South Africa's Exxaro Resources has confirmed its bid of up to A$338 million for Australia’s African Iron.

Buying African Iron would give Exxaro ownership of the Mayoko and Ngoubou-Ngoubou projects, located in the Republic of Congo in central West Africa.

Small business confidence has improved for the fourth consecutive month in the United States, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Optimism Index.

For the second consecutive month, small-business optimism rose 1.8 points in December, leaving the reading at 93.8.

The first phase of the controversial HS2 rail line is expected to get the go-ahead from the UK government today.

Transport secretary Justine Greening is expected to back the high-speed 100-mile rail link from London to Birmingham, which will be completed by 2026.

The first London-Birmingham phase will cost £17 billion, while the total cost incorporating the second phase—a further section of the line extending to Manchester and Leeds—is expected to reach £32 billion. This northern extension would be completed by around 2032/33.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a $23 million contract by Spirit AeroSystems in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to produce winglets for commercial business-jet aircraft.

GDATP will produce and deliver composite winglets to Spirit AeroSystems, which then will assemble them onto wings for delivery. Production of the winglets will begin immediately at the company's Marion, Virginia, facility, with deliveries starting in the third quarter of 2012.

Iraq has disclosed detailed information about the revenue it received from oil and gas exports in 2009 in a special report.

Iraq's disclosure of the $41 billion it received demonstrates its commitment to the EITI standard, the global standard for transparency of resource revenues.

The information is published in Iraq's first EITI Report, which details production figures and revenues from the sales of oil abroad in 2009.

A recently released study has revealed that Arizona’s copper mining industry contributed approximately $12.1 billion to the state’s economy and an estimated 73,100 jobs to Arizona residents in 2010.

According to the study prepared for the Arizona Mining Association (AMA), the $12.1 billion economic impact represented a 31 percent increase over 2009. Contributing to the overall performance of the copper mining industry was a rise in copper prices, partially offset by a slight decrease in production.

Sales of Mercedes-Benz reached record figures in 2011, Germany’s Daimler has announced.

Record sales in China and what the company termed “outstanding” development in the US contributed towards the figures reaching an all-time high. The brand also remains the strongest premium marque in Germany, the car maker said.

A total of 1,362,908 vehicles of the brands Mercedes-Benz, smart and Maybach were delivered to customers—around 77,000 units more than the previous record set in 2007 (1,285,900 units).

American DG Energy Inc. has been awarded a $27.4 million contract to supply clean energy to multiple residential buildings located in New York.

Under the terms of the 15-year agreement, the company will install 14 combined heat and power (CHP) systems at multiple residential buildings. The CHP systems, totaling 1050 kW, will be owned and operated by American DG Energy.

American DG Energy offers clean electricity, heat, hot water and cooling solutions to hospitality, healthcare, housing and athletic facilities.

Oil and gas exploration in the North Sea is continuing apace with the award of a new licence in the UK 26th Licensing Round to a Northern Petroleum subsidiary.

The new licence is located offshore adjacent to Northern's Isle of Wight onshore licence, PEDL 240, which was awarded in May 2008. The part blocks—98/13 and 98/14—cover the offshore extension from PEDL 240 of a prospect that was mapped prior to 2008.