Roger Murphy, chief executive of African Battery Metals Plc (LON:ABM), tells Proactive they've commenced field exploration and mapping at the Kisinka licence area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of their Cobalt Exploration Programme.Murphy says they've completed a satellite imagery sensing report which identified a number of targets that will now be followed up with ground ex...Read More

* Rand weakens 0.4 percent* Retailers feature in decliners' list on bourse* Government bonds flat (Adds detail, fresh quotes, updates figures)JOHANNESBURG, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The South African rand slipped on Tuesday, retreating from last week's three-year high as investors bagged profits ahead of the government's budget speech. Investors are also focusing on an expected cabinet shake-up under new...Read More

ULAANBAATAR, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Mongolia can build a power plant at its Tavan Tolgoi coal mine by 2021 to supply the Oyu Tolgoi copper project, energy officials said on Tuesday, as the government seeks to hold Rio Tinto to an agreement to use Mongolian power.Tensions have mounted between the Mongolian government and its fellow shareholders in Oyu Tolgoi, where Rio Tinto is operating a huge undergr...Read More

LAGOS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The Nigerian short-term treasury bill yield fell 50 basis points on Tuesday as traders expect a drop in second quarter auction volumes after the government raised $2.5 billion from a Eurobond last week to payoff some maturities.The government has been working to lower its borrowing costs, particularly as inflation fell for the 12th time in a row in January. It sold Eurobo...Read More

DAR ES SALAAM, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Foreign-owned banks, insurance companies and law firms could be locked out of Tanzania's mining sector as part of tough new regulations that aim to limit foreign ownership of mining-related activity.Africa's fourth-largest gold producer is seeking to take more of the profits from its vast mineral resources by overhauling the fiscal and regulatory regime of its min...Read More

Tech stock Ubiquiti Networks Inc (NASDAQ:UBNT) is tanking today, after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued subpoenas to several officers, and requested accounting and trade documents. Last September, notable short-selling firm Citron Research called Ubiquiti a "total fraud," and compared its CEO to Bernie Madoff. Meanwhile, biotech MiMedx Group Inc (NASDAQ:MDXG) is also in hot wa...Read More

PARIS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Eramet Chief Executive Christel Bories said on Tuesday that the French mining group is looking to expand in minerals like cobalt, lithium and nickel salts linked to energy transition markets like electric vehicles.Eramet is actively looking at acquisition targets after previously acquiring a lithium deposit in Argentina, she said."We're in a phase of studying opportunitie...Read More

Aimmune Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AIMT) stock is in focus this morning, after the company's peanut allergy drug AR101 met its late-stage study goals. Aimmune will now seek U.S. approval by the end of 2018. After being halted in pre-market trading, AIMT stock is up 1.3% to trade at $37.30, and touched a fresh record high of $42 out of the gate this morning.Thestock has been climbing since October,...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - African miner Randgold Resources (RRS.L) is looking to make its first acquisition outside its home continent in North and South America to diversify its portfolio of assets, its chief executive Mark Bristow told Reuters.The London-listed miner has invested throughout the commodity price downturn, generated cash and steadily increased dividends while rivals have been struggling w...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - African miner Randgold Resources (RRS.L) is looking to make its first acquisition outside its home continent in North and South America to diversify its portfolio of assets, its chief executive Mark Bristow told Reuters.The London-listed miner has invested throughout the commodity price downturn, generated cash and steadily increased dividends while rivals have been struggling w...Read More

BELGRADE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The Serbian central bank bought euros on the local interbank market on Tuesday to stem gains of the dinar which has been bolstered by auctions of treasury bonds, dealers and traders said.The bank, which a day earlier purchased 30 million euros,stepped in as the dinar traded at 118.05 to the euro or 0.11 percent stronger than the previous close. (Reporting by Aleksandar...Read More

Shares of Wayfair Inc (NYSE:W) and Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) have outperformed over the past year, and analysts are expecting more upside ahead as both companies prepare to report earnings over the next week. Let's take a quick look at W and ETSY stocks today, and how Wall Street is gearing up for the upcoming quarterly updates. Wayfair Hits New High After Price-Target HikesWayfair this morning saw i...Read More

* Dollar index hits six-day high* U.S. Treasury auctions seen as test of investors' appetite (Updates throughout to U.S. market open, changes dateline; previous LONDON)By Saqib Iqbal AhmedNEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The dollar rose to a six-day high against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday, extending a rebound from a three-year low last week, as investors shrugged off worries about the U.S...Read More

(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments)TORONTO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index see-sawed on Tuesday, with strength in the heavyweight energy sector offseting weakness among mining stocks.At 9:48AM EST (1448 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 6.89 points, or 0.04 percent, to 15,459.53.* The energy group climbed 0.4 percent, with...Read More

By Elias BiryabaremaKAMPALA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Uganda's government said on Tuesday its domestic borrowing would be around 75 percent higher than budgeted this year to cover wages and infrastructure projects after huge shortfalls in projected tax collections.In his budget speech in June, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija said the government would borrow 954 billion Ugandan shillings($263 million) in...Read More

BRUSSELS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Euro zone consumer confidence fell by more than expected in February from a 17-year high in January, a flash estimate for the European Commission showed on Tuesday.The Commission said that consumer sentiment fell to 0.1 points from a revised 1.4 points in January. Economists polled by Reuters had on average expected a figure of 1.0.In the wider European Union, confiden...Read More

(Adds missing word "investor" in the headline)Feb 20 (Reuters) - MOLOGEN AG :* FINANCING AGREEMENT TO SUBSCRIBE CONVERTIBLE BONDS FOR AN AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF UP TO EUR 12 MILLION* ENTERED INTO AGREEMENT WITH LUXEMBOURG-BASED FINANCING PROVIDER EUROPEAN HIGH GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES SECURITIZATION FUND* BONDS WILL BE ISSUED IN UP TO 24 TRANCHES OF EUR 500,000 EACH AT COMPANY'S REQUEST* PROCEE...Read More

An auction for the $2 billion Michiquillay copper project in Peru attracted 10 interested companies according to Peru's government investment agency Proinversi??n with Southern Copper Corp declared the winner on Tuesday .Reuters reports Southern Copper won the tender with a proposal to transfer $400 million to the government and pay 3% royalties. Southern Copper is controlled by conglomerate Grup...Read More

An auction for the $2 billion Michiquillay copper project in Peru attracted 10 interested companies according to Peru's government investment agency Proinversi??n with Southern Copper Corp declared the winner on Tuesday .Reuters reports Southern Copper won the tender with a proposal to transfer $400 million to the government and pay 3% royalties. Southern Copper is controlled by conglomerate Grup...Read More

An auction for the $2 billion Michiquillay copper project in Peru attracted 10 interested companies according to Peru's government investment agency Proinversi??n with Southern Copper Corp declared the winner on Tuesday .Reuters reports Southern Copper won the tender with a proposal to transfer $400 million to the government and pay 3% royalties. Southern Copper is controlled by conglomerate Grup...Read More