Proactiveinvestors Australia brief news

Continental Coal shares climb 10.87% on back of US$65m coal hedged debt agreement

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:28:00 +1100

Continental Coal (ASX: CCC) has attracted the investors today with shares up 10.87% to A$0.25 on the exchange of 22 million shares as of 4.14pm (AEDT).

It is hardly surprising though, given the company announced yesterday its South African subsidiary had secured a US$65 million coal hedged debt agreement with ABSA Capital and a subsidiary of Barclays Bank to fund the Penumbra Coal Mine development.

Continental has hedged about 664,550 tonnes of coal over the life of the term loan facility at an average price of ZAR1,057 (A$129.32) per tonne.

Importantly, the coal hedging represents only 12% of the JORC Reserves at the Penumbra Coal Mine and provides upside to any rise in thermal coal prices, as well as providing operating flexibility.

Continental is accelerating development of the Penumbra Coal Mine in South Africa.

The first decline development blasts have been successfully completed with the development of the twin declines continuing at a rate of about 2.2 metres of advance every second day in each decline.

The Penumbra Coal Mine, which is on schedule and on budget, is forecast to produce annual run of mine production of 750,000 tonnes.

Importantly for Continental, Penumbra is forecast to double export thermal coal sales and group earnings in 2012.

Global Resources Corporation kicks off first drilling at Yunt Dag gold project in Turkey

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:12:00 +1100

Global Resources Corporation (ASX: GRM) has started drilling its initial program of three diamond drill holes targeting epithermal gold and porphyry mineralisation at the Yunt Dag project in western Turkey.

Yunt Dag covers 4276 hectares and is located 50 kilometres north of Izmir City within a known mining district with three gold mines – including the Ovacik gold mine about 35 kilometres to the southeast – operating nearby.

Global Resources is investigating securing exploration rights in further tenements to the south.

The first three wells will total 900 metres and target various coincident geophysical and geochemical anomalies and based on the strong acid-sulphate alteration seen on the surface.

The company has the right to earn a 60% stake in the project.

Global Resources had cash in hand of A$841,000 at the end of 2011.

Mining Group identifies potential economic copper and gold at Comval, Philippines

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +1100

Mining Group’s (ASX: MNE) Tagpura target has the potential to host an economic copper gold deposit, based on assays from recent diamond drilling.

The best results returned from Tagpura to date include:

- 10.7 metres at 2.96% copper and 0.79 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from surface;
- 26 metres at 1.95% copper and 0.74g/t gold from 39 metres; and
- 41 metres at 1.83% copper and 0.59g/t gold from 42 metres.

Mining Group is aiming to define a maiden JORC Resource for both Tagpura and the Maangob target at the Comval Copper Gold Project.

Results from drilling and sampling at Tagpura and Maangob will assist with extensional and infill drilling programs scheduled for 2012, which are planned to advance exploration and development at Comval.

Drilling at Maangob recently returned a peak assay of 170 metres at 0.46% copper and 0.06g/t gold, including 34 metres at 1.2% copper and 0.2g/t gold.

Results from underground adit sampling at Maangob included:

- 86 metres at 1.01% copper, 0.2g/t gold and 1.56g/t silver; and
- 40 metres at 0.78% copper, 0.12g/t gold and 0.95g/t silver.

Mineralisation is open along strike to the north and south and down dip.

Comval Copper Gold Project

Mining Group’s 80% owned Comval project is located in the Compostela Valley, an established copper-gold producing region in the Mindanao province of the Philippines.

Copper and gold mineralisation has been identified from historical mining, more than 24,000 metres of drilling and extensive exploration adits, trenches and surface sampling.

The company believes the project has potential to host a large scale porphyry copper gold deposit.

Further work planned for Comval includes a full data compilation and review to calculate a maiden JORC Resource and a high level scoping study to assess the economic viability of the targets.

African Energy Resources’ stocks jump 15% as company moves to pre-development at Sese

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:37:00 +1100

African Energy Resources’ (ASX: AFR) shares went against the ASX trend today, gaining 15% to $A0.46, with nearly 4.3 million shares changing hands as of 3.33pm (AEDT).

The company has been on an upwards share trajectory since mid-December last year as it moves from exploration to pre-development at its Sese Thermal Coal Project in Botswana.

Last week African Energy Resources upgraded the Sese resource to over 2.5 billion tonnes of coal in the Indicated category, after more than 95% of the in-situ resource was classified.

Part of the resource is now targeted to be moved into the higher confidence Measured category in the June 2012 quarter, which will be from Blocks B and C.

African Energy is currently focused on completing a Bankable Feasibility study by the end of 2012, along with mining licence approvals and financing negotiations, ahead of first coal sales from stage one in mid-2013.

The defining factor for Sese is that the entire deposit is amenable to open-cut strip mining, with low risk and low costs, and mining blocks are around 500 metres by 200 metres.

Incremental to increase production, revenues with new Round Mountain oil wells

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:22:00 +1100

Incremental Oil & Gas (ASX:IOG) has added two new producing wells at its 100% owned Round Mountain project in the San Joaquin Basin, California, to its portfolio that will boost production and revenues.

The company had average production of 225 barrels of oil equivalent per day and revenue of US$2.03 million in the December 2011 quarter.

While both wells are still cleaning up, the Smoot-6 alone could increase production by more than 50% though it will stake several weeks before oil production stabilises.

Smoot-6 is currently flowing about 130 barrels per day (bpd)of fluid with oil currently making up about 15%, or about 16 barrels, of the flow.

However, this is still increasing as the fracture stimulation water is eliminated from the well and Incremental expects the well to be a profitable producer.

Meanwhile,Smoot-4 is currently flowing about 20bpd of oil from the Jewett formation and the company believes it could produce more than 35bpd of oil once that its co-mingled with flow from the deeper Pyramid Hill Formation.

Incremental will commit to further wells once flow rates stabilise.

It added the results from its six well program had indicated it could get good flow rates from relatively inexpensive fracced vertical wells.

The San Joaquin Basin has estimated reserves of more than 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent while the Round Mountain project, which covers over 760 hectares, has historically produced 110 million barrels of oil.

California also has an excellent fiscal regime along with cheap and competitive service suppliers.

Other players operating in the San Joaquin include Solimar Energy (ASX:SGY) and Neon Energy (ASX:NEN).

BioDiem targets Chinese market with influenza vaccine licence

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +1100

BioDiem (ASX: BDM) has licensed its Live Attenuated Influenza Virus (LAIV) vaccine technology to China-based Changchun BCHT Biotechnology Co., providing an exclusive licence for the Chinese private sector market for pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccines made using an egg-based production method.

Changchun BCHT Biotechnology holds a complementary licence to the LAIV for the public market in China via a sub-licence from the World Health Organisation.

BioDiem’s LAIV vaccine is based on a well-established vaccine type, where the virus has been weakened and simply presents the immune system with the proteins needed to establish immunity.

The vaccine is delivered through a nasal spray, eliminating the need for injections, which increases patient acceptability and compliance.

Importantly, BioDiem’s LAIV vaccine has been shown to produce a broader immune response, more akin to the natural immune response, than standard flu shots delivered through injection.

Further propelling BioDiem forward, late last year the company acquired Savine Therapeutics and its antigen technology, which gave BioDiem the three key elements needed in vaccine development.

The significance of this is that BioDiem can now expand the number of diseases that can be targeted.

Savine’s key asset is the patented Scrambled Antigen Vaccine (SAVINE) technology. This platform technology can be used to design antigens that are able to be incorporated into vaccines for different diseases.

The key elements of BioDiem’s vaccine business are a virus, a cell line (to grow the virus), and antigens (disease proteins).

BioDiem now has all of these components through its lead technology, the Live Attenuated Influenza Virus, the mammalian cell line recently licensed and now the acquisition of the SAVINE antigen technology.

Mint Wireless secures contract with pest control giant for mobile payment solution rollout

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:36:00 +1100

Mint Wireless (ASX: MNW) has landed a three year, A$400,000 contract with Australia’s largest privately-owned pest control company, Amalgamated Pest Control, which will utilise Mint Wireless’ mobile payment solution for its fleet of over 300 field technicians in Australia.

Amalgamated Pest Control will rollout mobile payments support for its initial 150 field technician deployment this month, with up to another 150 devices being added in the June quarter once the initial rollout has been successfully completed.

With the addition of the mobile payment solution, the company will be able to accept credit card payments (phase one) and EFTPOS transactions (phase two) for the collection of payments from pest control customers.

In 2011 Amalgamated Pest Control contracted TouchStar to deliver a mobile computing system to the company’s field technicians.

The technology solution has simplified the field technicians’ record keeping and report generation tasks by incorporating functionality that includes invoicing, inspections and now payment through Mint Wireless’ mobile payment software and the Mint Managed Payment Service.

Late last month Mint Wireless signed its first customer in Europe, footwear and clothing manufacturer Dubarry of Ireland.

Dubarry will use the mobile payment solution to process real-time card transactions at any outdoor retailing events in UK and Ireland.

Sales staff will be able to use the company’s existing point of sale application on Motorola mobile devices and process live credit or debit card transactions, which the Mint Enterprise software controls and routes through to the Mint Managed Payment Service for real-time authorisation and settlement at the end of the day.

Blackham Resources drills to extend Resource at Matilda Gold Mine

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:12:00 +1100

Blackham Resources (ASX: BLK) has commenced a maiden drilling program at the Matilda Gold Mine following the recent release of an initial JORC Resource.

A total of 2,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling will be carried out at Matilda, which has not been drilled in more than 15 years.

In January, Blackham confirmed an Inferred Resource for the Matilda Gold Project of 10.2 million tonnes at 1.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 601,000 ounces of gold within the project area, including 301,000 ounces remaining at the Williamson Mine since the completion of mining.

The company believes there is significant opportunity to add to the existing resources at Matilda and that there is potential for sizeable open pit and high grade underground deposits.

Historical activity

Historically, most mining at Matilda has not gone beyond 50 metres depth, with seven small pits mined over 3.5 kilometres strike.

Limited deeper drilling carried out in the area was successful in identifying the high grade lodes in the fresh rock, but this will require further definition drilling.

Most existing deposits at Matilda remain open along strike and at depth.

Production from all previous owners totalled 4 million tonnes at 2.2g/t gold for about 280,000 ounces of gold.

To date, Blackham’s review of resource estimates has focussed on advanced prospects and mines, with other prospects in the project still to be investigated to determine potential resources and exploration targets.

Matilda Gold Project

The Matilda Mine is part of Blackham’s Matilda Gold Project, which covers more than 600 square kilometres in Western Australia’s Wiluna region, where more than 4 million ounces of gold has been produced.

The project surrounds Apex Minerals’ (ASX: AXM) operating Wiluna Gold Mine which has a gold Resource of more than 1 million ounces.

The Williamson Mine, also part of Blackham’s Matilda Project, was operated by Agincourt Resources from 2005 to 2006 with production reported to be about 23,000 ounces.

Capital raising to progress Matilda

Late last month Blackham announced a share placement comprising 4.75 million shares at $0.20 to raise up to $950,000 to progress the Matilda gold project.

Funds from the capital raising will also be allocated to exploration and development of the company’s Scaddan and Zanthus Coal Projects.

Southern Gold reducing Cambodian presence under deal with Mekong Minerals

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:51:00 +1100

Southern Gold (ASX:SAU) will enjoy a free carry through three years of exploration expenditure up to US$5.7 million (A$5.3 million) at its Cambodian assets under a farm-in deal with Mekong Minerals, allowing it to focus on its Bulong Gold project in Western Australia.

Under the non-binding term sheet, Brisbane-based Mekong has the exclusive right earn up to 70% stake in Southern’s wholly-owned subsidiary Southern Gold Asia (SG Asia) by spending the funds.

This includes a minimum commitment of US$1 million to be spent within the first 12 months, the interests earned in SG Asia will be earned on a pro-rata basis for each US$1 million expended.

Should Mekong earn a 70% interest in SG Asia, it will have an exclusive 6 month option to acquire the remaining 30% for US$4.5 in cash or share equivalent upon its listing on the ASX.

Southern will retain a 1.5% net smelter royalty interest.

The company’s 2011 drilling program had identified high grade gold intersections at the Gossan and Preak Khlong prospects within the Kratie South project in Cambodia.

Recent highlights include 5 metres at 8.25 grams per tonne (g/t) from 56 metres at Preak Khlong while Gossan had gold assay results of 5 metres at 5.42 g/t from 73 metres, 3 metres at 8.51 g/t from 58 metres, 2 metres at 13.49 g/t from 89 metres and 2 metres at 2.87 g/t from 55 metres.

The company had cash of A$1.2 million at the end of 2011 though it has since raised almost A$1.4 million through a placement of 26.97 million shares priced at A$0.05 each to Integra Mining (ASX:IGR).

This gives Integra a 10% stake in Southern.

Integra has also agreed to support Southern’s proposed non-renounceable pro rata rights issue to eligible shareholders aimed at raising up to A$3 million.

Funds from these raisings will be used to carry out economic evaluation studies at the Cannon Gold resource and continued exploration of Bulong.

Maximus Resources soon to kick off maiden drilling at Narndee

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:11:00 +1100

Maximus Resources (ASX: MXR) will soon begin a maiden drilling campaign at the Narndee polymetallic project in the Murchison region after raising $886,905 from a recent rights issue.

The money provides sufficient funding for the company to begin a nine hole reverse circulation drilling program.

In November last year, Maximus identified a potentially major massive sulphide structure at its Narndee tenements which is geologically similar to Minmetals Resources’ Golden Grove polymetallic mine.

Significantly, Golden Grove, which is located 120 kilometres west of Maximus' Narndee tenements, hosts resources of 1.3 million tonnes of zinc, 0.8 million tonnes of copper, 0.1 million tonnes of lead, 0.9 million ounces of gold and 45 million ounces of silver.

An initial ground gravity survey conducted during October on the first two high priority targets of the Narndee tenements showed coincident electromagnetic and gravity anomalies indicating the potential for large massive sulphide bodies.

The initial drilling program will aim to test the locations where coincident airborne electromagnetic and ground gravity highs have been recorded for massive sulphide accumulations.

The Narndee project area is located in the Mt Magnet region of Western Australia and comprises 24 tenements covering a total area of around 1,650 square kilometres over the polymetallic Narndee, Milgoo and Windimurra regions.

A detailed review of all Narndee tenements completed in July 2011 generated a total of 18 targets, predominantly in the Narndee and Windimurra complex regions covering a range of elements, including copper, gold, zinc, nickel and platinum group elements.

The 18 targets were ranked to identify the six most prospective tenements to focus on-ground exploration activities on in 2011-12.

Cortona Resources clears approvals hurdle, moves towards Dargues Reef gold mine development

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:06:00 +1100

Cortona Resources (ASX:CRC) has completed the approvals process for its 50,000 ounce per annum Dargues Reef gold mine near Braidwood, New South Wales.

The final approval by the New South Wales Land and Environment Court (LEC) allows the company to progress outstanding permitting requirements for the project.

Dargues Reef will be the first major new mine to be permitted in the state in over seven years and is expected to generate around 100 jobs during the construction phase and around 80 long-term jobs during ongoing mining and processing operations, many of which will be sourced from local communities.

The Definitive Feasibility Study completed last year confirmed the technical and economic viability of a start-up underground mining operation at Dargues Reef which is forecast to produce an average of 50,000oz a year at a C1 cash operating cost of A$697/oz (including a 10% contingency).

Cortona had recently signed an agreement with DRA Pacific for construction of the processing plant and has selected a preferred contractor to excavate the box cut.

Dargues Reef has a current JORC resource of 327,000 ounces of gold including a mineral inventory of 257,462 ounces at an undiluted grade of 7.24 grams per tonne.

This does not include the recent gold discoveries at Ruby Lode, Chinamans, Dargues West or Carmine, all of which are within 250m of the planned development.

The LEC decision follows agreements with Eurobodalla Shire Council, Coastwatchers Association and the South East Regional Conservation Alliance that resulted in some modifications to the mine operating conditions.

These are expected to impact the forecast production and capital cost at Dargues Reef.

Cortona held cash of A$2.3 million at the end of 2011.

Cardia Bioplastics seeks $2.35 million capital raising for sales opportunities and development projects

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:43:00 +1100

Cardia Bioplastics (ASX: CNN) has plans to raise up to $2.35 million through a renounceable rights issue to allow the company to address immediate sales opportunities and fund development projects.

The company is offering one new share for every four shares held at an issue price of $0.007 per share.

Every new share will come with an attached option, exercisable at $0.015 each, expiring on June 30, 2015.

Patersons Securities is the lead manager to the Rights Issue, and is proposed to underwrite the issue up to $1.5 million.

Funds raised through the issue will be primarily used to provide funding for working capital purposes up to the end of the September quarter of 2012, as the company pursues immediate sales opportunities.

Proceeds will also fund Cardia’s development projects to allow it to take advantage of growth in the bioplastics business.

The company recently secured a number of deals in China, including supplying three more city districts in China with the company's renewable Biohybrid products that contain less oil and have a lower carbon footprint compared to conventional plastics.

These products include kitchen waste bags, which are now supplied to four districts which combined have a population of around 23 million people.

Oro Verde trades at 10% premium in first week of new company direction

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:35:00 +1100

Oro Verde (ASX: OVL) has received a positive market response in its first week of trade with shares hitting A$0.22, a 10% premium to the $0.20 entry price.

The company, formerly named Ezenet, re-listed on the ASX last Friday 3 February after its transition from a software and services company to a gold and copper focused explorer operating in Chile.

Oro Verde has some highly prospective bulk tonnage projects, including Chuminga which has an exploration target of 50 to 60 million tonnes of between 1% and 1.1% copper, 0.3 to 0.4 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 0.5 to 1% zinc.

Chuminga is well positioned in a region that has excellent infrastructure and most importantly hosts several world class copper mines such as Mantos Blancos, Chuquicamata and BHP Billiton’s (ASX: BHP) Escondida.

In December Oro Verde began drilling on the highly prospective and advanced project, which previously assayed 190 metres at 1.07% copper and 0.2g/t gold from trenching.

Importantly, the copper and gold results are similar to historical results, and thereby confirm the bulk tonnage potential of the breccia mineralisation.

Oro Verde has begun a first phase 10-hole/1,950 metre diamond drilling program at Chuminga. To date some 50 metres of mineralisation has been intersected.

Buccaneer Energy hits milestones at Cook Inlet, on track for drilling to begin

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:30:00 +1100

Buccaneer Energy (ASX:BCC) has secured two key permits need for it to start oil and gas exploration at the Southern Cross and Northwest Cook Inlet units in the Cook Inlet, Alaska.

The Alaskan Department of Natural Resources has approved the company’s exploration drilling plans while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued the required Section 10 permit authorising its use of a jack-up rig in the Cook Inlet.

Buccaneer is planning to drill 4 offshore wells this year at Cook Inlet, which contains a number of major oil and gas fields.

The first offshore well will be located at Southern Cross, which contains several wells that hit oil and gas but were never tested and has estimated proved and probable reserves of 12.7 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Southern Cross is also located close to the four oil and gas fields that have produced a total of 1.08 billion barrels of oil and over 550 billion cubic feet of gas.

Buccaneer will drill one other well at Southern Cross and another two wells at Northwest Cook Inlet.

Northwest Cook Inlet adjoins ConocoPhillips’ North Cook Inlet field that has produced 1.8 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Buccaneer said the permitting plan was implemented about 18 months ago and is on schedule for completion prior to the arrival of the Endeavour jack-up drilling rig, which is owned by Buccaneer’s 50% subsidiary Kenai Offshore.

The Endeavour is currently undergoing repair and modification at the Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore. Work is expected to be completed in April 2012.

Buccaneer holds a 100% working interest (80% net revenue interest) in Southern Cross and an average working interest of 98.2% (78.6% net revenue interest) in Northwest Cook Inlet.

The company held A$5.6 million in cash at the end of 2011 and had drawn down US$6.9 million from its US$50 million senior asset backed revolving credit facility with Centaurus Capital.

It has also started production from its Kenai Loop project near Kenai, Alaska, with the Kenai Loop-1 producing 5 million cubic feet of gas per day.

Central Asia Resources in A$2m placement to ramp up gold processing in Kazakhstan

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:30:00 +1100

Central Asia Resources (ASX: CVR) has received a major vote of confidence in the company's pending gold processing operations, and has received placement commitments to raise around A$2 million from professional and sophisticated investors.

The placement will comprise 80 million shares at $0.025, and will be completed under the company's placement capacity.

The company's Dalabai mine in Kazakhstan is set to benefit from the capital injection, with the funds used to ramp up gold processing. Additional exploration will also be undertaken at the Bizhe and Altyntas projects.

Guy Warwick, chairman, said that everything was in place at Dalabai. “The moment we get cooperative conditions we'll start processing.”

Dalabai has promising economics

Dalabai which is forecast to be processing gold within months, has a forecast pour rate of 15,000 gold ounces per year.

Central Asia has also identified significant exploration upside to increase production, which currently has metrics of an average 25,000 gold ounces and 550,000 silver ounces for a 2.7 year period.

At Altyntas the company is preparing for development (heap leach) in 2013 with the project already hosting close to 600,000 gold ounces, while Bizhe is only in the early exploration phase.

Further placement details

The $1 million contribution from major shareholders Re-Resources & Energies SA ($700,000) and Hillbrow Investments Limited ($300,000), which was announced earlier in the month, will be converted to shares at $0.025 as part of the placement.

Central Asia will then seek approval at a general meeting (date yet announced) to allow the director and related parties to participate in the placement in the amount of $300,000.

GBM Resources identifies new porphyry copper gold mineralisation at Mount Morgan

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:25:00 +1100

GBM Resources (ASX: GBZ) has discovered a new porphyry-style copper gold deposit near the company’s Mount Morgan Project, with rock chip samples returning up to 39% copper, 8.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 44g/t silver.

Recent surface sampling and mapping at the Sandy Creek prospect within the Mount Morgan project area has defined a large zone of anomalous copper and gold, with porphyry-style hydrothermal alteration.

The central alteration zone is estimated at 1,500 metres by 700 metres.

Of the samples taken, 14 returned greater than 0.5% copper. Best results included:

- 39% copper and 20g/t silver;
-1.4% copper and 44g/t silver; and
- 1.7% copper.

Meanwhile, gold results included 8.5g/t, 3g/t and 2.3g/t.

A drill program will be carried out at Sandy Creek this year following further mapping and sampling, with up to six reverse circulation drill holes planned to a maximum depth of 200 metres.

This drilling will form part of a regional prospect evaluation program in the Mt Morgan area.

Proximity to Mt Morgan Mine

GBM’s Mount Morgan project is located 40 kilometres southwest of Rockhampton in Queensland and comprises eight licences, five of which have been granted.

Targets ranging from early stage stream sediment anomalies to drill ready geophysical and geochemical targets have been identified within the tenements.

The Mount Morgan project area tenements surround the historical Mt Morgan copper gold mine which produced more than 8 million ounces of gold and 400,000 tonnes of copper between 1883 and 1981.

Norton Gold Fields (ASX: NGF) acquired the Mt Morgan mine in 2007 and is looking to bring the mine back into production.

Patrys’ anti-cancer drug shown to be safe in the treatment of melanoma

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:10:00 +1100

Patrys (ASX: PAB) has completed the treatment of patients in the Phase I trial of its PAT-SM6 anti-cancer antibody for the treatment of melanoma with the highest dose levels shown to be safe.

Importantly, the company has met its primary endpoint for the trial which was to establish safety and tolerability of the drug, and no significant safety issues were observed or reported for any of the patients treated.

PAT-SM6 is a natural human antibody that has shown promise as a potential treatment for multiple types of cancer including melanoma.

It is the first reported clinical product to target an important protein on the surface of cancer cells called GRP78 that plays a number of key roles in cancer cell survival, growth and metastasis.

The secondary objective of the Phase I trial was to examine multiple secondary endpoints aimed at measuring the antitumour activity of PAT-SM6. Patrys expects the full trial data to be available by the end of March.

In August 2011, the company reported that analysis of tumour samples from two patients treated with PAT-SM6 found that the antibody had penetrated into the tumour biopsies, even though the doses were substantially below the anticipated therapeutic levels.

Patrys will now move forward with the planning of its next PAT-SM6 clinical trial for patients with the blood cancer, multiple myeloma.

A Phase I/IIa open-label, multi dose escalation trial in relapsed and multi-resistant patients is planned to be undertaken at the University of Würzburg Phase I/II unit in Germany.

The initiation of this trial follows on from preclinical studies that have shown that PAT-SM6 is able to specifically target bone marrow cells sourced from multiple myeloma patients, with either advanced or refractory disease, confirming the presence of the target on these cells.

In addition, treatment of primary multiple myeloma cells isolated from patients or cancer cells lines with PAT-SM6 caused significant cell death in all samples tested.

The study is expected to begin in April and take around 12 months to complete.

Augur Resources: Zodiac Resources meets farm in milestone at Yeoval copper, gold project

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +1100

Augur Resources’ (ASX: AUK) farm-in partner Zodiac Resources has met the A$300,000 initial farm‐in drilling condition for the Yeoval copper‐gold project in central New South Wales.

Under the previously announced agreement, Zodiac must now make a $450,000 option payment to Augur by 4 April 2012 if the company decides to continue to explore the project’s tenements.

To acquire a 75% interest in Yeoval Zodiac needs to spend a further $1.7 million on drilling by 4 April 2014.

On completion of the farm‐in period, Augur will have an option to contribute 25% to expenditure on the project or progress to a free carried net smelter royalty of 2.5%.

The Yeoval project, which covers around 147 square kilometres, is prospective for porphyry copper‐gold and molybdenum mineralisation, epithermal gold and silver mineralisation, and magnetite rich copper‐gold mineralisation.

The project area hosts the Yeoval Porphyry deposit which has an Inferred JORC Resource of 12.9 million tonnes at 0.38% copper, 0.14 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 120.1 parts per million molybdenum and 2.2g/t silver.

The resource is open at depth, to the east and to the south.

Wonogiri

The Yeoval project is non‐core to Augur's focus on advanced projects, specifically the Wonogiri gold and copper project in central Java, Indonesia.

Augur is undertaking a significant drill program to determine the extent of the gold and copper porphyry mineralisation at the Randu Kuning prospect within the Wonogiri licence area.

Highlights from drilling to date include 123.5 metres at 1.42g/t gold and 0.22% copper, 65 metres at 1.03g/t gold and 0.17% copper, 222 metres at 0.95g/t gold and 0.2% copper and 182 metres at 0.75g/t gold and 0.17% copper.

The Wonogiri project has become the flagship project of the company as drilling continues to indicate a substantial area of mineralisation associated with the Randu Kuning porphyry system.

Significantly, mineralisation at Randu Kuning has been identified from surface and remains open at depth.

In addition, the porphyry mineralisation remains open to the north and to the west.

The gold mineralised corridor at Randu Kuning has now been extended to more than 1300 metres.

Late last year Augur reached the milestone of attaining 51% ownership of the Wonogiri project, having met the required US$1.5 million spend on first stage exploration within 12 months of the acquisition agreement.

The company is now able to earn a further 29%, for a total 80% interest in the project, by spending an additional US$2 million on exploration before December 9, 2012.

Pryme Energy waiting on Louisianan well testing, success could add further cash flow

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:40:00 +1100

Pryme Energy (ASXPYM) has said the Rabalais 35-1 well targeting the Austin Chalk in Louisiana has been shut-in for pressure build up after flowing back most of the completion fluids and drilling mud from its horizontal leg.

The well uses a completion technique used by operator Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) on the Lacour 43-1 well that flowed at initial rates of over 3000 barrels of oil per day, the highest achieved in the region.

While Pryme holds a working interest of just 8.8% (6.6% net revenue interest) in Rabalais 35-1 well, a success on the scale of Lacour 43-1 could still add 198 barrels of oil per day to Pryme’s production, or about US$19,500 (A$18,094) a day in revenue.

Pryme had average production of 78 barrels of oil and 164,000 cubic feet of gas per day along with revenue of A$824,000 during the December 2011 quarter.

However, production potential of Rabalais 35-1 remains uncertain until after the flow back operation is complete.

Rabalais 35-1 was completed by running tubing in the vertical section of the well and a 3.5 inch (8.9 centimetres) slotted production liner installed in the horizontal leg.

This completion technique is different to that which was adopted for Pryme’s Deshotels 20H and 13H wells, which are located in Pryme’s Turner Bayou project to the south.

Deshotels 20H-1 is currently flowing at an average rate of 77 barrels of oil and 9000 cubic feet of gas per day while Deshotels 13H flowed initial rates of 1167 barrels of oil and 644,000 cubic feet of gas per day.

The next well, Deshotels 24H, will be drilled from the Deshotels 13H well pad in the first half of this year.

The company holds a 40% working interest (30% net revenue interest) in the 24,000 acres (97.1 square kilometres) that make up the Turner Bayou project, which targets the Austin Chalk horizon.

Cash in hand at the end of 2011 was A$5.2 million.

Octanex continues to unlock the Bonaparte Basin with completion of second 3D seismic survey

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:20:00 +1100

Octanex (ASX:OXX) has completed the second of three planned 3D seismic surveys in the Southern Bonaparte Basin off northwestern Australia aimed at identifying leads and prospects in its permits.

The 501 square kilometre Tamar 3D seismic in WA-420-P was shot by Seabird Exploration using the Voyager Explorer seismic vessel.

Data from Tamar and the Kingfisher 2D survey that was acquired in November 2011 will be combined to identify potential oil and gas targets along the Tamar Nose structural high, which extends through WA-420-P and WA-421-P.

The Tamar Nose is a northeast/southwest trending structural high that is seen as a natural focus for hydrocarbons migrating towards the southern Londonderry High.

Three of the four wells drilled on the Tamar Nose have oil shows, which the fourth – Tamar-1 that was drilled in 1979 – was not located on a valid trap.

The target sandstone reservoirs are the Early Cretaceous to Late Jurassic, Sandpiper Sandstone, the Late Jurassic Elang Formation and the Middle Jurassic Plover Formation. The Sandpiper and Elang/Plover formations are separated by Late Jurassic Frigate Shale sealing marine claystones.

Octanex had completed the 331 square kilometre Rissa 3D survey over WA-422-P in mid-January and will now move to shoot the Ascalon survey in WA-407-P.

Prior to these 3D surveys, Octanex had shot the 959 kilometre Kingfisher, the 653 kilometre Hawk and the 556 kilometre Falcon 2D surveys over WA-421-P, WA-441-P and WA-440-P.

All surveys were shot by Seabird Exploration.

Octanex holds a 100% stake in WA-407-P, WA-420-P, WA-421-P, WA-440-P and WA-441-P. It also holds a 60% interest in WA-422-P.

The company had earlier this month said drilling of the Winchester prospect by Santos (ASX:STO) had been pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2012 due to a projected later delivery of the Ensco-109 jack-up drilling rig.

The prospect is located in WA-323-P in the Dampier Sub-basin offshore Western Australia.

It also decided not to renew its WA-375-P and WA-376-P exploration permits in the Southern Bonaparte Basin.

Octanex had A$23.8 million in the bank as of the end of 2011.

Sunshine Heart prepares for entry to U.S. market with NASDAQ listing

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +1100

Sunshine Heart (ASX: SHC) will raise A$2.1 million through a private placement to U.S. and Australian institutional and accredited investors ahead of its anticipated listing on the NASDAQ, the second largest stock exchange by market capitalisation in the world.

The company, which has already entered into definitive agreements for the placement, will issue around 257,000 shares of common stock, or about 51.4 million CHESS Depositary Interests (CDI), at $8 each ($0.04 per CDI).

Investors received warrants to purchase three shares of common stock for every 10 shares purchased, at an exercise price of $11.20 per share ($0.056 per CDI).

Importantly, the funding will help Sunshine Heart meet the NASDAQ listing requirement.

The company is working towards gaining European CE Mark and U.S. Investigational Device Exemption approval for its C-Pulse Heart Assist System – an implantable, non-blood contacting, heart assist therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure.

Sunshine Heart has completed the enrolment of an approved U.S. Food and Drug Administration 20 patient feasibility clinical trial with the C-Pulse System.

Mindoro Resources releases copper gold sulphide target for Pan de Azucar in the Philippines

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:50:00 +1100

Mindoro Resources (ASX: MDO) has defined a sulphide copper gold sulphur exploration target at the Pan de Azucar Project in the Philippines.

The exploration target is set at between 8 million and 12.7 million dry metric tonnes in the range of 35% to 40% sulphur (70% to 90% pyrite), 0.4% to 0.6% copper and between 0.5 grams per tonne (g/t) and 0.7g/t gold.

Significant values of silver and zinc are also contained in the sulphide.

The exploration target is based on 16 diamond drill holes that have intersected the massive sulphides, with geophysical conductivity defining a target of approximate dimensions of 1 kilometre length and 150 to 200 metres width.

Pan de Azucar contains the Valderama pyritic massive sulphide body which has been partially outlined by drilling, and the Asparin Hill porphyry copper-gold prospect.

Mineralisation at Valderama is open to the north and east, with potential extensions to a further 200-300 metres.

Initial metallurgical testing indicates potential to produce 1.3 tonnes of pyrite thermaloxidation sulphuric acid per tonne of ore feed, with subsequent acid leach/solvent extraction-electrowinning copper recoveries of 93% to 97% and gold leach recovery of up to 95%.

Mindoro holds a 40% interest in the Pan de Azucar project, with the right for its wholly owned local subsidiary to earn a 75% direct and indirect interest by completing a phased exploration program.

Red Mountain Mining firms up geological model at Xinqu underground gold mine

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +1100

Red Mountain Mining (ASX:RMX) has confirmed the geological model at its Xinqu underground mine at the Zhongqu project in China’s Gansu Province after drilling the first 8 of the 15 holes in its Stage 2 drilling program.

The two underground rigs tasked with the job have drilled 1408.8 metres of the total 2430 metres to date and have intercepted some encouraging zones containing brecciation and hematite alteration.

These include Hole 18, targeting a previously reported 31 metres at 4.61 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, that encountered about 47 metres of potential mineralisation including 17 metres of brecciation and 20 metres of highly altered granodiorite with weak hematite alteration.

Red Mountain said this was probably close to true width and if mineralised, could reflect the previous grades.

Samples from the drilling have been sent to the SGS assay laboratory in Tianjin for analysis and results will be reported soon.

Red Mountain said the Stage 2 drilling program may be expanded subject to results and models developed from geological studies.

Additional holes are planned to follow up encouraging drill intercepts.

Following completion of Stage II drilling, the gold mineralisation encountered in both drilling programs will be modelled as the first step of bringing the mineralisation into a JORC compliant resource for the Xinqu mine.

The Zhongqu Project is located 260 kilometres southwest of the provincial capital of Lanzhou.

Red Mountain had encountered some promising gold intersections and mineralisation during the Stage 1 drilling program in the September 2011 quarter consisting of 31 metres at 4.61g/t gold, including 4 metres at 9.51g/t gold and 8 metres at 10.07g/t gold and 14.3 metres at 4.50g/t gold, including 6 metres at 7.14g/t gold and 3 metres at 6.27g/t gold.

The company also plans to carry out further drilling at the Diebu advanced exploration project later this year.

Red Mountain listed on the ASX in September 2011, following an extensive period of project evaluation before acquiring the Zhongqu project, an operational gold mine since 2005.

It has binding acquisition agreements to acquire 51% of the Zhongqu project, plus operating gold mine and infrastructure, as well as 90% of the Diebu project.

The company held A$5.63 million in cash as of the end of 2011.

Australian Bauxite intersects 33 metres bauxite with direct shipping ore potential at Goulburn

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:10:00 +1100

Australian Bauxite (ASX: ABZ) has set a new record for bauxite thickness at the Goulburn Bauxite Project in New South Wales, intersecting of 33 metres of true thickness.

Four holes drilled at the Mt Rae area to follow up on previous results have verified the presence of unusually thick bauxite at the project, and broken the previous record thickness of 28 metres.

Two other holes from the latest round of drilling intersected 32 metres of bauxite, while the fourth hole intersected 23 metres.

Typically Australian bauxite deposits are less than 4 metres thick, and some are less than 2 metres thick.

Significantly, the thick bauxite zone is concealed beneath less than 1 metre of soil-clay.

Australian Bauxite has teamed up with Marubeni Corporation to conduct a $1.5 million pre-feasibility study into the Goulburn Project.

Metallurgical tests on bauxite containing poorly diffracting material (PDM) from the Taralga area have produced good quality Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) bauxite.

Deposits in the district contain thick zones of premium grade bauxite, free of clays and boehmite, and all horizons produce DSO bauxite.

So far DSO comprises 75-85% of the total tonnes produced from Goulburn.

Recovered PDM emery material can be sold for industrial uses.

A Resource upgrade for the Taralga area is planned prior to the conclusion of the Pre-Feasibility Study, which is scheduled for the end of March.

Taralga currently has a bauxite Resource of 25 million tonnes.

OBJ Limited receives ASX speeding ticket over 27% share price jump

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +1100

OBJ Limited (ASX: OBJ) has received a price and volume query from the ASX after shares hit an intra-day high of A$0.023 yesterday, 8 February, up from $0.018 on Thursday 2 February.

The company told the ASX saying it is not aware of any material information that has not been disclosed to the market, which may explain the sudden investor interest.

OBJ, a developer of magnetic, magnetic micro-array and powerless drug delivery technologies, recently announced an offer of up to nearly 106 million new options on the basis of one new option for every one option held at $0.0001 each to raise about $10,599.

The funds raised from the issue and exercise of the new options will be used to fund OBJ’s business development activities, international collaborations and additional research and development.

The money will increase OBJ’s already high cash reserves of nearly $4 million at the end of the December 2011 quarter.

In early November last year, OBJ received a U.S. patent for its Dermaportation technology.

OBJ has developed a platform of physical enhancement technologies based on low‐cost magnetic micro‐arrays that influence the movement and penetration of drugs, active ingredients and formulations at the molecular level.

The company has identified several commercial opportunities for Dermaportation and is in discussions with potential partners.

Epic Resources dials in to Indonesian coal sector with option over two projects

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:50:00 +1100

Epic Resources (ASX: EPC) has positioned itself to take advantage of the high demand for coal in Asia, by entering into an agreement to acquire two coal licenses strategically located in the second largest Indonesian Province of East Kalimantan.

Importantly the deal provides the potential for a new company focus for Epic, away from the previous strategy on uranium and rare earth elements in the Northern Territory.

The Indonesian agreement allows Epic to acquire up to 100% of the licenses, but for the first stage of the purchase Epic will pay the vendors A$800,000 through an issue of 4 million shares at A$0.20, which is a 90% premium to the last traded price.

The licenses cover 155 square kilometres, with a technical due diligence work program to be initiated. The company remains fully funded with A$3.75 million in cash as at December 2011

Project back story

East Kalimantan produced around two-thirds of Indonesia's 300 million tonnes of coal in 2010, with the licenses located in the Kutai Barat Regency, East Kalimantan, and are to the south-west of the Mahakam River and in close proximity to Kangaroo Resources (ASX: KRL) Mahakam semi-soft coking coal mine.

The project area is accessible via plane from Jakarta to Balikpapan, then by vehicle to the Mahakam River and via speed boat along the Mahakam River. Access roads exist over parts of the project area.

ImpediMed L-Dex® U400 device receives expanded U.S. coverage

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:30:00 +1100

ImpediMed’s (ASX: IPD) L-Dex® U400 device will receive greater coverage in the U.S. as an aid in the clinical assessment of unilateral lymphoedema of the arm in females, following the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

As a result of the passing of the Act, which makes certain indigenous tribes and organisations eligible to access the health plans for federal employees, ImpediMed expects an increase in covered lives for federal healthcare plans from 1 May 2012.

The estimated number of employees of indigenous tribes or organisations who are eligible to access federal health plans is about 350,000.

Direct family members of these employees are also eligible and include spouse and children up to the age of 26.

As a result, coverage under federal plans could be expected to increase by an estimated 700,000 covered lives.

Lymphoedema occurs when the lymphatic system does not work properly, resulting in the long-term swelling of parts of the body.

Stanford Breast Cancer Lymphedema Registry

Meanwhile, the first patient has been enrolled into the Stanford Breast Cancer Lymphedema Registry.

Stanford University Medical Center initiated the registry which will collect and analyse data from breast centres and physicians’ offices across the U.S.

The registry collects clearly defined health and demographic information on patients with specific health characteristics, in this case, breast cancer.

The Stanford Breast Cancer Lymphedema Registry has been designed to investigate the impact of lymphoedema surveillance upon breast cancer survivors.

Within a year, researchers expect to have gained further substantial insights into the value of systematic early surveillance to prevent and minimise the lymphoedema risk in women treated for breast cancer.

Patient enrolment will increase in the coming months as the registry is rolled out to physician sites.

Data generated from ImpediMed’s L-Dex® U400 device will make-up one arm of the registry.

The L-Dex® U400 device is the first medical device with a US Food and Drug Administration clearance to aid health care professionals, clinically assess secondary unilateral lymphoedema of the arm and leg in women and the leg in men.

Mutiny Gold chairman increases stake with on market trade

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:10:00 +1100

Mutiny Gold (ASX: MYG) chairman Frank Lawson has increased his indirect stake in the company, buying 100,000 shares in an on-market trade for a consideration of $7,300 - providing an average entry price of $0.073.

Lawson currently holds a direct stake of 4.13 million shares and one million November 2012 $0.10 options, plus an indirect stake of 1.1 million shares.

Mutiny is currently in a very interesting position as it continues on the road to gold production, with infill drilling results targeted at increasing the gold resource expected shortly - as the drilling campaign commenced in December 2011.

The infill program will then wrap up towards the end of February, with final results around April, which will then be included in the highly anticipated Definitive Feasibility Study to be released to the market around mid-2012.

Extension drilling will continue over February and March, with results then expected to flow to the market from late April and into May.

The reason this study has taken longer than planned is due to being expanded to support production in the order of 100,000 to 120,000 gold ounces annually when fully ramped up, compared to the initially considered 50,000 ounces.

Investors will be aware that Mutiny has already created some major inroads in moving Deflector to production, including moving to full ownership of the Gullewa Gold Project (which hosts deflector), while also acquiring the 10% Net Profit Interest Royalty for 40 million shares, which are escrowed until 15 March 2013.

Pan Asia Corporation's receives ASX speeding ticket after 82% share spike

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:50:00 +1100

Pan Asia Corporation (ASX: PZC) has received a price and volume speeding ticket form the ASX after the company's shares hit an intra-day high of $0.195 yesterday, up 82% from the closing price on Monday 30 January.

Pan Asia responded to the ASX saying that it was not aware of any material information that has not been released to the market, which may explain the sudden investor interest.

Look a little further though, it appears investors are starting to re-rate the stock, and there are definitely some supporting reasons to do so.

Towards the end of 2011 Pan Asia received a major 115% JORC Resource boost to 114.6 million tonnes at the Transcoal Minergy Coal Project in Indonesia - which importantly has 62% of the resource in the higher confidence categories of Measured and Indicated.

The size of the upgrade was better than expected at the time, and supporting the company's belief that the project has potential to be an initial open pit mine and bring project cash flows forward while generating a preferred entry for future underground mining.

A$0.92 price target

Throwing some weight behind the company, in November 2011 a research firm placed a speculative buy on Pan Asia based on the JORC Resource upgrade - while placing a A$0.92 price target on the stock.

Aphrodite Gold receives positive Scoping Study to become cost competitive gold producer in WA

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:44:00 +1100

Aphrodite Gold (ASX:AQQ) commissioned a Scoping Study to determine a preferred mining and processing scenario for monetising the Aphrodite Gold deposit near Kalgoorlie, the results of which are a blueprint to develop a cost competitive gold operation.

The deposit, which is located 65 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie has a current inferred resource of 1.03 million ounces of gold.

Tetra Tech Australia Pty Ltd and Mineral Engineering Technical Services Pty Ltd (METS) were engaged to complete the Study.

Tetra Tech and METS recommend that the project should move to Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS).

Overall, headline numbers of the Study produced a Net Present Value (NPV) of $129 million with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 25% at the current gold price of $1,650 per ounce. Average cash costs were pegged at $756 per ounce of gold.

“In my opinion, the results of the Study demonstrate significant potential for growth” said Aphrodite’s technical director, Leon Reisgys.

Study highlights

- Technical and economic assessments justify proceeding with pre feasibility study (PFS)
- A combined open pit and underground mining operation over a project life of 9 years
- Gold production over life of project estimated at 550,000 oz
- 1Mtpa processing plant on site to treat all ore types to produce gold doré
- Nominal plant throughput of 750,000 tpa at an average grade of 3.8g/t gold
- Peak gold production of 84,000 oz per annum for Years 2 to 6
- Pressure oxidation method preferred for treatment of refractory ore
- Anticipated + 90% gold recoveries for all ore types
- Potential to increase gold production and project life with expansion in resources - a revised resource estimate expected end Q1 2012 incorporating all 2011 drill results with further drilling planned
- Estimated average cash cost of $756/oz gold
- Significant reduction in costs possible should the plant be run at a higher throughput
- NPV (8%DF) estimated at $129M with IRR 25% at current gold price of around $1650/oz. NPV (8%DF) estimated at $51M with IRR 15% at $1450/oz gold price
- Significant upside if gold price continues its long term upward trajectory
- Project close to key infrastructure including road, rail, power and housing
- Possibility for toll treating other local deposits

The preferred mining scenario selected by Tetra Tech is a contractor operated, selective open pit and underground mine providing feed to an onsite process plant at a nominal rate of 750,000 tonnes per annum.

The total project life is estimated at nine years, with the open pit operating from Year 0 to Year 5 and the underground operating from Year 2 to Year 8.

METS has developed a process flow sheet incorporating a pressure oxidation plant for processing the refractory component of the deposit. The proposed processing plant is designed to treat 1 million tonnes per annum of ore to producing gold doré onsite.

Mining

A number of mining scenarios were analysed to identify a preferred mining option that maximises resource recovery and project Net Present Value. Pit optimisation was performed using $1,350 an ounce gold price to determine potential open pit and underground mining inventories and select a target plant throughput. 90% process recovery was assumed for all material types during the pit optimisation process.

Tetra Tech has selected a combined open pit and underground approach as the preferred mine plan, which aims to recover near surface ore via an open pit while recovering the deeper high grade resource via an underground extension.

This option would have the following advantages:

- Reduced pre-strip and therefore initial capital cost
- Access to the underground mine via an in-pit portal, reducing decline development and sustaining capital cost
- Increased extraction of known resources resulting from lower total cash costs

Open Pit Mining

Open pit movement will be evenly distributed between two pushbacks to create two near symmetrical linked pits, on the Alpha and Phi lodes with an adjoining ‘saddle’ from which a portal will be developed to access higher grade underground ore.

Conventional, contractor operated, truck and shovel and drill and blast methods have been assumed for open pit mining.

Underground Mining

A conceptual mine design was created to illustrate access, ventilation, decline and level development requirements.

The in-pit portal, for development of the decline, would be located on the saddle between pits Alpha and Phi, approximately 75 metres below the surface. The central decline extends from the portal down to approximately 450 metres below the surface, spiralling down between the Alpha and Phi lodes.

Mine Scheduling

A total of 5 million tonnes will be scheduled for processing at an average grade of 3.8g/t containing 610,000 ounces of gold over a project life of 9 years.

The estimated average (diluted) gold grade of open pit and underground ore is 2.3 g/t and 5.5 g/t respectively.

Open pit and underground development will run in parallel to prioritise the extraction of high grade ore from underground.

An initial pre-strip will be required to ensure a sustainable mill feed of 750,000 tonnes per annum is achieved early in the mine life. This will be done while the processing plant is being constructed. Pre-strip will be prioritised to the Alpha pit to speed up exposure of fresh rock for development of the portal.

Underground pre-production development commences in Year 1, after the portal position is exposed. Full underground production starts in Year 2 and is maintained until Year 8, targeting an average of 365,000 tonnes per annum of high grade ore.

Gold production over life of project is estimated at 550,000 ounces with peak production of around 85,000 ounces per annum in Years 2 to 6.

Metallurgical Testwork

To provide a basis for the Scoping Study a metallurgical testwork program was undertaken immediately prior to the commencement of the Scoping Study to determine the metallurgical properties of the mineralisation.

The testwork showed that the deposit contains both free milling and refractory ore.

Significantly, the refractory material performed very well during the flotation tests where a high gold grade, sulphide concentrate was produced at a very low mass pull. Gold recoveries of 91.3% were achieved in 2.9% of the mass at a grade of 46.35 g/t gold.

As the Aphrodite deposit contains both free milling and refractory ore, a processing plant has been designed to treat both ore types to the final stage of producing gold doré on site.

The majority of feed to the mill will be primary refractory ore and therefore this processing option was the primary focus for the Study. However, consideration has also been given to the free milling circuit to treat oxide and transition ore types.

The proposed processing plant developed by METS is designed to treat 1 million tonnes of ore to producing gold dorè onsite.

Infrastructure

The Aphrodite Project is located 65 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie, placing the project conveniently close to key infrastructure and utilities.

Capital and Operating Cost Estimates

Capital and operating cost estimates have been developed by METS for the proposed process plant with a capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum with an accuracy of ±35%.

The capital cost estimate for a new processing plant is $108 million. The estimate is calculated through the addition of direct and indirect costs and a contingency allowance to cover the level of risk associated with a project of this level and scope.

Other initial capital items include infrastructure ($10M) and pre-stripping ($37M).

An additional sustaining capital cost over the life of the project is estimated at $89M,including underground development.

Significant saving in processing costs could be achieved by running the plant at a higher throughput. The processing plant is designed for 1 million tonnes per annum, however the mine plan used in the Study has a nominal mill throughput of 750,000 tonnes per annum.

Increased throughput could result from the availability of more ore as a result of exploration and/or the mining and treatment of lower grade material as a result of higher gold prices.

Opportunities to increase returns

Resource drilling completed post the March 2011 resource estimate (used in the Scoping Study) has the potential to increase the mining inventory together with the discovery of additional resources below the currently planned mine and from numerous gold prospects (such as Chameleon) located within the Aphrodite area.

An increased resource inventory has the potential of increasing plant throughput, reducing operating costs, increasing annual gold production and project life.

Analysis

The Scoping Study, for a company capitalised at just $8 million, provides a significant valuation accretion pathway.

It is a starting point for Aphrodite Gold to become a gold producer at a competitive cash cost per ounce of gold produced. In our opinion, there is significant scope to increase the returns, particularly the IRR.

The potential for uplift in resources at Aphrodite is significant increasing the potential throughput and lowering costs. There is potential to increase gold production and project life with expansion in resources - a revised resource estimate expected end Q1 2012 incorporating all 2011 drill results. Further drilling is also planned.

Producing a high gold grade, low mass concentrate would greatly reduce transport and processing costs of the concentrate as well as opening up a range of options for the processing or sale of concentrate.

Interestingly, Barrick Gold Corp, who own Kanowna Belle mine, which is to the south of Aphrodite Gold deposit, used to own the Aphrodite project.

Mantle Mining Corporation raises $1.35 million for exploration

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:30:00 +1100

Mantle Mining Corporation (ASX: MNM) is set to raise $1.35 million to fund existing exploration programs at the company’s projects in Queensland and Victoria.

The money will be raised through a share placement agreement with Cygnet Capital, comprising 10 million shares at a price of $0.135 per share.

One free attaching listed option will be granted for every two shares allotted under the placement. These options are exercisable at $0.075 each, and expire on December 1, 2013.

Mantle has interests in gold, coal, coal bed methane, uranium and phosphate.

The company’s projects include the the Trafford Coal Project and Granite Castle Gold Project in Queensland and the Bacchus Marsh Coal Project in Victoria, where a stage 1 drill program was completed in the December quarter of 2011.

Lindian Resources: Sampling returns 283g/t gold at Masapelid in the Philippines

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:20:00 +1100

Lindian Resources (ASX: LIN) has received results of up to 283 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from rock chip sampling at the Masapelid Project in the Philippines.

Sampling carried out at the Layong Vein and Uyajan prospects at Masapelid have returned high grade gold and silver results.

At Layong Vein, results from rock chip and mullock sampling included 283.42g/t gold and 455.3g/t silver along with 46.48g/t gold and 165.6g/t silver.

Layong Vein hosts high grade gold and silver on the Layab Prospect, which is also hosted by the Manuel Vein System within Masapelid.

Assays from diamond drilling at the Manuel Vein System in January returned an intercept of 2 metres at 118.35g/t gold, 105.2g/t silver, 0.86% lead and 1.16g/t zinc from 125 metres, including 1 metre at 235.7g/t gold, 156.1g/t silver with minor lead and zinc mineralisation.

The results further confirm the narrow but high grade nature of the Manual Vein System.

Assays from two other drill holes show that eluvium along sections of the Manual Vein System prospect contain low grade gold and silver from surface.

Over at Uyajan, results obtained from sampling of vein, breccia and mullock returned:

- 173.15g/t gold and 56.7g/t silver;
- 2.95g/t gold and 1.5g/t silver; and
-1.37g/t gold and 2.7g/t silver.

Better grades at Uyajan have been located in sheeted veins in silicified andesitic breccia.

Sampling and mapping indicates that previous drilling at the prospect has terminated short of intersecting the high grade gold-silver sheeted vein system.

Dow Jones closes flat at 12,880; Time Warner, Sprint Nextel, McDonald's and CVS Caremark in focus

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:18:00 +1100

U.S. equity markets treaded water overnight as investors adopted a cautious tone as the European Central Bank considers taking a hit on its holdings of Greek bonds.

By the close the Dow Jones had added two points to 12,880, with the NASDAQ continuing its run - closing eleven points higher at 2915.

In Greece, the government is attempting to reach a deal on budget cuts and financial reforms necessary for a second bailout package of 130 billion euros from the EU, IMF and European Central Bank.

The country failed to come to an agreement over the weekend, with talks continuing into this week. Without the deal, and the funds, Greece will miss a 14.5 billion euro bond payment in March, which would likely lead to a disorderly default.

Negotiations have been dragged out due to disagreements over private-sector wage cuts, and other issues. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has distributed a final draft of the terms of the austerity program to party leaders, who are set to meet today to finalize these measures.

According to reports, the European Central Bank is willing to participate in a restructuring of Greek debt, although the bank will not suffer a loss on its holdings.

In corporate news, media company Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) Wednesday said fourth-quarter profits increased thanks to improved advertising revenues at its TV networks, including HBO.

For the quarter that ended December 31, net profit was $773 million, or 76 cents per share, from $769 million, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusted fourth-quarter profit rose to 94 cents per share from 67 cents per share. Revenue increased to $8.19 billion, from $7.81 billion a year earlier.

Wall Street analysts expected Time Warner to earn 87 cents per share, on revenue of $8.07 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research.

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) reported a $1.3 billion, or 43 cents per share, loss in its latest quarter, wider than the year-earlier loss of $929 million, or 31 cents per share, due to expenses related to the launch of the iPhone.

UK cable operator Virgin Media (NASDAQ:VMED) beat expectations for its fourth quarter, after customers snapped up the combination of its new TV service and fast broadband offerings.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) said Wednesday that global comparable sales rose 6.7 percent in January, on strong growth in the US, and internationally, beating the 6.5 percent increase analysts expected.

CVS Caremark's (NYSE:CVS) fourth-quarter earnings climbed nearly four percent as the drugstore operator's pharmacy services revenue grew because of a long-term contract and new business.

Ratings agency Moody's Corp (NYSE:MCO) said Wednesday that fourth-quarter net income fell 30 percent as expenses rose and companies backed away from issuing bonds during the European debt crisis, hurting a key business segment.

For the three months that ended December 31, net income declined to $96.2 million, or 43 cents per share, from $137.4 million, or 58 cents per share, a year earlier.

After the closing bell, quarterly reports are due from daily deals site Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) and Visa (NYSE:V).

No major economic data was released Wednesday.

Commodities

In NYMEX trading, oil futures for March delivery rose 56 cents to $98.97 a barrel but gold futures for April delivery fell $7.80 to $1,740.60 an ounce.

Europe

European markets finished lower today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 was down 0.24% while Germany's DAX was off 0.08% and France's CAC 40 fell lower by 0.05%.

Caesars Entertainment Corp comes up trumps with 79% jump following NASDAQ listing

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:00:00 +1100

Caesars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ:CZR) saw its stock surge as high as 79 percent Wednesday following its IPO, with the casino owner and operator selling only a small slice of its stock to investors.

The company's stock opened at $9.06 this morning on the Nasdaq, up a tad from its IPO price of $9.0. As of late afternoon, its shares were 73 percent higher at $15.57.

But Caesars only sold 1.8 million shares of its stock at the middle of its $8 to $10 expected range, or around 1.4 percent of its total shares outstanding.

The Las-Vegas based company owns, operates or manages 52 casinos, mainly in the US and England, under the Caesars, Harrah's and Horseshoe brands in the US.

The company's largest investors, buyout firms Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital, are not among those that sold their stock.

According to reports, Caesars has worked out a deal with some previous private investors, allowing them to sell shares right away.

The company's financials have been on the decline since 2007, with average daily hotel rates slumping. Apollo and TPG acquired the casino giant in 2008, just as the downturn began to take shape.

In the first three quarters of 2011, revenue fell 0.5 percent to $6.66 billion, while net loss narrowed to $471 million, compared to a loss of $629 million in the same period of 2010.

The casino operator also hoards a significant amount of debt - with $22 billion as at the end of September 2011. It also owes $1.7 billion in interest payments over the next 12 months.

The company was de-listed in 1980 after being acquired by Holiday Inns, and in 1995, it made its debut again, only to be taken off the market by Apollo and TPG in 2008 in an LBO.

London broker comment corner; Investec, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Cazenove make recommendations

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:50:00 +1100

From London: Broker Investec said it saw "limited" further near-term upside for Barclays (LON:BARC) and has re-initiated coverage on the banking giant with a new analyst and a 'hold' rating.

The stock has rallied strongly over the past six months, materially outperforming every other UK bank, and it now trades 70 per cent above its September 2011 lows, said analyst Ian Gordon.

But, he added that with, in Investec's view the RoE (Return on Equity)set to recover to only 8 per cent by 2013 estimates, it saw limited near-term upside.

"The time to buy Barclays is when market paranoia is high – not when an overdone feel-good factor is prevalent," said Gordon.

The analyst added that investors, who had had the courage and foresight to buy in over the past six months should lock in some profits in our view.

Gordon targets a price of 240 pence for the stock.

Deutsche Bank rates homebuilder Bellway (LON:BWY) a 'hold' and said it expects to see a slight increase in consensus figures following first half results.

Yesterday, the FTSE 250 firm said growth in house prices will likely slow this year. For the six months to end January, Bellway’s home sales rose five per cent to 2,455 as private home sales surged 15 per cent.

Deutsche said it had a "cautiously upbeat" view on the trading environment and had fine-tuned its forecasts.

It added that it continued to see scope for further upside in gross margins at Bellway, but believed there was better value elsewhere and reiterated its 'hold' recommendation.

The German bank also produced a note today on oil giant BP (LON:BP.), which it rates 'buy' saying the firm's fourth quarter results showed the upstream business was 'stabilising' and it was making "solid progress" downstream.

"Having laid the foundations and started the process of changing culture and approach, the future foundations appear ever more sensibly laid," said analyst Lucas Herrmann.

He said that earnings momentum is more likely a story for 2013 rather than this year.

"A larger than anticipated dividend increase does, however, suggest greater confidence in the future. We continue to see value but, absent the resolution of litigation, suspect it will take time to out."

JP Morgan Cazenove also rates the stock 'overweight' in a note today.

Sticking with oil and gas, conversely, the investment bank has today downgraded Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) to 'neutral' from 'overweight', targeting a price of 385 pence.

It says that although the shares look extremely cheap relative to core net asset value, it struggles to see near term catalysts that could bring about a material re-rating.

Analyst Jessica Saadat said it appeared drilling on Greenland was unlikely before mid 2013/2014 at the earliest and she would rather wait and see how the company would use its cash and regenerate itself as a viable E&P company before taking a more positive stance.

"Although Cairn has a strong cash balance, we believe it will take time to build up an interesting portfolio of assets, with near term drilling potential," she said.

In other coverage today, City broker Seymour Pierce released a note on Homeserve (LON:HSV) - the home maintenance insurer.

The company said today in a trading statement that rectifying issues in the UK business was taking longer than anticipated and it has also decided to cut its workforce by 7 per cent, or 200 staff.

In a note, the broker said that today's statement vindicated its view that the HSV management was too optimistic about the impact of the UK issues.

“We remain negative on the stock,” it said, reiterating its ‘reduce’ rating and target price of 268 pence.

In the smaller caps, SacOil (LON:SAC) said it had agreed changes to the terms of its farm-in partnership for the OPL 281 licence in Nigeria, which mean it does not have to carry the operator on capital expenditure costs to first oil.

It said Transcorp remained operator of the onshore licence and will pay its 60 per cent of the costs to first production, compared to the company and other partner Energy Equity Resources (EER) carrying 100 per cent of the costs as previously agreed.

The house broker Shore Capital welcomed the announcement.

"In our opinion, these revised terms for entry into OPL 281 are a very positive development, as they reduce SacOil’s capital exposure and indicate that the work programme will be expedited under a very credible local operator," said analyst Craig Howie.

Elsewhere, broker Daniel Stewart has chosen two companies from each of its primary coverage sectors - financials, healthcare, leisure, materials, metals & mining, oil & gas and software - as its top picks for 2012.

Africa focused Goldstone Resources (LON:GRL) and Stellar Diamonds (LON:STEL) are the top picks for the metals and mining sector, while in the oil and gas sector the broker prefers Petroceltic International (LON:PCI) and Chariot Oil & Gas (LON:CHAR).

Mobile technology group Globo (LON:GBO) and gaming specialist Probability (LON:PBTY) were the picks in the software sector.

Stellar Diamonds is given a target price of 21p (current price 6.13p) while Petroceltic has a target price of 13.7p (current price 7.78p). Probability has a target price of 132p (current price 76.5p). Goldstone Resources has a target price of 9p (current price 5.75p).

Meanwhile, mobile messaging firm Synchronica (LON:SYNC, CVE:SYN) has agreed to form a joint venture with Toronto based technology incubator Intertainment Media Inc (CVE:INT, OTCQX: ITMFT).

The letter of intent announced today envisages Synchronica and Intertainment Media integrating Synchronica's flagship messaging platform, Mobile Gateway, with Intertainment Media's Ortsbo experiential language technology, enabling Mobile Gateway to provide its users with seamless and real-time translation between more than 50 languages

In a note, Northland Capital analyst David Johnson commented that the partnership provided a 'differentiator' for Mobile Gateway for new and existing multinational mobile network operators and handset manufacturers.

Canadian equities ease; Teck Resources, Encana Corp, Suncor Energy, Kinross, Goldcorp make news

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:40:00 +1100

Toronto's main market fell into the red Wednesday afternoon, as investors remained focused on Greece, as political leaders continue their scramble to avoid a default.

As of near 1:30pm ET, the S&P/TSX Composite was down 11.86 points, or 0.09%, to 12,500.56, while the more junior S&P/TSX Venture Composite fell 3.11 points, or 0.19%, to 1,660.22.

In Greece, the government is attempting to reach a deal on budget cuts and financial reforms necessary for a second bailout package of 130 billion euros from the EU, IMF and European Central Bank.

The country failed to come to an agreement over the weekend, with talks continuing into this week. Without the deal, and the funds, Greece will miss a 14.5 billion euro bond payment in March, which would likely lead to a disorderly default.

Negotiations have been dragged out due to disagreements over private-sector wage cuts, and other issues. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos has distributed a final draft of the terms of the austerity program to party leaders, who are set to meet today to finalize these measures.

According to reports, the European Central Bank is willing to participate in a restructuring of Greek debt, although the bank will not suffer a loss on its holdings.

Commodities were mixed on Wednesday, with gold futures down over 1% to $1,730.8 an ounce, and silver down 1.23% to $33.78 an ounce.

Crude oil for March delivery gained 10 cents to $98.51 a barrel, while the base metal copper contract rose 0.5% to $3.89 a pound.

In Toronto, info tech, energy and metals and mining were the three biggest decliners, with healthcare and industrials posting the most notable gains.

Movers and shakers on Wednesday included copper heavyweight Teck Resources (TSE:TCK.B), which was down 1.25% and Encana Corp (TSE:ECA), which fell more than 3%.

Suncor Energy (TSE:SU) ticked higher by 0.09%.

Gold giants Kinross (TSE:K) and Goldcorp (TSE:G) were down 0.18% and 1.26%, respectively.

Lundin Mining (TSE:LUN) pulled ahead by 1.17%.

Financials edged up as Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) gained 0.2%.

Nevsun Resources (TSE:NSV) saw shares fall more than 4% Wednesday after taking a 30% tumbled on Tuesday. The company reported yesterday it expects gold production from its Bisha mine in Eritrea, East Africa in 2012 to be around half of what it initially anticipated due to over-estimations of the oxide gold resource.

Meanwhile, Yukon-Nevada Gold (TSE:YNG) fell almost 7% after significant gains in the past few days, as the miner announced earlier this week it restarted production at its wholly-owned Jerritt Canyon gold project, located in Nevada, following the installation of new equipment.

In other news in Canada, fertilizer producer Agrium (TSE:AGU) said Wednesday that earnings grew 43 percent in the fourth quarter as it overcame a struggling global economy that has hit commodity prices and made buyers cautious.

Calgary-based Agrium said earnings for the quarter that ended December 31 rose to $193 million, or $1.20 per share, from $135 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings were $2.34 per share for the latest quarter. Agrium's sales were up 32 percent to $3.18 billion. Analysts expected earnings per share of $1.99, on revenues of $3.10 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Catalyst Paper Corporation's (TSE:CTL) shares will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange at the close of market on March 8, said the Canadian exchange, due to the specialty paper producer's failure to meet continued listing requirements.

TMX Group (TSE:X) said Wednesday its fourth quarter profits fell 20 percent as the company, which is in talks to be bought by a consortium of Canadian financial institutions, recorded less revenue from its equity markets unit.

For the three months that ended December 31, the operator of Toronto's main stock exchange posted $54.2 million in earnings, or $0.70 per share, down 19.7 percent from $67.5 million, or $0.90 per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted for one-time items, including adjustments related to the potential Maple deal, and other tax adjustments, earnings fell to $0.74 per share, far below analysts' $0.84 per share estimate, according to Thomson Reuters.

ATS Automation Tooling Systems' (TSE:ATS) stock jumped over nine percent Wednesday after releasing third quarter earnings that beat estimates, driven by growth in its transportation unit.

Canadian airline giant WestJet Airlines (TSE:WJA) saw its fourth quarter profit beat Street estimates on Wednesday, as the company announced definitive plans to form a regional carrier business. For the three months that ended December 31, WestJet posted net earnings of $35.6 million, or $0.26 per share, down four percent from $37.2 million, or $0.26 per share, a year ago.

Still, the company's earnings beat analysts' 20-cent per share estimate, according to Thomson Reuters. Shares climbed more than 4%.

On the economic front, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Wednesday that housing starts decreased by 1.0% in January to an annualized pace of 197,900. Analysts expected a wider drop to 194,000.

The Walt Disney Co's fiscal Q1 earnings miss estimates

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:30:00 +1100

The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) said late Tuesday that fiscal first-quarter income rose 12 percent as a slimmer movie slate and upbeat theme park results helped the company top earnings forecasts even while revenue gains were less than expected.

Net income for the quarter ended December 31 rose to $1.46 billion, or 80 cents per share, from $1.30 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier. The results beat the 71 cents per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

Revenue at the House of the Mouse was up 1 percent to $10.78 billion from $10.72 billion. The revenue figure fell short of the $11.20 billion expected by analysts.

Disney chief executive Bob Iger said: "Our results reflect the benefits of our ongoing strategy to invest in and leverage our core brands — Disney, Pixar, Marvel, ESPN and ABC."

Fees paid by distributors of ESPN rose, but advertising revenue at ESPN and broadcast network ABC was flat. Adjusting for the switch of the Rose and Fiesta college football bowl games to the second quarter and a delayed start to the NBA basketball season, ESPN ad revenue rose 8 percent.

Disney's movie studio revenue fell because it released fewer big films than in past years, in an effort to avoid write-downs on money-losers. Disney released "The Muppets" in the most recent holiday quarter, versus "Tangled" and "Tron: Legacy" a year ago. It also experienced a dip in sales of DVDs.

Interactive media revenue declined, too, as the company moved away from expensive console games and focused on cheaper-to-make social games. Iger said he believes the segment will finally turn a profit in the company's 2013 fiscal year.

Revenue at the company's parks and resorts division grew, thanks to higher spending and attendance at domestic theme parks, and the opening of Toy Story Land at Hong Kong Disneyland in November. Consumer products revenue grew.

The company is on track to spend several hundred million dollars more than a year ago on capital expenditures, including for its fourth cruise ship, the Disney Fantasy, which makes its maiden voyage next month.

TMX Group earnings fall on weaker equity markets

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:20:00 +1100

TMX Group (TSE:X) said Wednesday its fourth quarter profits fell 20 percent as the company, which is in talks to be bought by a consortium of Canadian banks and pension funds, recorded less revenue from equity markets.

For the three months that ended December 31, the operator of Toronto's main stock exchange posted $54.2 million in earnings, or $0.70 per share, down 19.7 percent from $67.5 million, or $0.90 per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted for one-time items, including adjustments related to the potential Maple deal, and other tax adjustments, earnings fell to $0.74 per share, far below analysts' $0.84 per share estimate, according to Thomson Reuters.

Total revenues for the period also fell seven percent to $161.7 million, from $174.1 million in the same period last year.

TMX Group CEO Thomas Kloet said: "In a year with significant corporate development activity, we were pleased to deliver growth in revenue and operating income, reflecting strength across our major revenue lines.

"Despite uncertainty in the global economy, we attracted an increased number of new issuers to our equity markets compared to 2010 and continue to provide an attractive venue for raising capital."

Revenues from the company's issuer services fell 17 percent to $53.9 million, as fewer companies completed an IPO on the TSX or the TSX-Venture Exchange, and those that did list, did so with lower values.

Cash market revenues fell 29 percent to $22.6 million, as trading volumes on the TSX-Venture fell 50 percent to 11.77 billion securities in the fourth quarter, and fell 18 percent to 24.1 billion securities on the TSX.

TMX also said the decline is a result of the several changes it made to its equity trading fee schedule, effective March 1, 2011.

Energy market revenues also dropped one percent to $11.8 million, reflecting lower NGX crude oil volumes, as well as increased competition from voice brokers, like Shorcan Energy Brokers.

However, derivative markets posted a 20 percent rise in revenues, to $27.7 million, as trading on the company's Montreal Exchange (MX) increased 23 percent, and trading on its Boston Exchange (BOX) increased 40 percent.

On the TSX, the company reported an 18 percent decline in volume to 24.1 billion, and a nine percent decline in value to $334.6 billion. The number of transactions on the exchange rose nine percent to 53.1 million, while the number of issuers listed rose five percent to 1,587.

For the full year fiscal 2011, TMX posted a three percent rise in earnings to $243.6 million, or $3.17 per share, and an eight percent rise in total revenues to $673.5 million.

In Toronto, TMX shares rose 0.12 percent to $41.95, as of 9:42 am EDT. In 2011, the company's stock gained 12.8 percent.

Moody Corp: fourth quarter earnings miss estimates as debt crisis dampens revenue

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:10:00 +1100

Ratings agency Moody's Corp (NYSE:MCO) said Wednesday that fourth-quarter net income fell 30 percent as expenses rose and companies backed away from issuing bonds during the European debt crisis, hurting a key business segment.

For the three months that ended December 31, net income declined to $96.2 million, or 43 cents per share, from $137.4 million, or 58 cents per share, a year earlier.

The average estimate from six analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters was for earnings of 49 cents per share.

Revenue of $567.1 million for the fourth quarter was flat as compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.

Moody's chairman and chief executive officer, Raymond McDaniel, said: "Moody's achieved strong performance for full-year 2011, with growth in all lines of business at both Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics despite volatile business conditions.

"For 2012, we anticipate revenue growth across most areas of our business and earnings per share in the range of $2.62 to $2.72."

Fourth-quarter expenses rose seven percent, which the company said was primarily due to employing more people and spending more on technology to grow.

Ratings revenue declined four percent, driven by a 14 percent drop in corporate finance.

Revenue at ratings competitor Standard & Poor's, a unit of The McGraw-Hill Cos. (NYSE:MHP), fell eight percent in the fourth quarter.

Moody's Analytics business, which sells financial research, risk management tools and consulting services, worked to offset the decline in ratings. Analytics revenue increased 10 percent in the quarter, and made up 35 percent of the corporate total.

Moody's projected that 2012 revenue from the analytics business would increase by a percentage "in the high teens", and that ratings revenue would rise "in the mid-single-digit percentage range".

CEO McDaniel predicted late last year that the financial markets would improve and that companies would issue more bonds.

The company projected a 2012 profit of $2.62 to $2.72 per share, which would be up about five to nine percent from $2.49 in 2011.

The year-ago period included eight cents per share of tax benefits. The provision for income taxes increased in the quarter by $24 million, and the effective tax rate rose to 37 percent from 19.5 percent.

The company said it did not continue buying back shares in the fourth quarter, but issued stock for employee pay.

Rock Tech Lithium hits 1.2% lithium oxide over 8.84 metres at Georgia Lake

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:15:00 +1100

Rock Tech Lithium (CVE:RCK) unveiled Wednesday the remaining drill results from the second phase of its exploration program at the company's Georgia Lake lithium project in Ontario.

The results reported Wednesday are from seven holes drilled on the spodumene-pegmatite dyke, located on the Nama Creek claim block, the company said.

The aim of the second phase of the program was to add new resources to the NI 43-101 compliant estimate announced in October last year, of 2.36 million indicated tonnes of 1.17% lithium oxide (Li2O) and 4.36 million inferred tonnes of 1.08% Li2O.

The resource estimate was based on the spodumene-bearing pegmatite dykes located on the Nama Creek and Conway claim blocks.

Highlights of the latest drill results include 1.20% Li2O over 8.84 metres, 1.11% Li2O over 3.10 metres, and 0.82% Li2O over 1.0 metres in drill hole NC-11-23.

Drill hole NC-11-24 intersected 1.44% Li2O over 4.57 metres, 0.81% Li2O over 2.70 metres, 1.33% Li2O over 2.0 metres and 0.79% Li2O over 2.0 metres.

Other notable results included 1.44% Li2O over 5.83 metres, 1.11% Li2O over 3.14 metres, 0.70% Li2O over 1.58 metres, 1.70% Li2O over 1.0 metres, and 1.53% Li2O over 0.84 metres in drill hole NC-11-25.

In addition, hole NC-11-27 encountered 1.22% Li2O over 5.77 metres and 1.25% Li2O over 1.0 metres, while hole NC-11-28 hit 1.30% Li2O over 2.0 metres, 1.45% Li2O over 1.58 metres and 1.50% Li2O over 1.07 metres.

Finally, hole NC-11-29 returned 1.09% Li2O over 6.0 metres, 1.17% Li2O over 4.0 metres and 1.18% Li2O over 2.51 metres.

"With the complete set of assay results from Phase 2 of our exploration program received from the lab, we now look forward to an updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimation from Caracle Creek International Consulting," said president and CEO, Eunho Lee.

"These results, in conjunction with the positive metallurgy, excellent infrastructure and a strong, mutually beneficial working relationship with the local First Nations, reaffirm our confidence in the potential of our Georgia Lake lithium project."

The company said that the second phase drilling also found anomalous values of rare metals, including rubidium, beryllium, cesium, niobium and tantalum.

The program consisted of 4,608 metres of diamond drilling over eighteen drill holes in addition to sixteen channel samples, testing pegmatite dykes located on the Nama Creek, Conway and Newkirk claim blocks.

Rock Tech has already reported very high purity levels from the property earlier this year. In late September last year, the company achieved a purity level of 99.988% lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) from a bulk sample. Battery manufacturers require a purity level of at least 99.5% Li2CO3.

Besides the battery industry, lithium has many uses, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics, casting for HVAC products, additives for greases and oil products, aluminum production, and as a pharmaceutical mood stabilizer.

The Georgia Lake lithium property, located some 145 kilometers northeast of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, consists of four claim blocks covering 11,481 hectares.

Century Iron Mines completes earn-in of 51% stake in Attikamagen project

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:36:00 +1100

Century Iron Mines (TSE:FER) said Wednesday that it has completed the earn-in of its 51 percent interest in the Attikamagen project, located 20 kilometres northeast of Schefferville, straddling the boundary between the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Under the terms of an option and joint venture agreement with Champion Minerals (TSE:CHM), Champion has signed, and delivered the 51 percent interest in the iron ore property to Century Iron's subsidiary.

Century said it fulfilled its obligation under the deal to fund $7.5 million in exploration and development work on the property required to earn this initial interest.

The iron ore explorer also has the option to increase its interest to up to 60 percent, by funding an additional $3.0 million in exploration and development work before May 12, 2014.

A winter drilling program at Attikamagen last year targeted direct shipping ore potential at Joyce Lake, and taconite potential at Hayot Lake. Taconite is a variety of iron formation, which is an iron-bearing sedimentary rock, while direct shipping ore refers to iron ore that can be shipped directly to a steel furnace.

Reverse circulation drilling at Joyce Lake intersected 139 metres grading 52.8% total iron in hole JOY-11-06, while hole JOY-11-07 returned 91.0 metres of 52.5% total iron, including 42.0 metres of 65.3% iron. The company said that while still at an early stage, results indicated that the Joyce Lake iron formation has the potential to become a DSO deposit.

At Hayot Lake, hole HAY-11-10 intersected 108.2 metres grading 33.2% total iron.

"Century is pleased to have had the earn in completed through its subsidiary, Labec Century, thus forming the joint venture with Champion and achieving a major milestone on the development of the Attikamagen Project," said Century Iron president and CEO, Sandy Chim.

"The Project has been progressing well with encouraging results announced earlier from our 2011 exploration program.

"We look forward to taking the Project to the next level with WISCO International Resources Development & Investment Limited, a partner in Labec Century to fund $40 million for its further exploration for a 40% therein.”

Century Iron Mines is Canada's largest holder of iron ore land claims, with interests in several properties in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The company is backed by two Chinese strategic partners through financing and off-take agreements: MinMetals and WISCO International Resources, a unit of Wuhan Iron & Steel, also known as China's third-largest steel producer.

Cadillac Ventures starts updated resource estimate for K1-1 deposit

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:22:00 +1100

Cadillac Ventures (CVE:CDC) said Wednesday it has started an updated mineral resource estimate for its K1-1 deposit, following the receipt of results from 26 drill holes recently completed at the site.

The K1-1 project is located roughly three kilometres to the east of the company's Thierry Mine project in northwestern Ontario, both being within the boundaries of the 11,538 acre Thierry property, occupying only a small portion of the asset.

In late 2011, the company released an initial inferred mineral resource estimate for K1-1 within a Whittle pit shell consisting of 19.89 million tonnes grading 0.10% nickel, 0.42% copper, 2.0 g/t silver, 0.03 g/t gold, 0.05 g/t platinum, 0.15 g/t palladium.

Cadillac also said an exploration target for K1-1 located outside and below the resource pit shell was estimated to contain between 45 to 55 million tonnes grading between 0.08 and 0.12% nickel, and 0.32 to 0.36% copper. But there was not enough "modern data" for the target to complete resource modeling, the company said.

The initial inferred resource reflected the first 16 exploration holes drilled by Cadillac, as well as limited historic data and other exploration carried out on the property.

Within the inferred resource, the company said there were gaps in data, "due simply to lack of drilling to model, which affect the behaviour of the pit, and therefore constrained the resource".

As a result, a 26 hole drill program was designed to address gaps within the pit shell area at K1-1, as well as test for extensions along strike and at depth.

The drilling campaign was also designed to intersect and upgrade mineralization from the exploration target category into the resource statement, and if successful, adding tonnage to both categories using infill drilling.

Cadillac said that including the drill results from the 26 holes in the re-calculation of the resource is expected to boost the estimate by extending the modeled mineralization.

Highlights of these assays included 110 feet of 0.626% copper and 87.5 feet of 0.546% copper.

During the drilling program, there was a total of 20,868 feet drilled over the 26 holes, and a total of 2,590 samples taken.

Cadillac said the update of the K1-1 resource estimate will affect a future production decision at Thierry, as the close proximity of the deposits to each other is expected to result in cost efficiencies - due to the sharing of the infrastructure and processing plant capacity.

"Sharing of facilities between the deposits should enable Cadillac to realize lower production costs, and therefore process material of a lower grade than would be envisioned based upon either deposit operating independently of the other," the company said in a statement.

Cadillac is a development-focused copper company currently advancing its 100 percent-owned Thierry property, near Pickle Lake, Ontario, which consists of the past-producing Thierry Mine and hosts two NI 43-101 compliant resources from the Thierry Mine and K1-1.

The Thierry Mine deposit has a current resource estimate consisting of 8.3 million tonnes measured and indicated grading 1.73% copper and 0.20% nickel, as well as 14.6 million tonnes inferred grading 1.70% copper and 0.16% nickel. The deposit remains open at depth and to the west.

Meanwhile, the K1-1 deposit is a potentially open-pit, large tonnage, low grade deposit located approximately three kilometres from the Thierry Mine.

Great Panther Silver appoints independent chairman

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:07:00 +1100

Great Panther Silver (TSE:GPR) said Tuesday it has appointed chartered accountant R.W. Garnett as independent chairman to the company’s board of directors.

Garnett has served as an independent director of the company since May 3, 2011, and is chairman of Great Panther’s audit committee.

He was recently the vice-chair of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, and serves on the board of VRX Worldwide (CVE:VRW), where he is the chair of their audit committee.

From 2009 to 2010, he was a director and audit committee member of Central 1 Credit Union, which is the central banker for credit unions in Ontario and British Columbia.

Further, he was an owner and president of Eaglequest Golf Centres, and has held senior financial roles within the residential and commercial real-estate sector.

This recent appointment is in line with Great Panther’s internal board mandate to further increase independence of board members, it said.

The company plans to add another independent director before its annual general meeting, which is being held in June.

Garnett replaces Kaare Foy, who stepped down after serving more than 18 years as a director of Great Panther and almost eight years as executive chairman.

Foy will continue as a consultant to the company.

Last month, the company reported improved fourth-quarter 2011 production results at its two wholly owned Mexican silver mining operations, Guanajuato and Topia.

For the three months to December 31, the company said metal production for the quarter rose by 13 percent to 545,294 silver equivalent ounces from the previous quarter.

Silver production of 354,754 ounces was up three percent from the previous quarter and gold production of 2,281 ounces was up 53 percent.

Mexico-focused Great Panther said that ore grades improved at Guanajuato to 235 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and 2.12 g/t gold in November and December, the highest since September, 2010.

The company, founded in 1965, mainly produces silver. It also produces gold, lead and zinc. It holds a 100 percent interest in the Guanajuato silver-gold mine, comprised of roughly 28 claims totalling 1,107-hectares located on the central plateau of Mexico in the state of Guanajuato.

Great Panther’s shares rose 1.53 percent to $2.66 each today in Toronto.

ImmunoCellular says 2011 "best year yet", busy 2012 ahead

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:57:00 +1100

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics (OTCBB:IMUC) called 2011 "its strongest year yet" in a letter to shareholders released on Tuesday, as it initiated its phase two study of its lead product candidate, ICT-107, and announced one of the largest financings in the company’s history.

The positive reinforcement led to a 18.18 percent spike in the company's stock, to $1.95 per share, on the OTC Bulletin Board as of 3:47 pm EDT.

In February 2011, ImmunoCellular completed a private placement financing, raising $8.1 million, and welcoming many large life science investors to its shareholder base.

Additionally, it raised another $10.4 million in January 2012 through a public offering underwritten by Cowen & Co, with Summer Street Research Partners acting as co-manager. The company said is now well financed to continue its planned operations through the end of 2013.

Following the completion of these financings, ImmunoCellular has over $16 million in cash reserves to fund its operations, which should be sufficient for the next 24 months, the company said.

While pipeline advancement has increased its research and development expenses, the company said it continues to be conservative in its cash burn rate by maintaining a lean infrastructure, staying focused on product development while outsourcing basic research to leading specialty service providers.

In January 2011, ImmunoCellular announced the FDA’s acceptance of its investigational new drug (NDA) application, leading it to commence a phase two study of ICT-107, the company's lead cell-based vaccine candidate for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a particularly aggressive form of brain tumour.

To date, ImmunoCellular has initiated the trial in 23 centres. There are currently more than 115 patients enrolled in the study. The company expects to enroll a total of 160 to 200 patients by the second quarter of 2012, in order to enroll 102 subjects in the various immunological subtypes.

Progression-free and overall survival times for GBM patients treated with ICT-107 during the company's phase one trial of the drug continue to be substantially longer than those associated with standard of care (SOC) alone, ImmunoCellular said.

In September 2011, ImmunoCellular reported its three-year data, which indicated an overall survival of 55 percent, compared to 16 percent based on historical SOC.

Of the 16 newly diagnosed patients who received ICT-107, 38 percent continue to show no tumor recurrence after three years, compared to the historic disease-free survival rate of 6 percent with SOC.

Out of these patients, 19 percent remain disease-free after more than four years.

Meanwhile, in October 2011, the company retained the services of Progenitor Cell Therapy (PCT), a cell therapy services and development company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of NeoStem (AMEX:NBS), to serve as the second manufacturing site to produce ICT-107.

As part of this agreement, PCT will transfer and qualify the manufacturing process for ICT-107 at its West Coast facility in Mountain View, California, for use in ImmunoCellular's phase two study, and provide subsequent manufacturing to support future trials and development efforts.

In collaboration with BioWa, ImmunoCellular announced the launch of Caerus Discovery, LLC, a new, privately-owned biotech company based on the Prince William campus of George Mason University.

In this joint venture, BioWa will fund drug-target discovery and antibody development activities using ImmunoCellular's proprietary monoclonal antibody technologies.

Lastly, in 2011, ImmunoCellular received two new patents and was granted allowance on one of the key patents on ICT-107. These patents expand the company’s issued patent portfolio to nine, with more than 18 additional patents pending.

One of the new patents relates to the use of the therapeutic antibody candidate ICT-69 in the treatment and detection of multiple myeloma and ovarian cancer, while one of the others cover the use of dendritic cells for the treatment of brain cancers, when used in combination with chemotherapy.

With encouraging data from its phase one study of ICT-107 in GBM, solid progress in phase two enrollment, a broad intellectual property estate, and a new strategic collaboration related to its antibody therapeutics program, ImmunoCellular said a busy 2012 awaits.

Great Western provides operational update, Steenkampskraal progresses

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:29:00 +1100

Great Western Minerals Group (CVE:GWG) provided investors with an update to its exploration and mining operations on Tuesday, including at its flagship Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa.

As it announced late last month, Great Western completed the first phase of its exploration program at the 474-hectare, former-producing Steenkampskraal rare earth property in South Africa.

The drill program had two primary goals: to provide information in support of a fully compliant NI 43-101 resource estimate report for the area, and to collect a representative mini-bulk sample for metallurgical testing.

The program consisted of 39 diamond drill holes totaling 3,780 metres, including 17 holes for resource delineation, totaling 1,932 metres, and 22 holes dedicated to metallurgical sampling, 1,848 metres. Assay results are pending and will be reported as they are received from the laboratories, the company said.

The company has also launched a 3,000-metre exploration program that will include on-strike and down-dip drill holes at the Steenkampskraal project, in order to test the extension of the mineralized vein system.

The drilling has started, and is currently targeting the strike extension of the vein mineralization that is located immediately west of the current mine site.

Great Western also announced that the first 125 metres of the decline at the Steenkampskraal mine has been refurbished, with 50 metres remaining to be completed.

Modern, high-volume underground ventilation continues to be improved with the installation of two new fans at the base of the underground workings, Great Western added. The ventilation distribution system is designed to substantially mitigate radon measurements in the working areas.

The Steenkampskraal mine now contains a full complement of ancillary buildings, including management offices, change houses, laundry service, mine workshops, and storage facilities.

Potable and mine recirculation water systems are also now in place. The reverse osmosis plant has been successfully installed with a capacity of 18,000 litres per hour. This capacity is important to management's priority of continuous re-use of the available water resource, thereby minimizing overall water use at site, it said.

In other news, Great Western and Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group of China established an incorporated JV last month, called Great Western GQD Rare Earth Materials Co Ltd, for the design, construction, and operation of a rare earth separation plant, which will be located in the Steenkampskraal region.

In addition to its Steenkampskraal rare earth property in South Africa, Great Western also owns four rare earth exploration projects throughout North America, and two rare earth processing plants through its subsidiaries Less Common Metals in Birkenhead, U.K., and Great Western Technologies in Troy, Michigan, where it makes rare earth element-based specialty alloys.

Last month, Great Western's joint venture (JV) partner in the Red Wine exploration project, Search Minerals, said its phase three drilling program had extended the rare earth element mineralization to 400 metres depth at the project.

Meanwhile, earlier in January, Search announced the discovery of high-grade rare earth element mineralization in the Merlot prospect at the Red Wine property in Labrador.

Less Common Metals (LCM) also announced in January that it received a significant capacity boost. LCM added a new furnace at Hooton Park, near its existing facilities, raising capacity by about 50 percent. LCM said it plans to add new furnaces in response to the increasing demand from its growing global customer base.

Bacterin promotes Nick Navarro to national sales manager

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:11:00 +1100

Bacterin International Holdings (NYSE:BONE) said Tuesday that it has promoted Nick Navarro to national sales manager.

The company, which has about 117 employees, develops bone graft material and antimicrobial coatings for medical applications.

Its products are used to enhance fusion in spine surgery, back pain relief with a facet joint stabilization, promotion of bone growth in foot and ankle surgery.

Navarro has eight years of sales and management experience in the orthopaedic industry. He holds a psychology degree from the University of Iowa and a minor in business.

Under this role, he will be responsible for managing Bacterin’s hybrid distribution force by supporting product sales for all Bacterin divisions.

Before his promotion, Navarro served various roles at Bacterin starting as a direct representative, then advanced to regional sales manager where he relocated to headquarters to serve as vice president of devices.

During his career, he has worked for Johnson and Johnson, specializing in wound management, and at Wright Medical as a foot and ankle hardware specialist.

Bacterin's president and chief executive, Guy Cook, said: “We were very pleased to promote a strong team member such as Nick. He has brought relevant industry experience to Bacterin and has produced at each level inside the company. We look forward to adding his performance and industry expertise to our sales management team.”

Bacterin’s proprietary methods optimize the growth factors in human allografts to create the ideal stem cell scaffold to promote bone repair and dermal growth. The company's medical division also develops antimicrobial coatings that inhibit contamination.

WestStar Resources completes IP survey at La Paloma, plans for 2,000m drill program

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:45:00 +1100

WestStar Resources Corp. (CVE:WER) said Tuesday that it has completed the induced polarization/resistivity survey at its La Paloma property in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, and has begun planning for the upcoming diamond drill program at the site.

The property is located approximately 70 kilometres west of the city of Guadalajara.

The IP/Resistivity survey at La Paloma consisted of a total of 5.8 line-kilometres, which were surveyed along a series of seven lines targeting an 800 metre strike extent of the Main "Piedra Bola" Vein structure.

The survey represents the final stage in WestStar's phase one exploration program, which included property-wide geologic mapping, the collection of 194 rock grab and channel samples, 656 soil samples, and 174 stream sediment samples.

In addition, a total of 20.8 line kilometres of ground magnetic survey was completed, the company said.

WestStar is now selecting drill targets in preparation for a 2,000 metre diamond drill program at the property, which will target the most prospective anomalies within the Main "Piedra Bola" Vein structure, as well as evaluate the potential of additional mineralized veins on the project.

"We are extremely encouraged with the results of the Phase 1 exploration program and feel the work to date has culminated in potentially high success drill targets for WestStar," said president Mitchell Adam.

"Since acquiring this past producing gold and silver property WestStar has completed a series of work programs to focus our future drilling on the Property."

Indeed, three main targets have been outlined at La Paloma, the Main "Piedra Bola" Vein, the Ridge Showing and the East Vein.

The Main Vein has been defined over a one kilometre strike length, with rock channel sampling assaying up to 0.84 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold, and 64 g/t silver over 6 metres.

Individual mineralized rock samples of outcropping quartz veins returned assays of up to 7.81 g/t gold and 311 g/t silver.

The company said the Piedra Bola Vein is coincident with a broad 400 by 1,000 metre, 10 parts-per-billion (ppb) gold in soil anomaly that encompasses the nearby Ridge Showing. Individual soil samples within the Piedra Bola Vein soil anomaly have returned assays of up to 3.69 g/t gold.

The Ridge Showing, meanwhile, is situated about 300 metres southwest of the Piedra Bola Vein, and covers an area of around 100 by 30 metres. Individual soil samples within the Ridge Showing anomaly have retuned assays of up to 557 ppb gold.

Finally, a second East Vein structure located 195 metres to the northeast of the Piedra Bola Vein was traced for around 200 metres thus far. The company is hoping to increase this strike with further work, as rock channel sampling in this area returned assays of 8.6 g/t silver over 4 metres.

WestStar has an option to earn up to 80 percent of La Paloma, subject to a two percent net smelter royalty. The property lies at the very southern end of the Sierra Madre Occidental physiographic province, which is well known for gold and silver mineralization and mining.

The primary goal of the company is to define a compliant gold and silver resource at the site.

The property was, at one time, owned by Penoles, who relinquished it in 1980.

Kilo Goldmines names Stuart Thomson as VP operations

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:36:00 +1100

Kilo Goldmines (CVE:KGL) said Tuesday it appointed chemical and materials engineer Stuart Thomson as vice president of
operations.

Thomson, who originates from New Zealand, has more than 20 years of experience within the resource sector. His appointment is subject to regulatory approval.

Under his new role, Thomson will be in charge of studies to support the development of the resource by various project stage-gates to production.

During the course of his career, he has worked in Europe, South America, Australia, Mali, South Africa as well as Zambia.

While in these countries, Thomson worked in an operational, project development and consulting role in the base and precious metals and energy industries.

Before joining Kilo, he held a number of roles ranging from graduate engineer to senior management at Queensland Nickel in Australia, Anglo American in South Africa and major international contractors like AMEC and Fluor Daniel.

In addition, he has an in-depth knowledge of both refractory and non-refractory gold ore bodies along with the technical, environmental and business constraints.

Kilo’s president and chief executive, Alex van Hoeken, said: "His skill set will be drawn upon to implement various technical and business systems and procedures to ensure accountability to the board and to shareholders."

Kilo has over 7,000 square kilometres of Archaean Kabalian greenstone in the Kilo-Moto area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company owns a 71.25 percent stake in the DRC entity that holds the Somituri project exploitation permits.

The Somituri project consists of eight exploration licences covering 606 square kilometres of the Ngayu greenstone belt.

Kilo’s shares last traded at 24.5 cents per share Tuesday afternoon on Toronto’s junior venture exchange.

SacOil: Revised terms for Nigerian licence; draws down £381,000 from Yorkville equity line - UPDATE

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:48:00 +1100

---Adds broker comment---

SacOil (LON:SAC) has agreed changes to the terms of its farm-in partnership for the OPL 281 licence in Nigeria, which mean it does not have to carry the operator on capital expenditure costs to first oil.

Transcorp remains the operator of the onshore licence and will pay its 60 per cent of the costs to first production, compared to the company and other partner Energy Equity Resources (EER) carrying 100 per cent of the costs as previously agreed.

In today statement, SacOil also announced it has drawn down on its Yorkville equity line to ensure it has enough short term cash to pay for the plans for the licence.

The company has issued 10,926,906 shares to Yorkville Advisors at a price of 0,44 South African Rand each under the US$25 million equity credit line agreed last year. That price equates to around 3.49 pence per share, raising around £381,000 for SacOil.

Transcorp owns 60 per cent of the licence, EER and SacOil each have 20 per cent.

Under the new terms, which were initiated by Transcorp due to a change of control, there has been a reduction in farm-in fees for SacOil and technical partner EER to $24.5 million from $32.5 mln.

Transcorp's aim is now to take full responsibility for the operation of the concession, said SacOil.

The partners estimate a phase 1 work programme budge of $15 million for exploration on the licence, which involves the drilling of at least one well.

SacOil's chief executive Robin Vela said: "We are pleased with the revised terms as we will no longer be required to provide Transcorp with a carry on CAPEX costs from the point of entry to first oil.

"All costs are now carried proportionately to the equity owned by Transcorp, EER and SacOil. SacOil and EER will be actively involved in the operations through the operations and management committees."

A competent person's report (CPR) has attributed a gross unrisked contingent resource of around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent, with additional potential in two further prospects and deeper zones, the company added.

House broker Shore Capital welcomed the news.

"In our opinion, these revised terms for entry into OPL 281 are a very positive development, as they reduce SacOil’s capital exposure and indicate that the work programme will be expedited under a very credible local operator," said analyst Craig Howie.

Europa Oil & Gas boosted by higher output and prices

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:44:00 +1100

UK-onshore oil group Europa Oil & Gas (LON:EOG) saw first half revenues jump by almost two-thirds as output and prices both rose.

Turnover jumped by 61 per cent to £2.1 million in the half year to January 31 as volumes from its three producing fields rose by 23 per cent to 187 barrels per day.

Income was also boosted by a 39% rise in oil prices to US$108.9 per barrel.

The company currently has three producing assets all located in the East Midlandsand consisting of a 100% working interest in the West Firsby and Crosby Warren fields and a 65% working interest in the Whisby 4 well.

Higher output reflected the West Firsby WF-9 well coming on stream and reduced downtime after the blizzards had affected the the previous year.

Hugh Mackay, chief executive, added that daily production has been consistently higher than the previous year despite a recent workover programme for the West Firsby 7 well.

“Our UK production continues to generate more than enough cashflow to cover our operating costs and provides a solid foundation from which we can develop our other highly exciting assets.”

“Little or no value is being attached to our highly prospective portfolio of exploration and development assets that include the Berenx gas appraisal project and the Tarbes Val d'Adour re-development project, both of which are located in France.”

Management is committed to realising the inherent value of Europa’s portfolio, he added.

Wentworth Resources to sell Mtwara power station for US$13.5 mln

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:41:00 +1100

Wentworth Resources (LON:WRL) today announced a deal to sell the Mtwara gas-fired power plant to government-backed utility TANESCO – the Tanzania Electric Supply Company.

The plant is being sold for US$13.5 million cash.

Mtwara is an 18 megawatt gas-to-power plant, which already sells its electricity to TANESCO. The plant is supplied with gas from Wentworth’s nearby Mnazi Bay gas field.

Wentworth says the deal allows it to streamline its operations and focus on exploring for hydrocarbons and developing its natural gas resources.

"We believe the sale of the power plant is beneficial to both parties and we want to thank TANESCO and the government of Tanzania for their commitment and professionalism throughout the transaction process,” said managing director Geoff Bury.

“This transaction provides us with further non-dilutive capital as we look to focus on our core strategy of exploring for hydrocarbons and developing known natural gas resources.

“We look forward to continuing to be a reliable, long-term gas supplier to the Mtwara power plant and to being a gas supply partner with TANESCO in other parts of Tanzania".

Wentworth said that the Mtwara asset has a net book value of US$9.4 million. And in the first nine months of last year it generated revenues of US$5.2 million and a US$206,000 profit.

Today’s deal follows last week’s news that Wentworth had agreed to acquire an additional 16.38 per cent stake in the Mnazi Bay licence, taking its total interest to 41.78 per cent, in an asset swap with Cove Energy (LON:COV).

The firm described that deal as a ‘classic win-win’ situation.

Wentworth and the operator Maurel et Prom will now take the project forward, alongside the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation. Maurel et Prom own 38.22 per cent stake in Mnazi Bay and the TPDC owns a 20 per cent stake.

Cove and Maurel et Prom were set to carry Wentworth’s costs for an exploration well and a 3D seismic acquisition programme. Going forward Wentworth will have to cover some of these costs itself. Wentworth will pay 30 per cent of the costs. After the agreed work is complete the costs will be split according to the partners' participating interests.

Wentworth says it will now have a greater strategic influence over Mnazi Bay's gas monetisation plan.

Synchronica to form JV with Canadian group; to get up to C$10 mln investment

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:39:00 +1100

Mobile messaging firm Synchronica (LON:SYNC, CVE:SYN) has agreed to form a joint venture with Toronto based technology incubator Intertainment Media Inc (CVE:INT, OTCQX: ITMFT). The Canadian group is also investing up to C$10 million in Synchronica share-plus-warrant units priced at a minimum 16 pence each.

Earlier this month, Synchronica’s Swiss rival Myriad tabled an all share offer worth 13 pence per share, valuing the group at about £20.6 million. Synchronica has neither accepted nor refused the deal, and has merely advised shareholders to take no action.

The letter of intent announced today envisages Synchronica and Intertainment Media integrating Synchronica's flagship messaging platform, Mobile Gateway, with Intertainment Media's Ortsbo experiential language technology, enabling Mobile Gateway to provide its users with seamless and real-time translation between more than 50 languages.

Under a JV agreement, the parties will license their respective intellectual properties to a new subsidiary. The jointly-owned new business will allow Synchronica and Intertainment Media to further develop each other's products, share R&D efforts, enlarge each other's business development activities and drive revenue and profitability for both companies from new projects.

Synchronica explained that the planned joint venture is the first step in its commitment, flagged late last year, to reduce costs across the business while also seeking further funding opportunities which would accelerate the business.

As part of the transaction, Intertainment Media will invest up to C$10 million in Synchronica, at a minimum price of 16 pence per share unit. Each unit will comprise one ordinary Synchronica share, plus one ordinary share warrant, exercisable at 40 cents per share at any time within two years of issue.

Synchronica will shortly seek shareholder and necessary approvals for Intertainment Media's first investment of C$1 million. These additional funds will be used for additional working capital and to integrate the Ortsbo language technology with Synchronica Mobile Gateway.

It is planned that Intertainment Media will make a further investment in March 2012 of between C$1 million and C$5 million.

Synchronica chief executive Angus Dent said: "This is a new and exciting partnership for Synchronica. It will allow us to immediately enrich Mobile Gateway with real-time conversational translation services, which will really appeal to our new and existing customers. Ortsbo complements Synchronica Mobile Gateway, and together we're able to provide a unique possibility for our customers to position themselves as the hub for social interaction, regardless of geographical or language limitations.”

Intertainment Media owns and operates several key technologies, and we believe this co-development agreement and investment will create significant value for Synchronica shareholders."

SacOil: Revised terms for Nigerian licence; draws down £381,000 from Yorkville equity line

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:35:00 +1100

SacOil (LON:SAC) has agreed changes to the terms of its farm-in partnership for the OPL 281 licence in Nigeria, which mean it does not have to carry the operator on capital expenditure costs to first oil.

Transcorp remains the operator of the onshore licence and will pay its 60 per cent of the costs to first production, compared to the company and other partner Energy Equity Resources (EER) carrying 100 per cent of the costs as previously agreed.

In today statement, SacOil also announced it has drawn down on its Yorkville equity line to ensure it has enough short term cash to pay for the plans for the licence.

The company has issued 10, 926, 906 shares to Yorkville Advisors at a price of 0,44 South African Rand each under the US$25 million equity credit line agreed last year. That price equates to around 3.49 pence per share, raising around £381,000 for SacOil.

Transcorp owns 60 per cent of the licence, EER and SacOil each have 20 per cent.

Under the new terms, which were initiated by Transcorp due to a change of control, there has been a reduction in farm-in fees for SacOil and technical partner EER to $24.5 million from $32.5 mln.

Transcorp's aim is now to take full responsibility for the operation of the concession, said SacOil.

The partners estimate a phase 1 work programme budge of $15 million for exploration on the licence, which involves the drilling of at least one well.

SacOil's chief executive Robin Vela said: "We are pleased with the revised terms as we will no longer be required to provide Transcorp with a carry on CAPEX costs from the point of entry to first oil.

"All costs are now carried proportionately to the equity owned by Transcorp, EER and SacOil. SacOil and EER will be actively involved in the operations through the operations and management committees."

A competent person's report (CPR) has attributed a gross unrisked contingent resource of around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent, with additional potential in two further prospects and deeper zones, the company added.

Sarantel sees significant revenues boost after largest ever order

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:32:00 +1100

Miniature antenna maker Sarantel (LON:SLG) said today it had won its largest order ever, which will have a significant impact on revenues and cash flow this year.

The order is from an unnamed US military radio manufacturer, which will use Sarantel’s GeoHelix GPS antennas across a range of its products.

One use of Sarantel’s GPS antennas is in compact radio systems that are embedded inside a soldier’s body armour.

Sarantel added that the order was part a multi-year supply contract expected to be delivered over the next 12 months.

It is currently considering a number of options for both short and medium term financing, including a commercial loan.

David Wither, chief executive. said: "This is the largest order that we have secured so far and we expect it to have a material impact on our revenues. It is a great endorsement of the importance of our technology to world leading customers."

Broker XCAP said the order was great news for the company and the broker expects eventually to raise its September 2012 sales and operating profit forecasts “materially”.

“Today's order takes Sarantel a long way towards profitability even without any contribution from camera GPS contracts,” it said, while the comments about financing suggest the company believes it can fund itself with bank debt based on the current order book.

XCAP said if Sarantel does make a breakthrough into consumer products, it may need to riase money to cover the ramp-up, but in that situation the share price “would be far above current levels”.

Today’s order follows on from an award last November from US-based NAL Research Corporation for its second-generation Iridium antenna for a low-power, two-way satellite messaging and personal tracking device. That deal could generate revenues of US$1 million.

North River Resources completes Brandberg deal

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:24:00 +1100

North River Resources (LON:NRR) announced this morning it has completed the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Brandberg Energy.

It follows the payment of US$800,000 to Brandberg, which was set up by Extract Resources (ASX:EXT).

The company holds exclusive prospecting licences 3327 and 3328, located near the old tin mining town of Uis in the northwest of Namibia.

A horizontal loop electromagnetic survey over the two licences has identified of two uranium target areas.

Priority target Orawab is interpreted as a palaeochannel at least 14 kilometres long, between 100-1000 metres wide and up to 50 metres deep.

A secondary target, Ringo, appears to include a less prominent but still significant palaeochannel to the southwest of the Orawab target, which is up to 7 kilometres long, 50-500 metres wide and 30 metres deep.

The Ringo target is considered a possible downstream extension of the Brandberg uranium occurrence identified in historical literature, North River said.

North River said today Brandberg plans a 1,100-metre drill programme, which may be increased to 1,500-2,000 metres following the receipt of new funds.

It will commence once the radiation management plan is approved by the National Radiation Protection Authority in Namibia. The RMP was submitted in mid-November.

David Steinepreis and Luke Bryan of North River will be appointed to the Brandberg board alongside two Extract directors.

SocialGo’s new website builder is drawing a lot of interest from potential customers

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:22:00 +1100

SocialGo (LON:SGO) told investors that its new ‘version 2’ product is drawing a lot of interest from potential customers.

The group’s new software as a service (SaaS) website builder was launched in October.

Chief executive Alex Halliday says that thousands of visitors are visiting the company’s website (www.SocialGo.com) each day as they look to grow an online community.

“This growing interest is an excellent opportunity for the company,” he said.

“With the software having proven itself as a stable and flexible platform we are now concentrating our efforts on giving our customers a vibrant and active community that is up and running in minutes and continues to grow and develop over time.

“We will shortly be introducing a revised customer journey which will feature a new setup process, new network structure and critically, dramatically improved Facebook integration which will help the sites launch, grow and sustain activity.

“The upcoming releases will add definition to how the SocialGo sites exist in parallel with Twitter, Facebook Groups and Facebook Pages.”

In this morning’s trading update the company explained that it continues to receive revenues from the its first product, which is no longer available to new customers, and the sales for the new product are growing month on month.

It said that January saw twice as many new subscriptions as December. Furthermore it said that recent improvements to the way customers sign-up and set-up their social websites has seen a significant increase in customer trials. SocialGo says this is very encouraging.

A joint venture with Muronia Ltd, which specialises in online retail services for the music, entertainment and sports industries, has also benefited the company.

Together they are targeting high value clients that are seeking to directly exploit their commercial rights to their fan bases through their own dedicated social networks.

They have already signed up British rock band Kasabian, which launched its SocialGo powered site (www.kasabianlive.com) in December.

SocialGo hopes to build on this initial success with targeting similar initiatives, this includes promising discussions with a major US media group.

The company also announced today that Lord William Astor has joined the board of directors.

Respect Your Universe launching debut spring 2012 performance apparel line

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:21:00 +1100

Mixed martial arts apparel and equipment group Respect Your Universe (OTC:RYUN) said it will launch its debut spring 2012 men’s premium performance apparel line on February 15.

The line will contain training, competition, sportswear, headwear and accessory items.

Created specifically to enhance the athlete’s overall performance, all of the RYU apparel and products are made from high quality fabrics comprised of up to 90 per cent organic and/or recycled materials to maximize performance, fit and comfort.

Made with both performance and style in mind, RYU’s authenticity is reflected in the design of each item containing one or more symbols from traditionally handcrafted Samurai sword guards and iconography, it said.

RYU’s men’s line will be available for purchase from the respectyouruniverse.com website and at high-end retailers such as MMA-specialty and sporting goods stores along with menswear boutiques.

RYU is an official sponsor of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the largest mixed martial arts promotion company.

Over the last few months, it has added Top UFC Welterweight Jon Fitch, 2011 Mr. Olympia Phil Heath and Boston Red Sox Outfielder Darnell McDonald to its long-term athlete brand representation roster.

Additional well-known Mixed Martial Artists such as Mark Ellis, Clay Guida, Cheick Kongo, Joe Stevens and Hector Lombard have also been sponsored by RYU for individual fights to showcase RYU’s new apparel and products.

Stratex International rallies on drill results from Öksüt gold project

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:19:00 +1100

Stratex International (LON:STI) reported the best drilling results yet from the Öksüt gold project in central Turkey ahead of a resource update, which is expected in the near future.

Investors cheered the drilling report and shares in Stratex rallied 13 percent to 8.63 pence, valuing the group at £31.15 million.

The best results reported from the Ortaçam North zone of the project today included intersections of 268 metres grading 2.34 grammes per tonne (g/t) gold and 229.1 metres at a grade of 1.02 g/t gold.

“These latest drill results from Ortaçam North continue to demonstrate the considerable resource potential of the zone, especially given that it remains open in three directions,” said chief executive of Stratex Bob Foster.

The company now plans to undertake a “more aggressive” expanded drilling programme to define the wider limits of the mineralisation and locate similar high-grade zones.

“This is an important gold discovery for Stratex that will be fully explored and delineated in 2012,” added Foster.

Stratex expects to update the gold resource at Öksüt in the near future to confirm a significant increase in the current resource of 317,256 ounces.

In the meantime, the company’s joint venture partner Centerra has elected to earn an additional interest of 20 percent in the project by funding a further US$3 million of exploration expenditures.

This will be in addition to the US$3 million it has already contributed to earn a 50 percent stake.

Only yesterday, Stratex received a vote of confidence from its major shareholder AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU, LON:AGG) and its joint venture Thani Ashanti subscribed for shares in Stratex to maintain their stakes at 11.5 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.

The subscription price of eight pence per share represented a premium to Monday’s closing price of 7.63 pence.

Regency Mines shares up on more positive Mambare results

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:18:00 +1100

Shares in Regency Mines (LON:RGM) were lifted this afternoon after it revealed further positive results from recent drilling at the Mambare nickel laterite project in Papua New Guinea.

Highlights of the work included one hole, which hit 35.6 metres at 0.99 per cent nickel and 0.09 per cent cobalt from 1.30 metres in depth.

This was the first result to come from Area 3 - infill drilling in the North Ridge part of the project - and confirmed the thick laterite mineralisation, which was identified in this zone during 2008, the firm said.

On Friday, Regency revealed results from the Plateau zone of the project, which confirmed the " significant grade and tonnage potential" of that zone.

The company told investors the zone may have the potential to host one of the world's largest nickel laterites.

One of the holes there returned the highest nickel grades encountered to date at the project, with 3.28 per cent nickel and 0.12 per cent cobalt being encountered in a 1 metre interval.

Today's results were derived from 270 samples from 12 holes. Of these 12 holes, nine included assayed intervals with nickel grades above 1 per cent.

And of the 270 samples tested, 130 were above 0.7 per cent nickel, including 59 above 1 per cent nickel. The weighted average grade for all samples is 0.74 per cent nickel, said Regency.

Mambare is being explored through a 50:50 joint venture, with Sydney based firm Direct Nickel Pty Ltd.

As at 12.55pm, shares in the firm were up 4.35 per cent, changing hands at 2.40 pence.

Rambler Metals buys out Philippine Metals' NSR for Ming mine for C$600,000

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:16:00 +1100

Rambler Metals and Mining (LON:RMM, CVE:RAB) has begun the process of buying out net smelter royalty (NSR) over its flagship Ming mine.

It has bought Ming's 2 per cent NSR held by Philippine Metals Inc (CVE:PHI), formerly New Meridian Mining Corporation, for , it said today.

Chief financial officer Norman Williams explained: "As Rambler sees first revenues from production it is now fiscally prudent that we buyout any royalty encumbrances held over the property.

"While we will see some interest payments by drawing down an additional C$2.5 million from the Sprott credit facility, the total interest payable per month will be far less than the payments made under this 2 per cent net smelter royalty."

In December last year, the company announced it had poured its first gold dore at the Ming operation on Newfoundland and Labrador's Baie Verte Peninsula.

Before the buyout announced today, the company had a 4.5 per cent combined NSR held by four separate groups.

Of those four, two included a buyout clause allowing Rambler to purchase 3 per cent of the total NSR for a total of C$1.1 million.

Rambler said the one of greatest value to the company and the first to be purchased was Philippine Metals Inc's 2 per cent NSR.

The company added that arrangements were also being made to buyout the remaining 1 per cent NSR. When the 3 per cent NSR is removed, the Ming mine will have a remaining 1.5 per cent NSR.

This is on top of the gold only royalty held by Sandstorm Gold (CVE:SSL) taken on as part of the project's financing.

Last September, Rambler said it had secured a $10 million credit facility from Sprott Resource Lending Partnership to be used for the development of the Ming copper gold mine.

The $10 million, which can be drawn in either US or Canadian dollars, is secured against the assets of Rambler's operating subsidiary. The facility comprises an initial $5 million, which had to be drawn within the first 30 days, and a second $5 million available until August 2012.

At the end of January, the company made a further C$2.5 million drawdown from the credit facility planning to use it to buyout the royalty.