Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Norilsk Nickel (GMKN) Update Report" company profile to their offering.

At least 3 years of history are available for most ratios. Additionally, information on business segments, competitors and future outlook are provided. Information on competition includes short overview of competitive situation in the market, comparison of key stats and description of competitors. Also future plans and strategy of the company is covered in this report. Conclusion contains opinion of our analyst on company's performance, business risk and growth possibilities providing reader with necessary information to make decisions.

Key reasons to read this report:

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MMC Norilsk Nickel benefits from its large, high-grade reserve base, which supports massive production, product diversity, and low costs. On the other hand, the decrease of nickel price, decrease of demand on nickel from China and other giant consumers of this metal have a negative influence on Norilsk Nickel's activity.

Russian coal mining company Belon Group said it will operate at full capacity in the first quarter thanks to agreements with domestic steel makers as well as an unnamed producer in south-east Asia.

"Agreements that we have reached allow the company to continue stable work in 2009, despite the unfavourable influence of external factors," the company said in a statement.

Russian coking coal producers have been hard hit by the financial crisis, with steel sector clients delaying payment because of mounting receivables.

Belon and rivals including Raspadskaya and Mechel in November requested government assistance because of the volume of outstanding payments.

That same month Raspadskaya also said fourth-quarter sales would reach only one-third of planned volumes after steel makers slashed orders.

However, Belon said a long-term contract with Novolipetsk Steel as well as agreements with Metalloinvest, Mechel and Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, which owns a 41.3% stake in the Siberain miner, have allowed it to maintain production levels

Belon added that it has signed agreements to supply steam coal to a range of buyers including Glencore International, Cargill Inc and other clients in eastern Europe.

Belvedere Resources Ltd. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has now signed the Final Agreement to acquire the Hitura Nickel Mine from Outokumpu Mining Oy and the remaining 55% of Finn Nickel (Suomen Nikkeli Oy).

Hitura is an operating mine and concentrate facility which currently produces 2,200 tonnes per annum of nickel. As of December 2006 Hitura had remaining reserves of 919,000 t (at) 0.61% nickel, and remaining resources (Measured + Indicated) of 1.7 Mt (at) 0.71% nickel. The Hitura mine business will be acquired from Outokumpu Mining Oy as a going concern with all personnel and equipment including a 650,000 tonnes per annum capacity mill. In exchange Outokumpu receives 7,482,843 Belvedere shares with half warrants attached. Of those shares, 35% will have a 4 month hold with the remainder subject to an eight month hold. Each whole warrant is exercisable at $1.33. The warrants are non-transferable and valid for two years from the date of issue. In addition Belvedere will issue 4,809,972 shares equivalent to the cash on balance at time of signing ((euro)3.214 million). Those shares will be subject to a four month hold and have no warrants attached.

Finn Nickel is an unlisted Finnish company with a number of advanced nickel, copper and cobalt projects in southern Finland. Finn Nickel's current resources are 21,000t nickel, 14,000t copper (Indicated); 15,000t nickel, 5,000t copper (Inferred) and 13,000t nickel, 30,000 t copper (Historical). Belvedere acquired its initial 45% holding in Finn Nickel in 2006 for (euro)1 million cash. The remaining 55% of Finn Nickel will be purchased from the private shareholders in proportion to their holdings in Finn Nickel for 8,231,127 Belvedere shares. A further 1,496,569 Belvedere shares will be issued to the private shareholders of Finn Nickel conditional on their securing the necessary agreements for the rapid start-up of their nickel operations prior to final closing of this transaction. Of the Finn Nickel shares 35% will be subject to a 4 month hold, with the remainder subject to an 8 month hold period.

Final closing of the deal will occur in two parts, with the Finn Nickel deal expected to be closed by the end of April 2007 and the Hitura deal expected to be closed in late June 2007. The TSX Venture Exchange has given conditional approval for the transaction.

Belvedere is undertaking a private placement to raise between C$ 10-12 million at C$ 1.25 per common share with no warrants attached. The Private Placement will be a non-brokered Private Placement handled by London stockbrokers Ocean Equities Ltd. A finders fee will be payable to Ocean Equities in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The net proceeds will be applied to the general working capital of the Company, and to fast track the development of a number of the Finn Nickel projects.

Forward-Looking Statement:

Some of the statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements, which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding the Company's expected future production of nickel, as well as any references to the closing of the final transaction which is dependent on certain closure procedures being successfully carried out. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect expected future production include typical problems or delays with mining and processing, failure to convert resources into mineable reserves, and environmental permitting problems. Factors that may lead to non-closure of the deal include closing conditions not being fulfilled. This statement is prepared by Dr. Toby Strauss, who is acting as Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to this release.

BELVEDERE RESOURCES LTD. David Pym, CEO


The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this news
release.


For further information

David Pym: +44-7931-371869
Toby Strauss: +353-87-9870344
Steve Cuthill: (604) 513-0007


Source: Belvedere Resources Ltd.

Charles Supapodok, who has traded silver for six years, is seeking to raise a $300 million hedge fund to invest mainly in the precious metal after its spot price tripled since 2003.

Artemis Silver Fund, advised by Artemis Capital Management, will put 80 percent of the fund's holdings in silver, Supapodok said in a phone interview from New York. The rest will be in metals such as gold, nickel and uranium.

"I don't think we're anywhere near the top at all for silver or gold,'' said Supapodok, who will manage the fund. ``You look at the amount of metals coming out of the mines every year and the projected demand, there's a gap there for many of these commodities that's not going to be filled for several years.''

Demand for silver has outstripped supply every year since 1996, according to the Silver Institute, an industry group. Mine production grew 3 percent to 641.6 million ounces in 2005, less than the 864.4 million ounces used, with the gap filled mostly by silver scrap.

The spot price for silver has tripled from the beginning of 2003 to $14.20 an ounce, exceeding the 92 percent gain of gold and the 62 percent increase of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same period.

Supapodok, 38, started managing private accounts to invest in silver in 2001. The funds had an average annual return of more than 50 percent, he said. Supapodok set up Artemis Capital this year.

Silver Demand

``There is a certain element of hedge fund speculation that's brought the base metals and precious metals up to a certain height,'' said Supapodok. Still, ``phenomenal'' growth in emerging countries such as China and India is a more important trend, he said.

The world's two most populous nations are snapping up natural resources to fuel their growth. In China, the world's biggest user of copper, the economy expanded 10.7 percent last year. Silver's industrial uses include battery cathodes, switches in microwave ovens and televisions, and photovoltaic cells for generating solar energy.

Of the 80 percent of funds earmarked for silver, Artemis will invest 10 percent in an exchange-traded fund by Barclays Plc and the rest in mining stocks, Supapodok said. An exchange- traded fund tracks a particular index or security. Barclays' iShares Silver Trust has gained 9.8 percent this year.

The strategy of investing most of the funds in equities rather than the metal itself, will add uncertainty to returns, said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Sydney-based Commodity Broking Services.

Going Long

``It puts a little bit of clouds on it mainly because you don't know which equities he's going to invest in,'' said Barratt. ``You don't know whether it's going to be exploration, or blue chips, or whether the stock tracks the silver price well.''

Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long position in New York silver futures in the week ended Feb. 20, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

Speculative long positions, or bets that prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 46,428 contracts on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Net-long positions rose by 2,866 contracts, or 7 percent, from a week earlier.

Artemis will charge investors a management fee of 3 percent of assets and 25 percent of any profits. Hedge funds are loosely regulated private pools of capital that allow managers to partake in gains.

Supapodok used to cover property and hotel stocks as an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in Bangkok and formerly worked in the merger and acquisition department of Credit Suisse Group in New York.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patricia Cheng in Hong Kong at pcheng9@bloomberg.net

Nickel fell in London, erasing an earlier gain that took the metal to a record, on speculation growth in global demand for stainless steel will slow. Lead rose to its highest ever.

Stainless-steel production will expand 8 percent this year, from 13.2 percent in 2006, Michael Widmer, director of metals research at Calyon, said by phone from London today. Nickel has gained 19 percent this year on expectations of strong demand from China, the world's largest producer of stainless steel. The alloy is the largest end-use for nickel.

The rebuilding of inventories by consumers ``is over and slower economic growth, particularly in the U.S., will slow demand for stainless steel,'' Widmer said. ``This is one reason we expect that upward pressure on nickel prices will be alleviated in the coming months.''

Nickel for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange slipped $50, or 0.1 percent, to $39,800 a metric ton as of 6:32 p.m. local time. Earlier, it rose as much as 1 percent to $40,250, beating the previous record of $39,999 set yesterday.

Inventories monitored by the LME fell for a second day by 468 tons, or 11 percent, to 3,930 tons, the exchange said in a daily report. Stockpiles have slumped 41 percent this year.

Lead, used in car batteries, rose $20, or 1.1 percent to $1,850, beating the record set yesterday by $5. Inventories tracked by the LME have fallen 55 percent in the last 12 months to 32,525 tons.

Tin Advances

Tin increased $395, or 2.9 percent, to $13,890 a ton. Earlier it traded at $13,900, the highest since at least 1989 according to Bloomberg data, beating the 17-year high set yesterday by $400.

Malaysia Smelting Corp. said in a statement today that it plans to resume tin sales at its Indonesian unit, PT Koba Tin, before April after local police probing possible illegal sales of tin ore arrested three directors of the division.

Tin supplies will fall short of demand by about 30,000 tons in 2007 because of reduced output in Indonesia, the world's second-largest producer after China, U.K. consulting companies ITRI Ltd. and CRU said on Feb. 19.

The Indonesian government plans to tighten export regulations and crack down on illegal mining. Tin miners have until tomorrow to register for the right to export the metal from Indonesia. Only seven applications had so far been received, Diah Maulida, director general of foreign trade at the Ministry of Trade, said today.

Among other LME-traded metals, copper rose $170, or 3 percent, to $5,890 a ton, aluminum gained $40 to $2,782 and zinc increased $75 to $3,400.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brett Foley in London at bfoley8@bloomberg.net

source news : bloomberg.net