In brief: Coeur d’Alene Mines signs gold pact
Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. has signed an agreement to sell gold concentrates from its Kensington Mine in Alaska to China National Gold Corp., officials said.
The Kensington Mine is expected to begin production this year. The mine’s projected output is 125,000 ounces of annual gold production.
China National Gold Corp. will buy about half of the concentrates produced at the Kensington Mine. The company is a state-owned corporation of the People’s Republic of China.
Becky Kramer
Sentencing hearings set for ex-Qwest CEO
DENVER – A federal judge in Denver is holding hearings to help determine a new sentence for former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio on insider trading convictions.
Nacchio was sentenced in 2007 to serve six years in prison, pay $19 million in fines and forfeit $52 million, but a federal appeals court ruled the sentence was too harsh because a judge miscalculated Nacchio’s net gains from stock sales allegedly based on insider information.
Nacchio resigned from Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc. in 2002.
Associated Press
Suit threatened over McDonald’s toys
WASHINGTON – The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group, threatened to file a lawsuit against McDonald’s Tuesday, charging that the fast food chain “unfairly and deceptively” markets the toys to children.
The center, which has filed dozens of lawsuits against food companies in recent years, is hoping the publicity and the threat of a lawsuit will force McDonald’s to negotiate with them on the issue. The group announced the lawsuit in the letter to McDonald’s 30 days before filing it with the hope that the company will agree to stop selling the toys before a suit is filed.
McDonald’s Vice President of Communications, William Whitman, said in a statement that the company “couldn’t disagree more” with CSPI’s assertion that their toys violate any laws.
Associated Press
Briefcase
From wire reports
•Software maker Adobe Systems Inc. earned $148.6 million, or 28 cents per share, in the fiscal second quarter, which ended June 4. This is up 18 percent from $126.1 million, or 24 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 44 cents per share.
•A Colorado company has pleaded guilty to illegally exporting defense technology to Turkey, South Korea, China and Russia.
Federal authorities say Rocky Mountain Instrument Co. pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Denver to one count of exporting defense technology without a license. The company must forfeit $1 million, which authorities say represents what it made from criminal activities. The company was also sentenced to five years of probation, during which it must develop an export control compliance program.
•Though Apple stores will be carrying the iPhone 4 Thursday, you’ll have to wait until next week if you want to buy it from its official U.S. wireless carrier, AT&T Inc. AT&T said Tuesday that it will start selling the iPhone 4 on June 29 through its stores and website to anyone who wants to buy one but was not able to order on June 15.
• Intel Corp. and the Federal Trade Commission are in talks to settle an antitrust case against the chip maker. The FTC accuses Intel of illegal sales tactics that have crippled rivals and kept prices for computer chips artificially high. The two sides have 30 days to reach an agreement. If not, the case will go to trial before an administrative law judge in September.