Australian Market Report of August 10, 2010

Sydney, Aug 10, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Australian stock market opened lower on Tuesday, despite gains in Wall Street overnight. In early trade, the S&P/ASX200 index was down 0.17 per cent, at 4587.3 points, while the All Ordinaries index had fallen 0.14 per cent, to 4609.3 points. Materials fell 0.5 per cent, Industrials was down by 0.1 per cent and most banking stocks were also lower.

In economics news, Westpac-Melbourne Institute will release the Consumer Sentiment index today.

Companies News

Berkeley Resources Limited (ASX:BKY) has entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding ('MOU') with the Korea Electric Power Corporation ('KEPCO') (SEO:015760) to finance and develop Berkeley's Salamanca Uranium Project. Under the MOU, KEPCO will invest US$70 million for a 35% project interest and contribute funding of 35% for the development and ongoing operation of the Project. In return, KEPCO will execute a proposed off-take agreement to purchase 35% of the Project's U308 production at industry standard terms, based on a mix of spot and term prices. The Salamanca Uranium Project is expected to become operational by the end of 2012.

Diatreme Resources Limited (ASX:DRX) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China's leading zircon and titanium company BaoTi Group Limited to fund Diatreme's A$311 million Cyclone (Zircon rich) Heavy Mineral Sands Project. Project studies released earlier this year showed positive results for a 9 million tonnes per annum operation producing 280,000 tonnes of concentrate. The Cyclone Project is expected to become profitable by 2014 and has a potential to generate A$50 million annual average profit for 10 years.

Hunnu Coal Limited (ASX:HUN) has commenced drilling at the Tsant Uul Coking Coal Project with an exploration target of 50Mt to 100Mt. The Company has a 90% interest in the Project, which covers over 69,000Ha in the world class South Gobi Coal Province of southern Mongolia. Initial test results at the Tsant Uul project demonstrated similarities to coals at the giant Tavan Tolgoi Coking Coal Field, one of world's biggest untapped coking coal deposits with a coal reserve of 6.5 billion tons. Existing infrastructure is in place and plans are advanced for the construction of a rail line for further exports to China.

Ivanhoe Australia Limited (ASX:IVA) will raise up to approximately A$231 million through a 1 for 4 accelerated non-renounceable pro rata entitlement offer. The equity raising will fund the company's Osborne acquisition and facilitate its ongoing exploration and future development. The company plans to produce molybdenum and rhenium ores from the Little Wizard project in 2011 and invest about A$55 million in the Merlin Project, the highest grade molybdenum and rhenium project known in the world, for the planned production during 2012.

Contact

Qiubei Fu Asia Business News Asia Bureau Tel: +61-2-9247-4344 Email: qiubei.fu@abnnewswire.net