
The North Falkland oil and gas exploration company Rockhopper Exploration plc (AIM: RKH) announced Monday that the Ocean Guardian drilling rig is on location at the Sea Lion prospect where oil was discovered in a drilling last April/May. Operations now are concentrated on the flow test of the Sea Lion main and lower fans.

Highlighting the centrality of the marine environment to human well-being, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the collective global responsibility to protect the world’s oceans.

The Canadian company B2Gold announced “impressive gold values” from a systematic mechanical trenching program in the south of Uruguay where in association with a local company (Weeping Apple S.A.) it has an option to survey ten claims totalling 34.200 hectares.

Rival Canadian gold mining companies Goldcorp and Eldorado have locked horns in a fight to buy up Andean Resources Ltd.

The Brazilian state managed oil company Petrobras unveiled on Friday plans to sell up to 64.5 billion US dollars of new stock, in one of the world's largest public share offerings.

The Empire State Building has dominated the New York City skyline for a number of years since it was first built and it has become one of the top tourist destinations in the city. The building is now set to become second best however as a new building has been approved in New York city that will dominate the skyline and make the Empire State Building lose out.

Uruguay whose credit rating was cut to junk in 2002, expects to return to investment grade within two years, central bank President Mario Bergara said. “We are confident that in one or two years we will have investment grade again,” Bergara said at an investors’ conference in New York Monday.

Presidents from Chile, Brazil and Bolivia will be inaugurating next November a Mercosur bi-oceanic corridor that will link the three countries, connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific oceans.

After stating that its first well (Ernest) drilled in the southern part of the North Falkland Basin has been declared dry, Rockhopper Exploration (AIM: RKH) was sold down to 265p before rallying sharply to close Wednesday only 2.5p cheaper at 301.25p.

Chile's investment abroad amounted to about 54.2 billion US dollars between 1990 and June 2010, distributed among more than 70 countries from the Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Europe, according to a report released Monday by the General Directorate of International Economic Relations (DIRECON).