Sunlight shines from behind a gold mine pithead near Johannesburg. Chinese investment in South Africa hit $7-billion by the end of 2010, and Chinese companies are starting to expand from mining, financial and manufacturing sectors, and towards telecom, transportation and renewable energy.MIKE HUTCHINGS
Hathor Exploration may test new year highs again today on the prospect of an ongoing battle over it between Rio Tinto and Cameco. Hathor rose 3 per cent and hit a year high $5.07 yesterday after Rio Tinto countered and raised its initial bid for Hathor by 13 per cent to $4.70 a share, valuing it at about $654-million. This topped Cameco Corp's revised offer of $4.50 a share, delivered earlier this week. Yesterday, the amount of shares traded in Hathor was about three times the average volume over the previous 30 days. Hathor is trading well above its 50 day SMA of $4.29 and its 200 day SMA of $3.09.
Iberian Minerals Corp. shares rose nearly 40 per cent and hit a year high $1.11 yesterday after the company's Board of Directors agreed to a $1.10 per share take-over offer from Trafigura Beheer B.V. for the remainder of the company that it doesn't already own. Trafigura is Iberian's largest shareholder owning approximately 218.4-million Iberian Shares representing approximately 48.3 per cent of the issued and outstanding Iberian Shares. More than 50 million Iberian shares changed hands on the TSXV, way above an average trading volume of close to 600,000 for the previous 30 days. Before Friday trade, its 50-day SMA was 79 cents and its 200-day SMA was 89 cents.
Valener Inc. announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per common share for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011. The dividend is payable on Jan. 16, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 30, 2011.
Tethys Petroleum Limited said today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Uzbek State oil and gas company, National Holding Company, establishing a program for Tethys to obtain two new production enhancement contracts on 2 existing oilfields in Uzbekistan. The company said the MOU represents an agreed timetable up to May 1, 2012 to negotiate for two new production enhancement contracts 1 for the Chegara Group of fields and one on the West Kruk field.
Sama Resources Inc. , which has been trading near a year low of 30 cents, announced today that the results of recent heavy media separation tests carried out as part of the metallurgical test program on the Samapleu Main poly-metallic deposit and Samapleu Extension 1 poly-metallic deposit in Cote d'Ivoire, have returned increased results in grade. Dr. Marc-Antoine Audet, President and CEO, said "These initial results indicate that there appears to be good potential to upgrade the lower grades of Samapleu ore to produce higher grade material as feed to flotation."
NeuLion, Inc. , an end-to-end technology service provider that has been trading near a year low of 18 cents, announced today the debut of a new UFC mobile app for Android. Fans of the UFC can stream live Pay-Per-View events via UFC.TV, Roku and now Android. The company said this announcement deepens the UFC's partnership with NeuLion and extends the reach of the organization to the mobile marketplace and will enable the UFC to capitalize on the continued growth of the Android platform.
Centric Health Corporation said late Thursday that it has acquired 100 per cent of the interests in Classic Care Pharmacy Corporation, a company that provides pharmaceutical dispensing, delivery and consulting services to long-term care homes and retirement residences. Ingrid Davis, Director of Centric Health, said the acquisition "significantly advances our Specialty Pharmacy Division capabilities across Ontario, and provides an excellent opportunity to expand our service offering to eldercare homes through bundling Classic Care's pharmacy services with Centric's existing rehabilitation services provided by our Seniors' Wellness Division."
Huldra Silver Inc. today reported the initial results from the 2011 exploration program at Treasure Mountain. The company said the results of assays from the first four holes received included 592.92 grams per tonne Ag, 4.28 per cent Pb, 2.47 per cent Zn and 5.80 per cent Mn in hole TM11-9 that intersected the vein structure below the Level 1 drift, approximately 80 metres east of the Level 2 drift.