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South Korea reportedly intervenes to slow currency's rise
By Lisa Twaronite
MarketWatch.com
Monday, September 27, 2010
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-korea-reportedly-intervenes-to-...
TOKYO -- South Korean authorities bought dollars Monday to curb the won's rise to a four-month highs, according to reports citing foreign-exchange traders.
The U.S. dollar was buying 1,148.2 won, after falling as low as 1,146.0 won earlier, its lowest since mid-May. The central bank was said to have entered the market around the 1,148.0 won level, and may have bought between 500 million and $700 million.
The Bank of Korea also reportedly took direct market action in the previous session. On Friday, authorities were said to have bought dollars in the range around 1,153.5 won to 1,155 won, in amounts estimated between $300 million and $500 million.
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Sona Resources Expects Positive Cash Flow from Blackdome,
Plans Aggressive Exploration of Elizabeth Gold Property
On May 18, 2010, Sona Resources Corp. (TSXV: SYS, Frankfurt: QS7) announced the release of a preliminary economic assessment for gold production at its flagship Blackdome and Elizabeth properties in British Columbia.
Sona Executive Chairman Nick Ferris says: "We view this as a baseline scenario for gold production. The project is highly sensitive to the price of gold. A conservative valuation of gold at $1,093 per ounce would result in a pre-tax cash flow of $54 million. The assessment indicates that underground mining at the two sites would recover 183,600 ounces of gold and 62,500 ounces of silver. Permitting and infrastructure are already in place for processing ore at the Blackdome mill, with a 200-tonne per day throughput over an eight-year mine life. Our near-term goal is to continue aggressive exploration at Elizabeth and develop a million-plus-ounce gold resource, commencing production in 2013."
For complete information on Sona Resources Corp. please visit: www.SonaResources.com
South Korea's markets were closed last week for the Chuseok holidays from Sept. 21-23. During that time, the dollar weakened against most global rivals on growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would take additional easing steps.
"Asian currencies are heavily managed against the U.S. dollar. As a result, Asia 'imports' U.S. monetary policy, making it difficult for local interest rates to rise in response to domestic growth and inflation," economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a research report last week.
While the Asian economy appears to be faring well, the economists said there are "clear signs of a turn: The inventory cycle in Korea and Taiwan has deteriorated sharply, and Korean exports -- the canary in the mineshaft for the global economy -- have lost sequential momentum."
The momentum is also waning in neighboring Japan, where authorities resumed currency market intervention this month after a six-year hiatus, to prevent the surging yen from crushing the country's fragile, export-led recovery.
On Sept. 15, Japanese authorities sold an estimated 2 trillion yen ($23 billion) of their country's own currency, and data released Monday underscored why: Japan's exports rose 15.8% in August from a year earlier, but slowed from July's 23.5% rise and fell short of the forecast for a 17.9% rise expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
Earlier this month, Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo told reporters that Japan's unilateral intervention wouldn't be so effective without global coordination.
"Japan alone can't solve the problem. The effect of its unilateral intervention will be limited," Kim said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
"The biggest lesson we have learned from the latest global financial crisis is that there should be international economic policy coordination in addressing each country's problems. Market uncertainties can be removed when policy makers send a coordinated signal," Kim was quoted as saying.
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Prophecy to Become Coal Producer This Year
with 1.5 Billion Tonnes of Resource
Prophecy Resource Corp. (TSX.V: PCY) announced on May 11 that it has entered into a mine services agreement with Leighton Asia Ltd. to begin coal production this year. Production will begin with a 250,000-tonne starter pit as planned in August, with production advancing to 2 million tonnes per year in 2011. Prophecy is fully funded to production and its management team includes John Morganti, Arnold Armstrong, and Rob McEwen.
For Prophecy's complete press release about its production plans, please visit:
http://www.prophecyresource.com/news_2010_may11.php
