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08/03/10 Dacha Capital Rare Earth Power Breakfast Presentation - March 8th 2010
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08/03/10 Greenland Minerals & Energy Rare Earth Power Breakfast Presentation - March 8th 2010
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08/03/10 Avalon Rare Metals Rare Earth Power Breakfast Presentation - March 8th 2010
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08/03/10 Great Western Minerals Group Rare Earth Power Breakfast Presentation - March 8th 2010
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08/03/10 Lynas Corporation Rare Earth Power Breakfast Presentation - March 8th 2010
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29/06/09 Victoria Gold Corp Audio Interview
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22/06/09 Moly Mines talks to Proactiveinvestors
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08/04/09 Bill Reid of Gold Resources Corp talks to Proactiveinvestors
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24/02/09 David Matousek of Playfair Mining talks to Proactiveinvestors
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24/02/09 Kootenay Gold Audio Interview with Jim McDonald
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ie/it/un
NetPlay MD Gavin Whyte steps down to seek other opportunities: NetPlay TV plc (AIM: NPT) announced that its managing director, Gavin Whyte, intends to step down from the board to explore new opportunities. Whyte has decided to establish his own mobile gaming business, but he will continue to assist NetPlay with its mobile strategy on a freelance basis."I am immensely proud of what we have achieved over the last 3 years and I believe NetPlay TV is now the dominant TV gaming company in the UK,” Gavin Whyte commented. “Last year was transformational and I believe the company is well positioned to continue its rapid growth”. NetPlay is Britain’s largest interactive TV gaming company, established in 2000 and listed on AIM in 2001. NetPlay develops gaming brands that can be played online, over TV and over mobile phone (Bingo, BlackJack, fixed odds games, mobile quiz games, etc). The company boasts commercial partners such as Virgin Media, FreeView, Turner Media, STV, FreeSat and Five.NetPlayTV’s interactive gaming services operate a UK, Malta and Alderney gaming licenses, and its brands include including SuperCasino.com, ChallengeJackpot.com and Bingos.com.
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Medusa Mining says on track to meet Co-O gold mine target production this quarter: Medusa Mining (ASX, AIM: MML, TSX: MLL) said the commissioning of the mill expansion is at the Co-O mine in the Philippines is progressing well and the company is set to meet its targeted production of 25,000 ounces of gold this quarter.Managing director Geoff Davis commented: "The company is set to achieve another production milestone on schedule. This expansion increases the company's ability to optimise future gold production.”Earlier this month, the company announced a one for ten bonus issue of shares to all shareholders of the company. It said it had achieved several significant milestones in the last calendar year and the bonus issue is in recognition of the invaluable support the company has received from its shareholders. The bonus issue was also designed to encourage greater liquidity in Medusa shares.When it reported interims in February for the six months ended 31 December 2009, Medusa flagged a net profit of US$28.3m, representing a 201% increase from US$9.4m in the corresponding period a year earlier. Revenues grew by 161% to US$41.3m. The emerging gold miner’s record-breaking performance was driven by both increased gold production, lower costs and higher received gold prices, it said.Co-O’s annualised production is planned to be ramped up to 100,000 ounces.
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Alliance Pharma shareholder Nigel Wray buys 200,000 more shares : Alliance Pharma (AIM: APH) announced that Nigel Wray has bought a further 200,000 shares in the company to take his holding to 24,519,995 shares, or 11.04% of the capital. He is still the group's second largest shareholder behind chief executive John Dawson.Alliance Pharma (AIM: APH) last month completed the acquisition of Cambridge Laboratories. The deal, which adds 18 new prescription products to Alliance’s portfolio, is expedted to be significantly earnings enhancing in the current financial year. Cambridge’s commercial manager Peter Butterfield has also been appointed to the Alliance Pharma board.The deal is worth between £14.3m and £16.4m, plus an additional £1.4m for Cambridge’s product inventory.Back in January, Alliance said it expected to report turnover for the full year to 31 December 2009 of approximately £31 million, an increase of approximately 42% on the previous year.Shares in Alliance have performed very well over the past six months as the stock’s value almost doubled from below 20 pence to the current 35 pence.
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Timmins Gold Corp’s San Francisco Mine bigger than first thought : Emerging gold producer Timmins Gold Corp (TSX-V:TMM) has confirmed the potential to expand the total resource at its San Francisco Mine in Mexico. Timmins (many would say wisely) has focused on moving the project into production, while also looking at adding additional resources outside of the existing pit as it looks to extend the mine life of the project. This dual approach appears to be paying dividends for the company. It announced this morning that some 6,750 meters of reverse circulation (RC) drilling (85 holes) has now confirmed that the in-pit mineralization extends along strike to the north-west of the main gold structure. “The results of the drill program show that the gold mineralization continues NW for at least 200 meters beyond the currently planned pit limit and includes multiple intersections of gold mineralization consistent with the width and grade of mineralization which is contained within the San Francisco pit and which is included in the current mine plan,” Timmins noted this morning. Recent drill highlights from the 200 meter strike include 3 meters (true width) grading 1.73 grams per tonne gold from 54 meters in drill hole TF-173 and 9 meters (true width) grading 1 gram per tonne gold from 1.52 meters in drill hole TF-240. All drilling reported today returned grades between 0.92 g/t gold and 4.56 g/t gold over widths between 3 and 23 meters (approximately). Timmins Gold expects to report an updated resource estimate in April. “This exploration success follows upon the completion of construction and successful commissioning of the process plant and first gold pour in late 2009. The size of the gold mineralization zone, its presence within large shear zones and the continuous nature of the gold within the zones form the basis of management's expectation that planned additional drilling could lead to a significant increase in the mineral resource at San Francisco and could potentially also lead to the discovery of additional satellite deposits within the existing land package,” Timmins stated. As part of Timmins ongoing exploration at San Francisco, an additional 50,000 meters of RC drilling, which will focus both on infill and step-out drilling, will be undertaken. The San Francisco Gold mine is a past-producing open pit heap leach operation from which Timmins Gold has projected production at a rate in excess of 80,000 ounces of gold per year at a life of mine cash cost of approximately $412 per ounce.
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Exeter Resource split approved to handle two very different types of gold deposit: By Lawrence Williams, Mineweb.com High flying gold exploration junior, Exeter Resource Corp, has had the strategic split of the company into two separate entities approved by its shareholders. Exeter itself will now concentrate on the huge Caspiche gold/silver/copper project in the Maricunga region of the Chilean Andes, virtually halfway between Kinross' Maricunga mine (formerly known as Refugio) and Barrick's Cerro Casale project, while the spin-off company, to be called Extorre, will take on the group's Cerro Moro gold project, and other Argentinian gold exploration properties, with a view to bringing the former to production. Mineweb first revealed the company's president, Bryce Roxburgh's, ideas to split in two last November - see Exeter's golden choices, and now this has come about with shareholder approval received with 99.83% in favour, with the final order agreeing the split granted by the Supreme Court of British Columbia on March 12th. The agreement should now be closed by March 22nd, with the distribution date for Extorre shares to Exeter's shareholders the day following. The shares have received preliminary approval for listing on the TSX, and while they are not yet to be listed on the NYSE-AMEX register, the new company plans to apply for listing on the OTCQX exchange for its U.S. shareholders and subsequently on the NYSE-AMEX. Listing is subject to Extorre meeting all listing requirements of those exchanges and receiving exchange acceptances of listing applications. Exeter shares themselves will trade "ex-distribution" on the TSX on March 18, 2010 and on the NYSE-AMEX on March 24, 2010. On closing, the new company, Extorre, will hold all of Exeter's former interest in the Argentinian Cerro Moro and Don Sixto Projects as well as its other Argentinian Patagonian exploration projects and an initial $25 million in capital from Exeter. Initial focus will be on development of the Cerro Moro Project, while exploration drilling will continue to test for new high grade vein targets. Exeter itself will continue to hold and focus on advancing its Caspiche Project. Part of the reason for the split relates to the huge differences in project parameters between Caspiche and Cerro Moro and will enable two separate management teams to concentrate on two very different projects. Caspiche looks to be rivalling Barrick's Cerro Casale in size and grade, and so far has an inferred mineral resource estimate of 1,117 million tonnes at a grade of 0.55 grams per tonne gold and 1.12 grams per tonne silver including 1,017 tonnes at a grade of 0.22% copper. This equates to in-situ inferred resources of 19.6 million ounces of gold, 40 million ounces of silver and 4.84 billion pounds of copper (a total of 32.4 million gold equivalent ounces). The size of this deposit suggests a multi-billion dollar development to bring a large open pit to production and is therefore markedly different to the skills and financing necessary for the smaller Cerro Moro project. The Cerro Moro project, as it is much smaller in scope and less costly to bring into production could be mined with a series of relatively small narrow open pits and by underground methods, being similar to AngloGold's Cerro Vanguardia which is relatively nearby in Argentina's Patagonia area. A mine here can be brought on stream relatively quickly by new company, Extorre, without necessarily having to bring in a jv partner. The current resource at Cerro Moro stands at 646,000 ounces gold equivalent at a grade of 18 grammes per tonne gold equivalent. This is almost entirely on the high grade Escondida vein, and with a number of other significant vein structures already delineated, the eventual resource will be very much larger. A new resource statement, which will still be primarily based on the Escondida vein drilling, is due next month. The company split will enable two separate management teams to concentrate wholly on two very different types of projects, and is a move which Exeter management feels will strongly enhance shareholder value.
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Mercator Gold raises £422,500 through placing: Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR, OTC: MTGDY) has raised £422,500 through a placing of 16.9m new shares at 2.5p each. The placing was carried out by Old Park Lane Capital (OPL), and shares were predominantly placed with institutional and ultra high net worth investors.“We are very encouraged by the continued support of our existing shareholders and we welcome our new investors in this placing, which provides the company with the financial flexibility to develop existing projects and pursue new projects of merit”, Mercator Gold MD Patrick Harford commented.The placing shares are expected to be admitted to AIM with effect from 19 March 2010. In its full-year results for the 12-months ended 30 September 2009, reported last week, Mercator reported revenues of £4.06m, against nil in the year to June 30th 2008. Pre-tax loss narrowed to £4.4m against £31.9m in the comparative period when Mercator booked a £30m impairment charge after it was forced to close down its Meekatharra gold mining operation due to spiralling costs.The company is currently diversifying its resource portfolio with potential uranium projects in the pipeline. Last week, Mercator said it is re-establishing itself with a range of assets beyond those that were envisaged at the time of the AIM flotation in October 2004. “In moving forward to a new future it is proposed by the board that the company be renamed Electrum Minerals PLC and a special resolution to this effect will be put to shareholders at the AGM."Earlier this month, Mercator announced it had entered into a binding agreements to acquire up to 70% in all of Uranio AG’s (XETRA: UAI) exploration and mining licences in Argentina. A four-month due diligence period is currently underway.
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Xstrata, ENRC, Prudential, Wolseley, BSkyB and Kazakhmys push FTSE 100 lower: Overview: The FTSE 100 was in decline today, shedding 0.45% to drop below 5,600 as commodities absorbed a heavy hit from declines in oil and metal prices, while today’s US data turned out to be slightly below expectations. The Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index measuring business conditions in New York State slid from 24.9 to 22.9 in March. The Federal Reserve said that industrial output growth slowed to 0.1% in February amid heavy snowstorms, compared to January’s 0.9% increase. Just five FTSE 100 constituents gained more than 1% today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was the top performer with a 1.8% gain, while energy company Centrica (LSE: CNA) followed with a 1.7% improvement. Pharmaceutical company Shire (LSE: SHP) added 1.3%, while insurers Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) were up 1.1%. Miners were the heaviest fallers among the blue chips, responding to lower metal prices. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) and Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) were at the bottom of the index with losses of over 2.5%. Other notable fallers included insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU), which declined 2.4%, plumbing and heating equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS), which slid 1.2% and broadcaster BSkyB (LSE: BSY), down 2.1%. US stocks opened lower today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.3%, while the boarder S&P 500 index declined 0.5% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite was down 0.7%. Commodities Oil retreated ahead of tomorrow’s OPEC (organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting, which is expected to produce a decision on production quotas for the current year. The oil cartel’s current targets stand at 4.2 mmboe (million barrels). The current supply levels are expected to remain the same amid a clouded outlook for the ongoing economic recovery. The oil minister of Iran, which usually champions lower supply levels to support crude prices at a high level, said that prices are likely to remain around US$80/barrel this year and his country was against production increases or any changes to the current targets. Last week, OPEC upped its demand forecast for the current year yesterday, projecting the global consumption to grow by an additional 0.9 mmbbls/d (million barrels per day) to 85.24 mmbbls/d provided that the ongoing economic recovery firms. IEA (International Energy Agency) also revised its oil consumption forecast for 2010 upwards by 1.6 mmbbls/d to 86.6 mmbbls/d this year. The IEA also upped its global demand estimate for 2009 to 85 mmbbls/d. May Brent Crude slipped to US$78.62/barrel, while US light, sweet crude declined to US$79.83/barrel. Blue chip oil and gas producers showed little movement today. Supermajors BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB) posted gains of less than 1%, while BG Group (LSE: BG), Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) and Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) declined marginally. Amec (LSE: AMEC) also posted a small gain, while fellow oil and gas engineering group Petrofac (LSE: PFC) lost 1.3%. Most midcaps declined. Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO), Premier Oil (LSE: PMO) and Soco International (LSE: SIA) were flat, while Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) and Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) lost less than 1%. Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR) and Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS) declined 1.6% and 2.4% respectively. JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) went against the tide, climbing 2.5%. Services companies Wood Group (LSE: WG) and Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) shed 1.1% and 2.6% respectively. Peru, Colombia and Cuba operating oil and gas explorer and producer Gold Oil (LSE: GOO) and US focused oil and gas junior Caza Oil & Gas (AIM: CAZA) moved with the sector, sliding 8% and 6.5% respectively. Iraq and Algeria operating Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) and energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR) were down 3.7%. North America focused oil & gas junior Pantheon Resources (AIM: PANR) and Europe focused oil and gas developer Ascent Resources (AIM: AST) did better, tacking on 5% and 4.5%. Gold retreats to $1,104, silver drops Gold retreated after making gains in the morning, settling at US$1,104/oz after almost reaching US$1,110/oz earlier in the day, facing pressure from speculation of the possible launch of a gold-backed European monetary fund. The yellow metal was subdued by rumours that EU states are looking to set up a European monetary fund, which would be backed by their gold reserves. Speculation of possible moves by the EU to confront its mounting debt problem have heated up amid the meeting of European finance ministers that has kicked off in Brussels today with debt issues in some of the euro zone countries, primarily Greece, being on top of the agenda. The uncertainly over Greece’s debt crisis has kept the euro under pressure for weeks, though worries eased two weeks ago when the debt laden country introduced a fresh package of economic austerity measures aimed at saving some €4.8 billion and conducted a successful bond issue to raise another €5 billion to meet its near term commitments. However, last week rating agency Fitch triggered another wave of jitters by promising to cut the current AA rating of another troubled euro zone country Portugal if its fiscal consolidation proceeds at a slow pace and proves insufficient. Portugal also conducted a bond issue, raising US$1.34 billion. A stronger US dollar weakens gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the American currency. News from China also weighed on commodities after the country reported that its inflation rate reached an annualised 2.7% in February despite the government’s measures to curb lending that were introduced in the previous month. China said that the rate was still within its 2010 target of 3%, though it was not enough to eliminate speculation of further monetary policy tightening in the country. Other precious metals headed in different directions as silver declined to US$17.04/oz, while platinum improved to US$1,613/oz. All major miners were in decline today. In the FTSE 100, platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI), silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) and gold miner Randogld Resources (LSE: RRS) lost 1.5%, 1.3% and 1.2% respectively. Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) declined marginally. Silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) was at the bottom of the pile in the FTSE 250 with a 2.7% decline. Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) was close, shedding 1.5%, while fellow midcap Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) was down 2%. Western Australia operating Norseman Gold (AIM: NGL) and Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS) performed well, tacking on 4.5% and 3% respectively. Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) headed in the opposite direction, slipping 18%, while Kazakhstan operating gold producer and copper developer Frontier Mining (AIM: FML) declined 4%. Miners tumble as metals fall Base metals fell sharply as copper and nickel dropped to US$3.32/lb and US$9.69/lb respectively, while zinc slipped to US$1.02/lb. Base metal miners fell, tracking lower metal prices. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) led the decline with a 3% loss. Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC), Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) followed, shedding 2.6%, 2.3% and 2.2% respectively. Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was down 1.4% and Anglo American (LSE: AAL), BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) all retreated 1.2%. Copper and nickel explorer Regency Mines (AIM: RGM) was the top performer among the juniors, rallying 24.5%. Tunisia focused metal miner Maghreb Minerals (AIM: MMS) added 6.7%, while Russia focused copper and nickel miner Amur Minerals (AIM: AMC), Indonesia operating coal miner Churchill Mining (AIM: CHL), Botswana operating nickel and copper miner Discovery Metals (AIM: DME) and mineral sands producer Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR) all tacked on more than 5%. Australia focused coking coal producer Caledon Resources (AIM: CDN) and laterite nickel specialist European Nickel (AIM: ENK) headed in the opposite direction, sliding 5% and 3.5% respectively. Banks, insurance, private equity Banking stocks were mixed today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was in the lead, climbing 1.5%. Fellow part-nationalised bank Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) was down 1.5%, while Barclays (LSE: BARC) slid 1% and HSBC (LSE: HSBA) declined marginally and Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) was flat. Insurance stocks also were mixed. Old Mutual (LSE: OML) was ahead with a 1.1% gain, while Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) tacked n less than 1%. Prudential (LSE: PRU) was at the bottom of the pile with a 3.2% slide, while Aviva (LSE: AV) declined 1%. Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) and RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) shed less than 1%. Private equity group 3i (SLE: III) held steady. Large and Mid Cap News Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl (LSE: BNZL) saidf that it has acquired Weita Holding AG and its subsidiaries from Christoph Huber. Financial details were not disclosed. Small Cap News Diamondcorp (AIM:DCP, JSE:DMC) that is has conditionally raised £7.1 million (£6.6 net) at 7 pence per share. Looking at the chart of Diamondcorp since listing (February 2007), it is pretty clear that this junior diamond company has had its fair share of difficulties. Perhaps more pertinent however is the fact that Diamondcorp is still listed, and is now in a position to issue more than 100 million shares – double the current number outstanding – to move its Lace Diamond Mine in South Africa closer to production. Granted the placing was completed at a 26% discount, and the dilution is eye watering for current shareholders, but it is no mean feat raising more than double the current market capitalisation of your company. It is also worth noting that approximately 70% of the new money was raised from current shareholders, reflecting a hefty amount of faith in the management to deliver. Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) has completed a fully subscribed placing of 20.9m new shares at a price of 76.5p per share, raising gross proceeds of approximately £16 million. The company said it intends to use the proceeds to fund its ongoing activities in Kurdistan, with a 2010 work campaign planned for the Shaikan and Sheikh Adi blocks. Aurelian Oil & Gas PLC (AIM: AUL) said it appointed John Conlin as a non-executive director and chairman-elect. It is intended that Conlin will become chairman at the company's annual general meeting, to be held in May, when David Prior will step down from the role while remaining as a non-executive director. Firestone Diamonds (AIM: FDI) said it intends to apply for a secondary listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), and has appointed Capital Securities of Botswana as its sponsoring broker for the proposed listing. The listing application is expected to be made shortly, and the company’s shares are expected to join the exchange in Q2 2010. Metals Exploration (AIM: MTL) has been awarded he Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the Runruno gold-molybdenum project on the island of Luzon in the northern Philippines following a positive evaluation of the project’s environmental impact statement by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB). Amphion Innovations (AIM: AMP) said its partner company Kromek has raised £12.3 million in the second close of the oversubscribed Series D financing, which has upped Amphion’s stake in the business that is now valued at £52 million to 17%. Seeing Machines (AIM: SEE) has been awarded its first contract under its major framework agreement with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) announced in February. Under the contract, Seeing Machines will supply its DSS driver monitoring equipment to Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Grasberg is the world’s largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine. Landore Resources (AIM: LND) said that an independent technical study at the Lamaune iron prospect at the Junior Lake property in Ontario has identified an exploration target of 545 Mt (million tonnes) at an average grade of 29% Fe (iron). In an update to investors, Stellar Diamonds (AIM: STEL) said it has moved quickly to restructure its operations and fast track production following the completion of its reverse takeover of West African Diamonds in February. The company said it is harnessing operational and corporate synergies resulting from the merger, and also noted that it has benefited from a strong recovery in the rough diamond market, as reflected in recent sale prices. Iron ore focused investor Red Rock Resources (AIM: RRR) said samples from a percussion drilling programme at its Migori gold project in Kenya are being prepped for ICP (inductively coupled plasma) analysis and gold and base metal assaying at the laboratory in Mwanza, while samples from reverse circulation (RC) drilling completed in late 2009 and early 2010 are being prepared for transportation to the laboratory to undergo an assay. The company has also received results from 2007 drilling at Migori. In a note to investors, London-based stockbroker Astaire Securities said that Ascent Resources’ (AIM: AST) diverse project portfolio enjoys access to established infrastructure and strong European gas pricing. The broker calculates Ascent’s total NAV of 14p per share, identifying considerable upside from the current market price of around 5.8p. Blackswan Equities retailed in 'buy' recommendation for Discovery Metals (AIM: DME, ASX: DML) and target price of A$0.90 per share after the Botswana operating nickel and copper miner last week reported on the results from 26 exploration drill holes at the Boseto mine, which Blackswan said demonstrated “significant potential to add existing resources and extend Boseto’s mine life". Specialty music business Fluid Music Canada (TSX: FMN) wants to list its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, expecting its shares to start trading in London on 14 April 2010. Syntopix (AIM: SYN) has proposed a placing of nearly 3 million shares to raise £2 million to undertake further human use studies with its lead compounds that are set to commence this year. Altona Energy (AIM: ANR) has appointed Peter Fagiano as senior executive in charge of project technology to join the Arckaringa Joint Venture (JV) management committee, which is responsible for the JV’s operations and decision making on all key matters.
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RBS, Centrica, Shire, Old Mutual and Admiral Group climb, but FTSE 100 falls as commodities decline: Overview: The FTSE 100 was in decline today, shedding 0.45% to drop below 5,600 as commodities absorbed a heavy hit from declines in oil and metal prices, while today’s US data turned out to be slightly below expectations. The Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index measuring business conditions in New York State slid from 24.9 to 22.9 in March. The Federal Reserve said that industrial output growth slowed to 0.1% in February amid heavy snowstorms, compared to January’s 0.9% increase. Just five FTSE 100 constituents gained more than 1% today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was the top performer with a 1.8% gain, while energy company Centrica (LSE: CNA) followed with a 1.7% improvement. Pharmaceutical company Shire (LSE: SHP) added 1.3%, while insurers Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) were up 1.1%. Miners were the heaviest fallers among the blue chips, responding to lower metal prices. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) and Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) were at the bottom of the index with losses of over 2.5%. Other notable fallers included insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU), which declined 2.4%, plumbing and heating equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS), which slid 1.2% and broadcaster BSkyB (LSE: BSY), down 2.1%. US stocks opened lower today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.3%, while the boarder S&P 500 index declined 0.5% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite was down 0.7%. Commodities Oil retreated ahead of tomorrow’s OPEC (organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting, which is expected to produce a decision on production quotas for the current year. The oil cartel’s current targets stand at 4.2 mmboe (million barrels). The current supply levels are expected to remain the same amid a clouded outlook for the ongoing economic recovery. The oil minister of Iran, which usually champions lower supply levels to support crude prices at a high level, said that prices are likely to remain around US$80/barrel this year and his country was against production increases or any changes to the current targets. Last week, OPEC upped its demand forecast for the current year yesterday, projecting the global consumption to grow by an additional 0.9 mmbbls/d (million barrels per day) to 85.24 mmbbls/d provided that the ongoing economic recovery firms. IEA (International Energy Agency) also revised its oil consumption forecast for 2010 upwards by 1.6 mmbbls/d to 86.6 mmbbls/d this year. The IEA also upped its global demand estimate for 2009 to 85 mmbbls/d. May Brent Crude slipped to US$78.62/barrel, while US light, sweet crude declined to US$79.83/barrel. Blue chip oil and gas producers showed little movement today. Supermajors BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB) posted gains of less than 1%, while BG Group (LSE: BG), Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) and Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) declined marginally. Amec (LSE: AMEC) also posted a small gain, while fellow oil and gas engineering group Petrofac (LSE: PFC) lost 1.3%. Most midcaps declined. Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO), Premier Oil (LSE: PMO) and Soco International (LSE: SIA) were flat, while Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) and Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) lost less than 1%. Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR) and Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS) declined 1.6% and 2.4% respectively. JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) went against the tide, climbing 2.5%. Services companies Wood Group (LSE: WG) and Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) shed 1.1% and 2.6% respectively. Peru, Colombia and Cuba operating oil and gas explorer and producer Gold Oil (LSE: GOO) and US focused oil and gas junior Caza Oil & Gas (AIM: CAZA) moved with the sector, sliding 8% and 6.5% respectively. Iraq and Algeria operating Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) and energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR) were down 3.7%. North America focused oil & gas junior Pantheon Resources (AIM: PANR) and Europe focused oil and gas developer Ascent Resources (AIM: AST) did better, tacking on 5% and 4.5%. Gold retreats to $1,104, silver drops Gold retreated after making gains in the morning, settling at US$1,104/oz after almost reaching US$1,110/oz earlier in the day, facing pressure from speculation of the possible launch of a gold-backed European monetary fund. The yellow metal was subdued by rumours that EU states are looking to set up a European monetary fund, which would be backed by their gold reserves. Speculation of possible moves by the EU to confront its mounting debt problem have heated up amid the meeting of European finance ministers that has kicked off in Brussels today with debt issues in some of the euro zone countries, primarily Greece, being on top of the agenda. The uncertainly over Greece’s debt crisis has kept the euro under pressure for weeks, though worries eased two weeks ago when the debt laden country introduced a fresh package of economic austerity measures aimed at saving some €4.8 billion and conducted a successful bond issue to raise another €5 billion to meet its near term commitments. However, last week rating agency Fitch triggered another wave of jitters by promising to cut the current AA rating of another troubled euro zone country Portugal if its fiscal consolidation proceeds at a slow pace and proves insufficient. Portugal also conducted a bond issue, raising US$1.34 billion. A stronger US dollar weakens gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the American currency. News from China also weighed on commodities after the country reported that its inflation rate reached an annualised 2.7% in February despite the government’s measures to curb lending that were introduced in the previous month. China said that the rate was still within its 2010 target of 3%, though it was not enough to eliminate speculation of further monetary policy tightening in the country. Other precious metals headed in different directions as silver declined to US$17.04/oz, while platinum improved to US$1,613/oz. All major miners were in decline today. In the FTSE 100, platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI), silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) and gold miner Randogld Resources (LSE: RRS) lost 1.5%, 1.3% and 1.2% respectively. Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) declined marginally. Silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) was at the bottom of the pile in the FTSE 250 with a 2.7% decline. Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) was close, shedding 1.5%, while fellow midcap Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) was down 2%. Western Australia operating Norseman Gold (AIM: NGL) and Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS) performed well, tacking on 4.5% and 3% respectively. Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) headed in the opposite direction, slipping 18%, while Kazakhstan operating gold producer and copper developer Frontier Mining (AIM: FML) declined 4%. Miners tumble as metals fall Base metals fell sharply as copper and nickel dropped to US$3.32/lb and US$9.69/lb respectively, while zinc slipped to US$1.02/lb. Base metal miners fell, tracking lower metal prices. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) led the decline with a 3% loss. Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC), Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) followed, shedding 2.6%, 2.3% and 2.2% respectively. Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was down 1.4% and Anglo American (LSE: AAL), BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) all retreated 1.2%. Copper and nickel explorer Regency Mines (AIM: RGM) was the top performer among the juniors, rallying 24.5%. Tunisia focused metal miner Maghreb Minerals (AIM: MMS) added 6.7%, while Russia focused copper and nickel miner Amur Minerals (AIM: AMC), Indonesia operating coal miner Churchill Mining (AIM: CHL), Botswana operating nickel and copper miner Discovery Metals (AIM: DME) and mineral sands producer Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR) all tacked on more than 5%. Australia focused coking coal producer Caledon Resources (AIM: CDN) and laterite nickel specialist European Nickel (AIM: ENK) headed in the opposite direction, sliding 5% and 3.5% respectively. Banks, insurance, private equity Banking stocks were mixed today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was in the lead, climbing 1.5%. Fellow part-nationalised bank Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) was down 1.5%, while Barclays (LSE: BARC) slid 1% and HSBC (LSE: HSBA) declined marginally and Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) was flat. Insurance stocks also were mixed. Old Mutual (LSE: OML) was ahead with a 1.1% gain, while Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) tacked n less than 1%. Prudential (LSE: PRU) was at the bottom of the pile with a 3.2% slide, while Aviva (LSE: AV) declined 1%. Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) and RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) shed less than 1%. Private equity group 3i (SLE: III) held steady. Large and Mid Cap News Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl (LSE: BNZL) saidf that it has acquired Weita Holding AG and its subsidiaries from Christoph Huber. Financial details were not disclosed. Small Cap News Diamondcorp (AIM:DCP, JSE:DMC) that is has conditionally raised £7.1 million (£6.6 net) at 7 pence per share. Looking at the chart of Diamondcorp since listing (February 2007), it is pretty clear that this junior diamond company has had its fair share of difficulties. Perhaps more pertinent however is the fact that Diamondcorp is still listed, and is now in a position to issue more than 100 million shares – double the current number outstanding – to move its Lace Diamond Mine in South Africa closer to production. Granted the placing was completed at a 26% discount, and the dilution is eye watering for current shareholders, but it is no mean feat raising more than double the current market capitalisation of your company. It is also worth noting that approximately 70% of the new money was raised from current shareholders, reflecting a hefty amount of faith in the management to deliver. Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) has completed a fully subscribed placing of 20.9m new shares at a price of 76.5p per share, raising gross proceeds of approximately £16 million. The company said it intends to use the proceeds to fund its ongoing activities in Kurdistan, with a 2010 work campaign planned for the Shaikan and Sheikh Adi blocks. Aurelian Oil & Gas PLC (AIM: AUL) said it appointed John Conlin as a non-executive director and chairman-elect. It is intended that Conlin will become chairman at the company's annual general meeting, to be held in May, when David Prior will step down from the role while remaining as a non-executive director. Firestone Diamonds (AIM: FDI) said it intends to apply for a secondary listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), and has appointed Capital Securities of Botswana as its sponsoring broker for the proposed listing. The listing application is expected to be made shortly, and the company’s shares are expected to join the exchange in Q2 2010. Metals Exploration (AIM: MTL) has been awarded he Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the Runruno gold-molybdenum project on the island of Luzon in the northern Philippines following a positive evaluation of the project’s environmental impact statement by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB). Amphion Innovations (AIM: AMP) said its partner company Kromek has raised £12.3 million in the second close of the oversubscribed Series D financing, which has upped Amphion’s stake in the business that is now valued at £52 million to 17%. Seeing Machines (AIM: SEE) has been awarded its first contract under its major framework agreement with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) announced in February. Under the contract, Seeing Machines will supply its DSS driver monitoring equipment to Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Grasberg is the world’s largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine. Landore Resources (AIM: LND) said that an independent technical study at the Lamaune iron prospect at the Junior Lake property in Ontario has identified an exploration target of 545 Mt (million tonnes) at an average grade of 29% Fe (iron). In an update to investors, Stellar Diamonds (AIM: STEL) said it has moved quickly to restructure its operations and fast track production following the completion of its reverse takeover of West African Diamonds in February. The company said it is harnessing operational and corporate synergies resulting from the merger, and also noted that it has benefited from a strong recovery in the rough diamond market, as reflected in recent sale prices. Iron ore focused investor Red Rock Resources (AIM: RRR) said samples from a percussion drilling programme at its Migori gold project in Kenya are being prepped for ICP (inductively coupled plasma) analysis and gold and base metal assaying at the laboratory in Mwanza, while samples from reverse circulation (RC) drilling completed in late 2009 and early 2010 are being prepared for transportation to the laboratory to undergo an assay. The company has also received results from 2007 drilling at Migori. In a note to investors, London-based stockbroker Astaire Securities said that Ascent Resources’ (AIM: AST) diverse project portfolio enjoys access to established infrastructure and strong European gas pricing. The broker calculates Ascent’s total NAV of 14p per share, identifying considerable upside from the current market price of around 5.8p. Blackswan Equities retailed in 'buy' recommendation for Discovery Metals (AIM: DME, ASX: DML) and target price of A$0.90 per share after the Botswana operating nickel and copper miner last week reported on the results from 26 exploration drill holes at the Boseto mine, which Blackswan said demonstrated “significant potential to add existing resources and extend Boseto’s mine life". Specialty music business Fluid Music Canada (TSX: FMN) wants to list its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, expecting its shares to start trading in London on 14 April 2010. Syntopix (AIM: SYN) has proposed a placing of nearly 3 million shares to raise £2 million to undertake further human use studies with its lead compounds that are set to commence this year. Altona Energy (AIM: ANR) has appointed Peter Fagiano as senior executive in charge of project technology to join the Arckaringa Joint Venture (JV) management committee, which is responsible for the JV’s operations and decision making on all key matters.
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al/ f/AQ
FTSE 100 turns negative as Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ fall: Overview: The FTSE 100 was in decline today, shedding 0.45% to drop below 5,600 as commodities absorbed a heavy hit from declines in oil and metal prices, while today’s US data turned out to be slightly below expectations. The Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index measuring business conditions in New York State slid from 24.9 to 22.9 in March. The Federal Reserve said that industrial output growth slowed to 0.1% in February amid heavy snowstorms, compared to January’s 0.9% increase. Just five FTSE 100 constituents gained more than 1% today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was the top performer with a 1.8% gain, while energy company Centrica (LSE: CNA) followed with a 1.7% improvement. Pharmaceutical company Shire (LSE: SHP) added 1.3%, while insurers Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) were up 1.1%. Miners were the heaviest fallers among the blue chips, responding to lower metal prices. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) and Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) were at the bottom of the index with losses of over 2.5%. Other notable fallers included insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU), which declined 2.4%, plumbing and heating equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS), which slid 1.2% and broadcaster BSkyB (LSE: BSY), down 2.1%. US stocks opened lower today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.3%, while the boarder S&P 500 index declined 0.5% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite was down 0.7%. Commodities Oil retreated ahead of tomorrow’s OPEC (organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting, which is expected to produce a decision on production quotas for the current year. The oil cartel’s current targets stand at 4.2 mmboe (million barrels). The current supply levels are expected to remain the same amid a clouded outlook for the ongoing economic recovery. The oil minister of Iran, which usually champions lower supply levels to support crude prices at a high level, said that prices are likely to remain around US$80/barrel this year and his country was against production increases or any changes to the current targets. Last week, OPEC upped its demand forecast for the current year yesterday, projecting the global consumption to grow by an additional 0.9 mmbbls/d (million barrels per day) to 85.24 mmbbls/d provided that the ongoing economic recovery firms. IEA (International Energy Agency) also revised its oil consumption forecast for 2010 upwards by 1.6 mmbbls/d to 86.6 mmbbls/d this year. The IEA also upped its global demand estimate for 2009 to 85 mmbbls/d. May Brent Crude slipped to US$78.62/barrel, while US light, sweet crude declined to US$79.83/barrel. Blue chip oil and gas producers showed little movement today. Supermajors BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB) posted gains of less than 1%, while BG Group (LSE: BG), Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) and Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) declined marginally. Amec (LSE: AMEC) also posted a small gain, while fellow oil and gas engineering group Petrofac (LSE: PFC) lost 1.3%. Most midcaps declined. Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO), Premier Oil (LSE: PMO) and Soco International (LSE: SIA) were flat, while Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) and Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) lost less than 1%. Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR) and Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS) declined 1.6% and 2.4% respectively. JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) went against the tide, climbing 2.5%. Services companies Wood Group (LSE: WG) and Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) shed 1.1% and 2.6% respectively. Peru, Colombia and Cuba operating oil and gas explorer and producer Gold Oil (LSE: GOO) and US focused oil and gas junior Caza Oil & Gas (AIM: CAZA) moved with the sector, sliding 8% and 6.5% respectively. Iraq and Algeria operating Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) and energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR) were down 3.7%. North America focused oil & gas junior Pantheon Resources (AIM: PANR) and Europe focused oil and gas developer Ascent Resources (AIM: AST) did better, tacking on 5% and 4.5%. Gold retreats to $1,104, silver drops Gold retreated after making gains in the morning, settling at US$1,104/oz after almost reaching US$1,110/oz earlier in the day, facing pressure from speculation of the possible launch of a gold-backed European monetary fund. The yellow metal was subdued by rumours that EU states are looking to set up a European monetary fund, which would be backed by their gold reserves. Speculation of possible moves by the EU to confront its mounting debt problem have heated up amid the meeting of European finance ministers that has kicked off in Brussels today with debt issues in some of the euro zone countries, primarily Greece, being on top of the agenda. The uncertainly over Greece’s debt crisis has kept the euro under pressure for weeks, though worries eased two weeks ago when the debt laden country introduced a fresh package of economic austerity measures aimed at saving some €4.8 billion and conducted a successful bond issue to raise another €5 billion to meet its near term commitments. However, last week rating agency Fitch triggered another wave of jitters by promising to cut the current AA rating of another troubled euro zone country Portugal if its fiscal consolidation proceeds at a slow pace and proves insufficient. Portugal also conducted a bond issue, raising US$1.34 billion. A stronger US dollar weakens gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the American currency. News from China also weighed on commodities after the country reported that its inflation rate reached an annualised 2.7% in February despite the government’s measures to curb lending that were introduced in the previous month. China said that the rate was still within its 2010 target of 3%, though it was not enough to eliminate speculation of further monetary policy tightening in the country. Other precious metals headed in different directions as silver declined to US$17.04/oz, while platinum improved to US$1,613/oz. All major miners were in decline today. In the FTSE 100, platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI), silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) and gold miner Randogld Resources (LSE: RRS) lost 1.5%, 1.3% and 1.2% respectively. Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) declined marginally. Silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) was at the bottom of the pile in the FTSE 250 with a 2.7% decline. Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) was close, shedding 1.5%, while fellow midcap Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) was down 2%. Western Australia operating Norseman Gold (AIM: NGL) and Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS) performed well, tacking on 4.5% and 3% respectively. Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) headed in the opposite direction, slipping 18%, while Kazakhstan operating gold producer and copper developer Frontier Mining (AIM: FML) declined 4%. Miners tumble as metals fall Base metals fell sharply as copper and nickel dropped to US$3.32/lb and US$9.69/lb respectively, while zinc slipped to US$1.02/lb. Base metal miners fell, tracking lower metal prices. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) led the decline with a 3% loss. Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC), Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) followed, shedding 2.6%, 2.3% and 2.2% respectively. Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was down 1.4% and Anglo American (LSE: AAL), BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) all retreated 1.2%. Copper and nickel explorer Regency Mines (AIM: RGM) was the top performer among the juniors, rallying 24.5%. Tunisia focused metal miner Maghreb Minerals (AIM: MMS) added 6.7%, while Russia focused copper and nickel miner Amur Minerals (AIM: AMC), Indonesia operating coal miner Churchill Mining (AIM: CHL), Botswana operating nickel and copper miner Discovery Metals (AIM: DME) and mineral sands producer Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR) all tacked on more than 5%. Australia focused coking coal producer Caledon Resources (AIM: CDN) and laterite nickel specialist European Nickel (AIM: ENK) headed in the opposite direction, sliding 5% and 3.5% respectively. Banks, insurance, private equity Banking stocks were mixed today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was in the lead, climbing 1.5%. Fellow part-nationalised bank Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) was down 1.5%, while Barclays (LSE: BARC) slid 1% and HSBC (LSE: HSBA) declined marginally and Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) was flat. Insurance stocks also were mixed. Old Mutual (LSE: OML) was ahead with a 1.1% gain, while Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) tacked n less than 1%. Prudential (LSE: PRU) was at the bottom of the pile with a 3.2% slide, while Aviva (LSE: AV) declined 1%. Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) and RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) shed less than 1%. Private equity group 3i (SLE: III) held steady. Large and Mid Cap News Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl (LSE: BNZL) saidf that it has acquired Weita Holding AG and its subsidiaries from Christoph Huber. Financial details were not disclosed. Small Cap News Diamondcorp (AIM:DCP, JSE:DMC) that is has conditionally raised £7.1 million (£6.6 net) at 7 pence per share. Looking at the chart of Diamondcorp since listing (February 2007), it is pretty clear that this junior diamond company has had its fair share of difficulties. Perhaps more pertinent however is the fact that Diamondcorp is still listed, and is now in a position to issue more than 100 million shares – double the current number outstanding – to move its Lace Diamond Mine in South Africa closer to production. Granted the placing was completed at a 26% discount, and the dilution is eye watering for current shareholders, but it is no mean feat raising more than double the current market capitalisation of your company. It is also worth noting that approximately 70% of the new money was raised from current shareholders, reflecting a hefty amount of faith in the management to deliver. Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) has completed a fully subscribed placing of 20.9m new shares at a price of 76.5p per share, raising gross proceeds of approximately £16 million. The company said it intends to use the proceeds to fund its ongoing activities in Kurdistan, with a 2010 work campaign planned for the Shaikan and Sheikh Adi blocks. Aurelian Oil & Gas PLC (AIM: AUL) said it appointed John Conlin as a non-executive director and chairman-elect. It is intended that Conlin will become chairman at the company's annual general meeting, to be held in May, when David Prior will step down from the role while remaining as a non-executive director. Firestone Diamonds (AIM: FDI) said it intends to apply for a secondary listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), and has appointed Capital Securities of Botswana as its sponsoring broker for the proposed listing. The listing application is expected to be made shortly, and the company’s shares are expected to join the exchange in Q2 2010. Metals Exploration (AIM: MTL) has been awarded he Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the Runruno gold-molybdenum project on the island of Luzon in the northern Philippines following a positive evaluation of the project’s environmental impact statement by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB). Amphion Innovations (AIM: AMP) said its partner company Kromek has raised £12.3 million in the second close of the oversubscribed Series D financing, which has upped Amphion’s stake in the business that is now valued at £52 million to 17%. Seeing Machines (AIM: SEE) has been awarded its first contract under its major framework agreement with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) announced in February. Under the contract, Seeing Machines will supply its DSS driver monitoring equipment to Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Grasberg is the world’s largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine. Landore Resources (AIM: LND) said that an independent technical study at the Lamaune iron prospect at the Junior Lake property in Ontario has identified an exploration target of 545 Mt (million tonnes) at an average grade of 29% Fe (iron). In an update to investors, Stellar Diamonds (AIM: STEL) said it has moved quickly to restructure its operations and fast track production following the completion of its reverse takeover of West African Diamonds in February. The company said it is harnessing operational and corporate synergies resulting from the merger, and also noted that it has benefited from a strong recovery in the rough diamond market, as reflected in recent sale prices. Iron ore focused investor Red Rock Resources (AIM: RRR) said samples from a percussion drilling programme at its Migori gold project in Kenya are being prepped for ICP (inductively coupled plasma) analysis and gold and base metal assaying at the laboratory in Mwanza, while samples from reverse circulation (RC) drilling completed in late 2009 and early 2010 are being prepared for transportation to the laboratory to undergo an assay. The company has also received results from 2007 drilling at Migori. In a note to investors, London-based stockbroker Astaire Securities said that Ascent Resources’ (AIM: AST) diverse project portfolio enjoys access to established infrastructure and strong European gas pricing. The broker calculates Ascent’s total NAV of 14p per share, identifying considerable upside from the current market price of around 5.8p. Blackswan Equities retailed in 'buy' recommendation for Discovery Metals (AIM: DME, ASX: DML) and target price of A$0.90 per share after the Botswana operating nickel and copper miner last week reported on the results from 26 exploration drill holes at the Boseto mine, which Blackswan said demonstrated “significant potential to add existing resources and extend Boseto’s mine life". Specialty music business Fluid Music Canada (TSX: FMN) wants to list its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, expecting its shares to start trading in London on 14 April 2010. Syntopix (AIM: SYN) has proposed a placing of nearly 3 million shares to raise £2 million to undertake further human use studies with its lead compounds that are set to commence this year. Altona Energy (AIM: ANR) has appointed Peter Fagiano as senior executive in charge of project technology to join the Arckaringa Joint Venture (JV) management committee, which is responsible for the JV’s operations and decision making on all key matters.
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at/ d/ut
FTSE 100 falls on weak US manufacturing and industrial output data: Overview: The FTSE 100 was in decline today, shedding 0.45% to drop below 5,600 as commodities absorbed a heavy hit from declines in oil and metal prices, while today’s US data turned out to be slightly below expectations. The Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index measuring business conditions in New York State slid from 24.9 to 22.9 in March. The Federal Reserve said that industrial output growth slowed to 0.1% in February amid heavy snowstorms, compared to January’s 0.9% increase. Just five FTSE 100 constituents gained more than 1% today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was the top performer with a 1.8% gain, while energy company Centrica (LSE: CNA) followed with a 1.7% improvement. Pharmaceutical company Shire (LSE: SHP) added 1.3%, while insurers Old Mutual (LSE: OML) and Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) were up 1.1%. Miners were the heaviest fallers among the blue chips, responding to lower metal prices. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) and Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) were at the bottom of the index with losses of over 2.5%. Other notable fallers included insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU), which declined 2.4%, plumbing and heating equipment manufacturer Wolseley (LSE: WOS), which slid 1.2% and broadcaster BSkyB (LSE: BSY), down 2.1%. US stocks opened lower today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.3%, while the boarder S&P 500 index declined 0.5% and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite was down 0.7%. Commodities Oil retreated ahead of tomorrow’s OPEC (organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting, which is expected to produce a decision on production quotas for the current year. The oil cartel’s current targets stand at 4.2 mmboe (million barrels). The current supply levels are expected to remain the same amid a clouded outlook for the ongoing economic recovery. The oil minister of Iran, which usually champions lower supply levels to support crude prices at a high level, said that prices are likely to remain around US$80/barrel this year and his country was against production increases or any changes to the current targets. Last week, OPEC upped its demand forecast for the current year yesterday, projecting the global consumption to grow by an additional 0.9 mmbbls/d (million barrels per day) to 85.24 mmbbls/d provided that the ongoing economic recovery firms. IEA (International Energy Agency) also revised its oil consumption forecast for 2010 upwards by 1.6 mmbbls/d to 86.6 mmbbls/d this year. The IEA also upped its global demand estimate for 2009 to 85 mmbbls/d. May Brent Crude slipped to US$78.62/barrel, while US light, sweet crude declined to US$79.83/barrel. Blue chip oil and gas producers showed little movement today. Supermajors BP (LSE: BP) and Shell (LSE: RDSB) posted gains of less than 1%, while BG Group (LSE: BG), Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) and Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) declined marginally. Amec (LSE: AMEC) also posted a small gain, while fellow oil and gas engineering group Petrofac (LSE: PFC) lost 1.3%. Most midcaps declined. Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO), Premier Oil (LSE: PMO) and Soco International (LSE: SIA) were flat, while Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) and Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) lost less than 1%. Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR) and Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS) declined 1.6% and 2.4% respectively. JKX Oil & Gas (LSE: JKX) went against the tide, climbing 2.5%. Services companies Wood Group (LSE: WG) and Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) shed 1.1% and 2.6% respectively. Peru, Colombia and Cuba operating oil and gas explorer and producer Gold Oil (LSE: GOO) and US focused oil and gas junior Caza Oil & Gas (AIM: CAZA) moved with the sector, sliding 8% and 6.5% respectively. Iraq and Algeria operating Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) and energy investor Xtract Energy PLC (AIM: XTR) were down 3.7%. North America focused oil & gas junior Pantheon Resources (AIM: PANR) and Europe focused oil and gas developer Ascent Resources (AIM: AST) did better, tacking on 5% and 4.5%. Gold retreats to $1,104, silver drops Gold retreated after making gains in the morning, settling at US$1,104/oz after almost reaching US$1,110/oz earlier in the day, facing pressure from speculation of the possible launch of a gold-backed European monetary fund. The yellow metal was subdued by rumours that EU states are looking to set up a European monetary fund, which would be backed by their gold reserves. Speculation of possible moves by the EU to confront its mounting debt problem have heated up amid the meeting of European finance ministers that has kicked off in Brussels today with debt issues in some of the euro zone countries, primarily Greece, being on top of the agenda. The uncertainly over Greece’s debt crisis has kept the euro under pressure for weeks, though worries eased two weeks ago when the debt laden country introduced a fresh package of economic austerity measures aimed at saving some €4.8 billion and conducted a successful bond issue to raise another €5 billion to meet its near term commitments. However, last week rating agency Fitch triggered another wave of jitters by promising to cut the current AA rating of another troubled euro zone country Portugal if its fiscal consolidation proceeds at a slow pace and proves insufficient. Portugal also conducted a bond issue, raising US$1.34 billion. A stronger US dollar weakens gold, which is seen as a riskier alternative and usually moves inversely to the American currency. News from China also weighed on commodities after the country reported that its inflation rate reached an annualised 2.7% in February despite the government’s measures to curb lending that were introduced in the previous month. China said that the rate was still within its 2010 target of 3%, though it was not enough to eliminate speculation of further monetary policy tightening in the country. Other precious metals headed in different directions as silver declined to US$17.04/oz, while platinum improved to US$1,613/oz. All major miners were in decline today. In the FTSE 100, platinum producer Lonmin (LSE: LMI), silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) and gold miner Randogld Resources (LSE: RRS) lost 1.5%, 1.3% and 1.2% respectively. Specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) declined marginally. Silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) was at the bottom of the pile in the FTSE 250 with a 2.7% decline. Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) was close, shedding 1.5%, while fellow midcap Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) was down 2%. Western Australia operating Norseman Gold (AIM: NGL) and Uzbekistan focused gold miner Oxus Gold (AIM: OXS) performed well, tacking on 4.5% and 3% respectively. Commodity asset development company Mercator Gold (AIM: MCR) headed in the opposite direction, slipping 18%, while Kazakhstan operating gold producer and copper developer Frontier Mining (AIM: FML) declined 4%. Miners tumble as metals fall Base metals fell sharply as copper and nickel dropped to US$3.32/lb and US$9.69/lb respectively, while zinc slipped to US$1.02/lb. Base metal miners fell, tracking lower metal prices. Xstrata (LSE: XTA) led the decline with a 3% loss. Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC), Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) followed, shedding 2.6%, 2.3% and 2.2% respectively. Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was down 1.4% and Anglo American (LSE: AAL), BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT) and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) all retreated 1.2%. Copper and nickel explorer Regency Mines (AIM: RGM) was the top performer among the juniors, rallying 24.5%. Tunisia focused metal miner Maghreb Minerals (AIM: MMS) added 6.7%, while Russia focused copper and nickel miner Amur Minerals (AIM: AMC), Indonesia operating coal miner Churchill Mining (AIM: CHL), Botswana operating nickel and copper miner Discovery Metals (AIM: DME) and mineral sands producer Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR) all tacked on more than 5%. Australia focused coking coal producer Caledon Resources (AIM: CDN) and laterite nickel specialist European Nickel (AIM: ENK) headed in the opposite direction, sliding 5% and 3.5% respectively. Banks, insurance, private equity Banking stocks were mixed today. Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) was in the lead, climbing 1.5%. Fellow part-nationalised bank Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) was down 1.5%, while Barclays (LSE: BARC) slid 1% and HSBC (LSE: HSBA) declined marginally and Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) was flat. Insurance stocks also were mixed. Old Mutual (LSE: OML) was ahead with a 1.1% gain, while Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) tacked n less than 1%. Prudential (LSE: PRU) was at the bottom of the pile with a 3.2% slide, while Aviva (LSE: AV) declined 1%. Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) and RSA Insurance Group (LSE: RSA) shed less than 1%. Private equity group 3i (SLE: III) held steady. Large and Mid Cap News Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl (LSE: BNZL) saidf that it has acquired Weita Holding AG and its subsidiaries from Christoph Huber. Financial details were not disclosed. Small Cap News Diamondcorp (AIM:DCP, JSE:DMC) that is has conditionally raised £7.1 million (£6.6 net) at 7 pence per share. Looking at the chart of Diamondcorp since listing (February 2007), it is pretty clear that this junior diamond company has had its fair share of difficulties. Perhaps more pertinent however is the fact that Diamondcorp is still listed, and is now in a position to issue more than 100 million shares – double the current number outstanding – to move its Lace Diamond Mine in South Africa closer to production. Granted the placing was completed at a 26% discount, and the dilution is eye watering for current shareholders, but it is no mean feat raising more than double the current market capitalisation of your company. It is also worth noting that approximately 70% of the new money was raised from current shareholders, reflecting a hefty amount of faith in the management to deliver. Gulf Keystone Petroleum (AIM: GKP) has completed a fully subscribed placing of 20.9m new shares at a price of 76.5p per share, raising gross proceeds of approximately £16 million. The company said it intends to use the proceeds to fund its ongoing activities in Kurdistan, with a 2010 work campaign planned for the Shaikan and Sheikh Adi blocks. Aurelian Oil & Gas PLC (AIM: AUL) said it appointed John Conlin as a non-executive director and chairman-elect. It is intended that Conlin will become chairman at the company's annual general meeting, to be held in May, when David Prior will step down from the role while remaining as a non-executive director. Firestone Diamonds (AIM: FDI) said it intends to apply for a secondary listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), and has appointed Capital Securities of Botswana as its sponsoring broker for the proposed listing. The listing application is expected to be made shortly, and the company’s shares are expected to join the exchange in Q2 2010. Metals Exploration (AIM: MTL) has been awarded he Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the Runruno gold-molybdenum project on the island of Luzon in the northern Philippines following a positive evaluation of the project’s environmental impact statement by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB). Amphion Innovations (AIM: AMP) said its partner company Kromek has raised £12.3 million in the second close of the oversubscribed Series D financing, which has upped Amphion’s stake in the business that is now valued at £52 million to 17%. Seeing Machines (AIM: SEE) has been awarded its first contract under its major framework agreement with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) announced in February. Under the contract, Seeing Machines will supply its DSS driver monitoring equipment to Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Grasberg is the world’s largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine. Landore Resources (AIM: LND) said that an independent technical study at the Lamaune iron prospect at the Junior Lake property in Ontario has identified an exploration target of 545 Mt (million tonnes) at an average grade of 29% Fe (iron). In an update to investors, Stellar Diamonds (AIM: STEL) said it has moved quickly to restructure its operations and fast track production following the completion of its reverse takeover of West African Diamonds in February. The company said it is harnessing operational and corporate synergies resulting from the merger, and also noted that it has benefited from a strong recovery in the rough diamond market, as reflected in recent sale prices. Iron ore focused investor Red Rock Resources (AIM: RRR) said samples from a percussion drilling programme at its Migori gold project in Kenya are being prepped for ICP (inductively coupled plasma) analysis and gold and base metal assaying at the laboratory in Mwanza, while samples from reverse circulation (RC) drilling completed in late 2009 and early 2010 are being prepared for transportation to the laboratory to undergo an assay. The company has also received results from 2007 drilling at Migori. In a note to investors, London-based stockbroker Astaire Securities said that Ascent Resources’ (AIM: AST) diverse project portfolio enjoys access to established infrastructure and strong European gas pricing. The broker calculates Ascent’s total NAV of 14p per share, identifying considerable upside from the current market price of around 5.8p. Blackswan Equities retailed in 'buy' recommendation for Discovery Metals (AIM: DME, ASX: DML) and target price of A$0.90 per share after the Botswana operating nickel and copper miner last week reported on the results from 26 exploration drill holes at the Boseto mine, which Blackswan said demonstrated “significant potential to add existing resources and extend Boseto’s mine life". Specialty music business Fluid Music Canada (TSX: FMN) wants to list its shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, expecting its shares to start trading in London on 14 April 2010. Syntopix (AIM: SYN) has proposed a placing of nearly 3 million shares to raise £2 million to undertake further human use studies with its lead compounds that are set to commence this year. Altona Energy (AIM: ANR) has appointed Peter Fagiano as senior executive in charge of project technology to join the Arckaringa Joint Venture (JV) management committee, which is responsible for the JV’s operations and decision making on all key matters.
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Proactive Investors United Kingdom
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