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Mined copper production was up 36 per cent on the fourth quarter of 2008 with higher production at all operations, notably at Escondida and Grasberg. Refined copper production was up 15 per cent on the fourth quarter of 2008 following higher concentrate grades and a further improvement in performance at Kennecott Utah Copper. Mined gold production exceeded 1.1 million ounces in 2009, 141 per cent above 2008, attributable to higher grades at Kennecott Utah Copper and Grasberg. Production cutbacks were maintained in the Aluminium group in response to market conditions. Bauxite production was down one per cent, alumina down two per cent and aluminium down three per cent, compared with the fourth quarter of 2008. At the end of 2009 Rio Tinto Alcan’s annual run rate was nine per cent lower than at the start of the year.

Redbank Copper released its Development Study for the Redbank project in the Northern Territory. Highlights of the Study include copper cathode of 2,500tpa (99.9% copper metal) with an average operating costs of US$1.40/lb of contained copper. The estimated project revenue of $539m, start up capital for cathode production of $17.25m for a total project capital cost of $54.8m. The NPV of cashflows $93m with an Internal Rate of Return of 68%

PAETEC Holding Corp. /quotes/zigman/105195/quotes/nls/paet PAET +5.36% , a national competitive provider of communications solutions, today announced that it has successfully provisioned high-rate Ethernet services in excess of 200 megabits per second (Mbps) via its advanced Ethernet-over-Copper (EoC) network

In ROW, our strategy of introducing a broader product range into developing markets helped to offset the impact of lower-than-expected volume across a number of countries. The uneven demand experienced during the second quarter is largely episodic, as the fundamental growth drivers remain solid, and GDP rates for many emerging markets continue to outpace those in the developed world. Sequentially, our second quarter results reflect the impact of stronger demand in Venezuela, Brazil and Zambia. In Venezuela, the company benefited from higher spending on electrical infrastructure as the country works to reinforce a weak power grid. In Brazil, our results reflect the aerial transmission shipments and the introduction of specialty products as the country continues to industrialize while at the same time preparing for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. In Zambia, our results reflect the shipment of aerial transmission products as the government invests in expanding its power grid. In addition, we strengthened our market position and product range in Colombia, Peru, Australia, South Africa and Mexico. In Mexico, we recently qualified and supplied our first high-voltage cables. Our market penetration into Mexico continues ahead of expectation, and is supported by a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with high-voltage capabilities ranging up to 225 kilovolts and a comprehensive line of products for electric utilities and contractors. Overall, our results in ROW continue to demonstrate the non-linear nature of our business in the short-term, as construction, mining and utility products are moved between reporting periods, government appropriations are authorized and infrastructure investment plans are advanced.

So what has made this outbreak so big? The overriding factor could be urbanisation. In the past, village outbreaks remained small, unless people went to hospitals. "Population size and high mobility make it hard to do contact tracing," says Peter Walsh at the University of Cambridge. Cities provide more chances to spread the virus, something that may also have enabled the spread of HIV. According to the African Development Bank, the continent has had the world's highest urban growth rate for 20 years, and the proportion of Africans living in cities will rise from 36 per cent to 60 per cent by 2050.

The greatest growth of spending for utilities is expected in sub-Saharan Africa where an annual rate of 10.4% between now and 2025 is forecasted. Spending for electricity production and distribution is expected to rise from $15 billion in 2012 to $55 billion, while expenditures for improvements in water and sanitation services are forecasted to increase from $3.3 billion in 2012 to about $10 billion by 2025. A substantial increase in spending in the basic manufacturing sector is expected in sub-Saharan Africa. Annual spending in the chemical, metals and fuels sector is forecasted to increase across the seven major African economies to $16 billion, up from about $6 billion in 2012.

Bell Labs is back, recently setting a new world record of 10 gigabit per second over existing copper wires. Why is this important? Because it solves the fiber-to-residence problem. Fiber cables for high-speed Internet services are being laid all throughout the country and world, but at a relatively slow rate due to the "curb-to-residence" problem. Many home owners are reluctant to let their lawns be dug up to lay fiber from the curb to the house, and many Internet providers are reluctant to incur the cost. Now Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs (Murray Hill, New Jersey) has a invented a solution -- a method of running 1-to-10 gigabit per second broadband signals from the curb to the residence using the existing copper telephone lines already there.

As the adoption of electric vehicles becomes more prevalent, an emerging trend is the utilization of larger on-board chargers, requiring charge connector assemblies with higher rated current capacity.