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Newmont Mining Corp. posted a sharply higher second-quarter profit Thursday, with record-high gold prices and production gains pumping revenue past most analysts' expectations. Newmont (NEM:Newmont Mining Corporation News, chart, profile, more Last: 49.02+0.25+0.51% 2:30pm 07/25/2008 Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio Analyst Create alertInsider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: NEM 49.02, +0.25, +0.5%) shares rose $1.82, or 3.9%, to close at $48.77. The stock is up 12% over the past 12 months. Newmont reported net income for the three months ended June 30 swung to $277 million, or 61 cents a share, from a year-ago loss of $2.06 billion, or $4.57 a share. The year-ago numbers were heavily skewed by a $1.67 billion write-down tied to the company's exit from merchant banking and a $460 million charge for settling price-capped forwards contracts. Adjusted earnings from ongoing operations more than doubled to $230 million, or 51 cents a share, from $103 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier. Gold sales during the quarter totaled 1.27 million equity ounces, fetching on average $900 an ounce, as the precious metal rode a huge spike in commodity prices. Gold prices were averaging about $600 an ounce a year ago. Costs per ounce rose, however, to $440 an ounce from $417 a year ago. Copper sales accounted for $183 million during the quarter, down from $340 million a year earlier. Newmont stood by its earlier 2008 production forecast of 5.1 million to 5.4 million ounces of gold, with production cost expected to range from $425 to $450 per ounce.

A company called GreenCore Air has released an air conditioner than can be powered by a single 170 watt solar panel. The GreenCore air conditioning unit can heat and cool a 600 square foot room. It runs on DC power, so there is no need to put an AC inverter between the solar panel and the air conditioner. This eliminates the power losses associated with converting AC to DC

A company called GreenCore Air has released an air conditioner than can be powered by a single 170 watt solar panel. The GreenCore air conditioning unit can heat and cool a 600 square foot room. It runs on DC power, so there is no need to put an AC inverter between the solar panel and the air conditioner. This eliminates the power losses associated with converting AC to DC. When the sun is not out the unit runs on the battery bank which is integrated within the unit. There two version of the air conditioner: a fixed one, and a mobile one that is mounted on wheels. GreenCore units are being tested by a McDonald's restaurant and the U.S. Navy.

South African steel producer Highveld Steel & Vanadium on Friday announced that the disposal of vertically integrated assets Vanchem and its 50% stake in South Africa Japan Vanadium (SAJV), to Swiss firm Duferco Investment Partners, would be effective from August 29. The producer said in a statement to shareholders, that it had received approval from the European competition authorities, the South African competition authorities and the South African Reserve Bank, as well as the consent of the other shareholders of SAJV. The Competition Tribunal earlier this month announced that it had approved the sale of the assets, which formed part of the European competition regulatory body's conditions of the 2007 Highveld Steel acquisition by Evraz.

Low labor costs could lead to relocations of large producers coupled with the depreciation of the national currency leu. It could boost exporters' business despite negative impact on consumption, the report said, citing Lucian Anghel, chief economist of the Romanian Commercial Bank.

Production of cathode copper in Zambia rose 14.38 percent to 332,531 tonnes between January and July 2008 compared with the output for the same period last year, the central bank said on Friday.

In China, scrap merchants lost so much money in the second half of last year that many are idle; scrap is, therefore, tight in China. Some smelters have also been forced to cut production, led by Jiangxi Copper, who have had a blow-out in their oxygen plant, so we hear, which will take 6-7 months for reparations to be completed. Until 2009, importers had difficulties in opening Letters of Credit; now banks are enabling LCs to be given and opened.

The Commons' business and enterprise committee said just as the government had intervened to support the banks, it needed to step in to ensure energy companies invested in new power stations and gas storage facilities.

Zambia's copper cathode production rose 12.9 percent to 377,598 tonnes for the eight months to August compared with last year's output during the same period, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

The falling oil prices may have varied effects on the investment strategies adopted by the petro-states and also on the various markets being analyzed in this study. The level of petrodollar investments is bound to increase. However, if the trend of falling oil prices continue, the quantum of investments made is also likely to fall. On the whole, dramatic growth is expected in the level of domestic investments in 2009. However, international investments are likely to continue growing in a few key sectors of the economy. The following are the various international sectors that can be expected to attract maximum petrodollar investments in 2009 * Real estate * Healthcare * Industrial The following are the various domestic sectors that can be expected to attract maximum petrodollar investments in 2009 * Banking and financial services * Aerospace and defense * Industrial * Education

"The Chinese government and banks will finance Chinese companies to build $45.6 billion worth of energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan over the next six years, according to new details of the deal seen by Reuters on Friday"

"Some analysts have said the spin-off is like creating a "bad bank" in the energy sector, and suggested the move may be a template for other utilities."

The National Development and Reform Commission of China approved 25 new urban rail transit and intercity rail projects in investment programmes worth RMB800B (US$127B). The projects are expected to be completed in the next three to eight years. Local governments will be major investors, however, banks loans are also expected to constitute a significant portion of the total investment funding.

It was reported that Goldman Sachs anticipates a rise in European copper demand in the first half of 2012, albeit to a lower level of consumption than that which was seen pre-Autumn 2011. The company reasoned that current demand is unsustainably low, caused by fear and destocking, with European orders falling by as much as 20-50% since August 2011. It is thought that a rise in buying from both industry consumers and speculators will begin in early 2012. In addition, the bank expects an acceleration of Chinese demand growth in the first half of 2012.