London pre-open: Flat start expected

London is expected to open moderately lower as traders ease back into action after the Easter break. City sources predict the Footsie will open around 10 points down from Thursday's close.Mining titan Rio Tinto has come to an agreement with the government of Guinea, paving the way for work to begin on the Simandou iron ore project in the southern part of the country. Rio's subsidiary, Simfer, is to pay $700m to the Guinean Public Treasury upon promulgation of Presidential Decrees granting Simfer's mining concession and the approval of the proposed Simandou joint venture set up by state-owned Chinese almuminium company Chalco and Rio Tinto.Printing technologies firm Domino Printing Sciences has formed a joint venture with food safety specialist New Market Impressions to develop and deploy proprietary food safety and traceability technologies for the US egg industry, with plans to expand globally.Translation software firm SDL said its performance for the first quarter of 2011 was in line with management expectations for both revenue and operating profit. The group, which provides patent translation software services for Ford, Canon and Dell, said demand conditions overall remain strong.---jh Rio Tinto