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The US markets closed down sharply. The Dow closed down 115 points or 1.1% at 10,120, the S&P500 was down 13 points or 1.2% at 1084 and the Nasdaq was down 42 points or 1.9% at 2179.
Coalworks Limited (CWK) today announced that it has acquired a 90% interest in the Ferndale Coal Project EL 7430. The deposit is located at Yarrawa in the prime Hunter Valley coal area in New South Wales. It is about 8 kilometres southwest of Denman near Muswellbrook, is close to rail, and road infrastructure, and is only 125km from the coal port of Newcastle.
Coalworks Managing Director and CEO Mr Andrew Firek said: “We plan to optimise this valuable coal project which has high calorific value thermal and coking coal potential. Our immediate aim will be to drill a number of known coal measures occurring in the EL, including the quality Wittingham Coal Measures. An exploration target of 60 to 85 million tonnes of export quality thermal coal and semi soft coking coal is the current objective.
“Coalworks’ mining consultants advise us that if a project is developed at Ferndale with the planned production rate the Project would have the potential to generate up to 250 jobs during the construction phase, and 100 permanent jobs at the mine, with a further 250 jobs likely to be generated for contractors and suppliers. Flow on effects will generate up to 6 jobs for every miner employed. It is envisaged that the mine will generate considerable benefits to local businesses,” he said.
EL 7430 was granted to Loyal Coal Pty Limited as trustee for a consortium. Coalworks, through a subsidiary, has acquired a 90% interest in the consortium for a price of $2,400,000.00 which was invested into the consortium to meet EL acquisition and establishment expenses. Coalworks will manage the consortium and must now contribute to 90% of all expenditure on the project.
The acquisition of the Ferndale Coal Project follows Coalworks’ 29 October 2009 ASX announcement regarding the grant of the Vickery South EL in the Gunnedah Basin, NSW which is currently being drilled.
Gold producer Tanami Gold NL (TAM) [“TGNL”] is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire a 100% interest in the Groundrush Gold Project in the Tanami Arunta Province of the Northern Territory from Newmont Asia Pacific [“Newmont”] for A$22 million.
The acquisition is part of a broader transaction with its exploration alliance partner ABM Resources NL [“ABM”] encompassing an extensive exploration portfolio being divested by Newmont in the region.
Under the agreement, TGNL and ABM are acquiring the Tanami and Barrow Creek Non Core Divestment Packages [“Transaction”] in the Tanami Arunta Province of the Northern Territory for a total consideration of A$32.775 million.
TGNL’s share of the Transaction is A$22 million for 100% of the Groundrush Gold Project, for which it has secured financial backing from its largest shareholder, Allied Properties Resources Limited to complete the Transaction. The commercial terms of the Transaction have been agreed by all parties with a settlement date scheduled for 30 March 2010 or earlier, subject to completion of relevant consents and Newmont board approval.
The Groundrush Gold Project includes a JORC Code compliant Resource of 516,000 ounces, a 1.25 million tonne per annum (Mtpa) treatment plant, all associated support infrastructure including office, workshops, airstrip, 140 person accommodation village, borefield and communication facilities, as well as an extensive package of Mineral Leases [21 Leases with a total area of 125km2] and Exploration Licences [16 Licences with a total area of 1,945km2]. The treatment plant is currently non operational and will require partial refurbishment to return to full operational mode.
With the addition of the Groundrush Gold Project assets and tenement package, the Company is aiming to lift production from its combined Tanami operations to in excess of 200,000 ounces per annum within a two year period.
UGL Limited (UGL) announced that it continues to strengthen its presence in the rail sector with a new contract to supply 15 new C44ACHi locomotives and 160 freight wagons for QR Limited’s coal haulage expansion in the Hunter Valley. Work has already commenced on the projects with delivery of the first locomotives in December 2010 and the freight wagons from April 2010. UGL has been partnering with QR on manufacturing and maintenance projects for over 20 years and this new project strengthens this ongoing relationship.
UGL’s Managing Director and CEO Richard Leupen said the growth in the Australian coal market bodes well for UGL, and the group is well placed to benefit from increasing investment on capital equipment and infrastructure as producers look to increase production to meet growing demand from local and international customers.
UGL is about to complete a locomotive build program for QR and this latest contract reflects the group’s status as a trusted longer term supplier to QR. It also further cements UGL’s position as one of Australia’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of rolling stock. UGL’s work in hand in the rail sector is at near record levels. Since November 2009, the group has secured almost $460 million of new rail manufacturing, maintenance and infrastructure projects, and UGL is pursuing a number of growth opportunities both in Australia and overseas.
The US markets closed higher after the Federal Reserve announced no change in interest rates. The Dow closed up 41 points or 0.4% at 10,236, the S&P500 was up 5 points or 0.5% at 1097 and the Nasdaq was up 17 points or 0.8% at 2221.
World Reach Limited (WRR) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Beam Communications Pty Ltd, has entered into a distribution agreement with Spacenet Communications Services de Mexico SA de CV as a strategic reseller for Beam products in this new market for Iridium products.
Spacenet has a sound reputation providing integrated communication solutions to the Mexican market, including a range of voice and data services and applications, developed to meet customized communications needs. Spacenet will serve established and emerging markets in Mexico such as maritime, leisure and commercial fishing, aviation, oil and gas, utilities, agriculture, emergency communications, mining, transportation, government/military and heavy construction.
Beam’s product range enables Spacenet to gain access to the widest range of Iridium products available, thus providing a suite of products and services to immediately support voice, data, telemetry and tracking opportunities.
Beam Communications Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of World Reach Limited; The Beam Communications subsidiary was established in 2002, making a substantial investment in the development and manufacturing of Remote Satellite Communications solutions for the global telecommunications market. Now one of the leading global manufacturers of Iridium-based satellite communications equipment, Beam offers the widest range of Iridium solutions across all market segments, and is particularly focused on the exploitation of the newly released Iridium data module targeted at asset tracking and other applications.
UGL Limited (UGL) today announced that it has signed a Master Service Agreement with Westpac Banking Corporation Limited for the integrated management of Westpac’s Australian property, real estate, facilities and capital works services.
UGL Services business has been contracted for an initial five years which can be extended to a total of nine years. The new agreement is in addition to property related works which UGL Services has been providing to Westpac and St George Banks in Australia for over four years. UGL Services now manages over 865,000 sqm2 of space on behalf of Westpac nationally and has a team of over 120 professional resources dedicated to delivering these services.
The new contract is regarded as the most advanced end-to-end offering in the property and outsourcing sector and includes: general services, real estate services, facilities management, including client services and critical site management, data centres, workplace management, program management, finance and data management, contract governance and performance management, and transition works. UGL Services was awarded the contract following an independently conducted market procurement exercise, and was successful due to its scale, market leading systems, innovative services, its ability to provide a broader range of services under the one contract, and its proven track record in the financial services sector.
UGL’s Managing Director and CEO Richard Leupen said that UGL Services continues to benefit from the growing trend for government departments and large blue chip organisations to outsource their non-core activities in order to lower their cost base. He said UGL Services has a successful track record in the financial services sector and this new partnership with Westpac confirms the group’s position as a market leader in outsourced property and BPO services.
Leighton Asia (LEI), in a joint venture with Able Engineering Co Ltd, has secured a A$245 million contract to design and construct phase one of the new Tung Chung Hospital on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. North Lantau is one of the strategic growth areas under planning in Hong Kong. To cater for
the development of Lantau Island (including Tung Chung), the growth of the local population and the fact that Hong Kong International Airport and some other major tourist facilities are situated on Lantau Island, the Government of HKSAR decided to develop an acute hospital in Tung Chung, a new Town in North Lantau Island. The hospital is being developed by the Architectural Services Department of the
Government of HKSAR and the contract works includes the design and construction of the eight storey, 160 bed hospital block together with associated building services and external works. The construction floor area of the building is approximately 43,500 square metres. When completed, phase one of the Tung Chung Hospital will provide 80 beds for in-patient emergency medicine, 80 beds for in-patient extended care, ambulatory care services including 20 day beds for surgeries/procedures, community care services, diagnostic and treatment services, and support services including pharmacy and administrative services. The contract works will commence in January 2010 with completion scheduled for mid 2012.
Hamish Tyrwhitt, Leighton Asia’s managing director said “Leighton Asia has completed many significant public building projects in Hong Kong and has a longstanding working relationship with the Architectural Services Department. We value this relationship and looking forward to providing another important facility for our community.”
