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___________________________________________________________________ Eco Investor Update A Weekly News Update for Environmental Investors 19
December 2011 - No 62 The next Eco Investor Update will be on Monday 16 January. Merry Christmas and I hope the stock market is kind in 2012.
ASX 100 APA Group The offer is 0.326 APA Group stapled securities and 50 cents cash for each HDF security, but HDF said the offer is highly conditional, undervalues HDF securities, and does not account for HDF's significant cash flow growth, both contracted and prospective. APA recently lifted its interest in HDF from 19.7 to 20.7 per cent. The attraction for APA is that HDF owns Epic Energy, which has three natural gas transmission pipelines – the Moomba to Adelaide Pipeline System, the South West Queensland Pipeline and the Pilbara Pipeline System. The first two in particular connect with key APA pipelines. APA Group Chairman Len Bleasel said the combined group would have a market capitalization of $3.6 billion, enough to make it the 55th to 60th largest entity in the ASX All Ordinaries Index. APA said the offer implies a value of $2 for each HDF security based on the closing price of $4.60 for APA's securities on 13 December. The implied enterprise value of HDF is $1.8 billion. To help fund the offer, APA is selling APA Gas Network, its Queensland gas distribution network (Allgas), into a new investment vehicle for a price that represents a net enterprise value of $526 million. APA will hold 20 per cent of the vehicle. The remaining interest will be held 40 per cent each by Marubeni Corporation and RREEF. APA will continue to operate the assets under a management contract. APA managing director Mick McCormack said the net funds of $477 million from the sale of Allgas will repay APA debt and be available for the takeover. APA's gearing is expected to remain at a level that reflects its Capital Management Policy announced in August, he said. The sell down to 20 per cent Allgas does not affect APA's FY12 guidance for distributions. The estimated interim distribution for the six months ending to 31 December is 17 cents per stapled security. The securities trade ex distribution on 22 December. (ASX: APA) DUET Group The AMI program has been reviewed by the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance, which recommended the AMI rollout be completed to realize its benefits. To date, United Energy has installed 196,000 Smart Meters, with all remaining meters scheduled to be installed by December 2013. In total, United Energy will invest $345 million in its AMI program. David Bartholomew, DUET's chief executive officer, said "The Victorian Government's commitment to complete the Smart Meter program will facilitate efficient future network investment and help to maintain and improve network performance and customer service." The DUET Group has confirmed its interim distribution for the six months to 31 December is 8 cents per stapled security. The securities trade ex-distribution on 22 December. DUET's securities reached a new one year high of $1.86 on 14 December. (ASX: DUE) ASX 200 Hastings Diversified Utilities
Fund The offer is 0.326 APA Group stapled securities and 50 cents cash for each HDF security, but HDF said the offer is highly conditional, undervalues HDF securities, and does not account for HDF's significant cash flow growth, both contracted and prospective. APA recently lifted its interest in HDF from 19.7 to 20.7 per cent. The attraction for APA is that HDF owns Epic Energy, which has three natural gas transmission pipelines – the Moomba to Adelaide Pipeline System, the South West Queensland Pipeline and the Pilbara Pipeline System. The first two in particular connect with key APA pipelines. APA Group Chairman Len Bleasel said the combined group would have a market capitalization of $3.6 billion, enough to make it the 55th to 60th largest entity in the ASX All Ordinaries Index. APA said the offer implies a value of $2 for each HDF security based on the closing price of $4.60 for APA's securities on 13 December. The implied enterprise value of HDF is $1.8 billion. (ASX: HDF) ASX 300 Tox Free Solutions The placement was $2 per share. Tox Free plans to offer a share purchase plan to acquire up to $10,000 in new shares, also at $2 each. Tox Free's chairman, Bob McKinnon said the placement puts Tox Free in a very strong position to continue to build its industry position, and he is confident that Tox Free will continue to deliver strong shareholder returns. The $58 million acquisition is conditional on shareholder approval by DoloMatrix shareholders. As well as the placement, the acquisition will be funded with $40 million in debt. Tox Free has entered into a new senior debt facility with ANZ which will be fully drawn. Tox Free will have surplus cash of $5.2 million above the acquisition cost and excluding any proceeds from the SPP. Managing director, Steve Gostlow said "This acquisition has a very high strategic fit with the Tox Free business, and will position Toxfree as the leading provider of hazardous waste management services in Australia. This acquisition will broaden our national footprint and enable Toxfree to offer an expanded range of services in collection, recycling and destruction." The businesses being acquired are profitable business with strong operating margins, and there is potential for cost savings and value add to systems and processes. Tox Free expects the acquisition to be 11 per cent accretive to earnings per share in FY2012. Morgan Stanley acted as sole book runner and joint lead manager and Evans & Partners acted as joint lead manager to the institutional placement. (ASX: TOX)
ASX 200 Energy World Corporation Qube Logistics Qube is also in the process of negotiating additional debt facilities to supplement funding capacity for these transactions. Carlyle Infrastructure Partners (CIP) subscribed for $50 million of the placement and a range of institutional investors subscribed for the balance. CIP's relevant interest in Qube increased to 14.8 per cent. UBS AG Australia acted as placement agent to investors other than CIP. Qube has also announced an agreement with the minority management shareholders in POTA Holdings Pty Limited to acquire its shareholding in POTA and increase Qube's shareholding in POTA from 94.7 per cent to 100 per cent. POTA forms Qube's Landside Logistics division. Consideration is $21.4 million and will be paid through the issue of 15.85 million Qube shares at $1.35 each. Meanwhile, stevedores at POAGS, Qube's Automotive, Bulk and General Stevedoring Division, began a nationwide strike over pay and safer working conditions. The stevedores quickly returned to work at Port Kembla, but took a little longer at Fremantle and Bunbury, where union workers had been locked out by the company. The new minister for Industrial Relations, Bill Shorten, announced that POAGS and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) have agreed to a mediator appointed by Fair Work Australia and a four week conciliation process. "No one is saying this dispute is over – there are real concerns and issues on both sides – talking at the bargaining table is the way to resolve these issues and Fair Work Australia can support the parties in ensuring the negotiations are fruitful," said the minister. (ASX: QUB) Emerging Companies DoloMatrix International If the sale proceeds, DoloMatrix shareholders will receive approximately 39 cents per share by way of a capital return and, to the extent the company can, a fully-franked interim dividend, although this is unlikely to exceed 1 cent per share. DoloMatrix's shares leapt on the news from 26 to 36 cents. Chairman Iain Thompson said the directors unanimously recommended that shareholders approve the transaction. "The Board believes that the proposed transaction is in the best interests of shareholders. It is a cash offer and provides liquidity at a significant premium to the current trading price and volume weighted average trading prices over the last twelve months." Weston Aluminium Pty Ltd and CVC Ltd each hold over 10 per cent of the equity and will vote in favour of all resolutions. DoloMatrix shareholders will end up owning shares in a listed company that has enough cash to fund its operations for a long enough time to either be used as a listed vehicle for other purposes or to wind up the company. ASX policy is to not allow cash boxes to remain listed for over six months. DoloMatrix has appointed Lonergan Edwards and Associates to prepare an Independent Expert's report on whether the transaction is fair and reasonable and in the best interests of shareholders. (ASX: DMX) Energy Developments The scheme starts operating this month. The Carbon Farming Initiative now allows landfill operators and clean energy businesses that work with them to create carbon credits by capturing methane emissions to produce electricity for sale to the grid, or destroy it through flaring. Regional Development and Local Government minister Simon Crean said the methodology for the capture and combustion of methane in landfill gas from legacy waste under the Carbon Farming Initiative provides an incentive for the waste management industry and local governments to reduce emissions. "I have travelled across Australia participating in 16 community forums on our clean energy future and it is clear that communities and local governments welcome the opportunities presented by the Carbon Farming Initiative," said Mr Crean. Parliamentary secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, said "Landfill operators will now have the capacity to use credits for their own compliance with the carbon price, sell excess credits to other polluters or onto international carbon markets." Landfill site operators who convert methane to carbon dioxide by generating electricity can also earn revenue from the sale of Renewable Energy Certificates under the Renewable Energy Target. Energy Developments' managing director Greg Pritchard welcomed the announcement and said that the abatement of greenhouse gases from EDL's Australian landfill gas power projects is equivalent to removing about 400,000 cars from the road, while producing enough clean electricity to power about 60,000 homes. "We see this sector as an important contributor to meeting the challenge of reducing Australian greenhouse gas emissions," said Mr Pritchard. Credits created under the methodology are expected to exceed the carbon price liability on the landfill waste sector in the period to 2020. (ASX: ENE) Environmental Group Greencap Novarise Renewable Resources
International Solco The rights issue has been withdrawn "until pricing stability returns to the solar industry and Solco can again demonstrate to its shareholders the benefits of making an additional investment in the company." Solco remains confident that it is well placed to see through the downturn and in a better position than its competitors to take advantage of the current conditions. "The Board remains confident that there is upside to the fact that falling panel prices will mean a more rapid bring forward of price parity for both residential and commercial customers. Solco is continuing to assess new opportunities in commercial solar projects and in potential acquisitions whilst managing its cost base in line with reduced revenues." Solco's share price has hit a one year low of 6.7 cents. (ASX: SOO)
Micro Cap Companies Aeris Environmental Australian Renewable Fuels Director Andrew White has exercised options worth $91,500, while Julien Playoust has directly and indirectly increased his holding significantly through on-market and off-market trades and the exercise of options. A number of resolutions relating to share options for directors and the re-election of Tom Engelsman as a director were withdrawn prior to the annual general meeting. Mr Engelsman has resigned from the management as well as the board of the company. The company said that "Given his major involvement, not only with the reconstruction of the basic ARW business, but also in securing the expanded position in Australia and Indonesia, Tom believes that it now an opportune time to leave the next stages of development and growth to the new Board and management team. "The company is well positioned to take advantage of the benefits outlined in the recent announcements, and Tom's efforts have created many of those opportunities," said Phil Garling, chairman of the company. November saw a dramatic increase in sales to nearly $6 million, the majority of which was exports. (ASX: ARW) Carbon Conscious Clean Seas Tuna Green Invest Mr Ron Lunt has also stepped down as an executive director. Chairman Peter Mccoy said the board is looking to appoint an industry representative and possibly a US representative as directors. The company is negotiating a joint venture for its US operation or the sale of the North American rights to the Green Star and Green Plumber brands. (ASX: GNV) Intermoco The contracts are for the second and third stages of a six stage development by the Maidstone Property Group. The Willow Park development is in Melbourne and comprises 359 apartments. The two additional stages began generating revenues in September and December 2011 respectively. The initial duration of the contracts will be five years with an option for a further five years. Intermoco said further contracts are expected for the remaining stages during 2012. Maidstone Properties Pty Ltd is part of the JMC Group, a well established Melbourne based property developer. Intermoco said that "Given the recent rapid growth in contracted Embedded Network sites, and increased demand within its product sales business, Intermoco has raised short term funding of $400,000 from an entity associated with significant shareholder Stephen Copulos and another party. "The funds will be used for upfront costs associated with Embedded Networks such as purchase of products, and for other working capital. The loan is repayable on 31 March 2012 unless converted into ordinary shares. The lenders have the right to convert the loan into shares at 0.2 cents per share, although the current preference of both parties is for the loans to be repaid." Meanwhile La Jolla Cove Investors has converted another 29,411,765 shares at 1.7 cents each. Intermoco's share price is at 0.2 cents. (ASX: INT) Mission NewEnergy Nanosonics In addition, the Trophon EPR was displayed by agent GE Healthcare (GEHC) at the 2011 Trade Show hosted by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago in late November. The show had more than 80,000 attendees. "The response from customers including government, the GEHC sales force and overseas visitors was one of universal acclaim for the unique clean, green benefits of the Trophon EPR system," says Nanosonics. "Interest in and demand for the Trophon EPR system surpassed all expectations." At RSNA GEHC announced that the Trophon EPR is an integral part of its current and long term roadmap in providing the most advanced "clean, green" solutions via its "healthymagination" program. Nanosonics' chief executive, Ron Weinberger said the level of international enquiry for markets such as South America, Canada and Asia is also supportive. Nanosonics is to supply GE Healthcare with a range of "commercially attractive accessories for the pre-cleaning of ultrasound probes prior to the use in the Trophon EPR as mandated by regulators and global best practice," he said. With production underway at its new manufacturing facility, Nanosonics is now building significant quantities of the 110v (N10) and 220v (N20) versions of Trophon EPR for the global market. "All of the key manufacturing metrics are trending well and support our envisaged further planned production scale-up in 2012," said Mr Weinberger. Nanosonics has reached an agreement "in principle" with a major corporation for the funding, development and commercialization of a new Nanosonics device based on the NanoNebulant platform. This will address a significant unmet need in the global market place, he said. (ASX: NAN) Pacific Energy Po Valley Energy Following full evaluation of the test results, production rates will be finalized. At this stage the company estimates a daily production rate in the order of 0.7 million cubic feet/day. Revised reserves will be determined after initial well production data is incorporated in the static and dynamic model of the field. There was no water associated with the gas production. The single completed well will be ready to be connected to the existing on-site gas treatment plant after the rig is demobilized. "With this result confirming the potential of significantly increasing production at Castello and the progress made on the other elements of the company's development and exploration program, our team's capacity to monetize our gas resources by delivering on our projects and prospects in the strong Italian gas market means we are well positioned for 2012," said Po Valley Energy chief executive, Giovanni Catalano. (ASX: PVE) RedFlow In between, the company announced it had supplied its first zinc bromine battery module (ZBM) for testing in US. The ZBM is being tested by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) as part of a multi-phase project to develop advanced performance metrics for flow battery systems. Chief executive Phil Hutchings said the US step is important for the company's plan to grow its sales profile. "Sandia National Laboratories is one of the world's leading laboratories in the energy sector, and is highly regarded. A second unit will be supplied early in 2012 to further progress the testing and characterization," he said. This collaboration will advance the goals of SNL, the Department of Energy and RedFlow by improving energy storage testing and evaluation practices. The work is funded by Dr Imre Gyuk of the Department of Energy Office of Electricity, Energy Storage Program. The ZBM is designed to stand alone or be integrated into larger electricity storage systems. It can be scaled from small kilowatt to larger megawatt-scale applications. RedFlow already supplies energy storage systems that meet the requirements of the distribution utilities in Australia and New Zealand. (ASX: RFX) Vmoto One buyer has been managing director Charles Chen, who indirectly acquired 2 million shares on market. 1 million were at 1.63 cents each and 1 million at 1.4 cents each. Meanwhile, last month Vmoto marketed its electric scooters at what it says is one of the world's largest international motorcycle exhibitions, EICMA (Esposizione Internazionale Ciclo Motociclo e Accessori), in Milan, Italy. Vmoto showcased an "intelligent electric scooter" that has a computer system developed by Vmoto's customer in Canada, Saturna Green Systems Inc (SGS). The system is a world first in electric scooters and allows for GPS services including mapping, range estimation and battery maximization together with the ability to access the internet. The system is integrated into the scooter's dashboard. Vmoto also showcased its new "lithium battery" electric scooter, which can achieve higher speeds and a longer distance range than the existing "silicone battery" electric scooter. The company said reaction and feedback from the exhibition was encouraging with a number of new potential customers taking orders for evaluation and discussing distribution agreements for potential larger orders in 2012 and 2013. Managing director Charles Chen said sales for the December quarter are anticipated to be lower than the September quarter, and the company has reduced overheads. Despite slower physical sales, the pipeline of potential new orders is positive, he said. For example, another 130 units of the E-Max 120SD delivery version of the electric scooter have been ordered by Correos; exclusive distribution agreements have been signed for Denmark and Sweden; and discussion has opened with Domino's Pizza in Holland to trial electric scooters for their fleet following announcement of the Domino's Pizza trial in Australia. There has also been a recent order for 100 units of Vmoto's petrol scooters for an existing Korean customer. (ASX: VMT)
ASX 200 Dart Energy "The debate in New South Wales with CSG relates primarily to community concerns over the practice of fraccing, and its potential impact on artesian water supplies and agricultural land use," said Mr Davies. "Whilst there has been a history of successful and safe fracturing of wells throughout the world over many decades we recognise and accept the community's concerns. We believe it is incumbent on the CSG industry to work proactively with local communities to allay those concerns. "Our view is that an open and transparent industry operating in accordance with appropriate regulations, properly enforced, is the best way to minimise the risks and maximise the benefits." Mr Davies also re-iterated that "despite some media claims to the contrary, we have no plans to frac wells in New South Wales. We do not use diesel in our drilling fluids, and we do not have any plans to do so in the future." He also noted that the CSG industry does not "mine" CSG as "often described", but drills wells, as in conventional oil and gas wells, using a small drilling bit and a small surface footprint. "Our seven New South Wales licences are an important part of our portfolio, with a substantial gas resource. They have the capacity to make a difference to the state, which is facing a looming energy shortfall, with gas demand expected to triple over the next 20 years," said Mr Davies. "A successful CSG industry in New South Wales could lead to wealth and job opportunities, especially in rural areas, as happened in Queensland over the last decade. It could also help to reduce upward pressure on electricity prices if the success that companies like Arrow Energy had in Queensland can be replicated in New South Wales. "Environmentally, next
generation renewable energy sources are not yet capable of viably meeting
the growing demand for energy, so as in many other parts of the world,
CSG is a The company has cash of $143 million, and during 2012 it expects "to see revenues commence in at least three countries and with a clear line of sight to how those revenues will build to materiality through 2013". Meanwhile, shares in Dart Energy hit a new all time low of 41 cents on 15 December. (ASX: DTE) Micro Cap Companies Algae.Tec Algae.Tec said the funding will enable it to fast-track strategic projects in Asia such as the Holcim Lanka biofuels and carbon capture facility, projects in Europe, and one global deal in particular. Executive chairman Roger Stroud it will also be used to expand the company's technical engineering team with experts specific to the fuel industry. The funds will be drawn in monthly payments of $200,000. The issue price for conversion is 85 per cent of the average 21 day trading price. In what seems to be a good move, if the conversion price falls below 25 cents, the conversion must be approved by shareholders. Over a few days Algae.Tec's shares spiked from 34.5 cents to 57.5 cents on 14 December, but have fallen back to around 52 cents. Funds raised in the company's 2011 ASX float are dedicated to building the Shoalhaven One biofuels production and carbon capture facility at Nowra, south of Sydney, which has been granted permitting approval. The modules have started shipping from the USA and will arrive over the next month. (ASX: AEB) Blue Energy On a Gas in Place basis, the Monslatt 9 well has increased the Monslatt Block gas resource by 448 PJ. Total gas in place at ATP814P is 7,434 PJ, while the contingent resource is 2,192 PJ. Well data from the recent Sapphire 4 Core/Pilot well are still being assessed by NSAI. (ASX: BUL) Carnegie Wave Energy The detailed Chilean site assessment study builds on the previous Chilean wave energy study by Garrad Hassan. The earlier study found that if only 10 per cent of the theoretical wave resource identified was extractable then potentially 17 GW of capacity could be installed off Chile. This has the potential to completely power the main Chilean Electricity grid (the Sistema Interconectado Central). Based on the favourable site assessment results, Carnegie has appointed the Chilean based Renewable Energy Development Enterprises (REDE) as its local Chilean development partner. Carnegie and REDE have signed a five year development agreement which will see the companies work together in building CETO projects in the country. Arturo Troncoso, the executive director of REDE, has been appointed as Carnegie's South American Development Manager. Mr Troncoso is a Chilean based in Santiago and has been working with Carnegie for four years. He has extensive experience in the navy and the Chilean hydroelectric and mining industries. Mr Arturo Troncoso said "REDE is very excited to be working with Carnegie and the CETO technology. Especially given that Australia and Chile have probably the two largest sovereign wave energy resources on earth. The level of interest we are getting from local utilities confirms our belief that the CETO technology with its hydroelectric synergies and its lack of visual impact will be the key to unlocking and harnessing, on a large scale, this resource for Chile. "Energy security is very important to us, as unlike Australia we do not have our own fossil fuel resources and our energy demand is growing rapidly." The Chilean Government has supported wave energy feasibility studies including the deployment of wave buoys for site specific measurements. It has also enacted Non Conventional Renewable Energy target legislation to financially incentivize renewable energy development outside of the hydroelectric industry. The main Chilean electricity grid, the Sistema Interconectado Central, sources half of its energy from hydroelectricity and the other half from imported fossil fuels. Wave energy offers Chile an important alternative, says Carnegie. Carnegie's shares have fallen to a three year low of 4.9 cents. This may be partly explained by Carnegie's current share purchase which offers shares at 5 cents each. (ASX: CWE) Dyesol An important point in this ongoing research into efficiency and product optimization is that by using larger strip cells a valid representation of commercial product performance is gained, he said. The increase in efficiency results from improvements in materials and structural design. The dye solar cell works as a system, with each input impacting the others. The achieved gains means the amount of energy generated by any product will significantly increase. The improvements feed into product development work underway with Dyesol partners Tata Steel and Pilkington North America and Dyesol's other global activities. (ASX: DYE) Earth Heat Resources The bulk of the shares were subscribed by Australian institutions, the remainder with sophisticated investors. The proceeds will fund overheads and activities for the company's major projects. A senior debt syndication process has commenced with IDB in Washington, and there has been strong progress with additional project finance queries in Argentina, US, Middle East and parts of Asia, said the company. Managing director, Torey Marshall, said "The ability to successfully undertake a placement at this time of significant market uncertainty is testimony to the quality of the assets and advancements that the company has made in recent months. To bring fund managers onto our register in a meaningful sense is a very strong endorsement of what the company has achieved and where it is poised to go over the next 12 months." "The level of support we have received in the project finance discussions has been consistent, and without falter during this very difficult time in world markets. We see no problems at present ensuring full uptake of the $134 million USD senior debt and have commenced the official process with the Inter-American Development bank in Washington DC. At this point in time it is fair to say that demand is very strong, which is a situation we hope continues through the next couple of months." Earth Heat is developing the Copahue Geothermal Development Project in Argentina. (ASX: EHR) Eden Energy Eden Energy raised $647,793 from acceptances, which were for 12.95 million shares, or 18.3 per cent of the total shares offered. An equal number of options were issued, exercisable at 20 cents per share up to 30 June 2014. The offer was partially underwritten to 18.66 million shares and accompanying options. These were taken up by the underwriters - Noble Energy Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Tasman Resources; and Andrew Leibovitch and Karen Leibovitch as trustees for the Katss Investment Trust. Noble Energy now holds 22.1 per cent of the Eden's equity. Eden also received applications for 1,691,736 shortfall shares and 1,691,736 shortfall options, raising an additional $84,586. Eden directors Douglas Solomon, Richard Beresford, and chairman Gregory Solomon participated in the rights issue. (ASX: EDE) Enerji The offer is not underwritten, and closes 1 February 2012. Enerji is currently installing its first Opcon Powerbox which should be generating power by February to March 2012, whereupon it will generate its first invoice and revenue. (ASX: ERJ) EnviroMission "Realizing the trajectory of development that is occurring in Arizona I can say with conviction the first two trimesters of this development gestation certainly served to inform the development model to the current advanced stage," he said. "EnviroMission is commercializing large-scale, highly differentiated solar powered electricity generation for the wholesale electricity market – we are commercializing the first 200 MW Solar Tower power station in the North West corner of Arizona at an arid site in La Paz – the exact coordinates remain commercial in confidence to protect EnviroMission's interest in securing the most commercial arrangements for the development – the process to site lease is anticipated in 2012." Companies involved in the project include: Hensel Phelps, Faithful + Gould, Terracon, Ritoch - Powell & Associates, AON, Quarles & Brady, Cemex, Arup, GE Turbines, Atkins, and material suppliers who are undertaking research and development for the final design. Mr Davey said "Fees that would be required to secure the level of talent that is assigned to Solar Tower development would require many hundreds of thousands of dollars even before the final site design is prepared. The level of diligence and faith that all of these businesses have in the technology and the development paper trail to this point is expressed through those businesses agreeing to carry their development costs through to project finance. "Project finance discussions are advanced for working capital to take the company forward to the project finance stage and project finance." (ASX: EVM) Green Rock Energy Hot Rock The company said it was not aware of any information, apart from its recent Heads of Terms with Energy Development Corporation (EDC) for EDC to acquire a 70 per cent interest in the volcanic Calerias and Longavi geothermal projects in Chile and the Quellaapatcheta and Chocopata geothermal projects in Peru. Hot Rock has issued 42,165,600 shares at 2.5 cent each through its share purchase plan. The $1 million in capital is for field and community consultation activities for future geological, geochemical and geophysical studies programs in Chile and Peru, for investigating additional geothermal project opportunities in Chile and Peru, and for working capital. (ASX: HRL) Kimberley Rare Earths Liquefied Natural Gas MediVac Meanwhile La Jolla Cove Investors has converted another 2,054,795 shares. The issue price was 1.46 cents. In a market update, MediVac said it expects an operating loss of between $750,000 and $800,000 for the half year to 31 December 2011. This is an improvement of at least 15 per cent on the previous year through a reduction in net operating loss and before any extraordinary items. The improvement results from increased sales and cost reduction. The company said it continues to build its pipeline for its new MetaMizer 240 SSS sterilizer and that commercial negotiations for at least three short-term (3 to 6 month) domestic sales opportunities are progressing well. The market reaction to the new MM240 SSS has been "very positive", it said. It is also nearing completion of its new SunnyWipes Antimicrobial Hand Rub. and has continued to invest in patent protection for its technologies. MediVac has received interest from several parties in Australia and overseas to acquire its Diakyne TraceSmart technology and said it will focus in coming months on completing this initiative. The company said it recently received an R&D Tax Offset Refund of $398,000 which together with its funding facility from La Jolla Cove Investors has provided sufficient cash to fund its commercialization activities and build inventories. (ASX: MDV) Petratherm Prior to the change, Petratherm held 79 per cent equity in the project and Beach Energy 21 per cent equity, while TRUenergy was contributing toward earning 10 per cent equity. TRUenergy's 10 per cent equity earn-in would have occurred at the completion of Milestone 2 (the drilling of Paralana 3 deep producer well, stimulation and circulation between wells). By exiting the Paralana JV before the completion of the two well program, TRUenergy has relinquished all rights toward any equity under the JV. Thus the project equities of Petratherm and Beach Energy remain unchanged at 79 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. As it is remaining in the Paralana JV, Beach Energy retains existing rights and obligations including the option to increase its equity share by another 15 per cent at the completion of the two well program. Beach Energy has also elected to continue as operator of the Paralana JV project. (ASX: PTR) Torrens Energy This gives it the potential to produce 2,900 MWe for 30 years from 3,500-4,000 metres. Parachilna is adjacent to the national grid connecting to the South Australian electricity market and mining developments including the BHP Billiton Olympic Dam Project. Torrens Energy said network access can be immediately made from pilot plant through to small-scale production for around $12-22 million, connecting via the Leigh Creek 132kV transmission line. This demonstrates the clear commercial advantage of the extensive Parachilna Geothermal Field, it said. (ASX: TEY) Eco Investor Update
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