Preparations are being made to develop the Songwe River Basin in Kyela, Tanzania.

The African Water Facility (AWF), in partnership with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development—Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF), hosted a meeting recently to launch the preparatory phase of the project.

The event was attended by more than 150 people, including local and national government officials from both countries and representatives from the beneficiary communities.

Bluescope and Nippon Steel have formed a $1.4 billion joint venture encompassing BlueScope’s ASEAN and North American building products business.

Australia’s Origin Energy has announced the commencement of drilling at the Mbawa prospect offshore Kenya.

Drilling at the prospect is expected to take about 60 days, which will reach a total depth of 3,250 metres subsea in water depths of 864 metres.

The Mbawa joint venture consists of operator Apache Kenya, which holds a 50 per cent interest; Origin Energy, with 20 per cent; Pancontinental Oil and Gas, with 15 per cent; and Tullow Kenya, which holds 15 per cent.

The drilling is being carried out by Apache on behalf of the joint venture.

A group of mining companies has agreed to work with Canadian National Railways (CN) on a feasibility study into the construction of a proposed rail line and terminal handling facility to serve the Quebec/Labrador iron ore range.

CN customers Cliffs Natural Resources Inc, Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Ltd, New Millennium Iron Corp, Cap-Ex Ventures Ltd, and Alderon Iron Ore Corp have committed to help CN and its partner in the venture La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Australia’s Bannerman Resources has announced an update on its discussions with Namibian state-owned mining company Epangelo Mining Company.

Bannerman and Epangelo signed a non-binding agreement, or term sheet, in April this year setting out the terms and conditions offered to Epangelo for it to acquire an initial five per cent interest (plus a follow-on option for  an additional five per cent) in Bannerman's 80 per cent-owned Namibian subsidiary, the sole owner of the Etango Uranium Project. 

A judge in California has overturned a jury ruling against Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Limited.

In a patent action brought by Mformation in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the jury ruled last month that RIM would have to pay $147.2 million to Mformation for patent infringement.