Cost of sales per ounce of gold sold is now expected to be around US$385, compared to previous guidance of $460 to $480.  During the 12 month period ended 31 December 2009, Allied Nevada Gold mined 24.5 million tonnes of material and placed approximately 214,000 ounces of gold and 2.16 million ounces of silver on its leach pad, which also ahead of expectations thanks to higher than budgeted grades.

It was not all positive news from the junior gold producer however; in 2009 the company sold 42,358 ounces of gold, of which 14,395 ounces were sold in the fourth quarter – this was below expectations, though Allied Nevada said it had no resolved a number of challenges related to its leach pad performance.  Post year end, the company produced 8,200 ounces of gold and 17,000 ounces of silver in January, suggesting the mine was now on the path to targeted production rates.

“Current production from the new areas of pad under leach is performing as expected with recoveries and gold release within planned levels,” the company stated. “Management believes past commissioning challenges have been resolved and we are on track to meet our 2010 gold sales guidance of 100,000 ounces.”

The Hycroft Mine currently hosts a measured and indicated resource of 5.9 million ounces of gold and 117.5 million ounces of silver. An updated reserve statement is expected in the second quarter of 2010.

"With the planned crusher expansion, analysis of an optimal mining rate for oxide material, the anticipated resource update in Q2 and ongoing drilling, we believe 2010 will be an exciting and productive year," comments Scott Caldwell, President & CEO. "While we did run into some operational challenges in our start-up year, our performance in December 2009 and January 2010 indicates that these issues have been resolved. The mine is operating at planned production rates and we are on track to meet targeted production levels for 2010. Looking forward, we are shifting our focus to near and long-term expansion opportunities such as an accelerated oxide mining rate, sulphide resource development and follow-up drilling on the newly discovered silver high-grade zones."

Phase 1.5 is designed to lift capacity by approximately 27.5% to 32,000 tons per day by adding a second SAG mill plus related conveyor and pumping systems.  “The installation of the second SAG mill was completed late January and currently motor run-ins and belt aligning work are underway,” Mercator Minerals confirmed this morning in a statement to the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Commission is expected to take a few weeks, with the new 32,000 tons per day capacity ready in March.
Mercator also confirmed that Phase 2 is continuing on schedule.  Phase 2 includes the installation of ball mills, which is due for completion “around the end of the year”.

"Even though the mill commenced operations in April, Mineral Park produced more than 31 million pounds of copper, 1.9 million pounds of [molybdenum] and 200,000 oz. of silver. With the increased production from phase 1.5, we look forward to another record year and continued growth from Phase 2 and the El Pilar project,” said Mike Surratt, President and CEO of Mercator Minerals.

The copper-molybdenum-silver producer also confirmed that it had entered into a new off-take agreement with commodity trading group, Trafigura for 50,000 tons of copper concentrate to be delivered to domestic smelters in 2010. "This is a considerably better contract for us with the domestic shipping," noted Surratt.

After being written off by many mining pundits at the end of 2008 due to a fourth-quarter US$607 million loss as well as $10 billion in debt after the takeover of Fording Canadian Coal Trust, Teck Resources roared back with its second highest net earnings ever, $1.8 billion or $3.42 per share for full-year 2009.

In a statement, Teck CEO Don Lindsay said the revenues "reflected strong performance across the company, including record production of copper at Quebrada Blanca and zinc at both Red Dog and Antamina."

"Including the application of the proceeds from the sale of an interest in the Waneta Dam of $825 million, we will have reduced our total debt by approximately $6.7 billion since we acquired the Fording coal assets in October 2008," he added.

Teck expects its coal production to increase to a range between 23.5 million to 25 million tonnes this year compared to 18.93 million tonnes in 2009. The company said it is "actively planning for further production increases in 2011 and 2012."

The company also reported producing 7.8 million pounds of molybdenum last year, up from 7.2 million pounds in 2009, as well as 308,000 tonnes of copper, down from 316,000 tonnes in 2008.

During 2010 Teck plans to mine 340,000 tonnes of copper and 940,000 tonnes of zinc.

The Quebrada Blanca joint venture in Northern Chile--of which Teck owns 76.5% along with Inversiones Mineras S.A., a Chilean private company,13.5% and Empresa Nacional de Minera, a Chilean government entity, 10%--achieved a record production of 87,400 tonnes of copper cathode in 2009.

The Antamina mine in the Andes of Peru set a record for zinc production of 456,300 tonnes last year.  Teck owns 22.5% interest in Antamina, along with BHP Billiton (33.75%), Xstrata (33.75%), and Mitsubishi (10%).

Meanwhile, Teck's wholly owned Red Dog mine in Alaska set a new record for contained metal production last year as a result of a number of performance initiatives. Red Dog shipped 1.02 million tonnes of zinc concentrate and 220,000 tonnes of lead concentrate during the 2009 shipping season, compared to 920,000 tonnes of zinc and 247,000 tonnes of leading concentrates for the 2008 shipping season.

Teck plans $1.05 billion in capital expenditures this year including $675 million on development projects and $375 million on sustaining capital expenditures.  The company said the Galore Creek project joint venture with NovaGold "will remain on care and maintenance for 2010." However, Teck intends to begin the preparation of a pre-feasibility study in the second quarter of this year in order to determine updated capital and operating cost estimates.

FINANCIALS

Net earnings for 2009 were $1.8 billion or $3.42 per share compared with $659 million or $1.46/sh in 2008. Net earnings for the fourth-quarter 2009 were $411 million or 70-cents/sh, compared with a net loss of $607 million or negative $1.28/sh in fourth-quarter 2008.

Net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2009 included positive after-tax pricing adjustments of $58 million and an after-tax gain of $134 million from the sale of Teck's interest in the Morelos gold project in Mexico. Partly offsetting this were asset impairment charges of $68 million related to oil sands projects.

The company reduced its total debt from $10.6 billion at the end of 2009 to $6.4 billion as of February 8, 2010.

China Investment Corporation (CIC), one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, is using exchange-traded funds to take positions in the mining sector, including gold miners AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Kinross.

The fund also holds US$145 million or 155,600 shares of gold-backed ETF SPDR Gold Trust shares.

CIC also invested in miners Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Teck Resources, and Vale.

The China Investment Corp's largest overall investment was in Teck Resources of which CIC bought 101,304,474 shares at $1.5 billion, which are now valued at US$3.54 billion.

CIC also discovered a holding of 50,000 shares of PotashCorp worth $5.4 million, as well as 58,991 share of Freeport valued at $4.7 million. The fund's gold mining equities holdings include 350,000 shares of Gold Fields at $4.59 million, 250,000 shares of Kinross valued at $4.6 million, and 100,000 shares of AngloGold valued at $4 million.

Finally, the sovereign fund holdings also include a $498 million investment or 18,896,562 shares of Brazilian über iron ore miner Vale.

The SEC filing detailed equity holdings in U.S. listed companies and funds worth $9.63 billion at the end of 2009.

Speaking to assembled analysts in London, Randgold Resources CEO, Mark Bristow, told of a ‘great year' for his company, albeit also a challenging one, but one which would position it well for the years ahead.  And, on the face of things that is a pretty accurate description.  Profit was up 79% year on year, 185% quarter on quarter and 315% on the same quarter a year earlier, while this was achieved with a strong balance sheet with US$590 million in cash and no net debt.

Record production at the Loulo gold mine in Mali over the year was coupled with a strong gold price which reached an average of $1,012 an ounce during the fourth quarter.  The old flagship Morila mine, which is now just processing relatively low grade stockpile material, performed very well too , producing 341,661 ounces of gold over the year leading to a profit of $66.7 million overall, but Randgold's share is at 40%, the remainder going to former operator AngloGold Ashanti and the Mali government. Now the Loulo mine is also nearing its potential despite a hiccup when Randgold management needed to take over from the mining contractors.  Even so Loulo set new records in December, did even better in January and is still making progress this month.  Development of the inclines into the Yalea underground section are behind schedule and this is key as the open pit is becoming depleted.

Randgold's next mine to start producing gold is Tongon in Cote d'Ivoire where construction on site is well in progress and the first gold pour is anticipated for the fourth quarter this year.

Progress was made on Massawa across the border from Mali in Senegal and the Board has given the green light to proceed to a full feasibility study here.  However some technical and metallurgical difficulties are anticipated - in part because of some of the bonanza type gold grades which are being seen.  Bristow said that values of up to over 1,000 g/tonne have been found and it is key not to lose some of this in the process.

But, perhaps the latest discovery, Gounkoto, also in Mali, may overtake Massawa as being the next Randgold discovered property to come on stream after Tongon.  Bristow is obviously very optimistic on this project reckoning it could be a second Morila with an already-inferred resource of 2.65 million ounces and growing.  Drilling is showing great consistency, and good gold grades, over a near surface deposit which is around 1.3 km long and down to around 250 m in depth.  A prefeasibility study is under way and due for completion in the current quarter.  Assuming all goes well, a mine at Gounkoto could be on stream by early 2013.

Probably the jewel in the crown though is Kibali (formerly known as Moto) in the DRC.  Randgold is the operator and is partnered by AngloGold Ashanti - a combination which worked well at Morila. Both companies hold 45% with the remaining 10% held by DRC government entities.  The takeover of Kibali was only completed in the second half of 2009 and Randgold mobilised its team on site in October and has already seen the indicated resource increased by 23% and reserves by 67%.  Indicated and inferred resource is now at 19.76 million ounces and reserves 9.19 million ounces for a combination of open pit and underground mining.  This would be a big mine and could cost $800 million or more to build given its remote location and lack of local infrastructure.  Even so mining could be under way by 2014.  It adds another degree of risk to the Randgold portfolio of projects given there is still some nervousness about the strength and control of the DRC central government in remoter areas of this big country.

ANNUAL PROFITS AND DIVIDEND

Randgold's overall profit for the year was $84.3 million, up from $47.0 million the previous year and the company has announced it is to raise its full-year dividend by 30% to 17 cents a share.  Gold output rose to 488,255 attributable ounces from 428,426 ounces in 2008.

Looking ahead, Randgold faces another complicated year as it needs to keep its projects on track, and top management will be more stretched juggling additional projects and exploration properties.  The track record to date has been pretty positive in this respect, but Kibali is an order of magnitude bigger than has been handled to date in an area where it is easy to overstretch on costs, and Gounkoto and Massawa are planned to be brought into production over the same time period.  Capital commitments over this period will also be high and although Randgold has a strong balance sheet with lots of cash this is going to be depleted over the next few years as the new properties are brought into production.

Randgold, though, has a history of outperforming its peers in the stock market and although some analysts feel deep down that the stock is perhaps overvalued, few will go out and say so, as those who have done so in the past have consistently been proved wrong!

Meanwhile Randgold's exploration teams remain hard at work, mostly operating in areas around its existing operations with a number of highly prospective targets under active investigation.  The company has an ethos of growth through its own exploration activities, although, as has been seen with Kibali it does not rule out growth by acquisition too.

Fission Energy ("TSX-V: FIS) released additional highly encouraging exploration results from the Waterbury Lake Project winter drill program.

The Waterbury Project is being explored by a joint venture between Fission Energy and the KEPCO consortium.
The KEPCO consortium is a group of Korean based companies, including Korea Electric Power, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Korea Nuclear Fuel, Hanwha Corp, and uranium investment company, Gravis Capital. The joint venture has set a budget of $2.68 million for the winter exploration program, which will include 7,500 meters of drilling (20 holes) and both Induced Polarisation (IP) and Electro-Magnetic (EM) surveys over 93 line kilometres.

Just two weeks ago, share in Fission Energy soared more than 100% in a day after the company reported anomalous radioactivity in drill hole WAT10-063A. Since then, share in the junior uranium explorer have continued higher, reaching a peak of 67 cents from a low of just 15 cents less than 2 months ago.

Yesterday, the company reported that three additional drill holes since completed in close proximity to WAT10-063A have also intersected "significant anomalous radioactivity", including a 4 meter interval, from 203.5 meters in drill hole WAT10-066 which was drilled 15 meters south of WAT10-063A. The 4 meter interval had a high radioactivity count, ranging from 500 cps to over 9999 cps.

Fisson Energy has now renamed the new zone the ‘J-Zone’. The J-Zone still remains open along strike and at depth, and despite the positive news, the company’s shares pulled back yesterday on profit taking.

"The J-Zone… may represent a new and significant unconformity style uranium occurrence located within the prospective East-West structural Corridor," Fission stated. "The East-West Corridor continues west from the J-Zone for approximately 3 km within Fission's Waterbury Lake Property. Evaluation of the East-West Corridor is ongoing, where a number of new high priority targets have been identified. Fission's technical team believes there is significant potential for multiple occurrences of high-grade uranium mineralization within this 3 km long corridor."

IP service optimization and revenue generation solutions provider, Allot Communications (NASDAQ: ALLT) announced that it had reached break-even on a non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) basis for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Allot Communications reported both fourth quarter (Q4 2009) and full year results (FY 2009) for the period ended December 31, 2009 this morning. Q4 2009 revenues climbed 21% to $11.5 million (Q4 2008: $9.6 million) and a net loss of $1.5 million, or 7 cents per share (Q4 2008: net income $1 million, or 5 cents per share) on a GAAP basis.

For FY 2009, revenues rose 13% to $41.8 million (FY 2008: $37.1 million). On a GAAP basis, net losses in 2009 improved to $7.7 million or 35 cents per share (FY 2008: net loss $16.5 million or 75 cents per share).

However, Allot Communications was keen to point out that on a non-GAAP basis, and excluding the impact of share-based compensation, inventory and fixed assets write-offs and ARS devaluation and recoveries, net income for Q4 2009 totaled $19,000, or nil per share. This compared more favourably to a non-GAAP net loss of $1.1 million, or 5 cents per share in Q4 2008.

"The Company provides these non-GAAP financial measures because it believes that they present a better measure of the Company's core business and management uses the non-GAAP measures internally to evaluate the Company's ongoing performance. Accordingly, the Company believes that they are useful to investors in enhancing an understanding of the Company's operating performance," Allot stated this morning.

"We successfully undertook the largest deployment in our history with a global Tier 1 mobile operator, with total orders as at the end of the year reaching $17 million. Coupled with the strong backlog we built up during the year, we currently believe that Allot is well positioned for continued growth in 2010," Rami Hadar, Allot Communications' President and Chief Executive Officer, added.

As of December 31, 2009, cash, cash equivalents, deposits and investments in marketable securities totaled $53.3 million.

Dutch biopharmaceutical company, Crucell N.V. (NASDAQ, NYSE Euronext: CRXL) reported that net profits in 2009 jumped 68% to €23.9 million as revenues climbed 26% to €358 million. Crucell is focused on research and development of vaccines, proteins and antibodies.

Strong revenue growth at the company was driven by a 59% increase in paediatric vaccine sales, and in spite of movements in the EUR/USD rate, which impacted the headline revenues figure by 3%. Crucell also reported good growth in endemic vaccines (18%), respiratory vaccines (12%) and other products (11%). Gross margins did however slip to 42% compared to 45% in 2008, though unfavourable currency movements and the timing of some milestone payments was the main culprit.

Operating profit for the full year soared to €39 million (FY 2008: €7.4 million) and net profit rose sharply to €23.9 million (FY 2008: €14.3 million). Net profit per share was €0.34 (FY 2008: €0.22). Cash and cash equivalents increased by €156.9 million to €327.8 million, thanks largely to a share placing with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) which was part of a wider strategic agreement for influenza antibody research.

"The key event of the year was the partnership agreement we signed with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). This partnership, with a total deal value of over EUR1 billion, included a payment of over EUR300 million, mainly related to an equity investment of 18%. The partnership with JNJ provides us with additional R&D funding and enables us to further accelerate and expand our product development. In 2010 and onwards we have a responsibility to make the most of these opportunities," Crucell's Chief Executive Officer Ronald Brus said.

"Our world-class vaccine production plant in Seoul, Korea, is being constructed at record pace. This allows us to efficiently produce high volumes of vaccines in Asia. Our partner Adimmune has also successfully started production of influenza vaccines in Taiwan and is a promising future supplier of flu antigens for us."

Crucell’s Korean facility, in Yongin City, is expected to commence test runs in the second quarter of 2010.

Communication, storage, security and power solutions specialist Exar Corporation (NASDAQ: EXAR) has entered into agreement to acquire privately held company, Neterion, for between US$10 and $11 million net of cash. No additional financial details were disclosed.　

Neterion provides high speed solutions for server and storage systems, and according to Exar, is the "leader in I/O Virtualization for 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters".

"The combined capabilities that Exar and Neterion will offer address not only the requirements of today's data centers but enable critical features for the evolving needs of next generation data centers," said Pete Rodriquez, Exar's president and chief executive officer. "Neterion is a recognized leader in 10 Gigabit Ethernet network adapter solutions optimized for virtualized data centers with an array of top-tier enterprise server and storage customers. Their product portfolio represents an ideal complement to Exar's market-leading solutions for hardware accelerated data encryption, compression and deduplication."

Exar Corporation, which has over four decades of experience in supply solutions to data centers, intends to build on Neterion’s achievements to date by expanding the distribution of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters to IT organizations seeking to improve their capabilities.

Part of the new funds raised will be apportioned to the final instalment of the hydraulic excavator at Stockton, scheduled to arrive in March 2010, which should immediately impact production levels, through raised input into the on-site washery.

Managing Director Steve Best said commented: “We are nearing the final phases of redeveloping the Stockton Colliery, which we believe will significantly improve the economics of the operation, already enhanced by the settlement of the Pagnotti supply agreement, and lead to a deserved re-rating of our stock.  Our aim is to produce up to 400,000 tons of run of mine coal at Stockton over an initial 10 year mine life, which should generate significant cashflow for the Company, something we can utilise to implement our regional Pennsylvanian consolidation strategy as well as identify other synergistic high quality coal projects.”

The whole Carpenter Creek coal area covers approximately 70,000 acres and contains an estimated 1.2 billion tons of high quality thermal coal. Previous business models developed by MCC targeted production for 2012. Providing modelling with a potential mine life of over 30 years, with production at 6 million tons per annum of washed coal. MCC has access to existing transportation infrastructure including a direct line to key coal markets in the US and Asia.

The placing was arranged by Allenby Capital and it is expected to be effective on London’s AIM market on or around 15 February 2010.

Despite continual heavy rains along the Texas coast, oil storage tanks and dehydration / separation equipment have been successfully installed on site. The Operator has now commenced the installation of the flow line that will connect the Smith #1 Well to the commercial sales line.

Executive Director Peter Landau said the standing water will be cleared so that the flow line can be successfully buried. Once the flow line has been completed, the final stage will be the connection to the commercial sales line.

The Company will provide further updates as the Smith well progresses towards first production.

Range has oil and gas interests in the frontier state of Puntland, Somalia, the Republic of Georgia and Texas, USA.

On the 30th December, SA Capital acquired 3.14 million BRD shares and on 20th January SA Capital acquired 535,000 shares at around $0.014 per share.

This latter group will manage the project until further notice by the participants and has compiled the report given below for release to TSX and also for the Jervois release to its shareholders via ASX.

“EMC’s mandate for growth is to aggressively pursue opportunities in specialty and unusual metals," EMC President Peter Bosse said.

In December 2009 we acquired TTS Inc. and the services of its founder Willem Duyvesteyn, a leading expert in the development of technologies for the recovery of these metals.”

“Signing an agreement only two months later to develop the world’s only primary Scandium property proves EMC’s total commitment to the rapid execution of its mandate and bodes well for future developments."

The Nyngan Deposit is located approximately 500 km northwest of Sydney, Australia and is accessible via a 25km sealed road from the town of Nyngan. The property consists of part of exploration license EL 6009 and all of EL 6096 and covers over 9,000ha.

Scandium and its alloys, are presently used in the aerospace industry, sports equipment, laser research, specialty welding wire, electronics and high intensity halide lamps. The current use of scandium is severely restricted by its scarcity of reliable supply as there are no primary Scandium mines in production in the world.

It is anticipated that a significant demand for Scandium will be realized within the aluminum and fuel cell industries once a reliable supply of Scandium has been established.

Very little information is available in the public domain for Scandium prices. The most reliable data are available from the USGS, which has quoted a price of $1,400/kg for the last four years for a Sc2O3 product of 99.9% purity.

In the 1980s, 134 rotary air blast holes and two diamond drill holes were drilled in the area exploring several of these Alaskan-type pyroxenite bodies for platinum group.

Between 1999 and 2001, two traverses of reverse circulation drill holes exploring for nickel were drilled across the Gilgai Intrusion. Jervois obtained the sample pulps from these RC holes and analyzed them for scandium; the results indicated there was a significant enrichment of Scandium in the Gilgai laterite.

In 2006, Jervois completed a 2,638 meter drill program consisting of 64 reverse circulation holes and 5 air core holes at the Gilgai Project.

EMC Metals is currently carrying out the work required to reconcile the existing JORC resource with NI 43-101 standards.

EMC has signed an Exploration Joint Venture Agreement with Jervois pursuant to which EMC will enter into a joint venture on the Nyngan property. EMC will be the manager of the joint venture.

Under the Agreement, EMC is required to pay the sum of CAD $300,000 into escrow to be released to Jervois upon satisfaction of certain conditions precedent, including verification of title to the Nyngan property and approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Equity markets started the day down, but quickly recovered.   The NASDAQ and S&P 500 both bounced off early losses are currently trading around 0.25% higher.  Oil and Gold were outperforming equities, up around 1% and 1.5% respectively. Canadian stock markets followed the higher commodity prices.  The TSX climbed 6 points to 11,229, while the TSX Venture rose 8 points to 1,464.  Both markets were buoyed by good performances from energy and mining stocks.

Major mining stocks posted good gains this morning in both London, New York and Toronto.

Gold miner Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS, NYSE: GOLD) led the sector in London with a 5.5% advance, while the world’s largest primary Silver producer Fresnillo (LSE: FRES), and Platinum miner Lonmin (LSE: LMI) followed, climbing 4% and 1.5% respectively.

Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) was one of the brighter spots in New York, rising almost 1% after initially opening lower, as was Agnico-Eagle (NYSE: AEM) which rose 0.4%.  Emerging mid-tier gold producer CGA Mining (TSX/ASX: CGA) had a good run after announcing it had completed an $83 million placing. Shares in the company jumped nearly 11%.

 
Nevsun Resources (TSX: NSU), another success story in West Africa, was also on the move, climbing 8.7%.

Not all precious metal miners basked in the sun however.

In London’s FTSE 250, Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) was flat, while mid-tier gold miner Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG) lost around 1%. Silver producer Hochschild Mining (LSE: HOC) pulled back 1.8%.

In New York, Tier 1 gold producer Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) started the day weaker, falling around 1.1%, while Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) also slipped, down 0.2%.

Athena’s first production is being targeted for Q2 2011 with estimated initial gross production rates of 22,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), of which 4,950 bopd are attributable net to Ithaca.

"The Athena Joint Venture Partners have seized (the) opportunity to develop Athena, which has been enabled by the recovery in oil price since Q3 2008”, Ithaca chief developments officer John Woods commented, “Ithaca as operator of the Athena Development has been working closely with the engineering services sector to negotiate competitive rates that now secure a robust project which is expected to come into production within the next two years".

Ithaca is the operator of the project with 22.5% interest, Dyas UK, a unit of privately owned Dutch conglomerate SVH Holdings, is the largest stakeholder with 47.5% of the project, German utilities group EWE Aktiengesellschaft owns 20% and Rheochem’s (AIM: RHEP) 50%-held subsidiary Zeus Petroleum has 10%.

The orders initiate the project's development phase, and the items being procured include electrical submersible pumps, subsea trees and engineering support.

The newly established project team will initially focus on the finalisation of the Environmental Statement and FDP for submission in March 2010. Ithaca expects to receive FDP approval by the authorities in July 2010. The team will also undertake the final stage negotiation of contracts for a Floating Production Storage and Offtake (FPSO) vessel, construction and provision of sub-sea facilities and drilling services.

The initial development plan consists of four production wells supported by one water injection well. To date the JV has successfully drilled three wells on Athena, which are currently suspended. The existing three wells will be re-entered and completed for production and one further well will be drilled during Q4 2010/Q1 2011. Additional wells will also be drilled from seabed locations close to existing wells to allow for ease of tie-back to a new subsea manifold.

The production will be routed to a stand-alone FPSO. Produced gas will be used to generate power on the FPSO. Other services will include additional electrical power generation, chemical injection, water treatment and injection, and system monitoring and controls. It is anticipated that all offshore installation works, including FPSO on location, will be completed by the end of Q2 2011.

The oil production will be exported via shuttle tankers.

The latest reserves report issued by Sproule International Limited for year ended December 31 2009, ascribed Proved and Probable reserves in Athena of 24.40 million barrels (mmbbls) of oil gross, of which 5.49mmbbls are attributable net to Ithaca.

The debt crisis in Greece, Portugal and Spain spurred concerns over crude demand, while also weakening the euro against the US Dollar, which made commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies to further push down the demand. The American currency slightly weekened today, helping crude to small gains.

More bearish data came out at the end of last week, when weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the US, which was followed by a non-farm payrolls update from the US Labor Department, which showed a decline of 20,000 for the month of December, while an increase was expected.

In other news, gasoline prices declined to US$2.67 a gallon in the US, according to California based analyst Trilby Lundberg after losing 5.8 cents last week.

March Brent Crude slipped below $70, arriving at US$69.69/barrel, while US light, sweet crude dropped to US$71.20/barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Canada's newest territory of Nunavut may soon get its first operating mine as Agnico-Eagle's Meadowbank gold project is poised to begin production this quarter.

However, Baffinland Iron Mines' Mary River iron ore project still needs to find C$4.1 billion (US$3.83bn) in financing to start production by a new target date of 2016.

The territory's last mine, Tahera Diamond's Jericho mine, suspended operations in 2008 due to financial constraints and has been put up for sale.

In an interview with CBC News, Larry Connell, Agnico-Eagle's director of sustainable development, said the first gold bar may be coming out of Meadowbank's gravity circuit by the end of this month.

Construction is complete on the C$700 million (US$654mn) project, which is believed to have a probable gold reserve of 3.6 million ounces and a measured and indicated resource of 1.5 million ounces. This year's exploration budget is US$6 million for Meadowbank.

The gold mine is anticipated to produce 350,000 ounces of gold this year, and averaging 350,000 to 400,000 ounces annually over a nine-year mine life.  Agnico-Eagle is confident mine life will extend well beyond 10 years.

Meadowbank is located in Kivalliq district of Nunavut 70 kilometers north of the town of Baker Lake, which is 320km inland from the western shore of Hudson's Bay.

Investments at Meadowbank have made Nunavut the fastest growing territory in Canada. However, the global recession has slowed exploration and development in the territory, Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak recently told Bloomberg. Mining industry capital expenditure is believed to have dropped 62% to C$340.2 million last year, according to the Nunavut budget.

As the G7 Finance Ministers met Iqaluit, Nunavut, this past weekend, Baffinland CEO Gordon McCreary was able to introduce his Mary River iron ore project-- located on North Baffin Island, in the Qikiqtani Region-- to an audience of journalists and international visitors.

McCreary told his audience that the German government considers the project to be strategically important to their country and has declared it to be eligible for a $1.2 billion loan. He added that maybe the project should also be considered important to Canada.

The mine is expected to produce 18 million tonnes of iron ore annually. The project has reserves of about 365 million tonnes of ore grading an average of 65% iron, and about 500 million tonnes of ore resources.

Baffinland estimated the cost of the mine to be C$591 million (US$552mn). A railway system will transport the ore from the mine to an all-season deep-water port and ship loading facility at Steensby Inlet where the ore will be loaded into ore carriers for overseas shipment through Foxe Basin. A dedicated fleet of cape-sized ore carriers, capable of breaking ice, will be chartered by Baffinland. Some non-icebreaking ore carriers and conventional ships will also be used during the open water season.

However, just transporting the ore for delivery to German steel mills requires C$1.2 billion in railway infrastructure and a C$706 million port to carry the ore from Steensby Inlet through Fox Basin and Hudson Strait to European ports.

Montreal shipping company Fednav has partnered with Baffinland to form a consortium to obtain the fleet to transport the ore.

Thus far Baffinland has spent C$200 million on the project, according to the internet news site Nunatsiaqonline.com. This year the company expects to spend an additional C$37 million to pay for drilling, the completion of a draft EIS and the completion of a draft impact and benefits agreement with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

McCreary said Baffinland has received interest from about 20 companies to partner in the project and hopes to finalize a deal this year. Baffinland is amenable to a joint venture or the sale of an equity stake. It is also willing to be a minority partner for the right company, he added.

The project has received "strong interest" from several global leaders, according to McCreary.

Mary River is expected to be 75% debt financed and 25% equity.

The contract will see CFS undertake retrofitting of fire protection equipment including heat detectors, metallic coating, infrared flame detectors and fire extinguishing systems across 32 plants in Hubei Province.  The work is due to be completed by the end of 2011.

Last year the Chinese government implemented a revised Fire Prevention Law to encourage the iron and steel industry to upgrade their fire safety facilities.

“WISCO's Fire Protection Retrofitting Project is a pioneering endeavor that aims to comprehensively upgrade, without disrupting ongoing operations, 32 plants to become up to code with the latest Chinese fire safety standards detailed in the "Code of Design for Fire Protection and Prevention for Iron & Steel Metallurgy Enterprises." CFS stated this morning.

“Upon completion of the Retrofitting Project, the majority of WISCO's Qingshan plants' fire protection facilities will be fully compliant with China's latest fire safety codes for the iron & steel industry.”
Wuhan Iron and Steel is a longstanding client of CFS.

"We're very delighted about our record contract win for WISCO's Retrofitting Project, as this pioneering contract win highlights our excellent value proposition, unparalleled competitive advantages and the trust of our customer in the total solution approach we have provided them throughout the years. With this large win, we have further increased the gap between us and our closest competitors in the iron and steel industry," commented Mr. Gangjin Li, Chairman and Executive Officer of China Fire.

In a separate announcement this morning, CFS upwardly revised its full year earnings guidance for 2010 to $135 to $145 million, net income to $47 to 49 million and earnings per share (EPS) to $1.65 to $1.70.

Q4 2009 revenues hit US$165 million, 7% higher than Q4 2008 ($154.2 million), but the company still reported a net loss of $2.3 million, or 14 cents per diluted share.  In the comparable period in 2008, the company reported a $79 million net loss ($5.85 per share), which was largely due to a one-off impairment charge. Omitting the impairment charge, the Q4 2009 net loss was still an improvement on a Q4 2009 net loss of $3.2 million, or 23 cents per share.

"The fourth quarter of 2009 was the first quarter in several quarters where financial and operating metrics improved over the prior year. We are very pleased with the sales momentum in our U.S. LTL business unit as our daily shipment count and daily tonnage exceeded the fourth quarter of 2008. Within our new amalgamated U.S. LTL business unit, our sales initiatives are working as evidenced by the 22.5% increase in length of haul for the year.

All these improvements were offset by the persistence of a poor pricing environment in the fourth quarter.

Notwithstanding, we feel that our positive activity trends position our LTL segment for success when the pricing environment begins to change," stated Vitran President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Gaetz.

FY 2009 revenues came in at $629.3 million, down from $726.3 million in FY 2008.  The company also reported a FY 2009 net loss of $4 million, or 28 cents per share, down considerably from the previous year.  Group debt fell below $100 million, which in turn reduced debt margins by 50 basis points.

Vitran’s LTL (less-than-truckload) business was the weaker performer, posting a fourth quarter loss on operations of $2.6 million, though this was an improvement on 2008.  The company’s Supply Chain Operation performed considerably better, posting a 15% increase in revenues and operating income of $1.9 million. Vitran’s Truckload segment had a modest increase in revenue of 3.9%.

The Permit is prospective for a number of different play types including conventional gas, unconventional gas and coal bed methane.

Elixir Managing Director Andrew Ross said after a lengthy period of evaluation of opportunities in this area, the company was delighted to have been able to enter into an agreement for the acquisition of the Moselle Permit in North-eastern France.

"The acquisition represents a significant expansion of our European exploration strategy and sees our first entry onshore into Western Continental Europe," Mr Ross said.

“This opportunity is particularly attractive given the stable political environment, established and growing gas market, excellent fiscal regime and the fact that the Moselle permit is prospective for a number of different play types, including shale gas.”

Elixir last traded on the Australian Stock Exchange for 4c.

In the United States, advances in drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques have opened huge reserves of unconventional gas that now mean the country is virtually self-reliant in terms of its gas-supply needs. A 2007 study from the National Petroleum Council, an advisory body to the US Department of Energy, estimated that the European continent could hold up to 549 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, 431 Tcf of tight gas and 275 Tcf of CBM.

For a continent whose hydrocarbon production peak is thought to have passed, these resources present an enticing prospect in the continuing effort on the part of European nations to secure energy independence.

Shale gas, which is considered the most promising hydrocarbon resource in Europe, is drawing significant investment into the continent. The last 18 months have seen ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Shell, OMV and other large producers acquire significant land positions across the EU. A number of independent oil and gas companies, including Elixir, have joined the pursuit.

The Moselle Permit is 5,360 km2 in area or approximately 1.32 million acres, making it the largest single exploration block onshore France. The Permit was awarded in January 2009 to East Paris Petroleum Development for an initial five year term. EPPDL is required to spend €3 million on exploration activities within the Permit during the initial term, of which a proportion has already been expended by EPPDL during 2009.

Elixir has agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of EPPDL, the 100% interest holder and operator of the Moselle Permit. The consideration payable to the vendor on the completion of the acquisition includes a cash payment and an advisory services arrangement totalling US$1 million, and will be met from Elixir’s existing funds.

The vendor is also to be granted an overriding royalty interest on any future production. Additionally, if a well is spudded on the Permit within the initial term, or part of the Permit is sold to a third party during the initial term, a further similar cash payment will be made to the vendor of EPPDL.

It is Elixir’s intention to apply its experience in the identification, evaluation and presentation of new exploration opportunities for farmout, particularly for exploration and appraisal drilling, to the exciting potential of the Moselle Block.

Mr Ross said that shale gas plays were now firmly established as one of the most exciting sectors globally for the oil and gas industry, largely as a result of the continuing success of these types of plays onshore in the USA where members of Elixir’s team and its largest shareholder have relevant experience.

“In the past year a large number of oil and gas companies, including the majors, have entered the search for unconventional hydrocarbons in Western Europe," he said.

"The ability to find, produce and deliver gas within one of the largest energy markets in the world holds great appeal and represents a significant opportunity for Elixir, and one that has the potential to deliver considerable value to shareholders over the medium to longer term.”

Elixir also holds interests in producing gas and condensate fields located in the Gulf of Mexico and has extensive interests in exploration and appraisal licences in the UK North Sea.