Proactiveinvestors Australia brief news

Oro Verde delivers consistent copper grades from Chuminga, improves core recovery

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:40:00 +1000

Oro Verde (ASX: OVL) has delivered a notable intersection of 18 metres at 0.98% copper and 0.13 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from the second drill hole at its Chuminga Project in Chile, which previously intersected 26 metres of visual copper mineralisation.

New assays show values ranging from 0.6% to 1.26% copper and 0.6 to 0.25g/t gold.

The second hole was drilled to 179 metres deep and intersected broad widths of well-developed copper and iron oxide breccia mineralisation in a highly altered granodiorite from 97 to 116 metres deep.

Importantly, these assays confirm the consistent copper grades evident throughout the mineralised breccia.

The hole was targeting the same copper-iron oxide breccia mineralisation seen in the first diamond core hole, 75 metres to the north, which assayed 61 metres at 0.9% copper and 0.15g/t gold, and was noted to be thickening down dip from surface to the east.

The current first phase 10-hole, 1,950 metre drilling program is testing around 300 metres of the mineralised breccia exploration target.

Chuminga, in which Oro Verde holds a 20% interest, 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 gold and 0.5 to 1% zinc, suitable for bulk mining.

The project is well positioned in the coastal area of northern Chile, 60 kilometres north of the regional mining town of Taltal and 115 kilometres south of the port of Antofagasta.

This region has excellent infrastructure and most importantly hosts several world class copper mines such as Mantos Blancos, Chuquicamata and BHP Billiton’s (ASX: BHP) Escondida.

Improved core recovery

Also worthwhile noting is the 100% core recovery achieved over the mineralised interval.

This is the result of Oro Verde recently securing a new, more powerful drill rig designed to improve the efficiency of its current drilling program.

The improvement in core recovery and overall efficiency is likely lead to reduced costs.

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Carbon Energy sets target of up 8 billion tonnes of thermal coal in the Surat Basin

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:30:00 +1000

Carbon Energy (ASX: CNX) has set an exploration target of between 4 to 8 billion tonnes of thermal coal on its wholly owned Surat Basin tenements in Queensland.

This excludes the previously reported 668 million tonne JORC Indicated and Inferred Resources that was established following an independent third party review by Moultrie Database & Geology.

Carbon Energy, which had previously said that its conventional coal resources will fund its future underground coal gasification (UCG) developments, said the exploration target identified the potential of its other assets.

It plans to convert this target into conventional coal resources, through a program of exploration drilling, and scoping and feasibility studies over the next 12 months.

It will also evaluate options to gain maximum value from the resource over the next 12 months.

Carbon Energy’s leases are located close to existing and proposed mines and rail infrastructure.

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Challenger Energy designs Barnett fracture stimulation in Texas to prevent repeat of Woodford issues

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:10:00 +1000

Challenger Energy (ASX: CEL) has designed a fracture stimulation program for the Barnett Shale at its Mercury Stetson sidetrack well in Texas aimed at avoiding the problems it faced in the deeper Woodford Shale.

It said interpretation of data from the Woodford frac indicated that a possible shear fault nearby could have dissipated the frac energy into an adjacent barren zone.

Challenger added the perforation intervals and zones selected for the Barnett shale treatment have been chosen to minimise the risk of this scenario occurring for the upcoming treatment.

Mercury Stetson will be perforated in four different intervals in both the upper and lower Barnett between 11,085 and 11,425 feet (3378.7 and 3482.3 metres) and a high rate slick frac job performed.

The company said the initial flow testing of the Barnett would take between 2-4 weeks to complete.

Log analysis had indicated the well had intersected 450 feet (137.2 metres) of Barnett Shale, more than twice the thickness of the Woodford. The zone selected for the frac also has up to 50% higher porosity than the zone tested in the Woodford.

The sidetrack was drilled to determine the validity of the estimated 138 billion cubic feet of in-place gas per square kilometre present in the two shale formations, or 14.5 trillion cubic feet in the initial 105.2 square kilometre prospect.

Challenger is earning a 50% stake in Mercury Stetson by acting as operator; paying US$2.2 million (A$2 million) to renew and extend existing leases; drill, fracture stimulate, and complete two vertical wells; shoot seismic that will be funded partially by revenue from the first well; and connect the two wells to the nearby sales pipeline.

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Phosphate Australia achieves gold recoveries up to 99.3% from Tuckanarra

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:40:00 +1000

Phosphate Australia (ASX: POZ) has established initial recoveries of between 94.7% and 99.3% gold on ore from the Tuckanarra Gold Project, in Western Australia’s Murchison goldfield.

Initial metallurgical results have been received, showing recoveries from cyanide bottle rolls of up to 99.3% gold at a grind size of 75 microns.

In addition, high grade samples from the Cable West vein gave gravity recoveries of 53.4% gold from oxidised material and 75.6% gold from fresh material.

This highlights the opportunity for a lower capital cost gravity recovery circuit at Tuckanarra, improving the initial economics of the project.

The five test samples come from Phosphate Australia’s earlier reverse circulation and aircore drilling chips. These samples represent the main resource target rocks.

Phase 1 drilling at Tuckanarra returned intercepts of:

- 28 metres at 6.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 25 metres; and
- 20 metres at 2.1g/t gold from 70 metres.

Follow up assays from the phase 2 aircore drilling program have also now been received, with results from the split samples from a new discovery at Drogue East of particular interest.

The original composite sample of 6 metres at 156.5g/t gold from 6 metres was broken down into 1 metre samples, with assays including:

- 1 metre at 776.1g/t gold from 6 metres;
- 1 metre at 3g/t gold from 7 metres; and
- 1 metre at 1.7g/t gold from 8 metres.

The Tuckanarra gold project has historic production of 125,000 ounces and was last mined in 1993 when the gold price was around US$330 an ounce.

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New Standard Energy shares spike 14.61% on bullish comments from partner ConocoPhillips

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:10:00 +1000

New Standard Energy (ASX: NSE) has seen its shares jump 14.61% to A$0.51 this morning, following on gains made yesterday after ConocoPhillips said their Goldwyer Shale partnership was a good beginning for its Australian shale ambitions.

The supermajor added that it was in talks with other large acreage holders, primarily in the Canning and Cooper basins.

Shares in New Standard Energy had closed at A$0.445 last night, up from its open of A$0.43 on Wednesday 16 May.

ConocoPhillips is funding 100% of the costs of drilling the 3 wells under the first exploration phase to a cap of US$13 million (A$13.07 million).

Its capped expenditure for the other 3 exploration phases are US$20 million for Phase 2 and 3 as well as US$40 million for Phase 4.

New Standard Energy is kicking off Phase 1 program in the July this year with the Nicolay-1 well in EP 456, which will be drilled to a total depth of 3200 metres. This will be followed by the Gibb Maitland-1 and Blatchford-1 wells.

The Goldwyer project targets the liquids rich Goldwyer formation, which could result in a project with attractive economic parameters that are similar to the North American Bakken and the Eagle Ford shales.

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Breakaway Resources gains exploration upside surrounding 7.5m silver ounce Altia project

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:57:00 +1000

Breakaway Resources’ (ASX: BRW), in a strategic outcome for the company, is now well positioned for exploration upside at the 7.5 million ounce Altia Silver Deposit – after securing unrestricted access to three advanced exploration targets.

The targets have been secured due to BHP Billiton's (ASX: BHP) intention to withdraw from the joint venture, but this should be viewed as a positive for Breakaway.

With BHP only interested in huge Tier 1 deposits, Breakaway can take away from the joint venture a raft of technical information developed by BHP – which will help Breakaway in the future.

The outcome is the company will also have access to targets hosted within the former joint venture area, and an extensive database of new geological information generated during the joint venture period.

David Hutton, Breakaway Resources managing director, told Proactive Investors today BHP has spent around A$3 million on exploration involving the drilling of six, 1,000 metre deep diamond drill holes at Altia.

“They’ve demonstrated there is a bigger system at Altia, but importantly they haven’t downgraded the existing resource.

“They haven’t actually drilled any holes in the existing resource. So the existing 7.5 million ounce resource stays intact, but importantly what they have done, and something that Breakaway could never have done, is by drilling these big deep holes they’ve been able to demonstrate that the deposit itself sits within a much more significantly sized system or halo of silver-lead-zinc mineralisation.”

Exploration targets

The Altia South silver target has delivered a number of high grade intercepts including 19 metres at 286g/t silver, 1.8% lead and 0.2% zinc from 287 metres.

These mineralised intersections remain open down-plunge and along strike to the south and reinforce the potential of the deposit to contain internal zones of high grade silver mineralisation.

Meanwhile, a review of historic drilling has identified numerous silver-lead-zinc drill intercepts about 400 metres north of Altia, known as the Altia North silver target, within the same Altia banded iron formation host rocks.

These may represent the near-surface expression of a new mineralised shoot.

Better drill intercepts include 6 metres at 0.46% lead, 66g/t silver and 0.02% zinc from 180 metres.

At the Altia West copper target, which lies 150 metres west of Altia, wide-spaced historic drilling has intersected broad widths of strongly anomalous copper-gold-silver mineralisation over 200 metres strike.

Further upside is this target is just 2 to 3 kilometres from the active Eloise copper mine and mineralisation remains open in all directions.

Notable historic intersections include 16 metres at 0.95% copper, 0.76 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 41.8g/t silver from 145 metres, including 9 metres at 1.28% copper, 1.16g/t gold and 36.1g/t silver.

Hutton said this particular target is a historical yet poorly understood and drilled copper position on the western flank of Altia.

Importantly, it highlights the varied base metal potential of Altia.

Next steps

Breakaway now plans to evaluate these exploration targets to determine the best target to prioritise.

This will be done in conjunction with its ongoing drilling activities at the nearby Sandy Creek copper-gold prospect.

Strategic location

Altia is located just 100 kilometres from BHP’s Cannington mine, the world’s largest tonnage and lowest cost single mine producer of both silver and lead.

Previous drilling has highlighted the potential for a large-scale silver deposit at Altia with strengthening silver grades.

The deposit already hosts an Inferred JORC Resource of 5.78 million tonnes at 40.3g/t silver, 3.96% lead and 0.49% zinc for around 7.5 million silver ounces.

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Mooter Media in pre open pending announcement of celebrity partner for Shutterbug Millionaire

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:40:00 +1000

Mooter Media (ASX: MMZ) has been granted a trading halt by the ASX pending the announcement of a major celebrity partner for its photography competition Shutterbug Millionaire.

The unnamed celebrity partner will also serve as an ambassador and judge for the reality TV style competition.

Mooter had last month named Victoria’s Secret celebrity photographer Russell James as the lead judge for the competition.

Following Shutterbug Millionaire, Mooter and its joint venture partner Hot Shot Media will roll out the Shutterbug Marketplace via the ImageSocial platform.

This social marketplace will connect photographers from around the world with individuals and businesses seeking relevant and real-time photographic content.

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Red Fork Energy moves up another gear in the Mississippi Lime oil play, Oklahoma

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:10:00 +1000

Red Fork Energy (ASX: RFE) is further accelerating development of its Mississippi Lime oil and liquids play in Oklahoma, contracting 2 additional drilling rigs from Unit Drilling Company.

Red Fork is currently carrying out an aggressive operated drilling program with the aid of the A$27.9 million that it had raised through a private placement of 40.46 million shares priced at A$0.69 each to sophisticated and institutional investors in the December quarter.

This is focused on the Mississippi play in northern Oklahoma where it has gradually increased its acreage position up to the current 295 square kilometres.

Red Fork has so far drilled 5 horizontal wells in the Noble and Pawnee counties though its existing infrastructure can support up to 16 and 9 wells in the 2 counties respectively.

The first of the 2 Unit rigs will be deployed in Noble County immediately following the completion of scheduled maintenance which is currently underway while the second is expected to be available towards the end of the September quarter.

These rigs will bring the total rigs Red Fork has contracted to drill on its acreage up to 4.

Activity in the Mississipi Lime play has been picking up with Sandridge Energy (NYSE:SD) forming a US$1 billion (A$943 million) alliance with Spanish giant Repsol to develop leases within the play in northwest Kansas.

World Oil Resources (ASX:WLR) holds a 50% stake in the Welch-Bornholdt Wherry (WB-W) field in Rice and McPherson counties, Kansas, while AusTex Oil (ASX: AOK) has a 13.73% working interest in Snake River Project, northern Oklahoma.

Its latest McMurtry 1-22H well in Noble County intersected a very good show of oil in the upper part of the formation while making the turn for the lateral.

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IMX Resources: full ownership of the Nachingwea Nickel Project clears path to production

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:30:00 +1000

IMX Resources (ASX: IXR) will bring the Nachingwea Nickel Copper Project in Tanzania under full control, strengthening the balance sheet and reducing impediments to achieving production in 2015.

IMX and joint venture partner Continental Nickel (CVE: CNI) have agreed to a business consolidation that will bring all of their activities under one single entity.

The move will simplify the structure of the two companies and reduce the complexities associated with bringing Nachingwea into production.

Neil Meadows, managing director of IMX, said: “The combination of IMX and Continental results in a stronger company with an impressive pipeline of high quality projects, including 100% of the potentially significant Nachingwea Nickel Project, Meadows said.

“With the project under single ownership, there is now a clear path to advance towards commencing Nickel production.

“The attractive asset base, together with a simplified corporate and project structure, dual ASX-TSX listing, an open register and a market capitalization of approximately A$100 million, provides a strong basis to significantly increase investor focus and the potential for inclusion in major stock market indices.”

Business combination agreement

IMX holds about a 37% interest in Continental. Under the definitive arrangement agreement, IMX will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares in the capital of Continental.

The company is offering Continental shareholders 3.7 IMX shares plus 0.5 of an ordinary share purchase warrant for each Continental share held.

Each full warrant entitles the holder to acquire one IMX share at A$0.60 or C$0.62, expiring three years from completion of the transaction.

Nachingwea project

The Nachingwea project is currently operated as a joint venture, with Continental as operator owning 75% and IMX owning 25%.

Earlier this year the two companies increased the JORC Resource at the Ntaka Hill deposits within Nachingwea by 150%.

The new Measured and Indicated resources are 12,786,000 million tonnes at 1.21% Nickel for 154,700 tonnes of contained Nickel (0.2% Nickel cut-off). New Inferred resources have increased to 45,037,000 tonnes at 0.30% Nickel.

In addition, the companies discovered copper at the Chilalo targets within the project area, enhancing the prospectivity of Nachingwea.

The impact of the discovery is that the prospectivity of the tenure is enhanced, with mineralisation over a 1 kilometre strike length. Peak values include up to 0.4 metres at 5.27% copper, 15.05 grams per tonne silver and and 0.41% zinc from Chilalo 6.

Cairn Hill funding

Activities on the project pipeline of the combined activities of IMX and Continental will be underpinned by cash flow from IMX’s Cairn Hill Mining Operation.

Cairn Hill is operated by Termite Resources, which is owned by Outback Iron, a joint venture between IMX (51%) and Taifeng Yuangchuang International Development Co (49%).

Phase one of production at the Cairn Hill project is a unique magnetite iron-copper-gold direct shipping ore operation, producing a premium coarse grained magnetite product with a clean saleable copper-gold concentrate.

IMX has also announced a phase two resource, which the joint venture project group is accelerating to begin production of a saleable iron intermediate concentrate of about 60%.

While the softening of iron ore and copper prices in recent months has seen the pricing of Cairn Hill magnetite copper ore under the phase one life of mine sales contract reduce by 25%, operations at the minesite are performing at designed capacity with cash operating costs free on board trending towards the target of A$75 per tonne with opportunities for further improvement already identified.

Importantly, Cairn Hill is located close to the Darwin to Adelaide railway, 55 kilometres southeast of Coober Pedy.

Analysis

The consolidation of IMX and Continental will take the market capitalisation of IMX Resources to about $100 million, up from $71 million at present.

The combined company will feature dual ASX and TSX listings, giving access to a broader investor base, and an attractive asset base and growth pipeline.

In addition, with a cash balance of more than $15 million coupled with ongoing operating cash flow from Cairn Hill, the company will have greater funding and development capabilities going forward.

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Endocoal intercepts coal seams in first greenfield drilling on Bowen Basin tenements

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:30:00 +1000

Endocoal (ASX: EOC) has intersected two near surface coal seams in the first drill hole at the company’s greenfield Talwood Project.

Talwood is located in the northern Bowen Basin in Central Queensland, about 15 kilometres west of the recently completed Northern Missing Link rail line which joins the Moranbah rail system to the Abbot Point coal export port.

The 10 hole scout drilling program underway at Talwood is designed to explore for coking coal within Rugby style geological settings, which feature smaller sub-basins.

Geophysical logging is being carried out on the first hole to define the depth and thickness of the coal seams intersected.

Initial coal quality analysis of the coal chips recovered is also underway, and drilling is continuing on the second hole.

Two historical Government drill holes nearby intersected numerous coal seams, with coal recorded from a depth of 53.9 metres.

These are the only other coal drilling to be completed within the area surrounding Endocoal’s tenements.

Endocoal’s drilling program is expected to be completed during June 2012, with results available in July 2012.

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Peninsula Energy moves closer to completion of Ross licence application review

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:10:00 +1000

Peninsula Energy (ASX: PEN) is advancing towards meeting yet another milestone at its Ross In Situ Recovery (ISR) uranium project with the impending completion of a review of the company’s licence application.

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has advised Peninsula’s wholly owned subsidiary Strata Energy that its responses to the Requests for Additional Information (RAI’s) on the Ross Project have been deemed acceptable to complete the licence application review.

Importantly, this means the progress towards the issuance of a Source Material Licence continues as expected.

Peninsula and Strata Energy do not anticipate any delays to the licensing process despite the denial of its appeal to the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board’s grant of an administrative hearing to a coalition of two public interest groups on behalf of a single landowner.

Gus Simpson, executive chairman, said:

“We are pleased that the RAI responses are deemed complete and the NRC licensing process is progressing as expected.

“The issues raised by these groups across the last three ISR project applications in Wyoming have been unsuccessful and all projects have had their licences granted”.

Wyoming currently has five licensed uranium ISR mines.

Ross is the most advanced area at the Lance Project, located in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, where Peninsula recently completed a Feasibility Study that upgraded the economic viability of the project.

Further upside for Ross is the acquisition of the site for the proposed central processing plant by Peninsula, announced earlier this year.

The 0.97 square kilometre (240 acre) site acquisition ensures the necessary owner’s consent to mine required by the Wyoming Department of Environment Quality is now finalised.

The department will issue the Permit to Mine once Strata Energy lodges the financial surety.

Lance economics

The key to the Feasibility Study economics of Lance is a net present value (8%) of US$254 million compared to the initial feasibility for the Ross production unit alone of US$46 million.

The Expanded Economic Study reported a net present value (6%) of US$207 million. The main difference in the recent study is increased mine life and produced uranium.

The Feasibility Study was based on the March 2012 JORC Resource of 51.5 million pounds of uranium, across the Ross, Kendrick and Barber Production Units.

This assumes the conversion of 23.88 million pounds of the 36.78 million pounds of Inferred uranium resources to the higher confidence Indicated category or better.

Initial production of 750,000 pounds per annum will come from the Ross production unit, ramping up to a steady state production of 2.2 million pounds per annum over three years with the inclusion of Kendrick and Barber.

Production is expected to feed into a central processing plant with an expandable capacity of up to 3 million pounds per annum. Vanadium will not be produced in the early stages of production from Lance.

The Lance project has an initial mine plan based on 20 million pounds of recovered uranium.

Importantly, there is plenty of potential for further exploration upside within the project area.

The Feasibility Study will form the basis for the financing of the Lance projects, with proposals for project development financing already received.

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Aurora Oil & Gas raising A$120 million for Sugarloaf development in Texas

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:50:00 +1000

Aurora Oil & Gas (ASX: AUT, TSX: AEF) is looking to raise A$120 million to fund the increase in development costs associated with its recent acquisition of an additional 6% working interest in the Sugarloaf Area of Mutual Interest (AMI).

This will increase its net cash to about US$233 million while additional liquidity is available through its undrawn US$85 million revolving credit facility.

Aurora said this will ensure the company is adequately funded for its current and planned development program and operations, the completion of the recently announced Sugarloaf acquisition, additional working capital in relation to the acquisition and its takeover offer for Eureka Energy (ASX: EKA).

The first part of the placement will take the form of an offer of 18 million shares priced at C$3.55 each under a short form prospectus in Canada.

The remaining shares will be placed to institutional and sophisticated investors in Australia and elsewhere (excluding Canada) at A$3.55 each.

Euroz Securities Limited and TD Securities are acting as joint lead managers and lead Australian and Canadian underwriters respectively. GMP Securities and Macquarie Capital Markets Canada are acting as Canadian co-managers, with Credit Suisse (Australia), UBS AG and GMP Securities Australia as Australian Brokers to the placement.

Aurora also plans to call a shareholder meeting in June to consider the issue of 1.1 million new shares priced at A$3.55 each to certain directors to raise another A$4 million.

The company had earlier this week increased its stake in the Sugarloaf AMI – part of the wider Sugarkane field targeting the Eagle Ford Shale – by 6% to 21.8%.

It is also looking to further increase this by another 6.25% through its takeover offer for Eureka, though its A$0.45 per share cash offer has been rejected by Eureka as undervaluing the company.

The Eagle Ford shale is one of the most active oil and gas acquisition and divestiture markets in the U.S with over US$26 billion in deals done since 2010.

Around 260 rigs are operational in the region with an estimated $25 billion plus per year in capital investment.

Aurora is estimating its production will increase during 2012 to a run rate of 18,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day pre-royalties by the end of the year.

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MaxiTRANS Industries set to book 185% increase in fiscal 2012 NPAT

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:30:00 +1000

MaxiTRANS Industries (ASX: MXI) is expecting to almost triple its full year net profit after tax for the 2012 financial year to A$12 million.

The increase in profit has been driven largely by a solid performance across the company’s trailer, van and tipper business, which has orders booked through to August 2012.

The Colrain parts business has also continued its solid trading performance and will achieve a record result in fiscal 2012.

Colrain imports and distributes truck and trailer components, parts and accessories.

The business has eight retail stores in Victoria and South Australia as well as wholesale operations in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.

Meanwhile, the recently announced acquisitions of Queensland Diesel Spares and Azmeb Global Trailers are not expected to make a material contribution to 2012 financial year earnings.

Queensland Diesel is a retailer of truck parts, accessories and consumables to Queensland’s transportation industry, while Queensland-based AZMEB designs, manufactures and markets side tippers to the mining and resource sector and waste management industry.

The acquisitions are expected to add about $60 million in sales revenue and around $6.5 million in normalised earnings before interest and taxes to the MaxiTRANS Group from the 2013 financial year.

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Roc Oil secures A$163 million pre-development funding for Malaysian oil and gas project

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:10:00 +1000

Roc Oil (ASX: ROC) and its Balai Cluster Risk Service Contract partners in Malaysia have secured US$162 million (A$163 million) in project financing for the pre-development of the project offshore Sarawak.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank and CIMB Bank Berhad are the lead arrangers of the loan, which matures on 16 December 2014.

Roc has a 48% stake in the project and has thus far directly contributed US$30 million to the project, which is well along its pre-development phase. Total cost of the pre-development phase is estimated to be between US$200 to US$250 million.

Work undertaken since the start of this year has included the fabrication of four wellhead platforms; the commencement of load-out and installation of wellhead platforms; the finalisation of a drilling rig contract; the procurement of drilling supplies and services; and completion of the purchase of an oil tanker and commencement of its conversion to an Early Production Vessel ("EPV").

Drilling is expected to start in the middle of this year with the pre-development phase expected to be completed by February 2013.

The Balai Cluster fields consist of the Balai, Bentara, West Acis and Spaoh marginal oil and gas fields and the RSC was awarded in August 2011.

Other partners in the project are Dialog Group (32%) and Petronas Carigali (20%).

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Greenland Minerals and Energy receives broker valuation of more than five times current share price

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:08:00 +1000

Greenland Minerals and Energy (ASX: GGG) is the subject of a broker report which places a price target of $2.25 and a BUY recommendation on the company.

The following is an extract from the report.

Advancing a World Class Mineral Deposit of Rare Earths & Uranium

Event

- Completion of Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) on the Kvanefjeld rare earth and uranium orebody, and now moving to Full Feasibility Study and completion of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (EIA & SIA respectively) by year end.

Highlights

- The main conclusion of the PFS is that the Kvanefjeld project generates a pre-tax NPV10% of US$4,631M based on a long term uranium price of US$70/lb and price basket of Total Rare Earths Oxides of US$41.60/kg.

In a “post-tax” basis, the NPV10% is US$2,947M. Evaluation of a mine, mineral concentrator and intermediate refinery to treat 7.2Mtpa of ore to extract rare earth elements (REE), uranium and zinc has been assessed by the PFS.

- GGG has identified a processing flow-sheet based on beneficiation of the mined ore to produce a high grade REE-uranium mineral concentrate, followed by conventional atmospheric acid leach, solvent extraction and precipitation to separate the uranium and rare earths into high quality, high value products.

The processing plant is expected to produce four (4) main products including 2.6Mlbs of U3O8, 26,200tpa of Light Rare Earth Carbonates, 10,400tpa of mixed Rare Earth Carbonates and 4,200tpa of Heavy Rare Earth Hydroxide as well as a high grade Zinc Sulphide (ZnS) concentrate.

Production startup in 2016. This new processing system is significantly more simplified and less risky than the 2009 high pressure leaching system, that incorporated autocalve technology.

- Unit costs of production of less than US$31/lb U3O8 and US$8/kg TREO places Kvanefjeld in the bottom half of the cost curve for uranium producers and the lowest cost of the REE producers in the world.

Capital costs of US$1.53bn have been reduced from the 2009 PFS of US$2.4bn due to operational efficiencies identified in the new processing system. Current resources of 861Mt of ore containing 512.8Mlbs of uranium, 9.22Mt of TREO and 1.98Mt of zinc with a project mine life of +100 years.

Recommendation

- We have modelled the main components of the PFS to look at sensitivities to capital costs, the uranium price and a basket of rare earth products.

Our key modelling uses a uranium price assumption of US$60/lb (GGG = US$70/lb) for the project life and a basket of rare earths pricing at US$41.65/kg (equal to the company’s assumptions and assuming a 40% price discount for processing).

These parameters give us a valuation for the project (ungeared) at the pre-tax level of US$3.808bn and US$3.080bn after tax using a discount rate of 10%. We have discounted this valuation by 50% for the binary nature of a zero-tolerance uranium stance by the Greenland Government on uranium mining and GGG’s 61% interest in the project.

On these assumptions, we have increased our price target to $2.25 from $1.80/share, a 350% premium to the current share price of $0.41. We recommend BUY.

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Legend Mining completes final milestone payment following sale of Mt Gibson

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:50:00 +1000

Legend Mining (ASX: LEG) has settled a final milestone payment on the Mt Gibson Gold Project through the issue of 10 million shares to Oroya Mining (ASX: ORO).

Legend shares were last trading at around A$0.17, valuing the share issue at $170,000.

The milestone payment stemmed from a September 2005 sale agreement between Legend and Oroya Mining.

In March, Legend finalised the sale of the Mt Gibson Gold Project to Asia Iron Australia subsidiary Extension Hill.

The company received $6.8 million after adjustments for outgoings, employee benefits and storm damage allowance.

Legend also received $1.4 million to cover the term deposit which secured the environmental bonds for the project.

Extension Hill operates the Extension Hill magnetite development project neighbouring the Mt Gibson Gold Project.

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Marmota Energy heading for iron JORC Resource on Western Spur project

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:30:00 +1000

Marmota Energy (ASX: MEU) is looking to establish a JORC Resource for the company’s Western Spur Iron Project in South Australia, with a geophysical data acquisition and reverse circulation drilling program planned.

The program will focus on testing the extent and quality of iron ore at depth, as identified in drilling completed by Western Mining Corporation in 1981.

Geophysical data acquisition will begin in June 2012, with drilling to commence in July.

An infill sampling program will be carried out across a high priority zone that has been targeted for drill testing, while high resolution ground gravity will test a zone with two large iron outcrops previously sampled by the company.

A total of 30 reverse circulation holes will be drilled, augmented by several diamond holes, to determine mineralisation style.

A targeted pilot bulk sampling program will assist in the understanding of the iron mineralisation and the product grades that could be achieved.

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Tellus Resources cements acquisition of Queensland gold project adjacent to 3.5Moz deposits

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:10:00 +1000

Tellus Resources (ASX: TLU) has inked a formal share purchase agreement which will see it acquire an advanced North Queensland gold project adjacent to Kagara Mining's (ASX: KZL) 3.5 million gold ounce Mungana and Red Dome projects.

The soon to be acquired mining leases, known as the Chillagoe Project, cover the Empire and Wandoo prospect areas which are associated with geology similar to the nearby multi-million ounce Kidston, Red Dome and Mungana deposits.

Previous intercepts at Wandoo include 10 metres at 5.58 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 20.5g/t silver from 88 metres, while the Empire prospect recorded an intercept of 7 metres at 7.65g/t gold from surface.

Tellus will wholly acquire Premier Mining in exchange for a A$950,000 cash payment and the issue of 5.5 million shares, which were last trading at $0.18 valuing the share issue at around $1 million.

If Tellus defines an Indicated JORC resource of at least 300,000 ounces of gold with a cut‐off grade of 3g/t, the company will pay Premier a further $2 million in cash and issue $2 million worth of shares.

The Chillagoe Project includes a number of advanced gold, silver and base metal prospects and consists of one granted exploration permit, four applications for exploration permits and four granted mining leases.

Advanced exploration has already been completed with more than 14,000 metres drilled to date. Strong mineralisation is evident from surface and is open at depth.

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Reed Resources well supported by the market, welcomes new substantial investor

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:50:00 +1000

Reed Resources (ASX: RDR) has received a vote of confidence from Northcape Capital, which has taken up a 5.2% holding in Reed.

Privately owned investment firm Northcape specialises in Australian and global listed equities, managing funds on behalf of institutional clients and high net worth individuals.

At June 30, 2011, Northscape had about $6.5 million worth of funds under management.

Northscape holds 22.9 million shares in Reed Resources.

Reed is well supported by the market, with the company’s decision to mine at its Meekatharra Gold Project earlier this year attracting attention, not just from investors but also from financiers.

Earlier this month the company welcomed boutique investment manager SG Hiscock & Company as a substantial shareholder, with total holdings of 5.09% and voting power of 4.07%, while existing substantial shareholders M&G Investment Management and Vanguard Precious Metals both increased their stakes.

Leading UK investment manager M&G Investment Management acquired 43 million shares, taking its shareholding in Reed to 15.2%.

Meanwhile, U.S. based Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Fund took up 25 million shares, increasing its stake to 10.58%.

This follows a recent deal struck with Barclays Bank for A$23 million in funding for Meekatharra.

Indicating the strength of the project, the company appointed Barclays after an extensive tender process in which competitive proposals were received from a number of domestic and international banks.

The Meekatharra Project hosts a Resource of 3.59 million gold ounces and a Reserve of 750,000 ounces, a milestone not matched by many gold companies in Western Australia.

Reed is targeting a Reserve upgrade in the June quarter of 2012.

The first gold pour at Meekatharra is expected in the December quarter this year, with stage one of production targeting 95,000 ounces of gold annually.

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E.L. & C. Baillieu Morning Wrap; Gold futures drop to 10-month low

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:36:00 +1000

Author: E.L. & C. Baillieu Stockbroking - by Andrew Thain

HEADLINES

- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a fourth straight day as confusion over Greece's political future extended the recent stock slide.

- European stocks closed with just small losses overall and sovereign-bond yields fell from their highs, helped by positive U.S. economic data and support for Greece in the euro zone. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 0.6% at 244.40, compared with its day low of 242.23.

- Crude-oil prices fell 1.2% to a fourth-consecutive 2012 low at $92.81 a barrel Wednesday, as U.S. crude inventories stood at a 22-year high.

- Gold futures on Wednesday slumped for the 11th time in 13 trading sessions, ending at a 10-month low as worries about Europe's debt crisis and investor demand for the dollar spurred a flight from precious metals.

US MARKETS

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a fourth straight day as confusion over Greece's political future extended the recent stock slide. The blue-chip Dow lost 33.45 points, or 0.26%, to 12598.55, to finish at the day's lows. The slide, which eroded an early gain of 91 points, handed the index its 10th decline in the past 11 sessions. Since the beginning of May, the Dow has lost 4.7%, and now sits at a four-month low.

The Standard Poor's 500-stock index fell 5.86 points, or 0.44%, to 1324.80 while the Nasdaq Composite slid 19.72 points, or 0.68%, to 2874.04. Financial and materials stocks dragged the markets lower. Bank of America lost 2.6% and JPMorgan Chase fell 2.2%. Alcoa declined 2.5%.

General Electric was a bright spot for the Dow, rising 3.3% after announcing two acquisitions and reporting good news at its finance unit. J.C. Penney fell 20% to lead the S&P 500 decliners after the department-store chain reported a wider-than-expected first quarter loss and revenue that missed estimates, and said it will discontinue its quarterly dividend of 20 cents a share.

EUROPEAN MARKETS

European stocks closed with just small losses overall and sovereign-bond yields fell from their highs, helped by positive U.S. economic data and support for Greece in the euro zone. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 0.6% at 244.40, compared with its day low of 242.23.

In other regional equity markets, Germany's DAX finished 0.3% lower at 6384.26 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index declined 0.6% at 5405.25. France's CAC-40 increased 0.3% to 3048.67.

Equities eased off lows after better-than-expected U.S. economic data. U.S. home building was stronger than expected and industrial output rebounded in April. At the close of European equity markets, the DJIA and S&P 500 were both mildly higher, up by 0.3%.

ASIAN MARKETS

Asian markets tumbled Wednesday on worries Greece is edging closer to an exit from the euro zone after week-long coalition talks failed to form a government, with Hong Kong leading the slide by falling 3.1%.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 hit a two-month low, dropping to 4165.50, a 2.4% fall; and Japan's Nikkei fell below 8800 for the first time since Feb. 1, finishing the day at 8801.17, 1.1% down. Korea's Kospi dropped 3.1% to 1840.53 and the China Shanghai SE Composite dropped 1.2%.

Hong Kong slumped to a four-month low with snack maker Want Want China Holdings dropping 2.8% and telecoms company China Unicom sinking 5.3%. Fashion retailer Esprit Holdings, which gets around 80% of its revenue from Europe, dropped 4.5%.

AUSTRALIAN MARKETS

Australian shares slumped to a two-month low today, led by resources stocks, on intensifying worries of a possible messy Greece exit from the eurozone and its impact on the global economy.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index plunged 100.8 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 4165.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 101.6 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 4214.7.

Rio Tinto lost $2.32, or 3.85 per cent, to $57.99 and iron ore miner Fortescue Metals plunged 26 cents, or 5.1 per cent, to a four-month low at $4.84. BHP Billiton closed at a three-year low, down $1.37, or 4.05 per cent, at $32.49.

OIL

Crude-oil prices fell 1.2% to a fourth-consecutive 2012 low at $92.81 a barrel Wednesday, as U.S. crude inventories stood at a 22-year high. Crude-oil inventories in the world's largest oil consumer have gained more than 10% over the past eight weeks and are at the highest level since August 1990.

Light, sweet crude oil for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled $1.17 lower, at $92.81 a barrel. The settlement was $1 above the session low, which was hit overnight after the American Petroleum Institute said crude-oil stocks rose 6.6 million barrels in the latest week. That was well beyond analysts' expectations of a 1.4-millionbarrel rise.

METALS

Gold futures on Wednesday slumped for the 11th time in 13 trading sessions, ending at a 10-month low as worries about Europe's debt crisis and investor demand for the dollar spurred a flight from precious metals.

The most actively traded contract, for June delivery, fell $20.50, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,536.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

That's the lowest settlement price for a most-active contract since July.

Andrew Thain can be contacted by email; CLICK HERE.

Baillieu HOME PAGE

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Strategic Minerals Corporation substantial shareholder raises stake to 36.6%

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:30:00 +1000

Strategic Minerals Corporation (ASX: SMC) substantial shareholder Christopher Wallin Superannuation Fund Trust has further increased its stake in the company to 36.6%.

The Trust acquired another 6.4 million shares for a consideration of A$169,229, or an average entry price of around $0.026 per share.

It now holds around 206.8 million shares in Strategic Minerals.

Strategic Minerals is targeting a gold Resource of 1.1 million ounces at its Woolgar Project in Queensland.

Late last year the company unearthed broad widths of gold mineralisation in some portions of the Big Vein South prospect, the largest of these being 35 metres at 1.14 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 26 metres, including 5 metres at 2.59g/t.

Woolgar is strategically located in a region that hosts multi-million ounce gold deposits developed at Kidston (4.1 million ounces), Charters Towers (7.1 million ounces), Mt Leyshon (3.2 million ounces) and Pajingo – Vera Nancy (3.2 million ounces).

The current total global Resource for the project is 10.4 million tonnes at 1.35g/t for 453,000 ounces of gold.

Highlighting the potential for an upgrade to the Resource, the current global Resource does not include the most recent gold discovery at Camp vein and newly drilled extensions to known mineralised positions at Grand Central West and Lost World.

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Dow Jones lower as Fed minutes show more easing necessary

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:19:00 +1000

U.S. equity markets were treading water Wednesday afternoon as minutes from the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed several members saying further easing may be needed if the recovery loses traction.

By close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.26% at 12598.55, the S&P 500 was 0.44% lower at 1,324.80 and the Nasdaq was 0.68% lower at 2,874.04.

Federal Reserve officials weren’t confident in recent economic indicators to upgrade their description of the economy as “several” say more easing could be needed if momentum slows, according to minutes released by the central bank Wednesday.

The officials said they wanted to be more confident that there had been a significant upturn in the economic outlook before making changes to its guidance that rates will stay low until late 2014, according to a summary of the most recent April meeting.

Fed officials noted that the labor market had improved but were not certain about the cause of the improvement.

In corporate news, social network site Facebook Wednesday increased the size of its initial public offering by almost 25 per cent as it could raise as much as $16 billion on strong investor demand for its market debut.

The FBI said Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), almost week after the bank disclosed a $2 billion trading loss.

J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) saw its shares plummet more than 16 percent on Wednesday, a day after the department store retailer reported it swung to a loss as customers failed to adapt to its new pricing strategy.

The results also prompted the company to discontinue its 20 cent per share quarterly dividend in order to generate cash savings of roughly $175 million on an annual basis. The company hopes to use this cash to fund its transformation plan.

Big box retailer Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) said Wednesday fiscal first-quarter profit grew 1.2 percent aided by revenue growth of almost six percent as people spent more at its stores.

Net earnings rose to $697 million, or $1.04 per share, on $16.86 billion in revenue in the latest quarter that ended April 28. This compared to a profit of $689 million, or 99 cents per share, on $15.93 billion in sales, a year-prior.

On average, analysts had expected a per-share profit of $1.01, on $16.80 billion in revenue, according to Bloomberg.

Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) Wednesday posted a 17 percent jump in profits for its fiscal second-quarter as it is raised its outlook for the full year.

Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS), the largest U.S. office supply chain, Wednesday posted lower-than-expected fiscal first-quarter sales, hurt by weakness in international markets.

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI), the publisher of the "Saints Row: The Third" video game, late Tuesday posted a wider fiscal fourth-quarter loss following a disastrous dropoff in sales during the holiday shopping season.

On the economic front, housing starts jumped to an annual rate of 717,000 in April, from the revised level of 699,000 in March. Analysts had expected a rate of 680,000.

Building permits fell to an annual rate of 715,000 in April, down from the revised figure of 769,000 in March. Analysts expected permits to fall to 730,000.

Industrial production rose 1.1% in April, rising at the fastest pace since December 2010, well beating estimate of 0.5% growth.

Commodities

On the NYMEX, crude futures for June delivery fell 75 cents to $92.23 a barrel while gold futures for June delivery lost $13.30 to $1,544.90 an ounce.

Europe

European stocks closed mixed with the FTSE 100 rising 0.1%, the CAC 40 adding 0.3% with the DAX slipping 0.3%.

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GeoMet swings to Q1 loss, shares plunge 27% on borrowing deficiency

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:15:00 +1000

From North America: GeoMet (NASDAQ:GMET) shares plunged Wednesday after it said it expects a borrowing-base deficiency due to low natural-gas prices, and reported it swung to a first-quarter loss on non-cash charges.

Shares of the energy company were down 27.7 percent to 28 cents late Wednesday afternoon, as the company said it is negotiating with its bank group to address a borrowing-base deficiency that will exist at the pending June determination.

For the quarter that ended March 31, first-quarter net loss was $52.9 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of $451,000. On a per-share basis, the latest quarter's loss widened to $1.37 a share from a year-earlier loss of 3 cents a share.

The company noted that the most recent loss included a $47.4 million charge to provide a full valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, a $9.8 million net impairment charge and a $3.2 million net unrealized gain on derivative contracts.

The year-ago period included a $1.8 million loss on derivatives, net of tax.

Adjusted net income for the most recent first quarter decreased to $0.9 million from $2.2 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to increased depletion, partially offset by increased realized hedging gains, the company said.

Total revenue rose by 29 percent to $10.2 million, from $7.85 million in the year ago quarter.

According to Thomson Reuters, analysts had expected earnings of two cents on revenue of $16.89 million.

"As a result of the current low gas price environment, we expect a borrowing base deficiency," said president and CEO William C. Rankin.

"Due to these factors, we incurred significant non-cash charges which adversely impacted our results for the quarter and our balance sheet resulting in disclosures related to going concern risks.

"However, despite the lowest natural gas prices in a decade, the company recorded its fifth consecutive quarter of adjusted net income."

The average natural gas price, adjusted for cash settlements of natural gas derivative contracts, was $4.82 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), versus $6.17 per Mcf for the prior year quarter.

Average net gas sales volumes were approximately 39.9 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day, a 97 percent increase from the same quarter in 2011.

Of this increase, 93 percent was due to the newly acquired gas properties, said the company.

“Cash generation was in line with our expectations for the quarter largely as a result of our hedging strategy and our effective control of costs,” said Rankin.

"The Vitruvian acquisition [in Texas] completed in November of last year doubled our production and lowered our cash breakeven point per Mcf by approximately 30 percent."

"We face significant challenges but are continuing to meet all of our obligations on a timely basis," said Rankin.

"The company has hedged more than 80 percent of estimated sales volumes for the last three quarters of 2012 and for all of 2013 at levels well above the current NYMEX forward natural gas price curve."

Regarding the borrowing deficiency, the company said it expects to “resolve this matter in a manner acceptable to the company but can provide no assurances of such at this time."

GeoMet is an energy company primarily engaged in the exploration for and development and production of natural gas from coal seams and non-conventional shallow gas.

Its principal operations and producing properties are located in the Cahaba and Black Warrior Basins in Alabama and the Central Appalachian Basin in Virginia and West Virginia.

The company also controls additional coalbed methane and oil and gas development rights, principally in Alabama, British Columbia, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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TSX News: CAE, Black Iron, Extorre Gold Mines, Sears Canada and more

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:10:00 +1000

From North America: Flight simulation and training company CAE (TSE:CAE)(NYSE:CAE) said Wednesday it has acquired privately-held airline pilot training company Oxford Aviation Academy in a deal pegged at $314 million.

The move will bolster CAE’s training centre footprint and flight training network, the Montreal-based company said.

Canadian Zinc Corp. (TSE:CZN) narrowed its first-quarter loss, but also said Wednesday that capital costs for its Prairie Creek mine will be higher due to new features and cost inflation.

The junior explorer narrowed its loss to $2.53 million from the year-ago net loss of $14.24 million for the three months ended March 31.

Black Iron (TSE:BKI) said Tuesday that assay results from five additional infill drill holes at its Shymanivske project in Ukraine continue to confirm thick iron bands with grades well past 30 percent iron.

The iron ore explorer said that hole BISH-9 intersected 104.3 metres grading 32.7 percent iron including 56.7 metres grading 34.1 percent iron.

Birchcliff Energy (TSE:BIR) said Wednesday that in the face of low natural gas prices, posting earnings "is a testament" to its "very low cost of operations."

The Calgary-based company posted earnings of $3.7 million or three cents per share for the first quarter of 2012, down 61 percent from $9.6 million or eight cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Extorre Gold Mines (TSE:XG) (AMEX:XG) said Wednesday it was “encouraged by many of the early results” as it intersected more high-grade drill targets at its Cerro Moro project in the Santa Cruz province of Argentina.

Department store Sears Canada (TSE:SCC) said it swung to a first-quarter profit on Wednesday thanks to a $164.3 million pre-tax gain from lease terminations.

The company posted a profit of $93.1 million, or 91 cents per share, in contrast with the year-earlier net loss of $47 million, or 45 cents a share.

Tethys Petroleum (LON:TPL, TSE:TPL) has increased the resource estimate for its Kazakhstan assets to 1.17 billion barrels of oil.

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TSX-V News: Northern Vertex, Latin American Minerals, Sage Gold and more

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:05:00 +1000

From North America: Mobile marketing company Snipp (CVE:SPN) (TSX.V:SPN), which recently listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, is now seeking a listing on the OTC exchange as it continues to grow in a space that is seeing more and more traction from companies looking to boost their marketing efforts.

Gold explorer Metanor Resources (CVE:MTO) Wednesday provided an update to its exploration work at the Bachelor Lake project.

From the results announced today, Metanor hit 26.36 grams per tonne (g/t) over 4.08 metres in drill hole 13-001. It also intersected 17.24 g/t over 5.64 metres in drill hole 15-005.

Northern Vertex Mining Corp. (CVE:NEE) (OTCQX:NHVCF) unveiled Wednesday drill results from its phase II, 6,500 metre (20,000 ft) infill and resource expansion program at its Moss gold-silver project in Mohave County, northwestern Arizona.

Latin American Minerals (CVE:LAT) Wednesday initiated a second drill campaign at the Tacuru gold target on its Paso Yobai property, in Asuncion, Paraguay.

The company also announced the start of a second operating shift at the Independencia mine pilot plant, which also forms part of the Paso Yobai gold project.

Sage Gold (CVE:SGX) announced Wednesday that is has executed a $1.0 million principal amount convertible debt financing, and the first tranche of a private placement for $403,500.

Ottawa-based TrueContext Mobile Solutions (CVE:TMN) announced Wednesday that its ProntoForms mobile business app now fully supports the Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 operating system, for such devices as the Nokia Lumia 900 from AT&T (NYSE:T).

Cayden Resources (CVE:CYD) Wednesday identified "significant gold" in a soil anomaly at its La Magnetita deposit at its Morelos Sur Project in Mexico.

Minera IRL (LON:MIRL, CVE:IRL) said its Don Nicolas gold-silver project in Argentina has reached another major milestone as the permitting process has now started.

The company told investors today that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) has now been completed and presented to the secretary of mining of the Santa Cruz province of Argentina, marking the start of the permitting process.

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NYSE/NASDAQ News: JPMorgan Chase, Sketchers, J.C. Penney, Target, and more

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:00:00 +1000

From North America: Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX) reported Wednesday it has agreed to settle federal charges of deception related to its toning footwear product ads, despite denying the claims.

The Federal Trade Commission’s allegations were that the shoe company created advertisements for its toning footwear, such as the Shape-up line, with unsupported claims.

Flight simulation and training company CAE (TSE:CAE)(NYSE:CAE) said Wednesday it has acquired privately-held airline pilot training company Oxford Aviation Academy in a deal pegged at $314 million.

The move will bolster CAE’s training centre footprint and flight training network, the Montreal-based company said.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was targeted in two separate investor lawsuits Wednesday which accused the bank and its management of excessive risk that led to trading losses of at least $2 billion.

Late last week, the Wall Street bank unveiled its $2 billion loss, pinpointed to a trader in London dubbed "The Whale". JPMorgan now expects to lose $800 million within the corporate/private equity segment, down from prior guidance of net income of $200 million.

J.C. Penney Company (NYSE:JCP) saw its shares plummet more than 16 percent on Wednesday, a day after the department store retailer reported it swung to a loss as customers failed to adapt to its new pricing strategy.

The results also prompted the company to discontinue its 20 cent per share quarterly dividend in order to generate cash savings of roughly $175 million on an annual basis. The company hopes to use this cash to fund its transformation plan.

Big box retailer Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) said Wednesday fiscal first-quarter profit grew 1.2 percent aided by revenue growth of almost six percent as people spent more at its stores.

Net earnings rose to $697 million, or $1.04 per share, on $16.86 billion in revenue in the latest quarter that ended April 28.

Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) Wednesday posted a 17 percent jump in profits for its fiscal second-quarter as it is raised its outlook for the full year.

For the period ended April 30, net income came in at $1.056 billion, or $2.61 per share, compared with $904.3 million, or $2.12 a share a year ago. Net sales rose to $9.4 billion from $8.33 billion a year earlier.

ValueVision Media (NASDAQ:VVTV) narrowed its first-quarter loss, despite posting a drop in quarterly revenue on lower consumer electronic sales.

The Minnesota-based company sells everything from jewellery, consumer electronics, home furnishing and nutritional supplements, among other things.

Medical device maker Abiomed (NASDAQ:ABMD) swung to a fourth quarter profit thanks to 31 percent growth in revenue and higher margins. Net income was $2.56 million, or six cents a share, compared with a net loss of $1.77 million, or five cents a share, a year-prior.

THQ (NASDAQ:THQI), the publisher of the "Saints Row: The Third" video game, late Tuesday posted a wider fiscal fourth-quarter loss following a disastrous dropoff in sales during the holiday shopping season.

For the period ended March 31, THQ said its loss widened to $53.2 million from $44.1 million a year earlier. Net revenue grew nearly 47 percent to $184.2 million from $124.2 million a year earlier.

Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS), the largest U.S. office supply chain, Wednesday posted lower-than-expected fiscal first-quarter sales, hurt by weakness in international markets.

For the period ended April 28, Staples said net income fell 5.6 percent to $187.1 million, or 27 cents per share, from $198.2 million, or 28 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding items, the company earned 30 cents per share.

Apache Corp. (NASDAQ:APA) reported Wednesday an extension well saw initial production rates higher than any oil well drilled in the Beryl Field in the U.K. North Sea since 2001.

Drilled as a deviated well, B72 logged a total of 619 feet measured depth of net oil pay in three Jurassic aged reservoir units.

GeoMet (NASDAQ:GMET) shares plunged Wednesday after it said it expects a borrowing-base deficiency due to low natural-gas prices, and reported it swung to a first-quarter loss on non-cash charges.

Shares of the energy company were down 27.7 percent to 28 cents late Wednesday afternoon, as the company said it is negotiating with its bank group to address a borrowing-base deficiency that will exist at the pending June determination.

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Nyota Minerals aims to produce gold by end of 2014

Wed, 16 May 2012 22:02:00 +1000

Richard Chase, CEO of Nyota Minerals, talks about producing gold by the end of 2014, 100,000+ ounces of gold per year, 1.67 million ounces at 2.9 grams per tonne, extensions open in all directions, International Finance Corporation, first mover advantage, huge opportunities, and a very large landholding (May 2012).

Range Resources 'extremely pleased' with operational progress

Wed, 16 May 2012 20:43:00 +1000

Range Resources (LON:RRL, ASX:RRS) is “extremely” pleased with the progress it is making in Texas and Trinidad, while awaiting the spudding of the Shabeel North well in Puntland following Shabeel-1.

In Texas, the Smith No.2 well was recently placed into production, while the Albrecht No.1 is unloading fluid following fracture stimulation and has already produced one million cubic feet of gas and 150 barrels of oil, which was in line with expectations.

With these two wells now online, around 60 percent of Range’s North Chapman Ranch reserves can now be classified as proved and 80 percent as proved and probable.

The company said it was pleased with the results and will now work on monetising the North Chapman Ranch interests.

“Range is fully funded with respect to all its operations which are progressing extremely well,” said executive director of Range Peter Landau.

“Clearly there will be short term frustration with our current share price and world markets but nothing has changed with regards to our development program for 2012 with the added bonus of the landmark results to date of the Shabeel-1 well in Puntland and the spudding of the second Shabeel North well shortly.”

In the East Texas Cotton Valley interest in Texas, Range and its joint venture partners have started fracture stimulation operations on the Ross 3H well to increase production.

The company also updated investors on the development programme on its Morne Diablo field in Trinidad, where the three drilling rigs are now progressing on schedule with the fourth rig due to be added next month.

Eight future well sites have been prepared with expectations to extend the producing trent to the east of the existing field.

Also in Trinidad, work continues to prepare the rig No.8 for June spudding of the Middle and Lower Cruse formations, which Range expects to add significant production and reserves to Range’s operations.

Based on drilling results to date as well as planned development drilling throughout the Trinidad acreage, Range expects to certify additional reserves in 2012 along with steady progress in production and cash flow.

Ascot Mining reports increased gold production from Chassoul project

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:20:00 +1000

Ascot Mining (PLUS:ASMP) said increased mining at the Chassoul gold project in Costa Rica has led to increased gold production.

The company said 153 ounces of gold dore were produced in February this year, with 208 ounces generated in March, and 252 ounces in April.

"This progress should help enable the company meet its initial production target of 1,500 ounces of gold per quarter later this year," it said in a statement.

A further positive consequence of the improvements was a second consecutive net monthly operating profit of US$54,000 in April, compared to US$33,000 in March," it added.

Since January this year, the new Upper Amarilla/Negra vein has been providing the bulk of the ore feed to the plant and a new zone to the left has also been opened up.

A second underground mining crew has been mobilised to work the Lower Cajeta vein to supplement ore production from the Amarilla/Negra system, said Ascot.

The company also noted, following the announcement from PLUS Markets Group (LON:PMK) yesterday, that it remained committed to moving the company's listing to AIM and TSX, and further announcements concerning the move would be made in due course.

Plus is to close after the small cap stock exchange owner failed to find a buyer or new funding and said its regulated activities would be wound down over six months to avoid market disruption.

ECR Minerals names Keith Irons non-exec chairman, Harford reverts to MD position

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:19:00 +1000

ECR Minerals (LON:ECR, OTC:MTGDY) has appointed Keith Donald Irons as non-executive chairman of the company with immediate effect.

With this appointment, the role of Patrick Harford has reverted to that of managing director, also with immediate effect.

Irons is currently chairman of Bridgecreek Resources Ltd, a private company developing onshore oil and gas interests in the US.

He has a background in mineral economics and brings with him extensive experience of the minerals and energy industries gained through more than 40 years’ involvement.

His experience includes 17 years as chairman of Bankside Consultants Ltd, an independent financial public relations and investor relations consultancy, having founded the business in 1991.

He previously held senior corporate roles with the Anglo American, Blue Circle Industries, Rio Tinto, Amax/Roan Selection Trust and more recently in several junior companies.

Patrick Harford said: "Keith Irons has a wealth of senior level experience in the mining and energy sectors with companies large and small. I am pleased to welcome him as non-executive chairman of ECR and feel sure that he will make a strong contribution to the company’s future development.”

ECR is a mineral development company with interests in Argentina, the US, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia.

Last week, the group completed the latest drilling programme at the El Abra gold prospect within the wholly-owned Sierras de las Minas project in Argentina’s La Rioja Province.

Caledonia Mining beefs up board with legal expert

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:06:00 +1000

Africa-focused resource company Caledonia Mining (LON:CMCL, TSE:CAL) has appointed corporate lawyer Richard Patricio to its board as a non-executive with immediate effect.

Patricio is currently vice president of legal and corporate affairs at Pinetree Capital, a Toronto-based financial firm that is a long-standing shareholder in Caledonia and currently holds just over 10 per cent.

Stefan Hayden, Caledonia’s president and chief executive said: “I am delighted to welcome Richard Patricio to Caledonia.

“I am confident that, with his perspective and experience, he will be a valuable addition to the Caledonia board.”

Patricio is also currently a director at a number of Canadian resource companies, including X-Terra Resources, Dejour Energy and Mega Precious Metals.

He has also been a director at Quentzal Energy and Titan Uranium within the last five years.

He is also currently vice-president of corporate and legal affairs at Mega Uranium and Brownstone Ventures.

Caledonia Mining has an operating gold mine in Zimbabwe, two platinum-nickel exploration projects in South Africa and a cobalt-copper project in Zambia.

Last week, the company reported net profit for the first quarter of US$7.11 million, up from US$1.36 million in the previous quarter.

It also reported a strong production rate in April at its flagship gold project Blanket mine of 3,722 ounces or an annualised equivalent rate of 44,664 ounces, more than the targeted annualised equivalent rate of 40,000 ounces.

Shares in the company currently stand at 4.85 pence.

AnaeCo advances towards commercialisation of DiCOM™ in China

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:10:00 +1000

AnaeCo (ASX: ANQ) is moving ever closer to the commercial exploitation of its DiCOM™ technology in international markets, inking a partnership agreement with Beijing state-owned Assets Management Co subsidiary Dynagreen Environmental Protection Group.

AnaeCo and Dynagreen will partner to create a framework for potential future commercial operations, initially in China and later overseas.

AnaeCo delivers alternative waste technology facilities based on the patented DiCOM™ bioconversion process.

The system incorporates advanced sorting, recycling, anaerobic digestion and aerobic composting to recycle municipal solid waste into renewable energy from biogas, agricultural grade compost and recyclables such as steel, aluminum, glass and plastics.

The DiCOM™ process enables resource recovery intervention closer to source, with enhancement of existing waste transfer stations now a viable waste management option.

Funding

Last month AnaeCo secured a A$10 million funding facility with CF2 Pty Ltd, a company controlled by AnaeCo director Dr Ian Campbell.

Funds drawn down under the loan and proceeds of a $15 million capital raising will be used for the continued development of the DiCOM™ technology, completion of the WMRC DiCOM™ Expansion Facility located in Western Australia and for working capital.

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Ferrum Crescent upgrades Moonlight iron ore JORC Resource

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:50:00 +1000

Ferrum Crescent (ASX: FCR, AIM: FCR, JSE: FCR) has updated the JORC Resource for the company’s Moonlight iron ore deposit to 307.8 million tonnes at 26.9% iron.

The resource includes 52.6 million tonnes at 31.3% iron in the Measured category, 83 million tonnes at 27.4% iron Indicated and 172.1 million tonnes at 25.3% iron Inferred.

This is an increase in both the confidence and classification of the resource.

Several prospective targets have been identified to the south, east and west of the Moonlight deposit, which is located in South Africa’s Limpopo Province.

Further exploration, including a high resolution airborne magnetic survey and drilling, will commence as soon as possible.

This exploration will AIM to add to the Moonlight resource and explore for potential mineralisation outside the deposit.

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WHL Energy MD shows confidence, increases shareholding by 1m shares

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:30:00 +1000

WHL Energy (ASX: WHN) managing director Steven Noske has increased his stake in the company through the acquisition of a further 1 million shares.

Noske bought the shares on-market for a total consideration of nearly $40,000, providing an average entry price of around $0.04.

Earlier this month WHL was officially awarded the VIC/P67 permit in the Otway Basin offshore Victoria that holds the La Bella gas field.

The company had committed to a primary work program totalling A$62.1 million in the first three years to beat out six other bids for the permit, which was released as V11-2, under the Federal Government’s 2011 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release round.

VIC/P67 is located close to existing infrastructure including the Santos (ASX: STO) operated Casino gas development, Origin Energy’s (ASX:ORG) Otway gas project, the BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) operated Minerva development and TRU Energy’s Iona gas plant.

WHL has previously said the La Bella gas field will allow it to book an immediate best estimate (2C) contingent resource of 158 petajoules (149 billion cubic feet) of gas and 1.2 million barrels of condensate.

Further upside potential exists in the block including the relatively low risk prospects present at Highlander and West La Bella which provide additional tie-back opportunities to a potential La Bella development.

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Bluechiip technology in use to automate sample tracking at world leading science and research facility

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:10:00 +1000

Bluechiip’s (ASX: BCT) wireless tracking technology is now in use by one of the world’s leading science and research facilities to help automate the tracking of samples.

Australian Synchrotron will integrate bluechiip tags into mounting pins used in protein and chemical crystallography, with the aim of wirelessly tracking the mounting pin’s identification and temperature history.

Using bluechiip technology will allow for rapid mounting and automated tracking of samples, increasing the efficiency of crystal screening and data collection.

Bluechiip’s technology is able to overcome the limitations of conventional tracking technologies in regards to frosting or being dislodged or damaged.

This is particularly important given the harsh environment experienced at a Synchrotron beam-line, due to the varied nature of sample storage at temperatures between 30C and minus 196C, as well as frosting, radiation and mechanical wear and tear.

The Australian Synchrotron provides researchers with access to x-ray and infrared techniques, with a range of applications in fundamental science and industrial research.

Introducing wireless tracking technology would allow for a much higher level of automation for researchers.

Bluechiip said there are opportunities to create a world-first tracking solution that is specific to macromolecular crystallography, based on the existing bluechiip platform.

The project with Australian Synchrotron will be enabled through a $50,000 grant from the Victorian State Government’s STIUP Voucher Program.

Wireless tracking technology

Bluechiip’s wireless tracking solution is a major shift from current methods of tracking, such as labels (hand written or pre-printed), barcodes (linear and 2D) and microelectric integrated circuit-based radio frequency identification.

Based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems technology, it contains no electronics and does not require visible tags or line of sight for tracking.

The Bluechiip technology also has the ability to sense the temperature of each item a tag is attached to or embedded in.

Importantly, the technology has applications in a range of industries, including healthcare and life science, security, defence and manufacturing.

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Viking Ashanti non executive chairman buys more shares on market

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:50:00 +1000

Viking Ashanti (ASX: VKA) non-executive chairman John Gardner continues to show confidence in the company, increasing his shareholding by 390,000 shares.

Gardner acquired the shares on-market for a total consideration of A$50,310, or around $0.129 per share.

The purchase takes his shareholding to 5.1 million ordinary shares and 1.5 million options exercisable at $0.345 on or before 31 December 2012.

Viking Ashanti’s Akoase East Project in Ghana has potential to grow well beyond 1 million ounces of gold.

Recent drilling at the project produced a 40% increase in gold resources to 704,000 ounces, and now drives a fast tracked drilling program into higher grade resources at Alimac, and other targets along a very prolific gold trend.

Currently defined resources at Akoase East are located within a 3 kilometre strike length, and multiple targets are revealing additional resource ounces along the remaining 9 kilometres of strike.

New resource modelling has confirmed higher grade mineralisation at the partially drilled Alimac prospect where the thickest and highest grade gold hits of the entire drilling program have been reported.

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Kentor Gold: Gold mining underway at Murchison, start up on schedule for mid year

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 +1000

Kentor Gold (ASX: KGL) is on track to join the ranks of Australian gold producers, with mining underway at the Murchison Gold Project.

The company is on track to achieve the first gold pour from Murchison in June 2012.

Initial production will come from the Lewis and Reward pits, with rates forecast at 24,000 ounces per year from a combination of open pit and underground mining.

Based on the current US$1543 spot price this would create gross revenue of nearly US$40 million in the first year of operation.

Commissioning of the ore crushing circuit has been completed, and 3,000 tonnes of stockpiled underground ore has been crushed in preparation for commissioning of the grinding circuit, which will commence in June.

Processing of grade control samples can begin this week following successful commissioning of the onsite sample preparation laboratory.

All tanks have been installed, with top of tank steel work and the remaining structural steel being installed.

The major concrete work has been completed, while the elution circuit and gold room have been refurbished and will be lifted into place this week.

Electrical work has commenced and all underground mains cabling has been run in preparation for transformer installation next week. Installation of a tailings line from the plant to the Reward pit is underway.

The Murchison project comprises the Burnakura gold and Gabanintha gold-copper sites, located about 50 kilometres south of Meekatharra in Western Australia.

A Scoping Study is underway for a heap leach operation, which will comprise Phase 2 of the development program, planned for next year.

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Industrea: General Electric makes cash offer of $1.27 per share

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:10:00 +1000

Industrea (ASX:IDL) has fielded a cash offer from the giant General Electric Company to acquire 100% of its issued shares at A$1.27 cash per share.

Moving out of a trading halt, the stock has leapt 43 per cent in today's trading to $1.23, under the offer price. There were sales at $1.27.

The acquisition price represents a 48% premium to the previous close and implies a fully diluted value for Industrea of approximately A$470 million.

The Industrea Board has negotiated the ability to sell the Mining Services (IMS) division separately. Shareholders will be entitled to receive any net proceeds from the sale of the division above an agreed value in addition to the $1.27 per share offered by GE.

Interestingly, GE's offer is at odds with local and overseas investors as the stock had fallen over 37 per cent this year before today's offer. Clearly, GE liked what it saw with potential growth in Industrea's mining services businesses in China, South America and in Australia.

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Southern Hemisphere Mining strikes 440 metres at 0.75% copper at Llahuin

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:50:00 +1000

Southern Hemisphere Mining (ASX: SUH) is continuing to strike high grade copper with drilling at the company’s Llahuin Copper Project in Chile, returning 440 metres at 0.75% copper equivalent.

An in fill and extensional drilling program is underway at Llahuin to follow up on the recently announced maiden JORC Resource of 106 million tonnes at 0.4% copper equivalent.

The peak intercept of 440 metres includes a high grade interval of 208 metres at 1.2% copper equivalent, highlighting potential for a high grade zone within the Central Porphyry.

Other results from recent drilling include:

- 54 metres at 0.66% copper equivalent from 120 metres;
- 42 metres at 0.43% copper equivalent from surface; and
- 301 metres at 0.39% copper equivalent from 3 metres.

Southern Hemisphere managing director Trevor Tennant said the peak intercept was outstanding, adding momentum to the company’s drilling campaign.

“Given that our strategy is geared towards not just building our resource tonnage but also, more importantly, boosting the average grade, this should be viewed as a highly significant result,” Tennant said.

“This provides a clear indication of the presence of a potential high-grade zone within the Central Porphyry zone at the Llahuin Copper Project.”

Llahuin project

Southern Hemisphere’s Llahuin project covers an area of 7.72 square kilometres in Chile, and features similar geological characteristics to Teck Resources’ (TSX: TCK, NYSE: TCK) nearby 400 million tonne Carmen de Andacollo copper mine.

The current resource is based on the Llahuin Porphyry Zone, where the majority of drilling has been focused, and the Cerro Zone. Further drilling in both zones is planned to enhance the resource.

Scoping Study work is underway at Llahuin, based on the recently defined maiden JORC Resource. Llahuin is expected to form the cornerstone of Southern Hemisphere’s copper gold portfolio in Chile.

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LIVE FROM APPEA 2012: Local service providers set to benefit from overseas investment

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:26:00 +1000

Colin Beckett, Chevron Australia general manager Greater Gorgon, told the APPEA 2012 Conference in Adelaide today that contracts worth billions of dollars would provide ongoing flow-on effects to local service providers.

He noted a number of Australian companies had found a new opportunity in shrink wrapping of project components that ensured that no pests were introduced to the Class A Nature Reserve on Barrow Island, where the giant Gorgon liquefied natural gas project is located.

Chevron itself has also being a heavy user of the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson, Western Australia, and has invested about A$35 million in a new wharf area and facilities.

Fabricators, manufacturers and construction companies using those facilities have also won major contracts and packages for Gorgon.

The major oil and gas projects have also attracted GE to establish a A$100 million specialist maintenance and training facility in Western Australia.

“Aside from new jobs, this significant investment will facilitate knowledge transfer for decades to come.”

Beckett also pointed to the growth of the support sector in the mining industry, saying the mining services sector had doubled output over the last decade and continues to grow at a 15% to 20% rate each year.

This contrasts with an annual growth of only 1% for non-mining sectors.

“We must ensure our industry follows a similar path. Enduring benefits will be found in long-term, sustained operational support, research and innovation.”

However, Beckett warned that attracting world class industry would require Government support to ensure that Australia remained a place global companies would invest their money.

“This also extends to addressing skills and training challenges. Chevron has welcomed State and Federal Government initiatives to address the increasing demand for skilled labour resulting from the construction of major resource projects and has engaged directly with the government on these issues.”

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Hill End Gold raises $5 million, targets 1 million ounce gold resource

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:20:00 +1000

Hill End Gold (ASX: HEG) is well funded for exploration at the Hargraves and Hill End Gold Projects after completing the final stage of a placement to Infiniti Premium Resources.

The company has placed the remaining 80 million shares to Infiniti, at $0.025 per share for $2 million. This completes the total $5 million raising announced in January this year.

Funds from the raising will support Hill End in exploring to increase its JORC Resources to more than 1 million ounces at Hargraves and Hill End, up from 557,000 ounces in January.

Infiniti has now taken up a total of 200 million shares in Hill End, representing 29.16% of the enlarged issued capital of the company.

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Augur Resources: Wonogiri proves ability to deliver high quality marketable copper, gold concentrates

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:18:00 +1000

Augur Resources (ASX: AUK) has delivered to the market favourable metallurgical results for the Wonogiri project in Indonesia which show high recoveries of up to 89% gold and 93.4% copper from the Randu Kuning porphyry deposit.

Importantly, these recoveries were achieved through simple flotation testing.

Further upside is that detailed analysis of the concentrate indicated that it contained silver of up to 77.3g/t silver.

The concentrate appears to be high quality with very little lead (0.04%), zinc (0.09%) and arsenic (0.02%).

Augur is currently focused on optimising the copper concentrate with initial results demonstrating concentrates of up to 21.2% copper and 90.6g/t gold.

Testing of the gold recovery by gravity methods will also be undertaken which is likely to improve the overall recovery.

Initial metallurgical testing of the oxide zone has begun and results are expected during May.

Wonogiri

The Wonogiri project, which covers an area of 3,928 hectares, has become the flagship project of the company.

Augur has a 51% stake in the project and is working to earn 80% of the project by spending $2 million on exploration and development by early December 2012.

The large scale potential is evident given the drill results to date and the structural zone similarities to large porphyry deposits.

Underpinning the bulk tonnage potential is the mineralisation at Randu Kuning which 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 project lies within the Sunda‐Banda arc, an area considered prospective for epithermal gold and porphyry copper‐gold mineralisation.

Indonesia

Indonesia is host to some of the world’s largest gold-copper deposits, notably the 120 million gold ounce and 96.6 billion copper pound Grasberg, 12 million gold ounce and 12.6 billion copper pound Batu Hijau and 28 million gold ounce and 15 billion copper pound Tujuh Bukit.

Gold-copper porphyry deposits continue to be highly prized given the high tonnage potential and possibility for large gold and copper production.

The mining economics are also extremely favourable with low operating costs of well below US$500 per ounce for gold and under $0.90 per pound for copper, with further upside being the potential for long mine lives.

Analysis

Augur’s market cap. of just A$7.2 million appears slight when compared to other ASX listed companies with comparable projects in the region. With a maiden JORC Resource expected before the end of the June quarter providing newsflow and potential catalyst for re-rating for the stock, the company will not always be under the radar given its results to date.

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Consegna Group secures Olympic champion as face of BreatheAssist™ ahead of 2012 Games

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:50:00 +1000

Consegna Group (ASX: CGP) has taken a major step forward in accessing the US$6.4 billion sport performance apparel market, with Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave signing on as brand ambassador for the company’s BreatheAssist™ Sport technology platform.

Redgrave, who won five gold medals rowing in five consecutive Olympics, will act as the face of BreatheAssist, which has applications in elite sports.

His appointment is particularly timely given the approaching start of the 2012 London Olympic Games in July.

Consegna has secured regulatory clearance for BreatheAssist Sports in the United States, Europe, UK and Australia, and is working towards the market launch.

BreatheAssist is a device worn inside the nose that gently and independently dilates each of the nasal passages, increasing airflow by up to 38%.

The technology is drawing closer to commercialisation, with an initial focus on the sports market where it has potential for performance improvement. In addition to sports, it has applications in the snoring, allergy management and drug delivery markets.

Redgrave said he was pleased to endorse the BreatheAssist technology, calling it a revolutionary product.

“Its ability to increase airflow through the nose will, I believe, provide athletes of all types with the edge they need to perform to the best of their ability,” Redgrave said.

“That’s why I am so excited about BreatheAssist and its potential in sport and other areas of application.”

Consegna CEO Fabio Pannuti said: “We are thrilled to have Sir Steve Redgrave as a face and a brand ambassador for BreatheAssist.

“Having someone of Sir Steve’s stature and reputation will assist us in bringing to the attention of the sporting world the benefits of using a BreatheAssist unit.”

Since winning his last Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000, Redgrave has maintained a high profile, raising millions for charity and continuing to support rowing.

Redgrave played a role in the successful bid for London to host the Olympics in 2012, and recently received the Sports Personality Lifetime Achievement Award from the BBC.

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Oro Verde intercepts 79.3 metres of copper iron oxide breccia at Chuminga

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:20:00 +1000

Oro Verde (ASX: OVL) is continuing to intercept broad zones of copper-iron oxide breccia in drilling at the Chuminga Project in Chile, with the third diamond drill hole returning 79.3 metres of mineralisation.

A visual grade of about 1% copper has been identified in the mineralised zone.

Drilling of hole number three was completed this week, at a depth of 143.55 metres. Mineralisation was intercepted between 55.4 metres and 134.7 metres depth.

The drill hole was targeting the same copper-iron oxide breccia mineralisation that was identified in the first diamond core hole, 32 metres to the south.

Hole number one intersected 61 metres at 0.9% copper and 0.15 grams per tonne gold. Mineralisation intercepted in this hole was observed to thicken down dip from surface to the east.

Drilling of the fourth hole is now underway, targeting the same mineralisation.

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Continental Coal marches towards thermal coal production at Penumbra

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:11:00 +1000

Continental Coal (ASX: CCC) is set to increase cash flow in the short term with the advancement towards production at the Penumbra Mine in the second half of 2012.

Penumbra is set to become the company’s third thermal coal mining operation in South Africa.

Sales of 500,000 tonnes per annum of a high quality export thermal coal product are forecast, generating annual free cash flow of around US$23 million based on prevailing prices.

Continental already has up to 500,000 tonnes of coal sold under existing offtake agreements.

The twin declines at Penumbra advanced 58 metres to a combined total length of 135 metres in April. The twin declines will have a final length of about 390 metres.

One decline will be equipped with a conveyor, while the second will serve as a travel route for trackless equipment.

The conveyor road has advanced down 79 metres and the travelling road down 56 metres.

Other advancements made last month include the placing of orders for the medium volt and low voltage containerised substations and switchgear, with the adjudication of the tender of the upcast ventilation fan switchgear also completed.

Increasing thermal coal production

Production from Continental’s Ferreira and Vlakvarkfontein coal mines increased during April. At Vlakvarkfontein, Continental achieved run of mine coal production of 112,281, a 6% increase on the monthly average achieved in the March quarter.

Domestic thermal coal sales of 93,180 tonnes were slightly higher than the average 92,761 tonnes of monthly sales achieved in March 2012.

Year to date run of mine coal production of just over 1 million tonnes has been achieved with an unaudited net profit after tax of ZAR33.6 million (A$4.1 million) reported against a budget of ZAR22.4 million.

At Ferreira, run of mine coal production reached 55,263 tonnes in April, 25% above budget and 4% higher than the monthly averag in the March 2012 quarter.

In addition, total production of 37,830 tonnes of a high quality export thermal coal product was achieved at the Delta Processing Operations.

Sales of 40,864 tonnes of high quality export thermal coal were achieved for the month.

Year to date run of mine coal production of 574,419 tonnes and export sales of 496,065 tonnes has been achieved at the Ferreira Coal Mine and the Delta Processing Operations with an unaudited net profit after tax of ZAR37.1 million reported against a budget of ZAR24.4 million.

Landmark coal supply agreement

Under a coal supply agreement announced in March between Continental’s joint venture partner Ntshovelo Mining Resources and South Africa’s state utility company Eskom, domestic thermal coal sales from Vlakvarkfontein are now being made directly to state utility company Eskom.

The agreement is for the supply of 720,000 tonnes per annum of thermal coal over an initial three year period.

Importantly, this is a landmark agreement that positions the Vlakvarkfontein Coal Mine as one of only 25 direct suppliers of coal to Eskom in South Africa.

Eskom is one of the top 20 utilities in the world by power generation capacity, generating around 95% of the electricity used in South Africa and about 45% of the electricity used in Africa.

Power demands in the region will grow significantly in the next 10 years, with substantial coal supplies set to be transported by rail to Eskom’s power stations.

Cash backing

Continental recently increased its bank balance to further the development of the Penumbra, De Wittekrans and Vlakplaats Coal Projects with the financial settlement of its new partnership in South Africa.

The company has now received the total ZAR140 million (A$16.9 million) payment from Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Company, Sishen Iron Ore Company Community Development Trust (SIOC-cdt).

Cash at March 2012 Quarter was $6.6 million. This would imply cash backing of around $0.05 per share (or 38% of valuation) for a company whose share price is trading at $0.13. In addition, Continental earned revenue of $20 million for the March quarter and EBITDa of $1.5 million.

All this indicates an under-valuation relative to cash generation and cash on hand.

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Ventnor Resources targets deeper copper mineralisation at Thaduna

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:50:00 +1000

Ventnor Resources (ASX: VRX) is on the hunt for deeper copper mineralisation at its Thaduna and Green Dragon copper project below the current drill depth of 300 metres with plans to undertake down hole electromagnetic (DHEM) surveys.

A recent four hole, 1,772 metre deep reverse circulation pre-collared diamond drill hole program was designed to test the depth potential below the stronger zones under the existing Thaduna pit.

Importantly, mineralisation encountered in the deep drilling justifies additional investigation of the potential for deeper mineralisation.

So far drilling has intersected mineralised structures at a vertical depth of 300 metres at Thaduna and 200 metres at Green Dragon.

Bruce Maluish, managing director, commented:

“From the mineralisation we have seen in the recently drilled diamond core, we are encouraged to survey these holes with DHEM.

“This technique can target the search for deeper mineralisation below our current drill depth of 300 metres below the surface.”

In combination with the Thaduna program, two holes at Green Dragon will also be DHEM surveyed to test for deeper conductors.

It is expected that this DHEM program will map the conductive mineralised structure in excess of 100 metres away from known mineralisation.

If successful, Ventnor is planning follow up drilling to increase the known strike length and depth of mineralisation.

Exploration progress

Highlighting the progress being made at Thaduna and Green Dragon, to date a total of 149 reverse circulation drill holes for 19,672 metres and 19 diamond tails for 2,317 metres has been completed at Thaduna.

Meanwhile, at Green Dragon a total of 90 reverse circulation holes for 11,703 metres and two HQ diamond holes for 390 metres has been completed.

Ventnor is targeting a JORC Resource to 200 metres below surface at both prospects by the end of July, following the completion of the current phase four drilling program in mid-June.

Strategically located

The region in which Thaduna and Green Dragon is located is rapidly turning into one of the biggest, if not the best, emerging copper districts in Australia.

Highlighting the prospectivity, Sandfire Resources' (ASX: SFR) massive De Grussa project is just 40 kilometres away, with a group of explorers in the region discovering high grade copper during 2011.

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TNG Limited: Up to 90% vanadium recovery achieved in TIVAN™ test, proving up commercial potential

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:40:00 +1000

TNG Limited (ASX: TNG) is continuing to validate the commercial potential of the company’s TIVAN™ hydrometallurgical process, with a continuous-run pilot plant testwork program returning recoveries of 80% to 90% vanadium.

These recoveries are higher than previous results, and were achieved for vanadium pentoxide which was extracted to a purity of 99%.

Final grades for iron oxide and titanium dioxide are being assessed, with results expected by mid-June.

Upgrading of titanium oxide leached liquor is expected to produce a higher grade product than previous tests, while iron oxide could reach purity of 99.9%.

Independent certification of the results is being carried out by CSIRO.

Importantly, the pilot test run of the TIVAN™ process has increased confidence in the ability to use the process for TNG’s flagship Mount Peake Iron Vanadium Titanium Project.

If proven, TIVAN™ offers a number of advantages over standard processing, including lower capex and opex, higher recoveries and purity, and the ability to produce three product streams – vanadium pentoxide, titanium oxide, and ferric oxide.

TNG believes that TIVAN™ has the potential to be approximately 40% cheaper than standard pyrometallurgical process costs.

While the commercialisation of the process underpins TNG’s development proposition at Mount Peake, the technology also has the potential to be rolled out and applied to other vanadium deposits globally.

June quarter PFS

Once all results from the pilot plant program have been received, TNG will commence a Pre-Feasibility Study with the aim of confirming the commercial potential of both the TIVAN™ process and the Mount Peake project.

The Pre-Feasibility Study is on schedule to be delivered by the end of June 2012.

Chinese funding support

TNG has received support for the Mount Peake project in the form of a strategic partnership with Jiangsu Eastern China Non-Ferrous Metals Investment Holding (ECE).

Earlier this month the final stage of an overall $13.4 million transaction was given approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Funds from the transaction will underpin the Feasibility and evaluation of TNG’s world class Mount Peake project.

At the time, TNG managing director Paul Burton said, “TNG now has a substantial cash balance, sufficient to forge ahead with completion of the Pre-Feasibility Study on the Mount Peake Project on the back of the highly successful pilot plant testwork program for the TIVAN™ process.”

Chinese deal sparks broker interest

Upon FIRB approval of the deal, a UK-based broker issued a buy recommendation for TNG, with a price target of $0.45.

The report called Mt Peake “the main event” and said that the approval took the project a large step closer to development.

In addition, the report claimed that with cash in the kitty and the new strategic partnership, further progress in the development of Mount Peake would translate more readily to share price performance.

Mt Peake expansion work

TNG's Mt Peake project, located in the Northern Territory, hosts an exploration target of 500 to 700 million tonnes at between 0.2% and 0.4% vanadium, 23% and 25% iron and 4% and 6% titanium.

The company is working to expand the project, with an 1,100 metre reverse circulation drilling program targeting three large magnetic zones.

The three zones to be tested lie east, southeast and north of the Mt Peake deposit, and were identified from geophysics and field work, and could represent new vanadium and titanium bearing magnetite zones.

Toro Energy agreement

In April, TNG entered into an agreement with Toro Energy (ASX: TOE) allowing TNG the right to explore for all minerals except uranium within three of Toro’s tenements which lie immediately west of Mount Peake.

These tenements are considered to be highly prospective for copper and nickel mineralisation based on previous exploration results.

Historical soil sampling and drilling returned highly anomalous nickel and copper results up to 3,581 parts per million nickel and 2,410 parts per million copper in shallow drilling over 20 to 50 metres.

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Mining Group unearths new copper discovery at Comval in the Philippines

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:20:00 +1000

Mining Group’s (ASX: MNE) Comval project is showing early signs of its potential to be a major copper-gold porphyry system with evidence of a widespread and intensive zoned alteration system.

The first intercept at the Bayag Bayag target, and in particular the extensive and intense skarn alteration that extends for more than 700 metres along strike, provide further indications that the Tagpura/Bayag Bayag prospects have the potential to host a large copper orebody.

Assays received show a broad intersection of 44 metres at 0.64% copper from 39 metres, including 28 metres at 0.88% copper.

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.

Andrew Maurice, managing director, said the Bayag Bayag target’s initial assays and evidence of a widespread alteration system continued the positive momentum from Mining Group’s work program.

“The initial assay results from Bayag Bayag are encouraging, especially when combined with the assay results we previously announced from the Tagpura and Maangob targets.

“All of our targets are in relatively close proximity, with Bayag Bayag only 700 metres south of Tagpura, further supporting the potential economic viability of the Comval copper-gold project.”

Next steps

To date three holes have been drilled at Bayag Bayag with another three currently being drilled.

Mining Group has a total of eight holes planned in the initial drilling program to test the overall width and strike extent of the mineralisation.

This will be done in conjunction with detailed ground magnetic surveying to further refine the exploration model.

Mining Group’s exploration team is working hard to understand the zonation and vector in toward higher grade material and possibly a large porphyry target.

The company is also continuing drilling at the Tagpura and Maangob skarn targets over the coming months.

To date a total of six holes have been completed at Tagpura for 1,700.8 metres and one hole at Maangob for 295.5 metres.

The company is targeting a maiden JORC Resource at Comval in the September quarter of 2012 and is making steady progress towards this.

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Toro Energy excites with uranium drill results at Theseus

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:09:00 +1000

Emerging uranium producer, Toro Energy (ASX:TOE) has been provided significant encouragement from first 2012 drill results from its principal exploration asset, Theseus in Western Australia.

Theseus had a Exploration Target Range of 20 - 40 million tonnes (22 million - 44 million pounds uranium) at 400 - 500 ppm uranium.

Drilling commenced on 1 May 2012 in the southern part of the Theseus Project area.

Today's results, using a Prompt Fission Neutron Tool (PFN) downhole logging tool showed that 14 of the 20 holes drilled so far reported mineralised intervals greater than 200ppm pU3O8, would place Toro on the way to achieving this target.

Peak results were over 0.6% pU3O8, with consistent widths and grades using a 200 parts per million (ppm) pU3O8 cut off.

The results included:

- 3.77m at 717ppm uranium from 111.73m including 0.91m at 2105ppm uranium
- 2.54m at 646ppm uranium from 110.53m including 0.55m at 2336ppm uranium
- 2.05m at 566ppm uranium from 118.15m including 0.55m at 1541ppm uranium
- 10.7m at 275ppm uranium from 124.24m including 0.74m at 748ppm uranium

The results have also confirmed Toro’s geological model for the southern area of the Theseus Project.

These results would justifiably provide Toro with confidence in the grade and tonnes of the Exploration Target Range (ETR) for the remaining area of Theseus Project still to be drilled.

Three mineralised zones have been intersected to date, the first around 70 metres below surface, with the main zone starting at around ~110-112 metres and now a third zone at 120 metres. In drillhole LM0090, the two lower zones coalesce and report 10.74 metres at 275ppm pU3O8 from 112.9 metres.

Toro managing director Greg Hall said: “It is exciting to see the first drill results of 2012 confirming the uranium potential in the southern part of the Theseus Project.

It is also pleasing to see consistent widths and grades with the possibility of exploitable ISR uranium mineralisation.”

Analysis

Today's drill results included high grade as well as significant widths at Theseus and puts the company on the road to achieving its exploration target range of 22 million - 44 million pounds uranium at the project.

This is in addition to Toro's flagship 54 million pound Wiluna uranium project (total regional resource) in Central Western Australia, where Toro has advanced the approvals process with an anticipated date of mid-2012, construction through 2013 and first uranium sales in 2014.

Timing wise, Wiluna's development timeline could suit European and US utilities which are known to be eyeing long-term uranium supply contracts - post Fukushima. Toro could be the first post-ban uranium miner in Western Australia to market and next uranium mine in Australia to production. Toro could also be one of the few uranium producers in the world capable of production in the critical 2014-15 period.

Taken together, and on an EV/uranium resource peer basis this provides a solid long term case for Toro Energy.

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Otis Energy confirms Catahoula Lake oil and gas discovery in Louisiana

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:50:00 +1000

Otis Energy (ASX: OTE) has made an oil and gas discovery with the second well at its Catahoula Lake Project in Louisiana.

SL20846-1, the second of 7 wells to be drilled in the project his year, intersected about 8 feet (2.4 metres) of net oil and gas pay within the Middle Wilcox Sand.

The company said the results of the well could generate additional well locations to further develop the oil and gas bearing sands seen.

Otis will now flow test the well and expects to spud the third well using its barge rig.

Wells drilled in the Middle-Wilcox typically exhibit long production lives with low decline rates after the initial flush oil is produced and relatively steady production is established.

Ultimate oil recoveries area expected to range from 50,000 to 250,000 barrels per well.

Successful wells will be completed and tied into Otis’ existing production facilities.

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Astro Resources identifies visual heavy minerals outside Governor Broome Resource

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:00:00 +1000

Astro Resources (ASX: ARO) has confirmed visible heavy mineral occurrences outside the existing JORC Resource at the company’s Governor Broome mineral sands deposit to date.

More than 1,700 metres of drilling has been completed over two previously undrilled areas to the south and east of the resource at Governor Broome, which is located in the southwest of Western Australia.

Most holes have provided visual confirmation of heavy mineral occurrences, with laboratory analysis to determine the areas with potential for additional resources.

A second drill rig will be mobilised to the site in the coming week, increasing the work rate and allowing for the completion of all work programs on time and within budget.

Governor Broome hosts a JORC Resource of 154 million tonnes at 4.3% heavy minerals, for 6.6 million tonnes of contained heavy minerals.

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LIVE FROM APPEA 2012: Domestic gas reservation not the answer to rising gas prices

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:54:00 +1000

The Federal Opposition has voiced its opposition to domestic gas reservation, saying that it is not the solution to taking pressure off energy prices.

Ian Macfarlane, the Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources, told the APPEA 2012 Conference in Adelaide it was uncompetitive to take away the right of gas resource investors to take away their right to seek the best price in the market.

“There are inherent dangers in interfering with the gas market and mandating the reservation of gas, not least of which is the distortion of the price signal and undercutting the competitiveness of Australian gas projects,” he said.

“It also threatens Australia’s sovereign risk status, because by mandating that a certain percentage of gas in projects already in production, or being developed, is set aside for domestic sale, you are changing the rules of the game for investors midstream.”

Macfarlane acknowledged that while public appetite for the idea of domestic gas reservation would increase as the impact of the carbon tax made itself known, a policy of mandating the supply of gas reserves for local use was a “band aid solution” and might cause gas exploration and development to go elsewhere in the world.

He said that rather than gas reservation, a more effective and less destructive to the industry option would be to reserve new acreage for domestic production.

Under this policy, certain areas are set aside, wholly or in part, for the extraction of gas for the domestic market, letting investors know exactly where they stand.

“They would go into the extraction process with their eyes open and with a full understanding of the conditions under which their product would be sold.”

Macfarlane also raised the possibility of State Government’s taking part of their royalty in gas rather than cash, giving them the option to subsidise or discount the royalty gas to provide cheaper gas-sourced power.

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Horseshoe Metals delivers up to 15% visible copper mineralisation at Kumarina

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:51:00 +1000

Horseshoe Metals (ASX: HOR) is delivering the goods at its Kumarina Copper Project, which is located in a region known for its major copper finds.

The Peak Hill district of central Western Australia is prime exploration ground, as Horseshoe Metals is proving with the discovery of up to 15.2% visible copper mineralisation at its Rinaldi Prospect.

Notable intersections from a recent 1,134 metres, seven diamond drill hole program include:

- 14 metres at 4.4% copper from 33 metres, including 4 metres at 9% and 1 metre at 15.2%
- 32 metres at 0.9% copper from 48 metres, including 1 metre at 7%;
- 11 metres at 1.9% copper from 76 metres, including 2 metres at 5.1%;
- 7 metres at 4.8% copper from 94 metres, including 2 metres at 9.4%; and
- 8 metres at 3.1% copper from 17.5 metres, including 2 metres at 9.2%.

Indicating the prospectivity of the area, all but one of the holes intersected high grade mineralisation, with holes ranging in depth from 142 metres to 172 metres.

Copper mineralisation has been shown to be quartz vein hosted. The copper mineralisation appears to be structurally controlled with the main concentration of quartz veins occurring as a stockwork in the hanging wall zone of a westerly dipping dyke.

Neil Marston, managing director, told Proactive Investors today the drilling results demonstrate the prospectivity of the company’s tenement holding in the region.

“We’ll be looking at other areas on our lease as well just to see if there are repetitions of what we’ve got on this structure.”

Kumarina history

Copper was discovered at Kumarina in 1913. Historical workings extend over nearly 3 kilometres, including a 50 metres deep shaft and drives at the old Kumarina Copper Mine.

Smaller shaft and underground workings at the Rinaldi Prospect are reported to contain copper in sulphide mineralisation.

High grades of up to 14.4% copper were intersected in a 2011 drilling program.

Highlight intersections included 13 metres at 3% copper from 10 metres, including 3 metres at 9.9% copper; 17 metres at 2.8% copper from 35 metres, including 5 metres at 5% copper; and 13 metres at 2.7% copper from 67 metres, including 2 metres at 14.4% copper.

Next steps

Horseshoe Metals will undertake geological interpretation in the coming weeks to assist in the planning of future drilling at the Rinaldi Prospect.

Importantly, investors can expect to see a steady flow of news from both the Kumarina and the Horseshoe Lights projects over the coming months.

Major discoveries in the area

The region in which Horseshoe is currently operating continues to emerge as a major copper district in Australia, highlighted by the fact that Sandfire Resources’ (ASX: SFR) massive DeGrussa Copper-Gold mine is less than 100 kilometres away.

Add to the mix the location 90 kilometres north of Ventnor Resources' (ASX: VRX) Thaduna Copper Project, which recently announced some stellar results including: 37 metres at 2.61% copper from 111 metres, including 10 metres at 7.53% copper; and 62 metres at 2.19% copper from 125 metres, including 32 metres at 3.1% copper.

Kumarina is also 35 kilometres southwest of Montezuma Mining Company’s (ASX: MZM) Butcherbird Copper project.

Analysis

Recently, private investor, Investmet Limited elected to invest up to A$4.1 million Horseshoe Metals. For sleuths out there, Investmet was an early stage investor in Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) at a few cents and it hit over $1.00.

Today's news from Kumarina would have gladdened Investmet's as well as investor's hearts.

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Empire Resources targets anomalous copper with drilling in the Gascoyne

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:40:00 +1000

Empire Resources (ASX: ERL) is targeting prospective copper occurrences with a nine hole, 1,800 metre Reverse Circulation drilling campaign at the company’s Wynne Project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne Region.

A number of new copper targets have been identified at the project, based on previous exploration which identified extensive gossanous ironstones.

Rock samples taken from the Wynne project have returned highly anomalous copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum and bismuth.

The drilling program has received support from the Western Australian government, with a grant of $75,000 issued through the Incentive Scheme Co-Funded Drilling Program.

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Aphrodite Gold logs significant increase in Indicated Resources at Aphrodite Gold Project

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:33:00 +1000

Aphrodite Gold (ASX: AQQ) has increased the portion of the potentially open pit minable resources into the Indicated category at the Deposit in Western Australia.

The Deposit, which is located 65 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie has also lifted slightly its inferred resource to 1.04 million ounces of gold. The update was conducted by independent resource consultants McDonald Speijers.

Recently, Tetra Tech and METS recommend that the project should move to Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) given the headline numbers from a Scoping Study.

The headline study numbers are likely to be conservative but produced a Net Present Value (NPV) of $129 million with an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 25% at a gold price of $1,650 per ounce. Average cash costs were pegged at $756 per ounce of gold.

The new resource estimate incorporates results from the Company’s 2011 Reverse Circulation (RC) drill programme. Drilling completed in 2011 was closer spaced, infill, drilling intended to improve the classification of the resource considered to be minable from an open pit.

Significantly, with a nod to the future, the Aphrodite resource is open at depth with strong mineralisation evident below 440 metres to a depth of at least 600 metres. Further drilling would be required to enable a resource to be estimated.

Potential is clearly there, with historic diamond core drill intersections below -440m registering 24 metres at 7.12g/t and 18 metres at 5.59 g/t gold.

The depth of 150 metres was selected as a realistic potential bottom-of-pit depth although the recently completed Scoping Study indicates open pit development to around 200 metres depth may be achievable.

Further RC drilling is now underway to further define the near surface resources at the Deposit.

Comment

Today's update, adds to a nicely building picture at Aphrodite project.

The Scoping Study provided a base line data line that painted a significant accretion valuation pathway for a company capitalised at around $11 million.

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.

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.

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Senex Energy kicks off key fracture stimulation of Cooper Basin unconventional gas well

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 +1000

Senex Energy (ASX: SXY) has started fracture stimulation work on its Sasanof-1 shale and tight gas well in the Cooper Basin that aimed at proving up the ability of shales and tight sands to produce gas.

The multi-zone stimulation will include the Roseneath and Murteree shales as well as the tight sands of the Patchawarra Formation.

This program was designed following analysis of data from Sasanof-1 and the neighbouring exploration well Allunga Trough-1, where a suite of "mini fracs" were conducted in early 2012.

Sasanof-1 is the first of three dedicated unconventional gas wells Senex will drill in its 100%-owned PEL 516 in the 2011/12 financial year. It is located 40 kilometres north west of the successful Vintage Crop-1 well, which delivered an oil discovery and showed very favourable conditions for unconventional gas.

Drilling of the second well – Talaq-1 – is currently underway while Skipton-1 will spud in June.

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Mindax updates market on Sumitomo Corporation agreement

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:50:00 +1000

Mindax (ASX: MDX) has provided an update on the status of the Sumitomo Corporation agreement.

The company said yesterday the majority of the board has resolved not to issue a written confirmation set out in an amended heads of agreement with Sumitomo Corporation.

In late March Mindax and Sumitomo agreed to the amendment which defers payment of the first exclusive information fee.

Payment of the fee was subject to Sumitomo receiving written confirmation from Mindax after the general meeting, but by 14 May at the latest, that the company continues to support the heads of agreement.

As a result of the board’s decision not to issue the written confirmation the heads of agreement has been terminated.

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Lachlan Star attracts new substantial shareholder

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:40:00 +1000

Lachlan Star (ASX: LSA) has added a new substantial shareholder to its register with Sprott Asset Management taking a 5.1% stake in the company.

The Canadian investment manager increased its shareholding in Lachlan Star after acquiring a further 950,000 shares between February and April for a total consideration of C$1.4 million (A$1.4 million), providing an average entry price of around C$1.48 per share.

Sprott Asset Management now holds 4.4 million shares in Lachlan Star.

Investor interest is ever increasing in the company as it continues to outperform at its CMD Gold Mine in Chile.

Earlier this month Lachlan Star revealed it had delivered its highest level of gold stacked for the mine since it took ownership of the operation.

For the month of April the unhedged gold producer stacked 6,000 ounces of gold.

A further achievement was the increase in the grade of the stacked ore to 0.61 grams per tonne (g/t), the highest stacked grade since October last year.

Importantly, the increase in stacked gold was achieved despite Lachlan Star not mining for most of the month in the Chisperos and Las Loas pits.

The company is also working to optimise its mining costs by converting part of the CMD Mine operations to owner mining, which is expected to deliver cost savings of US$100 to $150 per gold ounce.

The mining contractors onsite will be rationalised from three contractors down to one which will deliver an immediate saving on mining unit rates.

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E.L. & C. Baillieu Morning Wrap; crude futures fall on demand concerns

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:33:00 +1000

Author: E.L. & C. Baillieu Stockbroking - by Andrew Thain

HEADLINES

- The Dow industrials fell for the ninth session in 10 as comments from Greek political leaders sparked accelerating concern about the country's potential exit from the euro-zone and the health of the its banks.

- European stocks slipped and the euro hit its lowest level since January against the dollar as it became more likely that a fresh general election will be called in Greece.

- Crude futures closed below $94 a barrel on Tuesday, with traders wary over the prospects for oil demand against a backdrop of political concerns in Greece, fresh economic data from Europe and the United States and an extended rally in the dollar.

- Gold futures settled down for the third session in a row Tuesday, ending at a 2012 low, as concerns over Greece’s political impasse fueled further gains in the U.S. dollar.

US MARKETS

The Dow industrials fell for the ninth session in 10 as comments from Greek political leaders sparked accelerating concern about the country's potential exit from the euro-zone and the health of the its banks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 63.35 points, or 0.5%, to 12632.00, its lowest close since Jan. 19.

The Standard Poor's 500-stock index slipped 7.69 points, or 0.6%, to 1330.66 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 8.82 points, or 0.3%, to 2893.76.

In corporate news, TJX rose 6.9%. The operator of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter profits and raised its current-year guidance.

Home Depot retreated 2.4%, leading declines among Dow components, after the homeimprovement retailer reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates, according to FactSet Research, but missed revenue forecasts. The company raised its fullyear earnings outlook to match analyst estimates.

J.P. Morgan Chase rose 1.3%, recouping losses that followed the bank disclosing big trading losses last week.

EUROPEAN MARKETS

European stocks slipped and the euro hit its lowest level since January against the dollar as it became more likely that a fresh general election will be called in Greece.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 index finished down 0.7% at 245.76, its lowest closing level of 2012. Germany's DAX closed down 0.8% at 6401.06 and France's CAC-40 closed down 0.6% at 3039.27. Though not totally insulated from the euro-zone's sovereign debt crisis, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fared a little better, closing down 0.5% at 5437.62.

ASIAN MARKETS

Asian markets ended mixed Tuesday, as fears of a Greek exit of the euro zone were offset by data late in the trading session showing Germany's economy expanded more than expected.

The Hang Seng Index finished 0.8% higher, snapping an eight-day losing streak. Japan's Nikkei and Korea's Kospi both fell 0.8%. Australia's S&P ASX 200 dropped 0.7% to 4266.30, while the China Shanghai SE Composite lost 0.3%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was cheered by the reports, putting an end to its longest decline since May 2011. Index heavyweights HSBC and China Mobile contributed heavily to the upswing, up 1.6% and 0.9% respectively, while Tencent Holdings continued to climb ahead of its first quarter earnings, up 2.1%.

AUSTRALIAN MARKETS

Australian shares fell to their lowest in more than a month as the political stalemate in Greece and worries about slower global growth hammered commodity prices and dragged down miners.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped 30.7 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 4266.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 35.6 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 4316.3. Gold stocks slumped 3.6 per cent, while defensive sectors such as telcos gained 1.8 per cent and utilities rose 1.2 per cent.

BHP hit three-year lows during the day before recovering slightly to close down 60 cents to $33.86, Rio Tinto lost 69 cents to $60.31 and Fortescue Metals plunged 24 cents to a three-month at $5.10.

OIL

Crude futures closed below $94 a barrel on Tuesday, with traders wary over the prospects for oil demand against a backdrop of political concerns in Greece, fresh economic data from Europe and the United States and an extended rally in the dollar.

Crude for June delivery fell 80 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $93.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached a fresh settlement low for the year.

METALS

Gold futures settled down for the third session in a row Tuesday, ending at a 2012 low, as concerns over Greece’s political impasse fueled further gains in the U.S. dollar.

Gold for June delivery , the most active contract, settled down $3.90, or 0.3%, at $1,557.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The last time gold settled lower was on Dec. 29, when it settled at $1,540.90 an ounce.

Andrew Thain can be contacted by email; CLICK HERE.

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Rubianna Resources to infill VMS-consistent copper gold targets at North Ruby Well

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:30:00 +1000

Rubianna Resources (ASX: RRE) is preparing to commence an interface sampling program to define copper gold anomaly targets at the company’s North Ruby Well Project, within the Murchison tenements in Western Australia.

Infill sampling will begin next week, with an aircore drilling program covering 140 holes for 7,000 metres.

The anomalies to be followed up occur within the volcanic units of the Narracoota Formation, with the response consistent with a Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide mineralised system.

Rotary air blast and aircore drilling has previously been used to sample the cover and bedrock interface below about 20 to 30 metres of cover.

The sampling program is seeking to define anomalies within four target areas, three with coincident gold and copper anomalism, and one with historical drilling that indicates shallow gold anomalism to 2.7 grams per tonne gold.

Results from the program are expected before the end of June 2012.

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