, S&P 500 and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite were flat.

Commodities

Oil prices were slightly lower today. May Brent Crude dropped to US$81.24/barrel, while US light, sweet crude declined US$81.98/barrel.

Precious metals also inched lower. Gold slid to US$1,123/oz, while silver and platinum retreated to US$17.39/oz and US$1,624/oz respectively.

Base metals were higher. Copper and nickel rose to US$3.40/lb and US$10.30/lb. Zinc wer steady at US$1.04/lb.

Medicsight promotes CFO Troy Robinson to board position

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:50:00 +0000

Medicsight PLC (AIM: MDST), specialised in Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) and image analysis software which assists in the early detection and diagnosis of disease, said it appointed Troy Robinson to the board as chief financial officer and company secretary with immediate effect.

Robinson joined Medicsight in February 2007 as group financial controller after a successful career with IVAX Pharmaceuticals and HP Foods. He was appointed CFO in February 2009, as a non board position.

During his tenure with Medicsight, he has played a pivotal role in both the Medicsight IPO and the subsequent global expansion of the finance function, the group said in a statement.

Medicsight’s CAD software automatically highlights suspicious areas on computerised tomography (CT) scans of the colon and lung, helping radiologists to identify, measure and analyse potential disease and early indicators of disease.

Its software has been developed using one of the world's largest and most population diverse databases of verified patient CT scan data. Medicsight's ColonCAD and LungCAD software products are integrated with the advanced 3D visualisation workstations of several major imaging equipment partners.

Medicsight currently has a pre-market notification for the ColonCAD API 3.1 product pending with the US Food and Drug Administration and is working towards fulfilling the regulator’s request for additional information prior to the 21 June 2010 deadline.

NioGold Mining hits high grade gold outside current resource

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:21:00 +0000

Gold exploration junior NioGold Mining (TSX-V:NOX, Frankfurt:NG1, OTC:NOXGF) dropped more positive drill results on shareholders laps this morning. The results, from the company’s Malartic property which sits in Quebec’s highly prospective Abitibi gold mining district, confirmed the presence of high grade gold outside of the currently known deposits.

Drill hole MB-10-101, which was collared approximately 1 kilometre northeast of the Marban deposit, intersected 31.2 grams per tonne gold over 1.3 meters and 5.2 grams per tonne gold over 1.2 meters. NioGold previously drilled two holes into the same target, named Marban NE, in 2007, which also returned moderate to high grade gold over narrow intersects.

“Gold values of economic interest at Marban NE are found in sheared or fractured mafic volcanics close to altered and mineralised porphyry intrusions,” NioGold added. “The occurrence is interpreted to represent the east extension of the North shear where limited past drilling was conducted outside the North Zone.”

Meanwhile, in drill hole MB-10-098, the best intersect reported was 23.2 grams per tonne gold over 1.2 meters, which was drilled 450 meters east of any previous drilling on the Marban deposit, adding the potential to increase the size of the resource.

Drilling also confirmed three shear zones containing sulphide mineralisation to the north-west and on trend with the Norlaric-Kierens deposits and the North and North-North Zones. The highlight from the results was 12.4 grams per tonne gold over 1.8 meters in drill hole MH-09-014 and 6.9 grams per tonne gold over 1.1 meters in drill hole MH-09-018.

“Our initial exploration targeting was markedly accurate in tracing the main strands of the Norbenite-Marbanite away from the known gold deposits despite local structural complexities. These structures remain strong to the east and west and generally enclose zones of alteration, vein stockwork, sulphide mineralisation, and locally intruded by swarms of porphyry intrusions, characteristic of productive segments along the major deformation corridors in the district. Results to date returned thick sections of anomalous gold mineralisation and some higher grade intersections of economic interest” commented Rock Lefrançois, NioGold President & COO.

“We have budgeted for 20,000 metres of drilling for 2010 as a first pass exploration program along this prospective deformation zone.”

In January NioGold reported a large increase in the indicated and inferred resources at Malartic. Inferred resources increased by 34% to 361,000 ounces, while indicated resources jumped 730% to 598,000 ounces. The combined indicated and inferred resource now stands at 959,000 ounces.

The resource calculation was based on the assumption of a 0.5 grams per tonne cut-off grade for mineralization above 200 meters, which could be extracted via an open pit operation, and a 2.5 grams per tonne cut-off grade for resources below 200 meters which would require underground mining.

ArsenalMania acquisition ups the ante for Play LA Inc

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:27:00 +0000

Last week Play LA Inc (OTC:PLLAF) announced another acquisition , but unlike previous transactions, its move to acquire Arsenal-mania.com represented a significant move to tap into a potentially underexploited online source of sports fans.

ArsenalMania as the name suggests, is a football fan website dedicated to one of the English Premier Leagues top clubs, Arsenal FC in London. The website already has an impressive following, with around 250,000 visitors per month, 40,000 registered users and nearly 9,000 followers on Twitter. Those 250,000 visitors generate around 4.5 million pages impressions per month, according to Play LA.

At the time of the acquisition, David Hallonquist, CEO of Play LA said the transaction would help it expand its reach into the United Kingdom’s sports audience, but the strong following of football fans at Arsenal-Mania.com opens up the potential of similar deals in this space, which could generate substantial readership for the group’s wider network of sites. More on this later.

Incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in 2005, Play LA is an Internet media marketing company that operates a network of multi-language websites that publish sports, poker and casino news and tournament information for the UK and Europe.

In 2007, the company raised US$1 million in a private placing to complete strategic acquisitions, one of which was the acquisition of UK websites Bettingchoice.co.uk and Guidetopoker.com. Bettingchoice.co.uk and Guidetopoker.com generate revenues from a number of bookmakers and online poker companies who pay Play LA to direct traffic to their online sites. Play LA’s clients include Ladbrokes, William Hill and Party Poker. This acquisition was only the beginning however, with Play LA announcing a string of acquisitions since and now controls 19 websites!

More recent acquisitions have included Pokernewsheadlines.com, which publishes content in English, French, Norwegian, Danish, Spanish and Romanian, expanding the group’s footprint into mainland Europe whilst also beefing up its presence the United Kingdom.

Unlike Arsenal-Mania.com however, all of Play LA’s previous transactions have been directed towards websites that focus on generating news, articles and associated content directly related to gambling, from poker to horseracing to placing a bet on this Saturday’s Arsenal match against West Ham. Arsenal-Mania.com, as a football fan website, is more focused on discussing Arsenal from the fan’s point of view. By acquiring this site, Play LA opens up the potential to tap into that loyal readership’s potential interest in placing bets.

The UK Gambling Commission has declared that more Brits than ever are gambling remotely; accessing the Internet through a PC, laptop, or hand-held device, or using a mobile phone or interactive/digital TV to place their bets. The UK regulator’s latest survey of 8,000 adult remote gamblers reveals that this form of gambling (including casinos, sports betting, slot machines, and poker but excluding lottery) is on the up, with 5.7% of those surveyed participating in at least one form of remote gambling to the year ending September 2009, up from 5.6%, 5.2% and 5.1% in 2008, 2007 and 2006 respectively.

By increasing the size and scale of its existing network of websites, Play LA aims to acquire critical mass and accelerate growth in the long-term to tap into Europe’s increasing trend towards online gambling.

While it is still fairly difficult to gauge the impact of Play LA’s string of transactions, including Arsenal-Mania.com, the company is confident that results for 2010 will look significantly better as it builds up critical mass in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe.

There is plenty to play for in this space, and Play LA has upped the ante through its acquisition strategy to date, which will have clearly boosted its total penetration into the gambling market. Arsenal-Mania is arguably the most intriguing deal completed by the company to date, and potentially opens up the possibility of similar acquisitions of websites with a strong support base of sports fans – clearly a prime target market for Play La’s business model.

NioGold Mining hits high grade gold outside of current resource area

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:08:00 +0000

“We have budgeted for 20,000 metres of drilling for 2010 as a first pass exploration program along this prospective deformation zone.”

Minefinders to join S&P/TSX Global Gold Index

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:08:00 +0000

Mexico focused gold producer, Minefinders Corporation (TSX:MFL, AMEX:MFN) will be added to the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index and Global Mining Index which tracks the leading gold and mining industry participants.

“We are very pleased to be added to the Global Gold Index and Global Mining Index,” said Mr. Mark Bailey, President and CEO of Minefinders. “This is reflective of our transition from development into commercial production at our Dolores mine in Mexico and is an important milestone in the corporate development of Minefinders as we seek to grow our business and to create greater value for our shareholders.”

The company, which is focused on ramping up production at its flagship Dolores Gold-Silver Mine in Mexico, has a market valuation of approximately CDN$685 million.

Minefinders officially commenced commercial production at Dolores in May 2009, and has since been working on moving the operation up to full utilization.

As expected, cash costs in 2009 were well above the life of mine projections for the project, nonetheless, the company benefited from the robust gold and silver prices, recording fourth quarter revenues of $27.8 million and net income of $4.3 million, or 7 cents per share. The company also turned cash flow positive, reporting $4.2 million in positive operating cash flow.

During the final quarter of 2009, Minefinders sold 25,131 gold equivalent ounces.

Minefinders is expecting to produce between 91,000 and 100,500 ounces of gold and between 2.3 and 2.6 million ounces of silver in 2010.

Bravo Gold plans 12,000 meters of drilling to expand Homestake Silver

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:07:00 +0000

Bravo Gold Corp. (TSX-V:BVG)(ETR:B6I) is planning to complete an additional 12,000 meters of drilling at its Homestake Ridge Project , British Columbia in 2010, following on from a 14,400 meter drill campaign completed in 2009.

Drilling at Homestake Silver last year delivered many highly encouraging assay results for the junior precious metals exploration company, including 24.4 metres @ 12.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) and 6.8 g/t silver (Ag), including a bonanza grade 2.4 metres @ 87 g/t Au and 22.1 g/t Ag. The same hole (HR09-165) also intercepted an additional 14.5 metre interval @ 4.8 g/t Au and 2.1 g/t Ag, which included a higher grade 2.5 metres @ 10.4 g/t Au and 3.3 g/t Ag.

This week Bravo Gold released the final results from the 2009 drill season. The final few holes focused on an area above Homestake Silver and other untested targets. Two drill holes completed above Homestake Silver returned anomalous intervals of gold and silver, including 3.1 meters averaging 1 gram per tonne gold and 33.7 gram per tonne silver. The mineralization was encountered in the fringe of a north-northwest plunging lens of gold mineralization within Homestake Silver. The lens, which is still open to the north-west and at depth, with be targeted in the 2010 drill program. Meanwhile, drill hole HR09-162 intersected a deep portion of the south-eastern extension of Homestake Silver, returning low values of precious metals.

Bravo Gold also turned its attention to several other yet untested targets, including North Dome, which sits approximately 3200 meters north of Homestake Silver. Only one hole was drilled, but it returned elevated concentrations of silver, plus intervals of primarily lead and zinc. Bravo Gold was encouraged by this result, as similar geochemistry was noted above the Homestake Silver deposit, suggesting that additional drill holes at depth could be rewarding.

Looking ahead for the rest of 2010, Bravo is planning to report a resource estimate for the project, which is being completed by Scott Wilson, Roscoe, Postle Associates. The resource will incorporate both the Main Homestake and Homestake Silver deposits.

Additional metallurgical testwork is also underway – on the ‘Silver Cap’ portion of the Main Zone – with results expected to be “completed soon”.

Ahead of a planned 12,000 meter, CDN$6 million drill program this year, Bravo Gold has commenced permitting, planning and other associated works. Drilling will be multi-focused on testing six high priority exploration targets, expanding Homestake Silver and testing the zone between Homestake Silver and Main Homestake.

Gulfsands Petroleum shares surge over 19% as it confirms preliminary approach

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Gulfsands Petroleum (AIM: GPX) noted its recent share price movement on London’s AIM market and confirmed that has received a preliminary approach, which may or may not lead to an offer for Gulfsands. The company’s shares have surged over 19% to trade at 310p on the London Stock Exchange today.

Gulfsands Petroleum is an independent oil and gas company which is focused on the development of its assets in Syria and Iraq. The company also produces oil and gas from a portfolio of properties in the United States.

In February, Gulfsands reported a significant production milestone at the Khurbet East Field in Syria's Block 26, with 7 million barrels of cumulative oil production now complete. The oilfields average daily gross oil production continues at approximately 17,000 barrels oil per day (bopd), with minimal water production or pressure depletion to date.

Xcite Energy completes £24.9m placing to fund Bentley field development

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:42:00 +0000

Xcite Energy (TSX-V, AIM: XEL) has closed its £24.9m (C$38.4m) placing of new ordinary shares, principally to institutional investors. The company issued shares at £0.40 per share to investors in the UK and at C$0.62 per share to North American investors. The proceeds will be used in the development of the Bentley oilfield in the North Sea.

"This fund raising represents a significant step forward for the company in the overall achievement of the development plan for the Bentley field”, Xcite Energy chief executive Richard Smith said. “now that we have the finance in place, we have the resources to drill the 9/3b-R well expected to commence during the summer of 2010".

Xcite said the net proceeds, together with US$4 million committed by Challenger Minerals, are expected to primarily fund the drilling and flow testing of the 9/3b-R pre-development well on Bentley. Subsequently, the balance of the proceeds will be used for general working capital purposes.

To facilitate the equity financing the company hired Arbuthnot Securities in the UK and Octagon Capital Corporation and CIBC World Markets in Canada. The respective parties signed agency agreements on the 9th March.

With the support of its development partners, collectively known as the Bentley Alliance, Xcite has been making rapid progress in the development of the Bentley field. The planned pre-development well represents the company’s next step towards full production following the BP (LSE: BP) off-take agreement signed in January 2010.

The international oil major’s BPOI unit will sell the crude from the Bentley field in return for an incentive-based fee per barrel. The off-take fee is directly related to the realised price achieved by BPOI for the Bentley crude oil in relation to the prevailing Brent crude price, thus incentivising BPOI to maximise the price per barrel achieved for XER by minimising the discount to Brent crude.

Furthermore the FTSE100 constituent is also supporting the commercial development of the Bentley oilfield. BPOI will procure US$20 million of financing from a commercial bank for Xcite and provide credit support from BP once Xcite moves to full field development. Drilling of the 9/3b-R development is planned for this summer.

Xcite last week said its subsidiary Xcite Energy Resources Ltd has signed a legally binding agreement with Challenger Minerals (North Sea) Lrd for CMNS to farm in to the Bentley field, commencing with the forthcoming 9/3b-R well.

CMNS, a subsidiary of Transocean Drilling UK Ltd, will provide US$4 million as its share of the 9/3b-R test well costs in exchange for 4% working interest in the Bentley field through an earn-in mechanism, which allows CMNS to join the Bentley field licence at any time prior to the commencement of the first phase development of the field.

On February 10, it announced two separate agreements with third party contractors, one with AMEC (LSE: AMEC) for the provision of technical expertise, engineering and project management, and another with Transocean Drilling, which will supply a heavy duty, deep water jack-up drilling unit.

AMEC has been hired to advise Xcite on 9/3b-R well, and will support the company further through the planned works on early production systems and the full field development in due course, Xcite said. The services to be provided by AMEC will include project management, engineering, facilities design, planning and programming, supply chain management and operational support.

According to Xcite, the Bentley field is among the largest undeveloped heavy oil prospects in the North Sea. Its resource estimate was last year upped to 690 million barrels of oil (mbo) with the upside at nearly 890 mbo following a 3D seismic survey.

Fusion IP partner Magnomatics named New Energy Pioneer by Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:29:00 +0000

University IP commercialisation specialist Fusion IP (AIM: FIP) told investors that one of its partner companies, Magnomatics, has been selected as a New Energy Pioneer at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit. The Sheffield-based electromechanical engineering company was recognised for its progressive work in the field of clean energy technology and innovation.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Magnomatics are potential 'game-changers' in the field of clean energy technology and innovation. “The work they are doing is progressive and significant to the future of the energy sector”, New Energy Finance Chief Executive Michael Liebreich commented. “we think they could play a significant role in the world's transition to a lower carbon, more secure, smart, decentralised energy system".

Magnomatics develops magnetic transmissions and ultra-compact, highly efficient magnetically-geared, motors and generators.

“We have further developed our products over the last twelve months and achieved considerable industry engagement. We share Bloomberg New Energy Finance's belief that our products have the potential to be 'game-changing' in clean energy technology", Magnomatics MD Chris Kirby said.

Magnomatics' contactless, lubricant-free, magnetic transmissions and magnetically-geared Pseudo Direct Drive (PDD) machines offer new engineering possibilities ranging from efficient, gearless, generators for wind turbines, to lighter and more compact motors for hybrid vehicles, Fusion said.

The company said that the PDD offers particular benefits for large offshore wind turbines where efficiency and reliability are paramount, and the greatest challenges are presented for mechanical gearboxes. According to Magnomatics the PDD, which operates without a mechanical gearbox, has the low maintenance and reliability advantages of direct drive generators, but with the reduced size benefits of geared systems.

Magnomatics was founded in 2006, when it was spun-out through Fusion IP’s agreement with the University of Sheffield.

It has been a busy start to the year for the IP commercialisation group. In February Fusion announced its latest spin-out from the University of Sheffield, Seren Photonics, an ultra-high efficient light-emitting diode (LED) company.

In addition to its partnership with the University of Sheffield, Fusion also has a similar exclusive partnership with Cardiff University. These long-term exclusive agreements give Fusion access to a combined R&D (research and development) spend of over £185 million a year.

FTSE 100 flat as Dow Jones and NASDAQ gain, miners and energy stocks mixed

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:28:00 +0000

Overview: contrary to pre-trade projections, the FTSE 100 was flat in late afternoon just before the close despite an expected decline as today’s economic updates in both the US and the UK turned out to be positive. UK unemployment fell by 33,000, while the jobless rate declined to 7.8% to post the first quarterly decline in nearly two years.US jobless claims data showed a decline of 5,000 to 457,000, while a drop to 455,000 was expected. Meanwhile, US inflation stayed unchanged in February following a 0.2% increase in the previous month.

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) emerged atop the leaderboard with a 3.3% advance. Credit information group Experian (LSE: EXPN) and oil and gas producer BG Group (LSE: BG) followed with gains of 2%. Other notable risers included tour company TUI Travel (LSE: TT), temporary power provider Aggreko (LSE: AGK) and security services group G4S (LSE: GFS), which all tacked on slightly more than 1.5%.

Part-nationalised banks RBS (LSE: RBS) and Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) were at the bottom of the index with losses of 3% and 2%. Miner Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) also shed 2%. Insurance focused investor Resolution (LSE: RSL), software developer Autonomy Corporation (LSE: AU) and plumbing and heating equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS) all lost 1.2%.

US stocks were off to a positive start as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25%, the broader S&P 500 index was flat and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite posted a small gain.

Commodities

Oil prices retreated after making gains yesterday as the US dollar gained ground on the euro.

Yesterday’s inventories update from the EIA (Energy Information Administration) showed an increase of just 1 million barrels in crude inventories for the previous week, while distillates including heating oil and gasoline stocks were down 1.5 million barrels and 1.7 million barrels respectively.

On Tuesday, API (American petroleum Institute) said crude inventories increased by 0.4 million barrels, while distillate and gasoline stockpiles dropped 3.7 million barrels and 0.7 million barrels.

The updates signalled lower demand for crude as stockpiles kept rising, though oil was supported by OPEC’s (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) decision to leave its production quotas for this year unchanged. The Fed’s decision to leave its interest rates unchanged for an “extended period” also had a positive impact on crude prices.

Today’s slight declines were due to gains in the US dollar against the euro, which was pushed down by comments from a Greek official, who said that the debt laden country could turn to support to the International Monetary Fund as it was unlikely that it would receive aid from fellow euro zone countries. A Stronger American currency makes dollar-denominated commodities such as crude more expensive for holders of other currencies.

May Brent Crude slid to US$81.63/barrel, while US light, sweet crude was down to US$82.51/barrel.

Blue chips oil and gas producers didn’t show much movement today. BG Group (LSE: BG) was in the lead with a 2% gain. Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) added 1.2%, while BP (LSE: BP) was up 1%, while fellow supermajor Shell (LSE: RDSB) was flat, as was another FTSE 100 constituent Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW).

Oil and gas engineering firms Amec (LSE: AMEC) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC) declined marginally.

Midcaps were mixed. Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS) and Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) gained less than 1%, while Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) and Soco International (LSE: SIA) posted small losses. Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO), JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) and Premier Oil (SLE: PMO) were flat. Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR) slid to the bottom of the pile with a 6% loss on today’s announcement of a bond issue.

Services companies did well as Wood Group (LSE: WG) gained 1.7% after securing a contract from BP, while Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) rallied 6% after announcing its full year results.

Energy investor Xtract Energy (AIM: XTR) rallied 14%, while Mongolia-focused Petro Matad (AIM: MATD) and Iraq operating Irish oil company Petrel Resources (AIM: PET) followed with gains of 8%, US focused oil and gas junior Caza Oil & Gas (AIM: CAZA) added 7% and oil and gas company with assets in Iraq, Syria and Gulf of Mexico, Gulfsands Petroleum (AIM: GPX) advanced 6%.

Gold steady at $1,125 as US dollar pares gains

Spot gold prices once again were steady around US$1,125/oz after showing yet more volatility yesterday, when the yellow metal slipped below US$1,120/oz after almost reaching US$1,135/oz, largely in response to movements in the currency markets.

Gold fell after the euro weakened against the US dollar on comments from a Greek official, who said that the country was unlikely to receive aid from fellow euro zone members and could turn to the International Monetary Fund for help.

The American currency rose on the comments to push down gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the US dollar.

The US dollar has been under pressure after the Federal Reserve decided to leave its interest rates unchanged and showed further weakness after today's economic updates were released.

Silver followed gold, sliding to US$17.45/oz, while platinum held steady at US$1,629/oz.

Major miners were mixed today. Platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI) was flat, while fellow FTSE 100 constituents were in decline as gold miner Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) posted a marginal loss, while silver and gold miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) dropped 1.2%.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) was unmoved.

Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) was the top performing midcaps with a small gain. Gold miner Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) made little headway, while silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) declined marginally.

London listed Australian gold producer Leyshon Resources (AIM: LRL) led the juniors with a 10% rally. Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS) and Fiji focused gold miner Vatukoula Gold Mines (AIM: VGM) followed, climbing 8% and 4% respectively.

Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) slipped 4.5%.

Miners retreat as copper falls

Base metals were mixed as while copper fell to US$3.38/lb, nickel climbed to US$10.15/lb, while zinc inched lower to US$1.04/lb.

Most base metal miners were in decline. Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) dropped 2% and 1.5% respectively, while Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) lost nearly 1%. Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) declined marginally and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) was flat, as was the world’s largest miner BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT).

Zinc mining and recycling specialist ZincOX (AIM: ZOX) and South American focused junior miner Herencia Resources (AIM: HER), which today reported gold assay results from its Paguanta project in Chile, were the top performing juniors with gains of 11% and 9% respectively.

Tantalum concentrate supplier with assets in Mozambique Noventa (AIM: NVTA) slipped 5.5%.

Banks, insurance, private equity

Banking stocks were in decline today. Part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) and Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) led the retreat with losses of 3% and 2% respectively. Barclays (LSE: BARC) and HSBC (LSE: HSBA) were down 1.6% and 1.2%, while Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) declined marginally.

Insurers showed little movement today. Admiral Group (LSE: ADM), Aviva (LSE: AV), Legal & General (LSE: LGEN), Prudential (LSE: PRU) and RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) added less than 1%, while Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) were flat.

Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) posted a small gain.

Small Cap Movers

Other notable movers among the small caps included developer of vision based industrial systems Seeing Machines Limited (AIM: SEE), which extended yesterday’s gains with a 6% climb.

Large and Mid Cap News

Turbines and aircraft engines maker Rolls-Royce PLC (LSE: RR) said it won its second contract in two years from Gas Authority India Limited (GAIL) to supply power systems for a major gas pipeline project. The new contract is valued at US$90 million.

Aviva (LSE: AV) is set to enter the Indonesian insurance market through a joint venture with PT Asuransi Wahana Tata. Through the deal, Aviva is acquiring a 60% share in the company’s Indonesian unit, PT Asuransi Winterthur Life Indonesia (WLI). The FTSE100 constituent said the acquisition is consistent with Aviva's long term strategy to build a presence in key markets in South East Asia.

Wood Group (LSE: WG) said it has been reappointed by oil and gas supermajor BP (LSE: BP) to provide engineering, modifications and maintenance to its Sullom Voe Terminal (SVT) in the Shetlands, securing a three year deal worth £25 million.

Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR) treated investors to a flurry of statement this morning, annioouncing it raised US$100m through a convertible bond and the expansion of its operation in Vietnam operations. The FTSE 250 constituent also reported full year results for the year ended 31 December 2009, which revealed a 42% increase in production, a 56% increase in revenue to US$157.1m and pretax losses narroeing substantially to US$3m from US$75.5m).

Small Cap News

Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd (AIM: CGH) said it was notified that on 17 March 2010, finance director Linda Naylor bought 35,500 ordinary shares in the company at 55.375 pence each. She now has a beneficial interest in 78,000 shares representing approximately 0.07 percent of Chaarat's issued share capital.

Berkeley Resources (ASX:BKY, AIM:BKY) has received drill results from exploration at the Águila and Alameda areas and final results from the program at the Alameda South deposit at the Salamanca Uranium Project in Spain.

In its interim results statement, African Diamonds (AIM: AFD) said the pace of development at the AK6 diamond mine in Borswana is accelerating, with the mine expected to come on stream in 2011 and within previously set cost parameters.

London Mining (AIM: LOND) said its full year loss narrowed to US$28.6 million in 2009 from US$36.8 million in 2008, helped by the first net earnings of US$6 million booked from its Chinese joint venture China Global Mining Resources (CGMR), which has produced 136,500 tonnes of iron ore attributable to the company since the US$44.5 million acquisition last April.

ReNeuron Group (AIM: RENE) has signed two further clinical grade stem cell manufacturing contracts with Angel Biotechnology Holdings (AIM: ABH) in support of ReNeuron's recently approved first-in-man clinical trial with its ReN001 therapy for stroke patients.

EMED Mining (AIM: EMED) said its addtional listing on the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) planned for the second half of the year is on track, following consultations with the exchange, its advisers and institutional mining-specialist investors.

Herencia Resources (AIM: HER) has decided to assay all samples from the current 2010 diamond drill program at its Paguanta project in Chile for gold in addition to assaying for base metals. After the majority of holes within the existing resource envelope intersected gold mineralisation, the company is seeing growing potential for gold credits to enhance future project economics.

Metminco (ASX: MNC) has announced its intention to list on London’s AIM market, after it exercised its option to acquire a controlling interest in un-listed Hampton Mining, whose main asset is the Los Calatos copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit in southern Peru. The company has simultaneously undertaken a capital raising in support of the UK listing and the acquisition.

ZincOx Resources (AIM: ZOX) informed investors that, on the 16 March 2010, it received notice of requisition for a general meeting from two of its shareholders which together hold 5% of its issued share capital.

In its preliminary full-year results statement, Biocompatibles International (LSE: BII) said it has continued to make very good progress in 2009 in terms of its financial performance and progress with its strategic goals. In the twelve months ended 31 December 2009, the group demonstrated a substantial improvement in its sales performance, delivering revenue growth of 50%, ahead of the company’s expectations.

GlaxoSmithKline, Aggreko, Experian, TUI Travel and G4S rise to keep FTSE 100 positive

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:25:00 +0000

US stocks were off to a positive start as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25%, the broader S&P 500 index was flat and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite posted a small gain.

Commodities

Oil prices retreated after making gains yesterday as the US dollar gained ground on the euro.

May Brent Crude slid to US$81.63/barrel, while US light, sweet crude was down to US$82.51/barrel.

Oil and gas engineering firms Amec (LSE: AMEC) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC) declined marginally.

Services companies did well as Wood Group (LSE: WG) gained 1.7% after securing a contract from BP, while Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) rallied 6% after announcing its full year results.

Gold steady at $1,125 as US dollar pares gains

The American currency rose on the comments to push down gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the US dollar.

The US dollar has been under pressure after the Federal Reserve decided to leave its interest rates unchanged and showed further weakness after today's economic updates were released.

Silver followed gold, sliding to US$17.45/oz, while platinum held steady at US$1,629/oz.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) was unmoved.

Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) slipped 4.5%.

Miners retreat as copper falls

Base metals were mixed as while copper fell to US$3.38/lb, nickel climbed to US$10.15/lb, while zinc inched lower to US$1.04/lb.

Tantalum concentrate supplier with assets in Mozambique Noventa (AIM: NVTA) slipped 5.5%.

Banks, insurance, private equity

Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) posted a small gain.

Small Cap Movers

Other notable movers among the small caps included developer of vision based industrial systems Seeing Machines Limited (AIM: SEE), which extended yesterday’s gains with a 6% climb.

Large and Mid Cap News

Small Cap News

ZincOx minority shareholders holding 5% requisition meeting to oust management

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:10:00 +0000

ZincOx Resources (AIM: ZOX) informed investors that, on the 16 March 2010, it received notice of requisition for a general meeting from two of its shareholders which together hold 5% of its issued share capital.

In a separate statement, the shareholders identified themselves as Aldersgate Investment Managers and US SDR LLC.

Zincox said it will call a general meeting, which according to the TS SDR statement has to occur with six weeks of the requisition notice. The requisition proposes the removal of six of the company’s current directors, to be replaced by two new directors, Russ Robinson and Barry Hamilton.

ZincOx's main projects are the Jabali zinc oxide deposit in Yemen and the development of a zinc reclamation operation in North America, the Ohio Recycling Plant. The planned ORP is the company’s most advanced recycling project which will process electric arc furnace dust (EAFD), a by-product from steel recycling processes, to produce zinc. According to ZincOx, EAFD contains about four times more zinc than the average natural deposit. EAFD generally contains between 18% and 25% zinc.

Russ Robinson is the principal owner of US SDR LLC, which was founded in 2006 to build and operate Waelz Kiln processing plants to recycle EAFD to produce zinc oxide and waelz iron product. US SDR sold its Waelz Kiln plant in Alabama in October 2009.

The six directors named by the minority shareholders consist of executive chairman Andrew Woollett, managing director Peter Wynter Bee, finance director Simon Hall, technical and production director Jacques Dewalens, project development director Simon Mulholland and non-executive director Gilles Masson.

In terms of shareholdings, Aldersgate is ZincOx’s seventh largest significant shareholder with approximately 4.4% of the company. ZincOx’s three largest shareholders are Heogh Capital Partners with 12.8%, M&G Securities with 9.1% and Sloane Robinson Investment with 9.5%. The company’s other significant shareholders include Sisu (4.9%), JP Morgan (6%) and Teck (7.1%).

ZincOx said it will provide notice of the general meeting in due course and in accordance with its articles of association.

Shares in the group were trading up more than 12 percent in late afternoon deals.

FTSE 100 pares losses on positive US data, commodities mixed

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:01:00 +0000

Overview: contrary to pre-trade projections, the FTSE 100 was flat in late afternoon just before the close despite an expected decline as today’s economic updates in both the US and the UK turned out to be positive. UK unemployment fell by 33,000, while the jobless rate declined to 7.8% to post the first quarterly decline in nearly two years. US jobless claims data showed a decline of 5,000 to 457,000, while a drop to 455,000 was expected. Meanwhile, US inflation stayed unchanged in February following a 0.2% increase in the previous month.

US stocks were off to a positive start as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25%, the broader S&P 500 index was flat and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite posted a small gain.

Commodities

Oil prices retreated after making gains yesterday as the US dollar gained ground on the euro.

May Brent Crude slid to US$81.63/barrel, while US light, sweet crude was down to US$82.51/barrel.

Oil and gas engineering firms Amec (LSE: AMEC) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC) declined marginally.

Services companies did well as Wood Group (LSE: WG) gained 1.7% after securing a contract from BP, while Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) rallied 6% after announcing its full year results.

Gold steady at $1,125 as US dollar pares gains

The American currency rose on the comments to push down gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the US dollar.

The US dollar has been under pressure after the Federal Reserve decided to leave its interest rates unchanged and showed further weakness after today's economic updates were released.

Silver followed gold, sliding to US$17.45/oz, while platinum held steady at US$1,629/oz.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) was unmoved.

Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) slipped 4.5%.

Miners retreat as copper falls

Base metals were mixed as while copper fell to US$3.38/lb, nickel climbed to US$10.15/lb, while zinc inched lower to US$1.04/lb.

Tantalum concentrate supplier with assets in Mozambique Noventa (AIM: NVTA) slipped 5.5%.

Banks, insurance, private equity

Private equity group 3i (LSE: III) posted a small gain.

Small Cap Movers

Other notable movers among the small caps included developer of vision based industrial systems Seeing Machines Limited (AIM: SEE), which extended yesterday’s gains with a 6% climb.

Large and Mid Cap News

Small Cap News

Herencia Resources to assay Paguanta 2010 samples for gold to possibly improve project economics

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:30:00 +0000

Herencia Resources (AIM: HER) has decided to assay all samples from the current 2010 diamond drill program at its Paguanta project in Chile for gold in addition to assaying for base metals. After the majority of holes within the existing resource envelope intersected gold mineralisation, the company is seeing growing potential for gold credits to enhance future project economics.

While the focus will remain on zinc, lead and silver, Herencia is encouraged by the obvious potential to enhance the economics, as the recent assay results have now confirmed that over 80% of holes drilled within the existing resource envelope at Paguanta have reported gold mineralisation.

Gold assay results showed that drill samples intersected intervals of 8 metres at 1.53 g/t gold including 1 metre at 3.38 g/t gold, 7 metres at 1.17 g/t gold including 1 metre at 3.11 g/t gold, 3 metres at 1.02 g/t gold, 4 metres at 0.86 g/t gold, 1 metre at 3.55 g/t gold, 1 metre at 3.02 g/t gold and 1 metre at 4.57 g/t gold.

The 2010 drill program is targeting potential high grade extensions to the known mineralisation immediately along strike and down dip from previous holes that returned high grade zinc-lead-silver assays.

The drilling program will likely run until May, with all assay results planned to be returned by June 2010.

Managing director Michael Bohm stated: "We are also excited by what the significance of gold might be in terms of further geological prospectivity on our Paguanta leases, particularly given the project is situated within one of the world's great mineralised belts. This is in addition to further depth potential at Paguanta itself and the porphyry-copper prospectivity at La Rosa located only 3km away within the same block of granted tenements."

The scoping study of the Patricia deposit estimated the total mining inventory at 2.67 Mt (million tonnes) and the underground mining inventory at 1.24 Mt grading 5.28% zinc, 1.84% lead and 102 ppm (parts per million) silver. Initial potential mine life is currently estimated at five and a half years, which could be extended with more drilling. Capital costs are estimated at US$55.6 million and site operating costs at US$55.32/t (tonne).

The project comprises an indicated and inferred mineral resource of 3.15 Mt at 3.9% zinc, 1.3% lead and 74 g/t silver including a higher grade component of 1.01 Mt at 6.6% zinc, 2.2% lead and 119pm silver.

The company has recently raised £1.37 million through an issue of 250 million new shares for Paguanta and its adjacent La Rosa porphyry-copper prospect.

Shares in the company rallied 9.2% on the news and held on to their gains in early afternoon deals.

BP, BG Group, Cairn Energy, Melrose Resources and Dana Petroleum climb despite lower crude

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:21:00 +0000

Oil prices retreated after making gains yesterday as the US dollar gained ground on the euro.

Today’s slight declines were due to gains in the US dollar against the euro, which was pushed down by comments from a Greek official, who said that the debt laden country could turn to support to the International Monetary Fund as it was unlikely that it would receive aid from fellow euro zone countries. A Stronger American currency makes dollar-denominated commodities such as crude more expensive for holders of other currencies.

May Brent Crude slid to US$81.63/barrel, while US light, sweet crude was down to US$82.51/barrel.

Oil and gas engineering firms Amec (LSE: AMEC) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC) declined marginally.

Services companies did well as Wood Group (LSE: WG) gained 1.7% after securing a contract from BP, while Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) rallied 6% after announcing its full year results.

Crude retreats as API and EIA US oil stockpiles climb, Greek debt concerns linger

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Oil prices retreated after making gains yesterday as the US dollar gained ground on the euro.

May Brent Crude slid to US$81.63/barrel, while US light, sweet crude was down to US$82.51/barrel.

Oil and gas engineering firms Amec (LSE: AMEC) and Petrofac (LSE: PFC) declined marginally.

Services companies did well as Wood Group (LSE: WG) gained 1.7% after securing a contract from BP, while Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) rallied 6% after announcing its full year results.

Salamander Energy raises US$100m and acquires interest in Vietnam oil play

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:58:00 +0000

Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR) treated investors to a flurry of statement this morning, annioouncing it raised US$100m through a convertible bond and the expansion of its operation in Vietnam operations. The FTSE250 constituent also reported full year results for the year ended 31 December 2009, which revealed a 42% increase in production, a 56% increase in revenue to US$157.1m and pretax losses narroeing substantially to US$3m from US$75.5m).

The company has issued US$100m of senior, unsecured convertible bonds which are due in 2015. The Bonds are being issued at 100% of the principal, and they will have an annual coupon of 5.00%, which will be paid semi-annually in arrears. The initial conversion price is £3.637 per share, representing a 37.5% premium to the volume weighted average price on the London Stock Exchange between launch and pricing, earlier this morning.

The proceeds of the bond issue will allow the group to react promptly to opportunities to broaden and diversify its Asian portfolio. Salamander announced such an opportunity today, as it proposed its acquisition of a 50% interest in an offshore exploration block in Vietnam’s Hanoi Trough.

Through a deal with Santos Vietnam Pty and Singapore Petroleum Vietnam Song Hong Co, the company will acquire the stake in Block 101-100/04, and it will also assume the operator role for the project. In the Hanoi Trough, the Cat Ba oil prospect is scheduled to be drilled in 2011, and according to Salamander there is follow-on drilling potential with at least three further prospects identified on the block to date.

"The Hanoi Trough is a proven but underexplored basin Offshore Northern Vietnam, part of a play system that extends east to the Beibu Wan fields”, Salamander chief executive James Menzies said. “This deal introduces Salamander to a new play and broadens our prospect inventory and medium term drilling options".

Randgold Resources and Fresnillo fall amid volatility in gold and silver

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:37:00 +0000

The American currency rose on the comments to push down gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the US dollar.

The US dollar has been under pressure after the Federal Reserve decided to leave its interest rates unchanged and showed further weakness today after US jobless claims data showed a decline of 5,000 to 457,000, while a drop to 455,000 was expected. Meanwhile, US inflation stayed unchanged in February following a 0.2% increase in the previous month.

Silver followed gold, sliding to US$17.45/oz, while platinum held steady at US$1,629/oz.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) was unmoved.

Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) slipped 4.5%.

Gold flat as US dollar pares gains on US data, mining stocks mixed

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:32:00 +0000

The American currency rose on the comments to push down gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the US dollar.

Silver followed gold, sliding to US$17.45/oz, while platinum held steady at US$1,629/oz.

Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) was unmoved.

Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) slipped 4.5%.

Wood Group secures 3 year £25 mln services deal from BP

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:12:00 +0000

Wood Group (LSE: WG) said it has been reappointed by oil and gas supermajor BP (LSE: BP) to provide engineering, modifications and maintenance to its Sullom Voe Terminal (SVT) in the Shetlands, securing a three year deal worth £25 million.

The deal is extendable for another two years.

“Wood Group is delighted to have been re-awarded this contract by BP. We look forward to maintaining and strengthening our alignment with BP's drive to improve safety and efficiency,” said the group director responsible for production facilities, Les Thomas.

Wood Group is currently designing and installing BP's major upgrade to the gas processing plant at SVT which is on schedule to be completed later this year. The multi-million refurbishment will replace the 25-year old gas processing plant with a slimmed down 21st century model to maximize efficiency.
Shares in the company added 1.5 2% on the news.

HB Daily Smallcap Newsflash including Cohort, Mount Engineering, Renewable Energy Generation, Timestrip and others

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:56:00 +0000

Cohort (CHRT, 83p, £33.85m) The group has updated on the over-statement of profits at its SCS subsidiary and has restated the year to April 2009 from sales of £31.2m and trading profit of £3.3m down to £29.3m and £1.5m respectively. The group has also restated the 6 months to October 2009 with sales of £12.8m and a trading loss of £0.9m rising to revenues of £14.1m and a trading profit of £0.3m. The group is recovering management bonuses paid. The group has confirmed a restructuring of SCS to protect margins, will achieve £2m of annualised savings and is expected to broadly be completed by April 2010. Similarly the group has highlighted poorer trading at SEA with a loss from legacy project in the Offshore division. MASS continues to trade well. Forecasts around £4.5m with 8.6p EPS put the group on an April 2010 PER of 9.7x. Appropriately rated - HOLD.

Cosalt (CSLT, 8.65p, £34.98m) Interim trading statement for the first 4 months reports revenues at £30m, slightly below the £31m of the previous year. However the group has taken actions to protect the bottom line – so we maintain the BUY recommendation with the same 11.7p price target.

F.W. Thorpe (TFW, 600p, £71.36m) Interim revenues rose to £28.25m (£27.56m), operating profits of £4.56m (£4.16m) but lower interest receivable led to PBT of £4.68m (£4.75m), EPS of 28.5p (29.1p), DPS held at 4.1p and net cash increased slightly to £7.37m (£7.13m at the end of June 2009. Within the group Thorlux grew sales and expanded into Sweden and Australia, while Mackwell still suffered from its $ based purchasing and other companies fell. With the group on track to be able to pay a 16.2p held full year dividend, a 2.7% yield, with an 11x prospective PER, we still see upside to 640p – but that is not sufficient to maintain the Buy - so dropped to a HOLD.

Gas Turbine Efficiency (GTE, 9.375p, £9.54m) has agreed a 3 year contract to supply gas and steam turbine major outage field services to Florida Entegra Power Group’s 4,400MW fleet of 7FA combined cycle units. The share price has tumbled from 20p in mid December as the outlook for airlines remains difficult. However looking to the June 2011 the shares potentially have upside and so we maintain our HOLD.

Mount Engineering (MOU, 64.5p, £15.13m) Prelims to 31 December 2009 report a 20% decline in revenues to £9.3m (2008: £11.8m), but an improvement in operating margins reduced PBT by 11% to £1.9m (2008: 2.2m) and EPS by 8% to 8.2p (2008: 8.9p), broadly in line with consensus. Net cash of £1.8m (2008: £0.5m) has encouraged the group to increase the DPS to 2.4p (2008: 2.3p). Management believe sales have stabilised. The order book provides short-term visibility. We continue to believe the current financial year will be challenging. However, the group is well placed to benefit from any upturn in 2010. The market forecasts 2010 PBT of £3.0m, EPS of 8.75p and DPS of 2.6p. We believe there is scope to slightly reduce the profit figure. The group trades on a 2009 historic PER of 7.9x with a yield of 3.7%. We believe the group is undervalued trading on a 2010 PER and yield of 7.4x and 4.0% respectively. We reiterate our BUY recommendation with a target price of 76p.

Plexus Holdings (POS, 38p, £30.74m) Interims to December 2009 saw sales of rental specialised well-head equipment & services of £6.47m (£6.70m) but an increased gross profit of £3.50m (£3.30m), operating profits of £0.19m (£0.14m) despite doubling the R&D spend to £0.36m, a PBT £0.09m (£0.03m), 0.11p (0.04p) EPS and a 0.33p uncovered dividend. The group ended the period with net debt of £2.65m (net debt £1.35m). The group has already announced a raft of orders and confirms signs of increased activity with the potential of a strengthened order book in H2 and beyond. It has announced a £0.5m in increased assembly and testing facilities at its Dyce Aberdeen facility. We maintain our BUY recommendation with a 45p price target.

Raymarine (RAY, 4p, £3.27m) has announced the extension of its banking facilities to September 2010. The group has previously mentioned an indicative offer around 3.6p - we maintain our SELL to that level at least.

Renewable Energy Generation (WIND, 59p, £60.92m) Interims to December 2009 saw revenues increase to £3.5m (£2.7m) with EBITDA turning positive with £0.4m (loss £0.6m) and a loss from continuing operations of £0.3m (loss £1.1m). The group has proposed 0.5p DPS. Following the sale of the Canadian wind business for Can$125m the group retained 7 UK operational wind farms with generation capacity of 21.3MW. During the period the group purchased the 4MW fully consented site at High Haswell and won its first commercial Biopower contract with the Port of Dover. The group has a development portfolio of some 350MW with 3 sites, Goonhilly Downs, Loscar & High Haswell, to be completed during 2010 and take capacity to some 100GWh per annum. Following the wind farm disposal in Canada the group has £25m in cash with another £15.5m deferred and still to be received. The group will be hosting a UK site visit in July. Funded and with a good portfolio we maintain a SPECULATIVE BUY.

SciSys (SSY, 46p, £13.34m), the supplier of bespoke software systems, IT based solutions and support services to the Media Broadcast, Space, Government & Defence, has secured a four year framework contract with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Ireland. SciSys will provide design, development and reporting services in the areas of Regulatory Systems and GIS. The new contract expands the groups’ exposure to the Environment and Climate sector. We reiterate our BUY recommendation.

ServicePower Technologies (SVR, 4.5p, £8.53m) Finals to December 2009 saw revenues £18.11m (£15.64m), gross profits of £6.30m (£5.40m), GP margin of 34.8% (34.5%) with growth in both Service Scheduling (£7.79m V.S. £6.54m) and Service Operations (£10.32m V.S. £9.10m). Underlying expenses fell to £7.2m £7.89m) leading to reduced losses before tax of £1.10m (£2.50m) and the group ended the period with £2.31m net cash. Both divisions showed better performances on increased revenues with Service Scheduling where segment profits rose to £2.974m (£2.54m) while Service operations turned from losses of £0.04m to profits £0.28m. Although we see the group just making over breakeven this year, it will achieve growth in difficult markets and the entry into the US offers the potential of positive surprises. Moved from a Hold to a SPECULATIVE BUY.

Stilo International (STL, 1.38p, £1.51m), the software and services company, reports prelims to 31 December 2009. As a consequence of delays and cancellations of projects, revenues to fall by 33% to £2.0m (2008: £3.0m), but improvements in gross margins and cutbacks in overheads reduced adjusted pre-tax losses to £0.22m (2008: £0.36m). The group ended the year with net cash of £0.44m, which is sufficient. Stilo continues to invest in product development. The economic outlook remains uncertain, but the group anticipate modest sales growth in 2010 and an improvement in profitability. There are no forecasts in the market. We reduce our recommendation to a HOLD.

Timestrip (TIME, 1.2p, £5.96m) has been unable to raise new funds for working capital for new contracts wins. Therefore, the group has to consider all other strategic options open to it which includes a possible sale of the business. The lack of visibility for the future of the group encourages us to reduce our recommendation to a SELL.

Torotrak (TRK, 26.5p, £42.63m) has now received the £3.75m from Allison Transmissions which has secured non-exclusive rights for the medium sized commercial vehicle market. It has the option to secure global manufacturing and sales exclusivity for the same arena plus the ability to extend to the larger commercial vehicles. Additional potential payments could range from £6.75m to £17.37m). We returned the shares to a SPECULATIVE BUY at 24.5p and maintain the recommendation.

Insurer Aviva enters Indonesia with PT Asuransi Wahana Tata JV

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:50:00 +0000

Aviva (LSE: AV) is set to enter the Indonesian insurance market through a joint venture with PT Asuransi Wahana Tata. Through the deal, Aviva is acquiring a 60% share in the company’s Indonesian unit, PT Asuransi Winterthur Life Indonesia (WLI). The FTSE100 constituent said the acquisition is consistent with Aviva's long term strategy to build a presence in key markets in South East Asia.

"We are excited by the potential offered by the Indonesian insurance market and the growth prospects offered by this partnership. It is another step in our strategy to build a competitive presence in key markets in Asia to ensure that we benefit from the region's long term potential", Aviva Asia Pacific CEO Simon Machell commented.

As at 31 December 2009, WLI had gross assets of approximately £15m, and it manages pension fund assets totalling £42m.

Aviva noted that WLI is a top three health insurance provider in Indonesia, and has a 6% share in the Indonesian financial institutions' pensions market.

The WLI business will be renamed PT Asuransi Aviva Indonesia upon completion of the deal.

Australia's Metminco to join AIM after acquiring a controlling stake in Hampton Mining

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:26:00 +0000

Metminco (ASX: MNC) has announced its intention to list on London’s AIM market, after it exercised its option to acquire a controlling interest in un-listed Hampton Mining, whose main asset is the Los Calatos copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit in southern Peru. The company has simultaneously undertaken a capital raising in support of the UK listing and the acquisition.

Metminco has submitted an application to the AIM market, operated by the London Stock Exchange, for the company’s shares to be admitted to trading. It is expected that admission to the AIM market will be granted on 1 April 2010. In the meantime, Metminco has requested a voluntary suspension of its shares on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) until 1 April 2010 whilst the associated capital raising is completed.

To coincide with its admission to the AIM market, it has appointed UK based corporate executive Tim Read and Francisco Vergara Irarrazava, a senior partner of a law firm in Santiago, to the company’s board of directors.

Hampton's projects are situated in Chile and Peru and are mainly focused on copper, although they also have significant exposure to gold, molybdenum, zinc, silver and lead, Metminco said. The projects range from mine pre-feasibility, through advanced exploration to grassroots exploration.

Hampton’s primary project is the Los Calatos copper-molybdenum porphyry deposit in Peru, in an existing mining region and near established service infrastructure. At Los Calatos, Hampton has estimated an initial JORC compliant resource of 262 million tonnes at a 0.2% copper cut-off grade, consisting of Indicated Mineral Resources of 69.2 million tonnes at 0.44% copper and 510ppm molybdenum and Inferred Mineral Resources of 192.4 million tonnes at 0.42% copper and 382ppm molybdenum. Hampton is currently undertaking a 11 hole, 10,000 metres drilling program at Los Calatos.

Hampton’s other advanced projects, the Mollacas copper project and the Vallecillo gold-zinc project, are both located north central Chile. At the Mollacas project, final leach testwork is underway, as a precursor to a feasibility study.

Metminco initially signed an option agreement with Junior Investment Company (JIC) in September 2009 in respect of JIC’s 39.1% shareholding in Hampton. In January 2010, Hampton announced a pro-rata rights issue, and Metminco subscribed for 4.5m shares, its full entitlement under the first and second round, at a cost of A$1.2m and increased its interest in Hampton to approximately 37.8%.

Upon closing the deal with JIC, Metminco will own between 55% and 69% of Hampton depending on the exercise of pre-emption rights among the un-listed company’s other shareholders. The JIC deal is expected to be completed by 30 April 2010. The JIC transaction was recently approved by Metminco shareholders on 12 March 2010.

With the exercise of the JIC option, and with all Hampton shareholder exercising their rights in full, Metminco’s holding in Hampton will increase to approximately 55%, through the issue of approximately 72m shares and a payment of US$6.6m. Should no other Hampton shareholder exercise their pre-emptive rights in full, Metminco will acquire 69% of the company by the issue of 132.7m shares and a US$12m cash payment.

Additionally the company noted that its A$14m convertible note facility with BBY has lapsed as a result of the current capital raising.

Metminco’s previously announced sale and purchase agreement with Highland Holdings Resources (HHR), to acquire 100% of the issued capital of North Hill Holdings Group, will become unconditional on completion of the JIC Option and it will be completed concurrently with the JIC Option. The North Hill Holdings Group indirectly owns 100% of the Alpha, Gamma and Nelson tenements in southern Peru.

London-based stockbroker Daniel Stewart said that Metminco has a very experienced management team, with a history of success and it may achieve further growth now it has structural control of Hampton and Los Calatos. According to the broker, the Los Calatos is a world-class copper deposit, with a 6km strike length which remains open in all directions.

Daniel Stewart also noted the company’s other projects which may provide growth, including the Las Mollacas project which could begin production by Jan 2012 and the Camaron, Isidro and Vallecillo projects.

EMED Mining says ASX listing progressing well, seeing strong support from investors

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:37:00 +0000

EMED Mining (AIM: EMED) said its addtional listing on the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) planned for the second half of the year is on track, following consultations with the exchange, its advisers and institutional mining-specialist investors.

The investment community was particularly excited by the operational progress made by the company and the European Commission’s new policy of increasing Europe’s production of minerals and metals, which bodes well for the development of EMED’s flagship Rio Tinto mine (Proyecto Rio Tinto, PRT) in Spain and adjacent projects.

EMED has recently conducted an introductory presentation in Australia, reporting on progress in its Iberian Pyrite Belt with recent large base metal mine start-ups in this part of Spain including the newly developed projects Las Cruces and Aguas Tenidas, both near PRT.

Another positive was the short timetable to production at PRT upon the receipt of permits and its growth potential both in the existing open pit mine and at depth in and around the previously worked underground mines on the property. There has been no exploration below 250 metre depth despite PRT’s being long recognised as one of the world’s largest massive sulphide mineralisation systems.

The company said it was encouraged by the response it received from the investment community and said that demand for metals was likely to grow to further increase the attractiveness of its assets, and an Australian quote would garner it more support for its projects.

“Copper and gold are today two of the most sought-after asset classes. And the global shortage of copper production capacity makes the company's Proyecto Rio Tinto in particular an attractive opportunity for value adding in both the short term and longer term. The company has been encouraged by the response of the mining investment community and looks forward to progressing the proposed secondary listing of its shares on the ASX later this year. The board believes that such a listing is a natural step for the company within the international mining investment and metal production community,” said managing director of EMED Harry Anagnostaras-Adams.

EMED plans to commence production from the Rio Tinto mine in 2011, having timetabled the regulatory and permitting process over the course of the next twelve months. Public consultations, further regulatory reviews and administrative approvals are expected to be completed from the second quarter of the 2010 calendar year onwards, while the company plans to seek shareholder approval and commence start-up activities at the mine through the third and fourth quarter of 2010.

Earlier this month, the company commissioned a refinement of the scoping study at its Biely Vrch gold project in Slovakia to adjust the siting of infrastructure, and improve the project economics by adjusting the slopes of the planned open pit. The study is also to evaluate the potential for additional revenues from selling waste rock mined from the open pit for use in building roads.

ReNeuron signs two further manufacturing contracts for ReN001 stem cells with Angel Biotech

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:53:00 +0000

ReNeuron Group (AIM: RENE) has signed two further clinical grade stem cell manufacturing contracts with Angel Biotechnology Holdings (AIM: ABH) in support of ReNeuron's recently approved first-in-man clinical trial with its ReN001 therapy for stroke patients.

Under these contracts, Angel will manufacture further drug substance lots of ReN001 stem cells for administration to patients in the trial, along with the provision of manufacturing process validation services. The cost of the drug product manufacture is being met by a recently-awarded grant from the UK Government's Technology Strategy Board, under its Regenerative Medicine Programme.

The PISCES (Pilot Investigation of Stem Cells in Stroke) clinical trial will take place through the NHS at the Institute of Neurological Sciences, Southern General Hospital, Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board. In the Phase I trial, ReNeuron's ReN001 stem cell therapy will be administered to stroke patients who have been left disabled by an ischaemic stroke, the most common form. The trial is designed primarily to test the safety profile of ReN001 in ischaemic stroke patients at a range of cell doses, but a number of efficacy measures will also be evaluated over the course of the trial.

“We are pleased to continue to work with Angel as our chosen contract manufacturing partner for the PISCES clinical trial for ReN001 in stroke. Angel has consistently demonstrated its strong expertise in the field of regulatory-compliant cell manufacture, meeting ReNeuron's needs for this important first-in-man study,” said ReNeuron chief executive Michael Hunt.

The trial will be the world’s first to use expanded neutral stem cells in this indication, the company said.

Back in September, the two companies agreed to perform work to further develop and manufacture clinical-grade lots of a second-generation formulation of ReNeuron's CTX stem cell line for subsequent pre-clinical and clinical applications. The CTX cell line forms the basis of ReNeuron's ReN001 therapy for stroke and its ReN009 therapy for peripheral artery disease.

ReN001 has been shown to reverse the functional deficits associated with stroke disability when administered several weeks after the stroke event in relevant pre-clinical models of the condition. The group secured approval to commence a first-in-man clinical trial from the UK Medicines and Health Products (MHRA) in January 2010.

In the first-in-man trial, 12 patients will receive the ReN001 therapy from between six to 24 months after their stroke. The phase one trials are now underway and if ultimately shown to be safe and effective clinically, ReN001 should become a significant new treatment option for stroke survivors, offering the potential for a degree of recovery of function in disabled stroke patients. Various independent regulatory administrative bodies play a part in the sign-off required along the way, so short term news flow should not be expected, with the phase one trial taking between 24 and 36 months to complete.

About half of the 50 million stroke survivors worldwide are left with a disability, while the annual costs of caring for such patients amount to £5 billion in the UK and US$50 billion in the US.

ReNeuron signs two further manufacturing contracts for ReN001 stem cells with Angel Biotech

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:51:00 +0000

About half of the 50 million stroke survivors worldwide are left with a disability, while the annual costs of caring for such patients amount to £5 billion in the UK and US$50 billion in the US.

Fairfax Daily Market Report by John Meyer

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:35:00 +0000

Morning View:
Miners are leading the FTSE lower today as metals take profits and Greek IMF news turns miners lower
News that Greece will be looking for IMF funding over Easter has turned prices lower following recent gains
•    Some concerns over Chinese demand, a potential rise in interest rates and a pessimistic outlook on Europe.
•    World Bank forecast for 9.5% growth in China this year is still positive news offsetting much of the potential impact of the Greek IMF news.
•    Gold: the market may see a bailout of Greece as requiring the sale of further IMF gold.
•    European Commission growth projection for 2010: Germany (+1.4%), France (+1.4%), Italy (+1.1%) and Spain (-0.3%) may be overly optimistic.
•    Market also fears renminbi appreciate may harm exports and hold back Chinese growth.

Economic News:
US – Consumer inflation is expected to reduce to 2.3% in February. The figures will be announced today.

China – Statement from World Bank and continuing pressure on renminbi prompt sell-off in metals.
•    World Bank forecasts Chinese growth to reach 9.5% this year, but warns on potential hazards in the property market and a possibility of significant increase in bad debt.
•    The Bank highlighted importance of maintaining new loan growth within the target of Rmb7.5trl (US$1.1trl)
•    China Council for the Promotion of International Trade is said to be running a stress test to determine the economic effects of renminbi appreciation. This is an indication that China might be looking to continue reforming its currency.
•    US manufactures believe that renminbi undervalued by 30-40%. Market fear that such a significant move will depress exports to china and slow global growth.
•    Many Chinese companies are operating at low profit margins and any significant appreciation in national currency will be harmful for the economy.
•    China is currently choosing from either to continue with current peg and meet increasing opposition from rest of the world (increasing protectionism) or appreciate renminbi and support exporters with additional stimulus.
•    As China is reforming its economy to stimulate domestic demand and aiming to bring renminbi to a reserve currency status one day it will imminently need to make it convertible. Therefore, yuan will appreciate, but it will be a very gradual and careful movement so as not to heart economic growth.

China – the trial of the Rio Tinto staff charged with commercial spying will start on March 22nd in a Shanghai court. The trial is expected to be open to deal with charges of bribery but closed to deal with the infringement of commercial secrets charges.

Brazil – Central Bank will announce its interest rates today. Rates are likely to increase by 0.5% to 9.25% as economy recovers and inflation continues to rise higher above 4.5% level.

Uganda – three shot dead in Kampala - potential for unrest to spread fast. This could cut off the Eastern DRC
We visited Kampala last November on route from the Eastern DRC
Gold miners in the Eastern DRC receive supplies through the Uganda border
Randgold / Anglogold – Moto Goldmines joint venture (potential access through the Sudan).
Mwana Africa’s Zani Kodo gold project still drilling
Banro – Twangiza gold project – now starting construction
•    The current president is seen by the man on the street as having installed his own tribe in key parts of government alienating other tribal factions.
•    Elements of the LRA ‘Lords Resistance Army’ are thought to be active in Kampala from time to time.
•    Taxi drivers are frightened to drive on ‘non-main’ roads after dark and vehicles are checked for bombs at the airport, hotels and key government instillations.
•    A landslide has killed 81 with 300 still missing 170 miles NE of Kampala.
•    Riots at Makere University on Tuesday after two students were shot dead following a demonstration.
•    These three incidents could spark civil war in Uganda as the Bungandan tribe jostle for power with the current ruling party.

Banks to face $1bn fraud trial in Milan over sale of swap derivatives to Milan city.
The trial could set an ugly precedent for municipalities to recover funds and costs from banks which sold derivative products to municipalities.
•    It feels likely that a trial could easily find against the banks in what is likely to be a long running and extremely complex case. If other municipalities follow suit this could spark a further banking crisis. RBS is currently defending a case against them where the bank is hiding behind the use of a disclaimer to shield themselves from liabilities relating to the syndication of a £138m term loan facility set up for Enron. While the conclusion of these cases has yet to be determined, one thing is for sure. The lawyers will do well what ever the outcome.

Currency – US dollar stronger against Euro on concerns over growth prospects in major European states and worries over possible renminbi appreciation.

Commodity News:
Making your vices pay – Asian ‘vice’ stocks are outperforming the Asian Indices and are seen as a good hedge against inflation. Gambling is seen as offering high cash flows and tobacco and alcohol to provide stable revenue streams. HM Sampoerna, an Indonesian unit of the world biggest cigarette maker has gained 32% this year.

Gold US$1,121/oz vs US$1,131oz yesterday – Gold US$1,131/oz vs US$1,112oz yesterday – increasing on Greek deficit concerns
•    Three people have been confirmed dead at the Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania. The company has made no comment about whether this will affect the listing of Barrick Gold.
•    One worker has also been confirmed dead in a rockfall at Harmony’s Tshepong mine in South Africa.
•    SPDR inventory unchanged at 1,115.51 (35.865moz) current value US$40,329bn.
Platinum US$1,628/oz vs US$1,639 yesterday –
Palladium US$4474/oz vs US$476oz yesterday –
Rhodium US$2,535/oz vs US$2,535/oz yesterday –
Silver US$17.37/oz versus US$17.54/oz yesterday –

Base metals:
Copper US$7,483/t vs US$7,511/t yesterday – concerns about Chinese demand pushing prices down
•    Boliden will close its Harjavalta smelter and refinery because a Finnish harbour strike has delayed delivery of raw materials.
•    Chile intends to use some of the profit made by Codelco to rebuild the country after the recent earthquake. There are concerns that this money should be used for reinvestment by Codelco into mining infrastructure. This will likely lead to a debate about part-privatisation of the company.
•    Kazakhstan aims to increase its copper output by 95,000t or nearly 24% in five years. The country produces 400,000t of copper cathode a year at the moment.
Aluminium US$2,293/t vs US$2,281/t yesterday –
Nickel US$22,215/t vs US$22,240/t yesterday –
Lead US$2,245/t vs 2,273/t yesterday –
Zinc US$2,325/t vs 2,357/t yesterday –
Tin US$17,620/t vs US$17,699/t yesterday –

Energy:
Oil US$81.07/bbl vs US$81.07bbl yesterday – Prices ease back from recent highs as US$ firms
•    US Energy Department report showed rising inventories for a seventh week and oversupply in western markets
Gas US$4.268/MMBTU vs US$4.353/MMBTU yesterday – Prices under pressure in response to concern over rising supplies from new US shale fields.
•    Inventories in the US likely to finish the month ahead of the five year average due to mile weather according to Bloomberg.
•    BG gas signed A$100m agreement to feed coal-seam gas to a project in Australia’s Queensland state that’s to produce fuel for the trucking industry.
Coal - BHP is keeping its Hay Point coal terminal closed after weather conditions in Queensland deteriorated further.

Other:
Iron Ore – Spot prices continue to firm and have hit US$146/t cfr China according to Metal Bulletin as rumours of benchmark settlements work through the market.
•    Market speculates that Japan’s JFE steel has settled at 70% increase.
•    Vale has requested that Japanese mills accept quarterly prices, which they may be willing to accept.
•    Oakajee Port & Rail Pty is planning a A$4bn terminal project to export iron ore from Western Australia has raised the proposed first stage capacity by 29% to 45mtpa because of demand from mining companies.

Company News:
Berkeley Resources (LSE:BKY) – Completion of phase 1 drilling at Aguila and Almeda
•    Berkeley Resources has completed the first phase of confirmatory drilling at the Aguila and Alameda areas and release the results from Alameda South, which have returned some very good results which show mineralisation consistently well above 200ppm and some results orders of magnitude above this.
•    19 diamond holes totaling 1,667m were drilled at Almeda South all of which intercepted their intended targets. The target for Almeda is to identify 25.5-29mt at 450-500ppm U3O8¬. A resource is expected by the end of this quarter.
•    Berkeley is proving up its Salamanca Uranium project in Spain which could be in production in the next two years or so.

African Diamonds (LSE:AFD) – Interim results highlights progress for AK6 pipe
•    African Diamonds is in JV with Lucara to develop the AK6 pipe in which it has a 29% stake with an option to increase to 40% by acquiring a stake from Lucara. The company expects the value of the stones to be in the region of US$200/carat as diamond prices have recovered strongly.
•    The company is investigating financing options to cover expenditures attributable. Cash at the end of December stood at £695k with a loan from Lucara for £1.233m. The capex on the project to complete phase one has been estimated at around US$63m and phase 2 a further US$25m.
•    Phase 1 development considers throughput of 2mtpa which the company is investigating increasing to 3mtpa as well as introducing further process changes to decrease flow to final diamond recovery and to enable larger stones to be recovered.
•    African Diamonds expects the mine to be in production in Q4 2011 and is in the process of completing a final feasibility study by late May which will update on costs and project scope.
Conclusion: This is an attractive large asset in an excellent jurisdiction (Botswana) that could produce well over 400,000carats/year from an open pit mine. The resource has already been significantly de-risked as bulk samples have been taken and processed and form part of the feasibility work. However, the company will need to seek significant funds in the near future.

Mining this week:
Ampella Mining* (ASX:AMX) – Recovers ‘high grade’ rock chips and announces exploration budget of $13m for 2010.
* Fairfax acts as Nomad & Broker to Medusa Mining
African Aura* (TSX-V:AUR) – Update on Putu Iron Ore project
Avocet Mining (LSE:AVM) - Preliminary results for 9months to December

Tethys Petroleum places new well on production at North Urtabulak Field

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:26:00 +0000

Tethys Petroleum (“Tethys”) (TSX:TPL), which has enjoyed considerable success in recent months with the drill bit, reported that it had now placed its latest well on production. The NUR116 well, drilled on the North Urtabulak Field in Uzbekistan, was drilled into the Jurassic reef carbonate reservoir at depth of 2,484 meters.

During initial testing the well flowed at a rate of 610 barrels of oil per day (bodp) after acidisation. Graham Wall, COO of Tethys added that the company has witnessed varying rates in production between 402 and 610 bopd from the new well, which was due to fluctuating gas lift supply pressure.

With the addition of the new well, Tethys Petroleum’s gross production attributable under a Production Enhancement Contract is now over 2,000 bopd.

While news of the boost in production was well received, Tethys Petroleum also reported that it had shut-in several wells on the field to gain pressure data for a reservoir stimulation model. “One of the issues on the field at present is reduced gas lift pressure which is resulting in lower production rates than should be obtained,” the company noted. “This issue is currently being addressed.”

Meanwhile, in Tajikistan the Central Asia focused oil producer announced that it had signed an oil sales contract to purchase crude oil from its Beshtentak light oil field. Tethys recently completed a workover on well BST20 which is now producing approximately 50 bopd using a simple unmodified beam pump.

“Tethys’ specialists believe that a significant increase in production can be achieved by the installation of better and more efficient pumping equipment, and Tethys is in the process of ordering such equipment. There are a number of other wells which could be worked over on the Beshtentak field and work is now commencing on the BST85 well.”

Tethys also believes there is potential to monetize a gas cap on the field.

Mamuka Murjikneli, Tethys’ Regional Manager responsible for Tajikistan commented: “Although this is currently a small volume of production this marks an important step forward for our Tajik operations with our first oil sales contract. The price realised under this contract is over 60% of international prices for Brent crude with the untreated crude being collected by the buyer at the field. It is expected that margins would increase with an increase in the scale of production. We have a programme of further work on Beshtentak which should significantly increase our production rate and with the extremely good terms under our PSC we currently take some 91% of the production after the State take. This will encourage us to increase our investment in this small but potentially profitable short term cash flow project, and gives us further confidence to explore for and develop more oil prospects in Tajikistan where we currently identify over 130 fields and prospects in our very large (35,000 km2) Bokhtar PSC area.”

Wise-Owl puts speculative buy on Magma Metals

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:00 +0000

Wise-Owl has produced a report on Magma Metals (ASX: MMW), with a Speculative Buy rating on the stock.

MINERAL discoveries tend to put a rocket under the share prices of junior resource companies. Rags-to-riches stories capture many hearts, but often mixed profits for investors buying after the discovery hype.

The transition from explorer to producer is a long one, and so elation following early success with the drill bit needs to be balanced with the realities of planning and funding a profitable mining operation. Magma Metals (ASX: MMW) is a classic case in point.

Soon after the company listed in 2006, a platinum discovery at its Thunder Bay North project in Canada sent its share price soaring from under 15c to more than $1 in a week.

Unfortunately investors buying into this 566 per cent surge would have been hard-pressed capturing a profit, as most of the gains were surrendered within a few months. There haven't been more fireworks during the past three years and the hype has passed.

So with subsequent exploration work yielding positive results, a period of share price growth could be looming. The company has established a maiden resource estimate for the project equating to 690,000 ounces of platinum, 90 per cent of which is amenable to open pit mining.

The shallow nature of the resource should lower mining costs, while nearby infrastructure reduces the financial burden of development. The project is accessible by road, just 45km from the main town of Thunder Bay, and isn't too far from grid power.

The project area also spreads just 20km-60km southeast of an existing polly-metallic mine and processing facility, which is operating below capacity.

An infrastructure sharing agreement may assist project economics, but we are comfortable with Magma's ability to go it alone.

The company has a strong institutional presence on its share register, the largest of which is mining heavyweight Anglo American (12 per cent). Anglo's interest is a testament to Thunder Bay's resource potential, which Magma suggests could be substantially increased by further drilling. In light of this exploration upside, and scoping study results due mid-year, we rate the stock a speculative buy.

Wise-owl.com is regarded as one of Australia’s leading independent research houses. If you would like to receive a complimentary sample of their Small to Mid Cap Equities report, please click here

London Mining says 2009 losses narrow to US$28.6m as China JV earns US$6m

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:37:00 +0000

London Mining (AIM: LOND) said its full year loss narrowed to US$28.6 million in 2009 from US$36.8 million in 2008, helped by the first net earnings of US$6 million booked from its Chinese joint venture China Global Mining Resources (CGMR), which has produced 136,500 tonnes of iron ore attributable to the company since the US$44.5 million acquisition last April.

The JV acquired Maanshan Xiaonanshan Mining Co Ltd and Nanjing Sudan Mining Co Ltd which own an iron ore mine and concentrator plant located in the Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces. London Mining paid US$39.25 million for the stake in CGMR and made a US$5.75 million loan to JV partner Wits Basin.

Other highlights of the period included the receipt of a 25 year mining lease for Marampa, Sierra Leone, confirmation of JORC-compliant resources at Wadi Sawawin, Saudi Arabia, and Isua, Greenland. The period also saw the completion of the feasibility study for Wadi Sawawin and the group’s listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange as well as a placing of 37 million shares to raise £70 million and attract 30 new institutional investors.

The group had cash of US$205 million at 31 December 2009.

London Mining expects to deliver first production at Marampa in early 2011, targeting 1.5 Mtpa (million tonnes per annum) from the initial phase of the project with further expansion planned.

Post-period, the group has reported a JORC compliant resource for Marampa tailings, where it commenced construction after receiving final approvals, completed a pre-feasibility study and upped the JORC compliant resources to 951 Mt (million tonnes) at Isua, and it initiated discussions with potential providers of funding and offtake at Wadi Sawawin.

“London Mining is now focused on continued delivery against key milestones in 2010. We have a portfolio of quality iron ore projects which are scalable, involve simple logistics and can be developed rapidly...we are progressing drilling and development work following the delivery of a bankable feasibility study at Wadi Sawawin and a prefeasibility study at Isua,” said chief executive of London Mining Graeme Hossie.

London Mining’s total JORC compliant resource stands at 301 Mt grading 38% Fe (iron) in the measured category, 913 Mt grading 36% Fe in the indicated category for a total 1,214 Mt grading 37% Fe.

Berkeley Resources encouraged by drill results at Salamanca Uranium Project in Spain

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:25:00 +0000

Berkeley Resources (ASX:BKY) has received drill results from exploration at the Águila and Alameda areas and final results from the program at the Alameda South deposit at the Salamanca Uranium Project in Spain.

A total of 19 diamond holes (1,667m) were drilled at the Alameda South deposit, all of which intercepted their intended targets.

The thickness and grade of the intercepts continues to provide a high level of confidence in the historical drilling information upon which Berkeley has based its exploration targets. The Alameda exploration target is 25.5 - 29 million tonnes @ 450 - 500 ppm U3O8.

The Alameda deposits have been extensively explored by ENUSA but are not classed as Mineral Resources. The Alameda South deposit is located 12km west of the ENUSA Quercus Plant and is accessible via sealed highway and a sealed secondary road.

Best drill intersections based on down-hole gamma logging were: Hole ASD_001 3.2m @ 5,904ppm eU308 and Hole ASX_002 47.5m @ 2,120ppm eU308.

It is anticipated that a Mineral Resource Estimate will be completed for the Alameda area by the end of the 1st Quarter.

Biotron signs international partner, ACLIRES for Hepatitis trial

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:24:00 +0000

Sydney-based Biotron Limited (ASX: BIT) has struck a deal with a major international partner to trial its Hepatitis C drug, BIT225.

The ACLIRES clinical research group has signed on to progress Biotron's hepatitis C drug through clinical trials, given its experience in running clinical trials for both Hepatitis C and the HIV virus.

ACLIRES will bring its access to large numbers of eligible patient populations, necessary to complete a clinical trial.

Biotron’s drug, BIT 225 works by targeting the p7 protein, a viral protein essential to virus production and replication.

The next stage of development is to determine how the drug works in combination with current approved treatments for HCV, Interferon and Ribavairin.

Professor Rob Murphy, currently the Director of the Centre for Global Health at the prestigious Northwestern University in Chicago, USA will lead the clinical trial.

Molopo Energy raises A$36m in institutional share placement and entitlement offer

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:23:00 +0000

Molopo Energy (ASX: MPO) has announced the successful completion of its institutional share placement and the institutional component of its accelerated renounceable entitlement offer, which were previously announced to the market on 15 March 2010.

A total of A$36 million has been raised from institutional investors, including: A$31.5 million under the Institutional Placement, priced at A$1.15 per new share; and A$4.5 million under the Institutional Entitlement Offer at A$1.03 per new share.

The Institutional Entitlement Offer was very well supported with over 98% of eligible institutional shareholders electing to take up their entitlements.

New shares in Molopo equivalent in number to entitlements not taken up and those of ineligible institutional shareholders, were sold by way of an accelerated bookbuild process(Institutional Bookbuild) on 17 March 2010, that cleared at a price of A$1.15 per New Share.

Jabiru Metals upgrades copper zinc resource at Jaguar Project in WA

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:22:00 +0000

Jabiru Metals (ASX: JML) has updated progress on the Jaguar Project Exploration programme, located 300km north of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Three diamond drill rigs are currently operating on site, with drilling to continue over at least the next two quarters.

Diamond drilling in the vicinity of the Bentley Cu-Zn-Pb-Au-Ag ore deposit has extended massive sulphide and footwall vein-style (stringer) mineralisation to the north for an additional 250m, giving a total strike extent of more than 400m above 4100mRL.

Results so far received for this drilling include: 10BTDD001: 3.3m @ 0.4% Cu, 19.1% Zn, 0.9% Pb, 0.5g/t Au & 124g/t Ag from 393m, 10BTDD003: 2.9m @ 1.6% Cu, 33.5% Zn, 0.9% Pb, 0.8g/t Au & 145g/t Ag from 352.6m.

The mineralisation now extends north to the proposed Bentley decline position. This is expected to have a significant impact on development plans and improve cash flows for the proposed Bentley mine as it will significantly shorten the timeline to first ore production.

The mineralisation defined over this northern extension interval remains open down-dip and along strike to the north. A possible new massive sulphide lens (Comet) has been identified in 10BTDD007, with the mineralised interval occurring within the stratigraphically upper part of the post-mineralisation dolerite sill that separates each of the massive sulphide ore lenses.

In addition, a series of geophysical/geochemical targets immediately north of Bentley are currently being drilled with the aim of adding new resources to the project that could influence medium term mine development plans.

The down plunge copper-rich Bentley Extension below 4000mRL will soon be tested by a drilling programme planned to commence in the June quarter. The aim is to scope out the scale of the Bentley Extension and tenor of mineralisation at depth, for longer term planning purposes.

Studies have recently been completed by Jabiru that indicate a positive economic case for pre-treatment of copper-rich stringer sulphide ore and subsequent flotation.

A study of vein orientations within the Stringer Zone at Bentley indicates that there is unlikely to be a significant sampling bias due to the relative orientation of diamond drill holes and sulphide veins within the Stringer Zone.

On this basis, it is possible to lower the cut-off grade for the Stringer Sulphide Resource and increase the level of confidence in the continuity of mineralisation, whilst maintaining an acceptable average grade for the resource. This has led to an upgrade of the Bentley resource.

The company said work on a next stage resource estimate for the Bentley deposit has also commenced, with completion expected in the June quarter. This will be presented as part of a combined Jaguar Project Resource and Reserve Statement.

It will incorporate all drilling completed above 3950mRL. A further resource revision is planned for later in 2010 as the Bentley Extension drilling programme advances.

Two diamond drilling programmes are currently in progress in the immediate vicinity of the Jaguar mine, with the aim of targeting additional resources to extend the Jaguar mine life beyond current reserves.

Fox Resources encouraged by more positive gold assays at Mt Regal, WA

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:21:00 +0000

Fox Resources (ASX: FXR) has announced further encouraging results from an infill soil sampling programme over the Company’s 100%-owned Mt Regal gold prospect in the Pilbara of Western Australia.

Fox conducted an infill soil sampling programme in areas of anomalous gold (Au) highlighted by the gold reconnaissance soil sampling survey, reported to the ASX on 17 February 2010.

The infill programme consisted of 456 samples that reduced sample spacing to 100m x 40m, which delineated and strengthened the existing anomalies. Several samples returned assay values >1.0g/t Au, including 5.3g/t (5300ppb) Au.

Interpretation of these data at Mt Regal is categorised into four areas of gold anomalism; A,
B, C, and D.

Fox Resources’ Managing Director, Bruno Seneque, said the latest results at Mt Regal, particularly from Area D, were encouraging.

“Today’s results reinforce our optimism for further positive results in the area as we now prepare for a drilling programme to commence in the June quarter,” said Seneque.

“Area D is a series of anomalies within a one kilometre square and contains the outstanding results of this programme,” he said.

The geology in Area D consists of interpreted north/south trending ultramafics and mafic amphibolites on the margin of the Karratha granodiorite. Previously, this anomaly was defined by wide spaced sampling and remained open.

The infill survey has confirmed the prospectivity of this area and has strengthened the existing anomaly with several samples returning assay values in excess of 1.0g/t Au, with a maximum of 5.3g/t Au1.

“Reconnaissance field work in Area D by Newexco geologists has also resulted in the discovery of quartz float with visible gold – an exciting outcome,” said Seneque.

Area B strikes roughly east-west and is located entirely within a large interpreted mafic ampibolite unit. The anomaly is coherent over a strike length of 1.5km at >10ppb Au. The peak value obtained is 136ppb.

There is good spatial correlation between elevated gold and arsenic in areas D and B which suggests that the gold may have a bedrock source there.

Assays were carried out by ALS Chemex Laboratories, Perth. Gold was analysed using a 25g aqua regia extraction followed by ICP-MS analysis. Appropriate standards were included in analysis runs to monitor assay quality.

Based on these very positive assay results, a follow-up drill programme to test the bedrock potential at Mt Regal is a part of the company’s exploration plans.

Venture Minerals attracts European investor to advance Mt Lindsay Project

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:20:00 +0000

Australian mineral exploration company, Venture Minerals (ASX: VMS), has secured a European institution as a cornerstone investor, providing strong endorsement of the potential of Venture’s Mt Lindsay Project in North-West Tasmania.

Venture has agreed to place 17 million fully paid ordinary shares at 32 cents per share, to raise $5.5 million.

The funds will be utilised to advance the exploration and development program at the rapidly expanding Mt Lindsay Tin/Tungsten Project.

The investment follows several months of detailed technical, financial and legal due diligence on Venture’s flagship project.

Managing Director, Hamish Halliday said, “the addition of a significant cornerstone investor on the Company’s register underpins the world-class potential of the Mt Lindsay Project."

“We are pleased to be able to attract parties with significant financial resources. Their
involvement will undoubtedly be of assistance to the company as it proceeds through
the development stages and towards production,” he added.

Following the successful completion of the capital raising, the company will continue to aggressively explore the Mt Lindsay Project, focussing on growing the already substantial resource base and extending the potential mine life of the project.

Max Capital Pty Ltd acted as lead manager and advisor to the placement.

Venture recently announced excellent metallurgical test results work from the Mt Lindsay Project. As part of an on-going metallurgical program, the company has recently completed an analysis of tungsten concentrates produced from both gravity and flotation techniques.

Excellent results were achieved, with saleable, high grade, high quality concentrates produced from both techniques. The results suggest the Company has the opportunity to produce a high quality tungsten product, with low impurities.

In addition to producing a high grade concentrate, the recent test work has also confirmed excellent recoveries for tungsten, with test work from both techniques suggesting 85-90% recoveries can be achieved.