HD edition 1

December 2010 $5.00

The Business Edition

All the big news from the business sector locally, across Australia and from around the world.

Blood tantalum Kazak connections Using viruses to fight cancer Chinese clamp-down on rare earths

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Welcome to HD Business is full of colourful people and daring ventures.

Edith Cowan University journalism students have explored the who’s who in this field to provide insight into some of the most dynamic Australian companies. To do this we rummaged through the ASX website, interviewed company directors and sought expert advice from leading business analysts.

Our stories were then handed over to design students who created illustrations to accompany the profiles.

The best of these profiles and illustrations from the 2010 journalism and design classes are presented here thanks to the efforts of design lecturers Stuart Medley and Hanadi Haddad and journalism lecturer Kayt Davies, along with a team of journalism students who subedited the articles and worked with the designers throughout the production process The process of researching, writing and compiling these articles into a magazine has provided us with insight into how publications grow from early ideas to glossy pages preparing us for life in the workforce beyond our university classes.

Articles were written by:

Illustrations were drawn by:

Roxanne Taylor (also a sub-editor) Ashleigh Telford (also a sub-editor) Sarah Taillier (also a sub-editor) Laura Beckett (also a sub-editor) Brian Oliver (also a sub-editor) Natalie Gerritsen Pippa Burgess Cory Scenna Beau Pearson Paul O’Donoghue Mailen Sorknes Nick Leadbitter Chloe Starick Jerrie Demasi Phillip Broom Fraser Beattie Jing Liu

Shanon Miller Agnieszka Pelczar Vanessa Tan Tim Barrett Chloe Martin Caitlyn Lancaster Boran Wang Catherine Goff Andrew Mees Emily Sumner Veronica Djojo Samuel May Dominique Rae Sarah Derroisne Jayadev Kamta Makoto Oishi Nicole Trethewey Natalie Nivison Liam Keeney Firo Firman David Chapman

We hope you enjoy reading it, The HD Team

Editor Dr Kayt Davies Senior Lecturer Journalism k.davies@ecu.edu.au

Art Direction and Design Dr Stuart Medley and Dr Hanadi Haddad Lecturers in Design s.medley@ecu.edu.au h.haddad@ecu.edu.au

Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford St, Mt Lawley, Western Australia 6050 CRICOS IPC 00279B

Cover illustration: Shanon Miller

FEATURES 6

Beauty business blooming for Bridget Black

Natalie Gerritsen Perth-based entrepreneur and chemist Bridget van Herk is trying to take her beauty brand, Bridget Black, global.

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Using viruses to fight cancer

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Sustainable plastics company Cardia set to grow

18 Boom times for Lynas

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HIV and tuberculosis research

20 Blood tantalum left behind

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My ATM tries again for float

Sarah Taillier An Australian biotechnology company releases promising results showing that its virus can fight cancer – but can the company overcome the hurdles to break into the rigid pharmaceutical market?

Laura Beckett Melbourne-based sustainable plastic and packaging company Cardia is getting ready to make its mark globally as it announces three supply deals in China.

Pippa Burgess Sydney-based pharmaceutical company Stirling Products collaborates with a US government research institution to combat tuberculosis and HIV.

Cory Scenna Controversial automatic teller machine operator My ATM is back again calling for new share applications after ASIC put a permanent stop order on its initial public offering in mid 2010.

Paul O’Donoghue We look at how the discovery of a rare earth resource boosted estimated profits for Sydneybased Lynas Corporation and sent its shares from just $2 to a record high of $15.

Mailen Sorknes Australian tantalum miner Gippsland Limited takes note of widespread ethical concerns and gives up its association with conflict minerals.

SNAPSHOTS 24 From manufacturing to mining Chloe Starick Once a retractable syringe manufacturer, RTL Corp is now looking at the horizon of coal exploration – if its shareholders agree.

28 ASX suspends Tony Sage

company over Kazak deal

Brian Oliver Perth businessman Tony Sage’s oil and gas exploration company gets pulled from the ASX after he refused to break his ties with a Romanian entrepreneur, who is also a convicted criminal.

30 Ramelius hits the jackpot

Ashleigh Telford South Australian gold miner Ramelius Resources posts record $20 million annual profit, up 400 per cent on last year. How did it win gold?

32 Sundance gets the green light Roxanne Taylor Iron ore explorer Sundance Resources shares soar after signing agreements with construction companies over a railway track and port for its proposed mine in West Africa.

34 Curtin spin-off making noise in the mining industry

Phillip Broom A geophysics project, which started at Curtin university, has grown into an interesting venture for WA-based company HiSeis.

17 23 27 37 38

BUSINESS FEATURE

Illustration: Agnieszka Pelczar

BEAUTY BUSINESS BLOOMING FOR BRIDGET BLACK

By Natalie Gerritsen

Bridget van Herk may laughingly compare herself to Estee Lauder and Body Shop founder Anita Roddick but if she has her way, her name will also become synonymous with global domination of the beauty market.

T

he chemist and founder of local skincare retailer and manufacturer Bridget Black is confidently steering the company through its most rapid period of growth yet, with the July 2010 opening of a third retail store to be quickly followed by a stint raising capital to expand into the eastern states.

Van Herk sat down in the unfinished treatment room of the new store in Perth’s CBD to discuss her plans for the future of a company that started

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as a single product made in her own kitchen.

“This was by far the hardest fit-out I’ve ever done,” she said of the new store, keeping one eye on the shop floor for passing customers.

“This store was hot pink and the floor was falling in!

“I tend to do most things by myself, I bring a tradesman in to do the floor but the rest of it is basically a labour of love; my husband, my twelve-year-old, and me just come in here and deck it out.”

Bridget Black has grown from a

single anti-ageing serum made for a friend to a company boasting three stores and a range of over forty products stocked in salons across Australia and New Zealand, including skin care, baby products and clothing, and candles.

Van Herk, a self-confessed control freak, is being forced to come to terms with relinquishing control of the day-to-day running of the company as it grows.

“The strategy for the business has been written and we’ve launched our Face-to-Face program which is our

therapists going into people’s houses and doing facials,” she said of the next few months for Bridget Black.

“It’s already launched in New Zealand, we’re just starting it here, and following that I’ll be looking for capital to grow the company, and we’re going to replicate all of these (stores) in the Eastern States.

“That’s been the hardest part for me, to raise the capital and put people into place and it’s hard to relinquish your baby!

“I’m starting to learn emotional detachment from it and to treat it like a business, which is what it is, but it just started as such an important part of my life; I was a single mum and trying to raise a child... it was just such an important time in my life and it’s hard to let go of it.”

The first in her family to gain a tertiary education and start a business, Van Herk is drawing on the strengths of corporate-minded friends in the United Kingdom that now sit on her board to guide her through the capital raising process, and she’s also studying for an MBA. “I really just wanted to learn about accounting, but I think it’s been quite instinctive,” she said.

“The manufacturing’s one thing but now I’m sort of learning with the business as I go, and doing things by gut instinct, rather than by what’s meant to be done.”

At this stage there are no plans to launch Bridget Black as a publically owned company.

“Maybe in fifteen years,” laughed Van Herk. “We might follow the Body Shop model, that seems to have worked pretty well.”

The new city store, located in a mall off St Georges Terrace, stocks the full Bridget Black range of products and will soon offer express facials, tinting and waxing for time-poor office workers, once the treatment room is complete.

“A store like this adds four to six thousand people to your client base because of the walk-by traffic, and it

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just increases your profile because you are right in the middle of the city,” said Van Herk.

She excused herself throughout the conversation to tend to curious customers, many of whom asked how long the store had been there, and sought advice on the products offered.

Informed advice straight from the experts is a core value of the Bridget Black brand, and it’s why Van Herk is pulling back on supplying independent salons with her products and instead wanting to increase the number of her own stores.

“It’s very difficult to put a brand across to someone who’s not directly involved with the brand, and I’ve found it’s a lot better to have my own staff that I’ve trained that pass on the

“It’s very difficult to put a brand across to someone who’s not directly involved with the brand.” correct information,” she said.

“They all come to product school with me on Sunday morning and they all get continual assessment and training about the products. I’m quite hard on them actually.

“There’s so much misconception about ingredients and what goes into products and I’d prefer that we’re all telling the same story, and the story comes directly from me.”

Van Herk has struggled with the day-to-day difficulties of running a business from Perth, particularly one involved in the manufacture of beauty products.

“It’s hard to run any manufacturing business from Perth,” she said.

“Everything’s manufactured in Perth and it’s really hard to get

anything really because freight’s expensive, I freight packaging from Sydney then it gets freighted back to Sydney and filled, and then over the New Zealand so it’s just constant back and forward.

“The ingredients come from Sydney, and some of the specialist anti-aging ingredients come from overseas, and they get manufactured by a contract manufacturer in Welshpool, and they manufacture for a lot of other local brands as well.”

The Bridget Black range encompasses face and body care products, a soy candle range, organic baby products and clothing, and soon the company will launch men’s range Bridget Black Bloke, which has been a long time in the making.

“It’s been a drama,” sighed Van Herk.

“The products are all ready to go but it is packaging I can’t get my hands on at the moment so that’s my issue. I try really hard not to source from China and it makes life really difficult.”

In the next year Van Herk also hopes to launch an adolescent acne-care range, which she described as hopefully a “Clearasil-type rival”.

In the long term, Van Herk has one clear goal.

“I’m Estee Lauder! The ultimate!

No...” she laughed.

“I’m planning in the next three to five years to move to France and learn traditional perfumery, which is ultimately what I want to get into.

“Chanel and another few perfume houses run intensive courses for chemists like me that want to be perfumers so that’s the aim for the next three to five years, and just keep things ticking along until I can take some time out and go do the course.”

A year ago it may have been impossible to imagine this ‘control freak’ taking any time out from her ‘baby’ but the last year has been one of broadening knowledge and horizons for the woman behind Bridget Black, as she continues her journey from kitchen

BUSINESS FEATURE

VIRALYTICS USES VIRUSES FOR GOOD

By Sarah Taillier

Anti-cancer biotechnology company Viralytics Limited (VLA) announced on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in late 2010 that its leading product has potential to treat brain cancer.

T

Illustration: Vanessa Tan

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he results of the preclinical study on mice showed Viralytic’s trademark product CAVATAK sizably reduced brain tumours.

Following the announcement the VLA share price increased by 2.49 per cent.

Viralytics is a publicly held biotechnology company focused on developing and commercialising virotherapy technology for cancer treatment.

Virotherapy involves using naturally occurring or genetically modified viruses to attack, infect and destroy cancer cells.

Natural viruses like Coxsackievirus (CAVATAK), which is associated with the common cold, are used by Viralytics to target cancer cells.

Viralytic’s main asset lies in its possession of CAVATAK as intellectual property.

Formerly Psiron Limited, Viralytics was incorporated and listed on the ASX on October 15, 1986.

Over the years Psiron made investments that the company still maintains in healthcare companies including Analytica Ltd, CBio Ltd and Inject Digital Aerosols Ltd. In April 2006 the Executive Chairman and a Director of Psiron resigned after a company they had a minor shareholding in, withdrew a large offer to Psiron.

The Psiron Directors had received criticism regarding conflicts of interest and suggestions of impropriety.

Bryan Dulhunty, previously a nonExecutive Director on the board, was elected Executive Chairman and by November 2006 the company changed it’s name to Viralytics, to “better reflect the company’s focus,” as the ASX announcement read.

Viralytics has struggled to raise funding in the past, though the last 12 months has shown a stable fund improvement.

Managing Director and CEO of Viralytics, Bryan Dulhunty, credits funding support to the company’s progress with clinical trials in the US along with the progress of competitors, which has helped to build market confidence.

“As of today we have 5.5 million in the bank and that should be enough, in conjunction with the convertible note facility, to fund us for 2-3 years,” he said.

“Which is a nice place to be for a biotech.

“So financially the company’s never been healthier.”

Viralytics has received long-term funding and June 30 account outlined that $500,000 remains outstanding in convertible note debt.

By July 2010 the market capitalization for Viralytics rested at $19.2 million.

A close competitor, Biota Holding, increased in market value from $25 million to $250 million over the last few years.

According to Business Insights, over the past five years the biotechnology industry has experienced growth rates consistently above 15 per cent.

The Global Pharmaceutical Biotech Market Outlook 2010-2025 states that the global biotech drug market alone was worth over $75 billion in 2007, which was a double-figure growth that read considerably higher than that of the overall pharmaceutical market.

The market outlook suggests that the healthcare biotechnological market will continue to strengthen in future years. Along with the growth in market interest, according to Dulhunty, the shareholder interest has also increased.

“In the last couple of years we’ve doubled our share base to 5500 and many of those people are small mums and dads,” he said.

“Just about everyone in some way has been affected by cancer; they and I like the concept that this is a potentially low-toxic treatment.

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“A lot of people take a very ethical view and are happy to pay money on that basis.

“We clearly state to everyone that this is a very high-risk enterprise but then again the reward is astronomical.”

The ASX notes that when investing in biotech companies it is important for investors to understand the risks involved in this sector.

A comment on the ASX website said: “While there certainly are significant potential rewards to investing in biotechnology, the sector has investment characteristics that set it apart from more traditional sectors of the market.

“Issues such as the novelty of the technology, the complexity of the underlying science and the early stage development of many of the

“This is a very high-risk enterprise but then again the reward is astronomical.” companies mean that conventional valuation methodologies are often not appropriate when it comes to valuing an investment in biotechnology.”

There are at least seven listed virotherapy companies internationally, though Dulhunty maintained that Viralytics was above the competition.

“The major difference is all of our competitors’ viruses work in a similar fashion to chemotherapeutic products, in that their viruses are absorbed by all cells in the body whereas CAVATAC attacks only cancer cells,” he said.

“So it’s very much a targeted therapy which allows us to use a lower dose.”

Viralytics primary focus this year is receiving approval from the FDA for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application that would allow the company to progress into Phase II clinical trials for CAVATAK’s treatment of primary brain cancer.

Dulhunty clearly outlined that

there were many factors affecting the release of a virotherapy treatment onto the market.

Clinical trials can stretch for years, although brain cancer treatment is not currently considered to have an effective treatment - meaning take-up is generally swifter than treatments ‘well-serviced’ cancers.

This aside, Dulhunty expects Viralytics to have a product on the market within five years.

Dulhunty admitted that although biotech is a very competitive field, if a competitor brought a product to market it would greatly benefit the company’s outlook.

“If any one company actually gets a drug to market and actually proves a concept, a lot of risk is taken out for shareholders,” he said.

“And if you reduce the risk, you should increase the share price.”

Along with increasing share price, Dulhunty hopes that having a competitor’s product reach the market would attract pharmaceutical interest into the entire biotech sector.

If Viralytics can secure an alliance with a pharmaceutical company it would mean avoiding asking shareholders to fund trials, something Dulhunty is all too enthusiastic about.

“If we can complete a phase II trial just when the first products are getting to market, typically it’s a very sweet spot for investors to come in,” he said.

“So our shareholders do exceptionally well and it’s a time when a lot of interest is brought into the area.”

Although Dulhunty admitted not being entirely happy with where Viralytics share price is currently sitting, he was confident that with the progress of trials the company would have a strong 12 months ahead.

“My aim is to keep delivering on operational performance but biotech is slow - and it comes in fits and starts,“ he said.

“Investors have potential for a very large return, but they need to be well aware of the very high- risk component.

“But it’s certainly a promising new cancer technology.”

BUSINESS FEATURE

CARDIA IS GROWING BIG, BIG, BIGGER

By Laura Beckett

Melbourne-based company Cardia Bioplastics could soon be a global name in the sustainable plastic and packaging industry after being the first Australian bioplastics company to enter the Chinese market.

I

n the last three months Cardia has announced three supply agreements with China, including its latest with an unnamed bag company, which will mean a minimum $US800,000 per annum for the resin technology to manufacture compostable bags.

Cardia’s Managing Director Frank Glatz said the recent deals with China and the $US1.7 million per annum agreement with the US were indicative that “there are much bigger ones coming”.

Glatz was not an easy man to pin down. He fielded my calls from the road, while on a fast-paced roadshow for investors in Sydney and Melbourne – his pace rivals that of rate the bioplastics industry and Cardia’s is growing at.

German born and bred, Glatz had over ten years experience in the plastics and packaging industry, with global companies such as Plantic Technologies and Orica, before he joined the field of bioplastics and Cardia in 2008.

He said after six years of perfecting the patents, technology, manufacturing and certifications Cardia now has a product it can “move forward with.”

Cardia Bioplastics Limited (ASX: CNN), through its wholly owned subsidiary Cardia Bioplastics Australia Pty Ltd, uses renewable resources to develop, manufacture and market environmentally friendly packaging and plastic products.

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The company holds a strong patent portfolio and its growth is fuelled by the global trend towards sustainable packaging.

Glatz said Cardia’s “flexible packaging” is made from bio-based materials, which use less oil and certified biodegradable materials. The company’s product range includes sustainable and biodegradable resins; Cardia Biohybrid and Cardia

“I’ve never been in a bad first meeting. It just doesn’t exist.”

Compostable; and finished products, Cardia Bioproducts.

It is estimated that sustainable and renewable packaging accounts for less than one per cent of the global $US180 billion packaging industry.

Despite the odds of breaking into the industry, Cardia has secured agreements with big brands – looking for green alternatives to the ways they do business – such as KFC, McDonalds and BOC Gas. “I’ve been in this field for six years and I’ve never been in a bad first meeting. It just doesn’t exist,” Glatz said.

“Everyone loves the idea of the environmental benefits. But then it’s all

about performance and price for the applications and that’s the challenge because plastics is super competitive.”

Glatz said the main barrier to entry into the marketplace was getting the price and performance right for risk adverse clients.

Recent deals with China, which has banned non-compostable plastic bags, and the US demonstrate Cardia’s appeal in countries that are currently placing the most emphasis on sustainable packaging. Cardia’s lead markets currently include Scandinavia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Glatz said while the Australian market is important to Cardia, due to the company’s headquarters and development centre in Melbourne, it is “not as developed yet as the European market in sustainable packaging.” eResearch, based in Toronto, Ontario, provides independent equity research on under-covered and underfollowed publicly traded companies.

The corporation accepts fees from the companies it researches and Cardia pays eResearch a fee of $10,000 on an Annual Continual Basis.

A report issued by eResearch on Cardia, released October 29, 2010, said that “tougher governmental regulations and international legislation” in key markets are increasing the demand for bioplastics.

Managing Director of Research Services at eResearch Bob Weir said that there are always risks to any form of investment, from stocks to real estate to bioplastics.

“Any company that is ‘new’ has

Illustration: Tim Barrett

extra risks, as it has to establish itself and its product with a myriad of sceptical special interest groups,” he said.

But Glatz said the bioplastics industry is accelerating at an alarming rate and Cardia is in a strong position for to be part of this “growth spurt”–and he is telling investors just this.

“It took us six years to get all the technology right but now we have a product we can really move forward with,” Glatz said.

“Last year we did not have enough funds because sales revenue was small.

“We put up to 50 per cent of the money into research development.

“But the initial sales in the last six weeks have been two to three times the sales revenue of last year,” he said.

Established in 2002 as Biograde Limited, Cardia has rapidly grown to become a global business and its spread of offices and distributors lay testament to this, including a manufacturing plant and product development centre in Nanjing, China, and offices in Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Germany,

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California and the UK. eResearch’s report said that the low production costs at Cardia’s facilities in China are “important in its pricing strategy since the costs of biodegradable products are higher than conventional plastics.”

Glatz believes it is a mix of Cardia having its own resources in these regions, distribution networks in Europe, the US, Australia and Asia and an experienced team in the sustainable packaging industry that has helped the company win major contracts, such as the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“In the world of sustainable packaging we might have one of the broadest positions in terms of geographical perspective, which really helps us to be a local player in these markets,” he said.

Glatz said Cardia is currently working with some “big, big, big, big players,” which will require more funds and more time to bring them out of the woodwork.

To raise the capital required, Cardia

announced its plans to sell all or part of its investment in Bioglobal Limited (18.78 million shares) and a non-renounceable rights issue offer to raise an estimated capital of $6–7 million.

The non-renounceable rights issue will offer up to 250 million fully paid ordinary shares to existing shareholders, on the basis one new share for each three shares held for the issue price of 1.5 cents to raise $3.7 million.

Glatz said the capital would be used to strengthen Cardia’s business through product and application development and to target international consumer goods and packaging companies. eResearch’s report questioned why Cardia’s shares have been trading so “abysmally” but said the company’s expansion into new markets (China, the US, and Europe) should generate significant revenue growth over the next few years. eResearch recommends Cardia Bioplastics as a Speculative Buy for long-term risk-tolerant investors.

BUSINESS FEATURE Australian Stirling Products Limited (STI) is now working closely with a US government research institution in a collaborative study to research what is expected to be a break-through treatment for HIV and Tuberculosis sufferers.

STIRLING TRIAL ‘BREAK-THROUGH’ TREATMENT

By Pippa Burgess tonsils adenoids

lymph nodes lymphatic vessels

thymus lymph nodes

spleen

peyer’s patches

appendix

lymph nodes bone marrow

lymphatic vessel s

Illustrations: Chloe Martin

S

tirling Products is a healthcare group that manufactures and markets proprietary and patented pharmaceutical products as well as natural health therapies.

It also develops agents to promote animal growth and is also concerned with the treatment of obesity, cholesterol disorders, diabetes, allergies and influenza.

Managing Director Peter Boonen recently returned from meetings in Washington, where he reached an agreement to proceed with a study to test the effects of the company’s

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all-natural immunomodulator – a substance designed to help regulate or normalize the immune system – ImmunoXel. Success in previous studies of ImmunoXel has led to the agreement to further explore its effects on those suffering from HIV and tuberculosis (TB).

ImmunoXel is a botanical agent and has, in some cases, proven to decrease the elevated liver enzymes and increase the CD4 T-cells, otherwise know as ‘helper’ cells that help the body invade micro-organisms such as viruses.

ImmunoXel is normally taken in conjunction with other treatments such

as anti-retroviral and anti-TB therapy.

Anti-retroviral (ART) treatment is the therapy currently used for HIV and TB sufferers but Stirling Products said ImmunoXel will be a much more beneficial treatment.

“ART provides only a partial immune reconstitution, has toxic side effects and is unable to eliminate viral reservoirs. Thus, there is an interest in immune based therapies such as ImmunoXel that alone, or in conjunction ART, may be able to restore immune function and prevent disease progression” Further study is needed on ImmunoXel to determine the specifics of this treatment in terms of dosage size, types of combined treatments and duration of therapy but Stirling Products is confident this next trial will see very positive results for sufferers of HIV and TB. The three keys areas the trial will test are ImmunoXel efficiency, in-vitro, on infected cells; the effectiveness on viral load, CD4 T-cell count and immune activation; and the effectiveness of ImmunoXel in collaboration with ART. Results from earlier trials involving ImmunoXel, proved it to be a safe and highly effective treatment for HIV and TB sufferers.

Recognition by the US Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) was a big step forward in the development of ImmunoXel, as the award recognises the potential for the therapy to become a leading immunomodulating product in the treatment of HIV and TB. The CRDF is a independent, not-for-profit global organisation promoting international collaboration through grants and technical research and training.

The latest trial involving ImmunoXel took place in the Ukraine and tested its

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effects on the flu, including swine flu.

Dzherelo, the predecessor to ImmunoXel, is widely used in the Ukraine as a preventative and also to lessen the effects and duration of the flu.

Stirling raised $2 million to fund the laboratory costs, physician fees and patient fees for the last trial.

“This proposed collaboration can certainly contribute to a rapid product acceptance.”

According to business publication Proactive Investors Australia, ImmunoXel has been involved in 12 previous clinical trials and has been used by millions of people over the last 15 years.

A trial conducted last year involved 40 HIV-infected patients who were split into two groups.

One group of patients were treated with ART and the other with a combination of ART and ImmunoXel. The total of T-cells of those patients treated with just ART increased on average by 155 compared to those

treated with ImmunoXel whose count increased by 190.

The big difference was seen in the results of the CD4 T-cells count with an increase of 93.5 per cent in the ImmunoXel patients compared to only a 57.3 per cent increase in those patients treated only by ART. These results were gathered over a two-month period.

Boonen said the results of previous trials were very promising.

“The clinical responses of patients treated to date strongly indicate that ImmunoXel certainly has potential as a major breakthrough in the treatment of HIV and TB” he said.

“This proposed collaboration, to which the company has agreed, can certainly contribute to a rapid product acceptance and adoption if the study findings further support the clinical results to date.”

Company secretary, John Diasinos said ImmunoXel has the potential to “reduce mortality and significantly improve the quality of life.”

Stirling Products Limited has been listed on the ASX since 1997 under the GICS industry group, Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Life Sciences.

Stirling Products invests heavily in ImmunoXel and the results of the next trial will be monitored closely. The company is confident in the benefits ImmunoXel could bring to the pharmaceutical market and to those who suffer from HIV and TB.

BUSINESS FEATURE

MY ATM FLOAT: TAKE TWO

By Cory Scenna

The controversial My ATM float has been relaunched – with a bulked up prospectus of disclosures including a working capital deficiency and a $15 million asset write-down – after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission stopped the company’s initial float.

A

delaide-based automated teller machine operator My ATM Holdings Limited is seeking to raise $10 million by issuing 50 million shares at 20 cents each.

In July 2010 ASIC put an interim (temporary) stop order on the company’s initial public offering (IPO). However, two weeks later ASIC upgraded it to a permanent stop order.

When the IPO’s sponsoring broker returned investors’ application monies ASIC reversed its decision back to an interim stop order and admitted on its website it had made a mistake.

ASIC finally removed the interim stop order late August 2010 when My ATM filed a replacement prospectus.

The IPO broker Novus Capital started new applications for shares.

My ATM operates on a business model of collecting fees from individual ATM owners, including ‘mum and dad’ investors, who buy machines from the company and owners of sites where the ATMs are located.

However, My ATM’s announcement, in June 2010, to seek an ASX listing raised serious concerns about the company’s viability and asset valuations.

Financial concerns The company’s accountants, PKF Corporate, said: “There is some

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doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern… due to a capital deficiency.”

ASIC wouldn’t specify why it had intervened – probably because it had botched its supervisory role.

However, ASIC media spokesperson Emma Forehan gave a hint, saying: “It may be useful to compare the replacement prospectus with the original.”

“There is some doubt about the company’s ability to continue … due to a capital deficiency.”

In the replacement prospectus the company said: “The deficiency in working capital will be rectified within one year,” partly from $1 million in short term loans from some of the original shareholders, and partly from the proceeds of the float.

The company’s balance sheet had also been revised. PKF Corporate slashed the value of the company’s

intangible assets (goodwill) from $20 million to $5.7 million, which in turn shrank the company’s net assets to $4.5 million.

New disclosures Concerns about the company’s managing director had been addressed, with a new disclosure from My ATM Managing Director Tim Scala about his managing director role in two failed businesses in 2005.

Mr Scala described the new disclosure as “technical elements of the document”.

Company co-founder My ATM also distanced itself from its disgraced co-founder Donald Fleming, a former bankrupt. During the 1980s and 1990s Fleming’s failed businesses cost investors $30 million. In Parliament the then South Australian treasurer Stephen Baker described Fleming as criminal.

In 2005 ASIC also closed down several unregistered investment schemes run by Fleming. Four hundred investors and creditors lost $17 million.

In October 2009 ASIC added Fleming’s name to its register of ‘banned and disqualified persons’.

Between March 2009 and June 2010 Fleming was My ATM’s marketing consultant when the company secured a major sponsorship deal with the

has reluctantly agreed to terminate the consulting agreement.”

Fleming’s consultancy company Schulamite Pty Ltd and Fleming’s wife Dee Dee will remain as My ATM’s major shareholders. Between them they have more than 52 million shares, worth $10.4 million (post-float).

According to his blog site Fleming

added the final touches to his debut book, Master Selling. In reference to My ATM and his stock holding with the company Fleming said, “it’s exciting times.”

ATM deregulation My ATM was established in 2008 to take advantage of the Reserve Bank of

Illustratio n

: Caitlyn L

ancaster

AFL’s Port Adelaide Football Club.

Under the Corporations Act 2001 it is an offence for Fleming to manage a corporation, including giving advice to company directors, until the end of his disqualification period in October 2011.

However, in November 2009 Fleming asked the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to overturn the disqualification. The AAT said Fleming can continue to manage corporations while a tribunal reviews ASIC’s decision.

In June 2010 Scala defended Mr Fleming’s $300,000 per annum consultancy role.

However, in the replacement prospectus the company said, “My ATM

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BUSINESS FEATURE

Australia’s (RBA) deregulation of the ATM industry, which is dominated by Australia’s big four banks.

Since March 2009 ATM operators have been able to charge a direct fee to any cardholder who uses their ATM. Previously non-bank operators, such as My ATM, recovered this fee (known as a foreign ATM fee) from the cardholder’s financial institution.

My ATM company director and former senator Grant Chapman chaired the parliamentary committee on the deregulation of the ATM industry before losing his senate seat to antigambling Senator Nick Xenophon.

As a senator, Chapman said under deregulation foreign ATM fees would fall to 50 cents.

My ATM’s earnings are directly linked to the number of transactions its cash machines turnover and the transaction fees it collects. These charges currently range from $2.00 to $2.50 per withdrawal.

In the replacement prospectus the company said its revenue streams could be adversely affected if it failed to maintain its transaction fees.

Market share The RBA said, after completing its one year ATM deregulation review,

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there was evidence cardholders were avoiding paying fees by using their own financial institution’s ATMs. RBA figures show there are 30,186 ATMs in Australia. My ATM, with its fleet of 474 ATMs, had a mere 1.5 per cent share of the market.

In the original prospectus My ATM Chairman Kim Weir quoted RBA figures, which showed the ATM industry processed 834.7 million transactions annually, with a total value of $150.7 billion.

While in the replacement prospectus Weir said: “My ATM has only a minute share of the [ATM] market.” However, My ATM’s website continues to claim the company is “a dominant force in the retail ATM market”. The company also said, “There is significant potential for growth of the ATM market in Australia.”

Competition EFTPOS, which generally does not charge a cash-out fee, is increasingly taking market share away from ATMs. In June 2010 the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) said in the year following the introduction of ATM direct fees the number of EFTPOS terminals rose by ten per cent to more than 700,000,

while the number of ATM machines increased by only 3 per cent.

Similarly, RBA figures for the same period showed the number of EFTPOS cash-out transactions increased by 9 per cent, while the number of ATM withdrawal transactions increased by only 3 per cent.

MY ATM has no involvement with the EFTPOS industry and the company’s prospectus didn’t acknowledge the industry as a competitor.

ASX listing If My ATM’s float is successful the company will list on the ASX on November 15, 2010.

The IPO’s sponsoring broker Novus Capital was not available for comment.

However, in a letter addressed to Port Adelaide Football Club members Novus Capital’s Managing Director Wayne Gooley said: “These challenging economic times present very rare investment opportunities such as My ATM.” The company aimed to have a market capitalisation of $45 million and the 20 cent shares will each have a net asset value of 5.2 cents (post-float).

The public offer for shares closed on October 25, 2010.

SNAPSHOT

WOOLWORTHS PROFIT UP $2 BILLION – SLIGHTLY ABOVE EXPECTATIONS

By Jing Liu

W

oolworths L i m i t e d (ASX:WOW), Australia’s largest retailer chain, posted in August 2010, a 10.1 per cent increase in annual net profit to $2.02 billion, and forecasted that the profit would grow as much as 11 per cent profit in fiscal 2011.

However, the profit outlook depends on consumer confidence levels, inflation, interest rates and the global economy.

Woolworths shares jumped 7.4 per cent, to a five-month high of $28.89 in the morning of the announcement, 26 August, reaching the highest level since early April. The stock was up 2.4 per cent at $27.54 at close of trade.

“This is a good overall result at the higher end of our prior guidance

in a challenging trading period,” Woolworths Chief Executive Michael Luscombe said in the results statement.

Woolworths, which owns Big W discount stores and the Dick Smith electronics chain, report its net profit was $2.021 billion for the year to June 30, up from $1.84 billion the previous year.

Reflecting weak discretionary spending, Big W sales dropped 9.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, compared to a rise of 12.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of the previous year, which was attributed to government cash handouts.

Woolworths also announced that it planned to return $700 million to shareholders through off-market shares buy-back program, and an on-market buy-back worth $325 million earlier in the year.

Illustration: Boran Wang

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BUSINESS FEATURE

THE STARS ARE ALIGNING FOR LYNAS

By Paul O’Donoghue Sydney-based Lynas Corporation seems to be one of the few rare earth hopefuls that can justify the hype surrounding the recent sector wide surge in share prices.

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ynas recently announced a significant upgrade in its estimated resource base at its Mt Weld deposit near Laverton in Western Australia, capping off a three month run where its share price went from languishing around 12 month lows to record highs.

Lynas announced in September, 2010, that an overall increase in its mineral resource estimate of 19.4 per cent was attributed to an impressive threefold increase in ‘heavy’ rare earth minerals, a type of mineral the ore body wasn’t previously thought to contain.

As a result, Lynas will split the ore body into two deposits, one of light rare earth minerals known previously as the Central Lanthanide deposit which remains essentially unchanged and the new found ‘heavy’ rare earth minerals will be known as the Duncan deposit.

The announcement comes not long after a nine-month shut down period at the Mt Weld project after concerns over the project’s funding arose as a result of the Foreign Investment Review Board rejecting China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group’s bid to take a majority stake in the miner.

All that seems a distant memory now as Lynas confirmed that engineering and construction of all major parts of the fully integrated operation were on time and under budget.

Further good news to come out of the announcement was that the freshly discovered minerals are all

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contained within the initial depth of 35m, meaning an open pit mine is still available to Lynas as a means of low cost extraction. And although the extraction seems simple enough, the science and economics behind it are anything but, and to understand it requires a look into the past of rare earths mining and how China came to control a staggering 97 per cent of global supply.

Rare earth minerals belong to a group of 15 metals plus Yttrium and Scandium represented on the periodic

“The Middle East has its oil, there’s rare earths in China.” table under the symbol Lu or more commonly known as Lanthanides.

Rare earths were first mined as early as 1880 as monazite beach sands in India, Brazil and even Australia although the discovery that they may be radioactive due to the presence of thorium brought a halt to many mining operations around the world.

Then came the discovery of a type of rare earth ore body that was richer in minerals than the monazite ores, known as bastnasite, in Mountain Pass California in the 1960s.

Although rare earth minerals aren’t rare – many are as abundant in the earth’s crust as lead or copper – the

story of rare earths is one of the rare cases where technological innovation had to catch up to the mining world in order to prove their worth. Rare earths are all priced and sold separately on world markets. However, when you mine one rare earth metal you mine them all, meaning the operator of the Mountain Pass facility was often left with a number for minerals to which there was no industrial demand throughout the 1960s and 70s. Mountain Pass still managed to supply the world with a majority of Rare Earth Ores (REOs) until the late 1980s before processing and eventually mining ground to a halt from 1998 as a result of cheaper Chinese imported REOs and environmental concerns.

Meanwhile, as a number of ventures have been flagged then scuppered, many Chinese decision makers seemingly realised the importance rare earths would play in not just industry but geo-politics too and quietly went about monopolising the industry throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Seminal Chinese Politician Deng Xiaoping is leader of the Communist Party of China and credited with laying the foundations for the rapid economic expansion China enjoys today. He was famously quoted as saying: “The Middle East has its oil, there’s rare earths in China.” The quote itself seems as much mythical legend as it is factual truth but none the less, the legacy remains.

From China, the Lynas legacy was born. Executive Chairman, Nick Curtis spent most of the 90s working for the

Chinese Government in the acquisitions division of Chinese National Non-Ferrous Corp. (CNNC). After the company broke up its assets, Curtis pounced on its Chinese based gold deposits to form Sino Gold, listing it on the ASX in 1995. It became a darling of the Australian Stock Exchange before being acquired by Canadian major Eldorado Gold.

Curtis would have been excused for putting his heels up but, instead he bought in to Lynas and took up an option over the Mt Weld deposit from Rio Tinto. He bought out the Joint Venture partner (a one Andrew Forrest of FMG fame) for $5 million dollars.

That may seem like a no brainer now when his company is valued over $2 billion but a basket of rare earths stocks were selling for just $2 at the time, they’re now over $15. A price he sees remaining quite steady going forward due to the unique nature of their demand.

Much of the technology we enjoy today wouldn’t be possible without rare earth metals. LCD televisions, Apple’s iPhone and Toyota’s Prius all use varying amounts of different rare earth metals. Even further, much of

Graph: Catherine Goff

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the technology we hope to enjoy going forward also depends on them, such as windmills to generate renewable energy on a commercial scale.

The Pentagon in the United States has also commissioned a congressional report due out late September, 2010 on the industry as a whole because of concerns that China currently holds a monopoly on the supply of materials integral to the manufacture of high-end defensive weapons.

“Demand is inelastic to price because you can’t substitute the rare earths for that application,” Curtis said while speaking with Bloomberg’s Elisabeth Behrmann last week. “You can’t have an LCD screen without rare earths.” Curtis is equally optimistic on just where Lynas fits in to the supply picture too.

In a move many suspect was rooted in maximising price, China announced in July 2010 that it would slash export quotas by 70 per cent for the second half of this year, something many believe will result in the US bringing a case against them to the World Trade Organization. However, domestic consumption of rare earths has been quickly gaining on production within

China over the last few years and many, including Curtis, believe it’s simply a matter of demand tightening the gap on supply, “It would not surprise me if China turned into a net importer of rare earths over the next five to 10 years because more and more technology is emerging from China.”

Whatever the truth behind China’s motives, it leaves a gaping hole in world supply of rare earth oxide that Curtis said Lynas will be first to start trying to fill. Lynas plans to become what’s known within the industry as a ‘mine to magnet’ operation, taking the ore mined at Mt Weld to a concentration plant just 1.5km down the road. From there it will be driven to port before being shipped to Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Malaysia for processing in to end-use rare earth products.

Considering China cut export quotas to an annualised rate of 30,000 tonnes, the 20,000 tonnes Lynas plans to bring online are likely to be quickly absorbed. “We’re on track to be operating the first fully integrated refinery outside China in the last fifty years,” Curtis said. The stars it seems are aligning for Lynas.

BUSINESS FEATURE

By Mailen Sorknes

GIPPSLAND -

NO ‘BLOOD TANTALUM’

Mineral resource company Gippsland Limited has resigned from the Belgium-based, non-profit organisation Tantalum Niobium International Study Center (TIC). This decision, announced to the ASX in late 2010, came with a statement that the Directors “have formed the opinion that the TIC no longer represents the interest of the majority of the world’s ethical tantalum miners.” Associated with what is generally known as ‘conflict minerals’ or ‘blood tantalum’, the world’s tantalum market has been under close scrutiny for the past decade.

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antalum is a rare and very hard, grey-blue metal characterized by its high melting point.

The metal has unique chemical properties, making it an essential element in the production of technological gadgets such as mobile phones, computers and digital cameras. It is also used in surgical implants, ballistics, and carbide cutting tool, making it high in demand for manufacturers in these times of consumerism.

The international tantalum market saw a dramatic change in July this year when the United States Senate passed a new bill to promote responsible trading practices and a greater public knowledge of corruption and conflict in poor countries.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world and the sale of ‘conflict minerals’ such as tantalum, coltan and tungsten has been a contributing factor of fuelling its 16-year-old civil war that has killed an estimated 5.4 million civilians.

The bloody conflict started after the infamous 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which sent many militiamen across the neighbouring border to the DRC. These rebel groups control the mines that derive tantalum illegally and profit from the trade, making them able to continue

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with the conflicts and the gruesome epidemic of sexual violence, while the world is watching.

Gippsland (ASX: GIP) is committed to keeping an ethical strategy and focuses on world-scale mineral projects which have been over-looked by other major resource groups. The company has reached success in the mineral resource

More than nine companies have resigned since January 2009, clearly damaging the organisation’s claim to be a main speaker for the world’s tantalum industry. area much due to their philosophy of entering into “equitable joint venture arrangements with overseas nationals.”

Gippsland’s prime assets are the 44.5 million tonne Abu Dabbab and the 98 million tonne Nuweibi tantalum-tin projects located in Egypt. They also

work on exploration for gold, nickel and copper in Egypt and Eritrea.

Due to the global financial crisis and the negative associations surrounding the industry, the tantalum supply has suffered a long predicted shortage which has had a dramatic impact on the international tantalum market. Market experts anticipate that this shortage will continue through to at least 2013.

The spot market (or cash market price) of tantalum has increased from approximately $US38 per pound in December 2009 to approximately $US80 per pound as of July 2010.

It is expected that Gippsland’s Abu Dabbab project in Egypt will satisfy the global demand with its production of 650,000 pounds of tantalum per annum and escalate to become the world’s largest tantalum producer.

“Abu Dabbab will become the world’s largest single producer of tantalum feedstock, an opinion that is supported by an increasing number of leading tantalum refiners and electronics industry majors seeking a stable, long-term and conflict-free supply of this vital strategic raw material,” the directors of Gippsland said in a statement.

Located in a massive grey building in Claremont, Perth, the diverse background of Gippsland’s directors may be the key factor for its success.

Gippsland’s Executive Director and

Illustration: Andrew Mees

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BUSINESS FEATURE

Chief Executive Officer Robert John (Jack) Telford, has more than 30 years of national and international experience in the resource industry and is largely responsible for securing the company’s projects.

Other directors include Londonbased Jon Starink, a chartered engineer and scientist with more than 30 years experience; Ian J. Gandel, who has extensive experience in the mineral resource industry and retail management; John D. Kenny, a lawyer with a specialised interest in initial public offerings and venture capital; John Stuart F. Dunlop, an experienced mining engineer with 35 years experience; and John M. Chisholm, who is the chief geologist with a background in the mineral industry.

Gippsland is not the only tantalum company to resign from TIC, which aims to increase awareness and promote the use of tantalum by representing all segments of the industry. More than nine companies have resigned since January 2009, clearly damaging the organisation’s claim to be a main speaker for the world’s tantalum industry.

These companies include other major industry participants such as Noventa Limited, Cabot Supermetals and Talison Minerals.

Talison Minerals used to be the world’s largest primary producer of tantalum, supplying more than 50 per cent of the world’s tantalum demand.

The company operated mines near Perth and was forced to shut down their mining operations in late 2008 due to the cheap inflow of conflict tantalum from the DRC. The tantalum in Central Africa is extracted from an ore called coltan, which is found in mines – often by workers who are enslaved or even children, while using a poor choice of dangerous tools and working under

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inhumane conditions. Hence the nickname ‘blood tantalum’.

The US ‘conflict minerals’ law is the very first of its kind in the world, and requires companies to publicly disclose if their minerals are sourced from the DRC or neighbouring countries. US President Barack Obama signed the Bill in July 2010, which will hopefully decrease the use of conflict minerals.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after the signing: “This is one of several steps we are taking to stop this illicit and deadly trade.”

The DRC is only the source of less than one-fifth of the world’s tantalum, which should set the stage for a large market for providers of conflict-free tantalum in the near future.

Gippsland believes that their “Abu Dabbab (project) is well positioned to

provide tantalum refiners with access to a long term source of conflict-free tantalum.”

Gippsland’s interest in an ethical practice means also showing their support to NGO’s Global Witness and The Enough Project, who works to expose corrupt exploitation of natural resources and crimes against humanity.

The two organisations aim to alert manufacturers and consumers to the role that tantalum plays in the war in the DRC, which many remain unaware of.

Most consumers don’t know the horrific fact that the tantalum in their iPods may have helped fund rape and war in a poor country.

It is a reassuring thought then, to at least know that Gippsland, WA’s major player in the tantalum industry, remains ethical.

SNAPSHOT

COAL FOR THE SOUL

Q

Nick Leadbitter ueensland mining company Macarthur Coal Limited recently issued a placement of new ordinary shares to raise $438.7 million to buy a new mine site in the Bowen Basin.

The shares were priced at $11.50 each and were available to eligible shareholders until October 5, 2010.

On September 1, 2010, Macarthur Coal announced to the ASX the completion of its purchase of the mine site known as MDL162.

Macarthur Coal signed a loan agreement with a group of companies and it submitted an application to the Foreign Investment Review Board and hoped to gain approval to purchase a 90 per cent interest in the new mine.

Macarthur Coal’s 2010 company report showed a decrease in the sale of coal compared to 2009. Its net profit after tax for this year is $125.1 million compared to $168.6 million in 2009.

Genevieve Fraser, a spokesperson for Macarthur Coal said the 26 per cent loss was a result of the Global Financial Crisis. “We have a goal of increasing sales from 2009 to 2014 up to 9.2 million tonnes of coal per annum,” she said.

Illustration: Emily Sumner

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The company’s goals for 2011 include expanding existing mining projects and developing its newly acquired fourth mine.

When asked if next year’s profit was expected to improve, Fraser said: “You can’t predict the market, our last quarter was significantly better than at the start of the year and we hope this trend will continue.”

£

$

$

$

£

€

€ $

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BUSINESS FEATURE RTL Corporation deserted its activity of manufacturing retractable syringes back when it was known as RiTract and now, following approval from shareholders, it is changing direction and becoming a coal exploration and development company.

RTL MAKES THE

‘C’ CHANGE

By Chloe Starick

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HDMagazine HD Magazine

Illustration: Veronica Djojo

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he board of directors at RTL announced that the legal and technical due diligence activities relating to the company’s call option agreement with Dugal Pty Ltd had been successfully concluded and the company had exercised the call option, subject to shareholder approval.

As a result RTL acquired 100 per cent of the share and option capital of Dugal, which also acquired two high priority mineral licences in the Zambeze Coal Basin deposits in the Moatize district of the Tete Province in Mozambique, Africa.

This is another mark in a growing list of changes for the vacillating company.

RTL is an Australian based company, which was listed on the ASX in December 2003 trading under the name RiTract, and its activity was originally manufacturing automatic retractable syringes.

In May 2008, the name was changed to RTL Corporation.

In June 2008, RTL announced that it had entered into a binding agreement with Every Day Mine Services Limited to acquire 100 per cent of the intellectual

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property, assets and rights to manufacture and market a specialised underground agitator for the mining sector called the Mine Mixer.

In August 2010, RTL announced it is changing the company’s activity again.

Alex Neuling is a current Executive Director of RTL and has been a member of the company’s board since it was listed in 2003.

Neuling said he was excited at the prospect of starting a new company venture.

“We are very pleased to be able to conclude this transaction, which offers an excellent opportunity for RTL to participate in an emerging coal-producing region.”

Neuling has more than ten years of experience in commerce, resources and public practice and holds an Honours degree in Chemistry from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom along with a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance.

If shareholders approve the proposal for RTL’s change of activity, the board intends to appoint Shiv Madan, Managing Director of Dugal, as Managing Director of RTL. Madan has been influential in acquiring the mining licenses in Mozambique, which

RTL will hold ownership over, if it moves into coal exploration.

He holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Commerce from Curtin University.

The company’s directors said that the interests of RTL shareholders will advance through focus on the licences to be acquired upon settlement of the Dugal call option.

RTL’s consolidated financial results for the year ended 30 June 2010 suggested that the company’s financial failings had provided some incentive towards the proposal.

For the year, RTL’s reported revenue was $32,888 against $136,438, down a total of $103,550 from the previous financial year.

Loss after tax from continuing operations was $765,828 ($0.16 per basic share) against $338,091 ($0.09 per basic share) a year ago, totalling a fall of $427,737 ($0.07 per basic share).

Net cash used in operating activities was $363,580 more in the financial year ending June 2010, than in the previous year.

Payments for property, plant and equipment was a massive $1.3 million less than in 2009.

BUSINESS FEATURE

RTL’s 2009/2010 financial year’s results all show a large decrease in financial gain RTL directors maintained that the acquisition was within the company’s stated objectives of pursuing acquisitions that have a strategic fit or would otherwise add value to shareholders.

Investors expected to see some big movements within the company for the 2010 final quarter.

RTL held a general meeting of shareholders to approve a range of changes, which included the change in activity, the consolidation of capital and the issue of shares and performance shares to Dugal investors.

Dugal opted not to proceed with the acquisition of a third license due to further legal diligence and as a result RTL and Dugal’s share and option holders agreed to a variation

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in the structure of payment to Dugal’s shareholders upon settlement.

If shareholders vote to approve the acquisition, a further 200 million ordinary shares, 200 million options and 50 million performance shares will be issued to Dugal investors at a yet to be announced price.

Each performance share will convert into one fully paid share if within 12 months Dugal presents another license of equal or higher value of the existing licenses to RTL for acquisition.

RTL currently has 645.5 million ordinary shares and 108.5 million unlisted options.

The amount of capital to be raised has not yet been determined by the company and will depend on the results of a 12-month scoping study, which will form the basis of a high-level near-term work program.

Even with increasing political unrest over carbon emissions, industry leaders insist that the coal industry is as strong as ever.

According to The Australian newspaper, Australia’s new Climate Change Minister Greg Combet had predicted that the coal industry “absolutely” has a future.

The coal industry has continued to see growth despite the pressure of the Global Financial Crisis and according to Informa: Mining and Resources, “coal prices remain at the second highest level ever seen and renewed optimism amongst the players is seen in the announcement of new mine developments.”

Mozambique is renowned for hosting high-grade coal seams and there is competition between mining and exploration companies to secure property there.

SNAPSHOT

FLOUNDERING NEPTUNE ANNOUNCES EXPANSION

By Jerrie Demasi Illustration: Samuel May

D

espite recording a significant drop in earnings, Perth-based company Neptune Marine Services (ASX:NMS) has announced a global expansion, establishing hydro graphic survey divisions in Houston in the US and Aberdeen in Scotland.

Neptune supplies services to oil and gas industries around the globe. The company recorded a considerable drop in net profit this financial year, falling to $4.1 million from $25.1 million in 2009.

Revenue also dropped but by proportionately far less, to $179.4 million in financial year 2010, down from $188.9 million in the previous year.

Head of the hydrographic surveying division, Bart Van der Groen, says the company has to compete with large international service providers such as Fugro World Wide who have a far broader reach.

“We are struggling to get as much recognition as we should currently have with a lot of large multi-national competitors,” he said.

“Some of our clients are big blue chip companies and unfortunately

they look for large international companies to give their contracts to.”

Although, Neptune says it’s certainly not a case of being unable to match international standards.

The company offers a wide range of services from offshore facilities and asset integrity management to subsea engineering and diving services.

Even so, Mr Van der Groen said that many larger Australian clients continue to favour international contracts and neglect to support the locals.

“For some reason, the rhetoric amongst big clients may be that they want local content, but unfortunately they do tend to employ the international companies before local,” he said.

“At times they can be a lot cheaper and the client does perceive them to be less risk. We just don’t have that global reach and volume of personnel.”

Late in 2010 Neptune announced two new contracts with Chevron’s Gorgon project, off the northwest coast of Western Australia, collectively valued at approximately $12 million.

Executives are hopeful that the global expansion will aid Neptune in securing more contracts like this.

“At the end of the day it’s really just a matter of contracts that are out there that we’ve been unlucky not to get and now we’re tendering in all parts of the world to try and rectify that,” Mr Van der Groen said.

S.S NEPTUNE

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BUSINESS FEATURE

INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM TRADES ASX FOR NSX

By Brian Oliver

Perth Glory owner and businessman Tony Sage has delisted his oil and gas exploration company International Petroleum Limited off the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

Illustration: Sarah Derroisne; Dominique Rae; Jayadev Kamta

A

fter two independent appeals to be relisted on the ASX, International Petroleum Limited decided to trade solely on the National Securities Exchange (NSX).

The decision to trade on the ASX’s rival exchange comes after the Australian oil and gas exploration company was suspended from trading

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on the ASX when the company sought to acquire Eastern Petroleum Corporation.

Eastern Petroleum Corporation holds oil and gas assets in Kazakhstan and is owned by Romanian entrepreneur Frank Timis, who has past heroin convictions and has trading limitations placed on him by the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Timis’ wealth was estimated at $US236 million by London’s Sunday

Times in 2008, making him Britain’s 47th richest man.

The ASX warned the chairman of International Petroleum, Tony Sage, that the company and Global Iron Ltd, another gas exploration company chaired by the Perth businessman, would be suspended if both companies continued with ‘company transformation’ transactions.

The transactions resulted in Timis becoming a significant shareholder

and acquiring a seat on the board of both companies.

On June 15, 2010 Timis became a Director of International Petroleum and acquired over 444,000,000 ordinary fully paid shares of the company.

On June 23, 2010, International Petroleum Limited began quotation on the NSX, while it remained suspended from trading on the ASX. An independent ASX Appeals Tribunal was held on the June 8, 2010, and a week later handed down a finding that the ASX’s decision to suspend International Petroleum from trading on the exchange was ‘infected with error and should be set aside’.

Following the finding by the tribunal, the ASX requested further information about the operation of the Company and the Board before it would re-quote the company or set out conditions for re-quotation.

Prior to the Tribunal hearing, shareholders of International Petroleum approved the de-listing of the company from the ASX if the appeal was unsuccessful or successful but with conditions imposed.

After the ASX requested more information about the operation of the Company and the Board, International Petroleum felt that the uncertainty of timing and conditions that may be imposed by the ASX was not in the best interest of shareholders if it was to be relisted.

International Petroleum shares were officially delisted from the ASX on September 3, 2010.

It traded on the ASX for four and a half years after it was admitted on to the official ASX list on April 27, 2006.

The market responded to the delisting with the company’s share price falling 8.7 per cent to 21 cents a share at the close of business on the NSX. The share price improved strongly on the September 13, 2010, to record a 30 day high of 26 cents per share, before returning back to 21 cents per share to next day.

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When HD Magazine contacted the ASX it refused to comment about International Petroleum being delisted from the exchange.

The ASX said it would not publicly comment on publicly listed companies, and that International Petroleum had already made several statements about its delisting since being delisted from the exchange.

In a statement the ASX defended its decision to terminate International Petroleum because it can deny a company permission to trade on the official list under the listing rule ‘absolute discretion’.

The listing rules say the ASX may grant admission and quotation on any

“Effectively we have taken the decision to move on and remove distraction caused by the ASX.” conditions it thinks appropriate and may refuse admission or quotation without giving any reasons.

In a statement issued by International Petroleum, the company said its decision to trade solely on the NSX had been made by the Board of the Company to ensure that shareholder wealth was protected and long-term wealth could be achieved without the distractions caused by the ASX. “Effectively we have taken the decision to move on and remove distraction caused by the ASX,” Sage said.

“We want to focus on creating value for our shareholders through

the exploration and evaluation or our Kazakhstan asset.”

In its current format the NSX has been operating since 2000, and was set up specifically to cater for the listing of small and medium enterprises.

To gain admission on to the NSX International Petroleum issued a prospectus in April, 2010, and quoted 100,000,000 shares at 30 cents a share to raise $30 million.

The $30 million raised is part of the Share Sale Agreement the company entered into when shareholder’s approved the acquisition of Eastern Petroleum’s fully paid shares.

At the completion of the acquisition, Eastern Petroleum Shareholders collectively held approximately 72% of the International Petroleum.

The capital raised will also be used to fund the company’s Kazakhstan Project in eastern and south-eastern Kazakhstan.

The Kazakhstan Project is an exploration for hydrocarbon, which is an organic compound consisting of hydrogen and carbon found in crude oil.

The exploration will involve the Alokal Basin, which is a major unexplored gas and oil field covering 32,000 square kilometres, situated on the Chinese border.

Standing in the way of financial reward for shareholders from the Kazakhstan Project are the risks that face the company while operating in Kazakhstan.

While there has been economic reform and improvements to their industrial policy, the Kazakhstan Government could impose restrictions or demands on the company, which could have a negative impact on their profitability, such as social investment to improve local communities.

In addition there is the risk inherent in being one of the first companies to explore new territory – and the Alokal Basin has to date had limited exploration.

BUSINESS FEATURE

RAMELIUS – PROSPECTING PAYS OFF … FOR NOW

By Ashleigh Telford

Gold miner Ramelius Resources Limited (RMS) – with a workforce of only 39 people – has posted a record $20 million full year profit, up 400 per cent on last year.

T

he South Australian precious metals miner secured an ASX listing in 2003. The company began extracting gold at its Wattle Dam mine in 2006, one year after discovering the mine’s gold reserves.

In line with the company’s recent surge in profits the share price has skyrocketed from 45 cents in July to a recent record high of 90 cents.

The company’s success can be attributed to a number of factors: burgeoning global exploration projects, swelling gold prices in US rather than Australian dollars, and a continuous discovery of high ore grades at the Wattle Dam mine.

The release of Ramelius’ 2010 annual report brought a lot of good news for the company and shareholders. As well as high profit results, the acquisition of a Mount Magnet mine, 600 kilometres north-east of Perth, is proving to have been a positive move.

With mining infrastructure already in place, including an onsite gold processing plant, Ramelius plans to quickly begin drilling at its Mount Magnet mine site. Production is set to commence before July 2011. In addition, published exploration results show gold deposits as high as 72 grams of gold per tonne just 50 metres below the surface.

Ramelius Chief Executive Officer Ian Gordon said anything over 10 grams is a significant find. However, he added, it’s “all subjective though, some people would say over four grams is a significant find”.

Located 25 kilometres south-east of Kambalda, in the Western Australian goldfields, Wattle Dam is the company’s main source of income. Last year Wattle

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Dam produced 60,000 ounces. The company said the site is set to produce upwards of 100,000 ounces of gold per year for at least the next five years.

The company has a number of joint venture explorations at several of its other mine sites, including an Australian site – Mount Windsor in Queensland, and two US sites in Nevada.

Add into the mix the fact that the Mount Magnet expansion is being funded from the company’s cash flow and that the company has no debt.

Even Gordon couldn’t contain himself: “This is one of the most exciting periods in the company’s history with high grade gold production and an unprecedented drilling commitment planned in the next four months – all of which will be on projects in world-class gold provinces. We are confident that this drilling schedule will deliver results that will add to the company’s near term growth.”

However, not everything Ramelius touches turns to gold. The company was relatively unknown until it was involved in a bidding war for control of Dioro Exploration NL. Ramelius managed to secure 37 per cent of the Dioro script before losing out to a higher bidder, Avoca Resources Limited.

Also, the future of Ramelius is not 24 carat in everyone’s eyes.

Earlier in 2010 Lincoln equities analyst Michael Feller was encouraging people to jump on the Ramelius bandwagon because the stock was undervalued. However, after the share price’s rise in September Feller wasn’t so upbeat: “Considering that it’s now over 87 cents, I don’t think its good value any more, notwithstanding rising gold

prices and a relatively low cost of production,” he said. Is this bad news for investors?

Unlikely, Feller believed the share price would plateau rather than drop sharply as it is now closer to its value, but like everything else gold is only worth what someone will pay for it.

And if gold continues to rise it is likely Ramelius’ share price will follow the trend.

But the factors affecting gold prices are complex: “It’s difficult to say whether the price will go higher because there are so many factors influencing it. Chief among these, of course, is the idea that quantitative easing or printing money will devalue the US dollar to gold and cause inflation. And then there are the many commentators who are saying gold will rise regardless of inflation in the USA due to renewed central bank buying and a potential relaxation of gold importing laws in China,” Feller said.

According to Feller, if the US and leading European nations continue to recover from the financial crisis there will not be an imminent need for the stockpiling of gold, thus the gold price will not continue increasing as it has done.

This does not necessarily bode badly for Ramelius as the company would have still recorded a $16 million profit even if the price of gold had dropped by $A100 per ounce.

If the gold bubble is really about to burst someone should inform Ramelius’ major shareholder Canadian based investment firm Sprott Asset Management. In a statement to the ASX Ramelius said the investment firm had purchased another seven million Ramelius shares in September.

RAMELIUS

Illustration: Makoto Oishi

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BUSINESS FEATURE

TRACK ON TRACK AND PORT SMOOTH SAILING

By Roxanne Taylor

Things are looking up for iron ore explorer Sundance Resources with two major announcements in September, showing rapid progress towards its Mbalam Project in West Africa.

T

he company is planning to build and operate a railway track and port to transport iron ore from its planned mine site.

The quick succession of announcements is likely to have sparked the spike in September 2010 share prices from $0.15 to $0.28 within several days, which the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) twice queried.

Sundance announced to the ASX on September 14 that it had signed an agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with China Harbour Engineering Company to calculate the cost and program of delivery for the Lolabe Port project, which is needed in Cameroon to export iron ore.

The company earlier announced on September 8 that a MOU had been made with China-Africa Construction (CAC), an arm of Chinese construction giant China Railway Construction Corporation.

Sundance and CAC will calculate the cost and logistics of building and operating a railway track needed to transport iron ore from the Mbalam Project site in Congo, through Cameroon, to the proposed port.

While these MOUs are only for the research and planning stages of the proposed railway track and port and neither party is bound to enter into

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the delivery contract for the projects, Chairman George Jones said the projects are likely to begin construction soon.

“We are planning to start construction in the middle of next year, that’s 2011,” he said.

“There is a two and a half year construction period, so it will be completed by the end 2013 to the first quarter of 2014.”

“The government, which will end up with a 10 per cent share of it as well, are very supportive.”

The ASX sent Sundance a query on September 13, asking it to explain the sudden spike in share trading and prices.

Shares had risen from a closing price of $0.20 on Friday, September 10, to an intra-day high of $0.26 on Monday, September 13.

There was also an increase in the volume of trading over that time.

Sundance immediately replied that

it had concluded negotiations for the Lolabe Port that afternoon and that an announcement would be released pre-market Tuesday, September 14.

It attributed the increase in trading and price to the previous announcement of the developments regarding the railway track with CAC. The ASX sent Sundance another letter on September 14, questioning the confidentiality of the port negotiations, as the shares had jumped from a closing price of $0.155 on September 7 to an intra day high of $0.26 prior to the release of the announcement.

Sundance replied that the MOU regarding the port had been consented by the Vice President late in the afternoon of September 13 and that it was not aware of any press report or market speculation that may have fuelled the share price and trading spike.

It attributed the spike to “optimism about the outlook for China, combined with Sundance’s MOUs with significant Chinese construction entities.”

It said that recent activity from other companies with iron ore assets in West Africa and recent press surrounding good economic data regarding trading between Australia and China, may have also had an influence.

Jones said the company had received all the environmental approvals but was still to complete a Mining

Illustration: Nicole Trethewey

& Natalie Nivison

Convention, which he said is the equivalent of a State Act in Western Australia. The Mining Convention will include agreements on all fiscal and operational terms, which will be put before the Parliament for approval and signed by the President. This then becomes a binding agreement between the government and the company.

Jones added the government approvals and title requirements are likely to be easily obtained as the government has an interest in the mine.

“In Cameroon this project will represent 7 per cent of their GDP,” he said.

“So it’s very economically significant to the country and therefore the government, which will end up with a 10 per cent share of it as well, are very supportive of all the approval processes.

“It’s much more straight forward than it is here in Australia.”

Jones said Sundance is looking for a joint venture partnership with a major steel mill that will sign off-take contracts, which will then support the financing for the project.

“So once the off-take projects are done, we can then complete the financing.”

He said the company is well progressed with these plans.

Sundance lost its entire board of directors on June 19, 2010, when the plane flying them to the project site in West Africa crashed into dense jungle and was not found for three days. All 11 people on board were killed.

A voluntary trading halt lasted almost a month from June 21 to July 19.

Shares dropped two cents, or 15.38 per cent, to 11 cents when trading resumed, with 40 million shares traded.

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A new board of directors was formed in early July, which includes Chairman George Jones and Non-Executive Director Barry Eldridge who have previously worked together on other company boards in Perth.

They both worked on iron ore mining company Portman Limited, before a disagreement sent them separate ways.

Eldridge was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer from October 2002 to April 2005.

Jones was the Chairman and sole Director but quit in March 2005 after a disagreement with Eldridge over share prices.

US mining company ClevelandCliffs (now known as Cliffs Natural Resources) approached Portman in October 2004 to bid for shares that were $2.20 at the time.

Rio Tinto and Brazilian iron ore mining giant Vale (or CVRD) announced a 71.5 per cent price increase in iron ore in late February 2005 when Portman was in the process of making this substantial share deal.

Jones said he and Eldridge disagreed on the price these shares should be sold at, given the sudden hike in the worth of iron ore.

“The bid price was $3.85 and I didn’t feel that that was the right price so I stepped down as Chairman,” he said.

“They got 80 per cent of the company at $3.85. They had to pay $24 for the remaining shares, so I was

proved right.”

Jones insisted it was “just a disagreement on value.”

“Barry Eldridge is a very professional, he was an executive and now he’s just a director,” he said.

“He’s a very professional guy and I respect that, just that I’ve got the moral high ground on company values in future.”

The two have also worked together on the board of gold explorer Mundo Minerals before Jones left over health concerns in June 2008.

“I asked Barry to join that board and then I subsequently resigned and he took over as Chairman,” he said.

“I had what’s called Meniere’s disease, which is a balance problem and I had a major operation and I wasn’t able to continue working, and I stepped down for that reason.”

He said he is now fully recovered after having nearly a year off and doing rehabilitation.

Jones said the new board of directors was working well but needed another member to join the team.

“The board needs one more experienced mining executive, someone who has built big projects,” he said.

“What we have resolved to do is set up as a board committee called a project oversight committee.”

He said he already had someone in mind for the job but it could not yet be made public.

BUSINESS FEATURE

CURTIN SPIN-OFF

MAKING NOISE IN MINING INDUSTRY

By Phillip Broom

Exciting new technologies and research projects are constantly being developed in universities, but the majority rarely take off because they fail to stand the test of time and commercial viability required to make them worthwhile investments.

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B

ucking the stereotype, WA-based HiSeis Pty Ltd, a spin-off from Curtin University’s Department of Exploration Geophysics project, is using university research as a building block to create a profitable business venture that is carving its own niche in the spendthrift mining sector.

Using new and innovative three-dimensional seismic imaging technology, HiSeis claims it’s able to map out faults, rock features and

Illustration: Liam Keaney

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formations, as well as many different minerals including nickel, gold, copper, uranium, ground water and coal, all up to 1km below the earth’s crusty surface.

Founding HiSeis shareholder Dr Anton Kepic said the decision to commercialise the expertise was an easy one.

“We obtained $2.5 million from the State Government about four years ago and the idea was to adapt the technology the oil and gas companies use to make it relevant to mineral exploration” he said.

“We then looked at licensing our know-how, as well as other arrangements and the best idea was to spin-off an independent company that is still closely tied with the unique facilities and equipment at the geophysics department here in its early life, but gradually that could become more independent. So HiSeis is an encapsulation of all our knowledge and experience.

“If we didn’t do that, it’s basically just a fine idea developed in a university that doesn’t really go anywhere and is kind of a waste,” he said.

BUSINESS FEATURE Kepic believes the technology can save the mining industry both time and money.

“Seismic imaging is commonly used in the oil and gas industry to assist with mapping oil reservoirs and in the past there has been difficulty in obtaining high level contrast in hard rock environments which has prevented its widespread use in mining.

“This new technology is primarily based on the seismic reflection technique, where you put an acoustic signal in the ground and look at the pattern and reflections to try and reconstruct an image,” he said.

The image is then analysed, developed and interpreted by a team of specialists at HiSeis to provide an accurate and detailed geophysical map of the area analysed.

“We had to create something new because there was just absolutely nothing similar in existence. A lot of people said that this technology could never be developed, but well, they were wrong,” Kepic said.

“With the technology we’ve developed, we are now able to work with mining companies to give them a much better understanding of their mine site geology using 3D seismic imaging.

“Despite being launched just under a year ago, the budding company has developed an impressive clientele and has its finger on the pulse internationally.

“We have about 30 odd case histories where we have several

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hundred lined kilometres of two-dimensional data and probably 30 to 40 square kilometres, plus other data sets covering up to 100 square kilometres of three-dimensional data volumes and these are being used now in current explorations by about a dozen companies.

“It’s a bit of a who’s who really,” he added.

“I can say BHP is drilling kilometre deep holes based on such data sets, Barrick is drilling in the US in Nevada, First Quantum will be assisting its mining operations in Finland based on this type of data, Western Areas is working with it as well for their nickel mining.

“We have helped Rio Tinto with their iron ore exploration in the north on their new deposits as well as small nickel miners such as independence group, western area and consolidated minerals as well.

“It’s worldwide in application and we have operated in New Zealand, Finland and USA already,” he said.

The company is also looking at dealing with operations in Africa, Spain, Ireland and central Asia in 2011.

HiSeis claims it will have turned over in excess of $4 million in its maiden year, a reasonably hefty figure for a spin-off born in the midst of a global financial crisis, largely thanks to its array of international contracts.

But Kepic admits the Australian mining sector has been a little tougher to sell its product to which is surprising given the mining boom, particularly in WA, but said the company is trying to address those issues.

“We are going down the route of making it more viable in its own environment which we still have a ways to go - we have gone a long way but there are a number of minor developments that need to happen to really get it to catch on even more. The cash flow generated by the business itself is funding those developments,” he said.

“A mine happens once the

economic threshold is reached and then there is a big rush to jump in and start digging it all up.

“We are counselling an approach where if you spend a little bit extra in the late exploration phase and early mine phase then you will reap great rewards with this data set as you gradually dig through and understand and build more knowledge and that’s what we are trying to communicate and that’s how we try to sell our product to clients.”

With the introduction of the mining tax just around the corner, HiSeis hope that mining companies will look towards its cost-efficient product to be able to milk their data-sets and save more money in the long run and that’s where Kepic sees real potential to make the big dollars.

“The real value in the long run could really be a total life of mine design,” he said.

“The idea is that the data-set is used first for exploration and then the same data-set is then used to think about how to design the mine most efficiently.

“That sort of process can save mining companies a lot of time and it doesn’t cost them any extra on top of the initial cost.”

Kepic also noted that HiSeis could provide an environmentally friendly alternative compared to other means of detecting minerals, which may help mining companies create a better public image.

“We use standard earth moving equipment, things like a tracked bobcat to conduct our seismic surveys and we only need about half a dozen guys on site rather than the convoy trucks and workers that other seismic surveyors use.

“The guys are in and out with minimum disruption to the sites and our equipment is lighter weight so we don’t have to make new roads in the desert either, which is obviously a lot less stress on the environment,” he said.

SNAPSHOT

DIGGING DEEPER FOR THE DIAMONDS

By Fraser Beattie

R

io Tinto has invested US$800 million toward the construction of a new diamond mine underneath the existing Argyle Diamond Mine, which is expected to extend the project’s life by seven years.

The global mining giant has had complete control over the Argyle Diamond Mine since it was first commissioned in 1985. Rio Tinto now wants to take it a step further and extract more diamonds from beneath the mine.

Construction of the extension is set to begin in early 2011 and be

Illustration: Firo Firman

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fully operational by 2013. The Argyle Diamond Mine has already produced over 760 million carats worth of diamonds and is a prime producer of pink, champagne, cognac and white diamonds.

Stockbroker for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Stuart Beattie said: “While this project is a step in the right direction for the company, the Argyle Diamond Mine makes up less than 1 per cent of the evaluation of Rio Tinto. While it is positive, it is still insignificant in the scheme of Rio’s cash flow earnings and valuation.”

Rio Tinto hopes that by the time the new mine, is ready to start production there is still a strong demand for

diamonds.

SNAPSHOT

ARCADE GAMES GO RETAIL

By Beau Pearson

I

n a first for the Australian gaming market, global computer software wholesaler 888 Software has expanded to retail classic arcade machines.

The arcade machines will cost approximately $2500 and feature 60 different video games.

Owner of 888 Software Paul Simmons is confident that buyers will look past the hefty price tag if it means being able to take a stroll down memory lane.

“The majority of 30 or 40-something men will find them hard to resist, given how much time and money we all spent playing Pacman and Frogger in our youth,” he said.

“They are extremely hard to import within Australia and they will also serve as a sound investment for the future.”

Simmons had his first delivery of the machines in September. He said depending on the success of the machines, he may have to upgrade from his newly acquired Osborne Park office.

“I have office space to accommodate the next container but if they do take off, which I am confident they will, I’m looking into some warehouse space for them,” he said.

The machines support single and multiplayer modes on all the games and unlike the older models are not coin operated.

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Illustration: David Chapman

Simmons didn’t have any trouble deciding on his favourite game on the machine.

“There’s a bunch of great games on there but who can look past Donkey Kong,” he said, laughing.

ABOUT HD Magazine* The Business Journalism and the Vector Illustration classes of 2010 collaborated to produce the inaugural HD Magazine.

The experiment has paved the way for future publications and given high distinction students a chance to showcase their work. It has also given students an opportunity to take part in the publication process from start to finish.

Vector Illustration (DES2104/4104)has a wide application

ing Vector based draw tal and t publication, digi in in television, pr titles eo vid d an m ion, fil web based animat rie t-o nted Vector or objec and interfaces. hematical at m ade up of graphics are m and line es rv cu ed ors–defin points called vect troduces xels. This unit in segments–not pi les and sty , e of techniques students to a rang n, consig de e th lved in applications invo or-based oduction of vect struction and pr illustrations.

Business Journalism (JOU3109/4109)

Private investors and public com panies make a significant contribution to the shape of our cultural and physical landscap e, and news about important new projects and developments often break first in the business pages. This unit equips students to access and report information from this sector by providing an overview of its stru ctures and of the concepts that und erpin the movement of money and the beh aviour of companies. The unit is focused on practical journalistic skill development and students learn how to navigate sites such as the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX ) and the Australian Securities and Inve stment Commission (ASIC).

These units are part of the ECU Bachelor of Communications and Bachelor of Creative Industries Degrees.

Each degree is made up of 24 units, and a set of eight within that 24 comprises a major. JOU3109 is part of the Journalism Major, and DES2104 is part of the Graphic Design Major. *At ECU ‘High Distinction’ means achievement of 80 percent or more for an assignment or a unit of study.

For more information about ECU courses visit www.ecu.edu.au

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