TanzaniteOne rises on mine news

LONDON (Bloomberg) ? Shares of TanzaniteOne rose to a record after the company said its tanzanite mine, the world's largest source of the violet-blue gem, may have a "significantly" longer life than previously estimated.

Drilling at the mine in Merelani, Tanzania, found traces of tanzanite at a depth twice that previously measured, TanzaniteOne said yesterday in a Regulatory News Service statement. the mine's potential may be greater than was indicated in a study a year ago, Ian Harebottle, the Bermuda-based company's chief operating officer, said in the statement.

Shares of TanzaniteOne rose 29.5 pence, or 17 percent, to 200.5 pence in London. They have more than doubled in the past year, giving the company a market value of 140 million ($246 million).

Viatel to sell its network assets

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg) ? Viatel Holding (Bermuda) Ltd. has entered into a preliminary agreement to sell of its network assets to Singapore-based Global Voice Group Ltd.

Global Voice, a provider of Internet- related services, said the agreement, which included a long-haul fibre network that covers Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and the UK, is valued at 25 million euros ($29.9 million), the company said.

Mandarin Oriental to manage resort

HONG KONG (Bloomberg) ? Bermuda-registered Mandarin Oriental International Ltd., which operates luxury hotels in Asia, Europe and the Americas, has signed a contract to manage a new beachfront resort in Hainan that will be its first hotel in mainland China.

The 292-room Mandarin Oriental, Sanya is due to open second half of 2006, company spokeswoman Sally de Souza said. The hotel is owned by privately held Hainan New Superior Industry Co., she said. Hainan is an island province in China's south.

The resort is one of three hotels that Mandarin is scheduled to open in 2006, expanding the chain to 25 properties with 7,800 rooms. The company has a further five hotels under construction that will bring its rooms under management to 8,500 by 2009.

"Mandarin Oriental is investigating other opportunities in mainland China," de Souza said in a phone interview today. She declined to give financial details of the management contract.

Mandarin, part of the Jardine Matheson group, is based in Hong Kong, incorporated in Bermuda and has its shares traded in US dollars in London and Singapore.