hVIVO (HVO), (formerly Open Orphan plc), a specialist contract research organisation, announced that it has signed a £6.8m contract with a leading pharmaceutical company based in Asia Pacific, to test its respiratory syncytial virus antiviral drug candidate, using the hVIVO RSV Human Challenge Study Model.
The company said it was delighted to be working with this client on their important RSV programme. RSV has been a particular blight on humanity with no effective vaccine against this virus in over 60 years of R&D.
Comment: It should be the case that finally the market wakes up to the opportunity that Hvivo has in its space, and start to fully appreciate the momentum it has in these increasingly frequent seven figure contract wins.
African Pioneer (AFP) report on results from shallow drilling at several targets, as well as two potentially significant copper intercepts from deeper drilling on a conceptual target undertaken by First Quantum Minerals Limited operating in northwest Zambia under an Option Agreement with APP’s 80% owned subsidiary African Pioneer Zambia Ltd. African Pioneer said the latest quarterly report from First Quantum continues to provide encouragement. Two key targets have been identified, which represents a new discovery for the APP licence block.
Comment: There are a couple of decent points here for African Pioneer. The first is that First Quantum have been doing the company’s homework for it, and the second that effectively a new mining district has been opened up from this drilling.
Insig AI (INSG), the data science and machine learning solutions company, said it has conducted a series of tests using ChatGPT and other Generative AI models. As a result, it is now able to integrate the latest AI capabilities from Google, Open AI and the most advanced models such as ChatGPT and GPT-3.
Comment: The phenomenon that it ChatGPT is only just starting to be appreciated. It is good to see Insig getting on the bandwagon.
UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) announced that SGN has confirmed that their Local Transmission System can accept all the potential future gas production from UKOG’s 100%-owned Loxley gas discovery. SGN’s capacity thus provides a clear route to the wider gas market and the monetisation of Loxley’s gas.
Comment: While we are always on alert for a placing from UKOG, it looks as though this latest RNS is not the cue for one.
Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI), a company specialising in turning non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into carbon-free fuels, announced that the European Commission has laid out its Green Deal Industrial Plan which significantly enhances and accelerates support for European clean technology businesses.
Comment: While the Left Wing (Economic) Establishment here in the UK works on getting us back in the EU, we see that HUI is in the front seat as far as getting aid to roll out its waste plastic / renewable energy solution. The potential funds available are €225bn of loans and €20 bn of grants remaining from the EU’s €800bn post-pandemic recovery fund, so nothing to be sniffed at.
88 Energy Limited (88E) confirm that the Permit to Drill (PTD) has been approved by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) for the Hickory-1 well, located in Project Phoenix on the North Slope of Alaska. In addition, construction of the Hickory-1 ice-pad will commence imminently with mobilisation of the Nordic Calista Rig-2 scheduled to also begin around mid-February from the Pantheon Resources, Alkaid-2 well location.
Comment: It would appear that a number of stock market clairvoyants successfully anticipated the arrival of today’s news at 88 Energy.
Oberon Investments Group (OBE), the boutique investment management, wealth planning and corporate broking group, announce that Paul Sheehan has joined Oberon’s fast-growing Investment Management Team.
Comment: Fast-growing indeed. Oberon continues to do its bit for the great and the good of the City in terms of finding them gainful employment.
Greatland Gold (GGP) announce the appointments of Jeremy Meynert as Chief Development Officer and Simon Tyrrell as Chief Operating Officer. The new appointments support Greatland as it enters an exciting phase of growth with its Havieron gold-copper project progressing towards production and a planned listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Comment: Although not quite the tsunami of new appointments we have seen at Oberon, the great and the good continue to arrive at Greatland Gold.
MetalNRG (MNRG) provided an update on developments in connection with its investment in International Mining Company Invest, the indirect investment in IMC’s uranium asset in Kyrgyzstan. The Parliament in Kyrgyzstan imposed a ban on all exploitation of uranium in country in April 2019. IMC’s claim before the ICSID is for a minimum compensatory payment of US$ 63 million.
Comment: Those who like the David and Goliath routine of a small cap suing a non-rule of law following Government, can now get back in the saddle after the Vast Resources situation has been concluded. Hopefully, MNRG will gets its $63 million rather more quickly.
NFT Investment (NFT), an investment firm specialising in the market for non-fungible tokens, announces that on 3 February 2023 it granted in aggregate 85,000,000 options and warrants over ordinary shares of £0.001 each in the capital of the Company to directors (or their respective service company), a senior manager and an adviser.
Comment: It has been a tough couple of years for the management of NFT, and they certainly deserve everything in terms of reward that comes to them.
Contango (CGO) the London listed natural resource development company, updated on its Lubu Coal Project in Zimbabwe ahead of scheduled first coking coal production and sales by the end of Q1 2023. The company is pleased to report that the wash plant arrived at site on Friday 3 February and has been unloaded ahead of assembly. Once calibrated and operating efficiently the wash plant is expected to be able to produce 20,000 tonnes of washed coking coal per month.
Comment: The second coming of the Messiah, has perhaps had less of a build up than the wash plant’s arrival at Lubu. It is to be hoped that it works well on all the coking coal that is to come.
Lexington Gold (LEX), the gold exploration and development company, provide an operational update in respect of its Jennings-Pioneer and Argo gold projects in the USA. The company said it is looking forward to receiving and reporting on the assay results in due course. These sampling and mapping campaigns at both Jennings-Pioneer and Argo will enable it to design the next phase of work including generating drill targets, especially at Jennings-Pioneer which remains a very exciting project for the company.
Comment: Lexington remains one of the few small caps in its space which manages to hit its timelines. It perhaps helps that it is in the USA jurisdiction, and that the management has a tight grip on progress.
Oracle Power (ORCP), a leading developer of Green Hydrogen, announce that it has successfully raised gross proceeds of £500,000 by way of an oversubscribed placing at a price of 0.17p. The company said the net proceeds of the Placing will be utilised primarily to support the advancement of the Company’s Green Hydrogen project through the joint venture with His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum.
Comment: The Green Hydrogen project should and could for many reasons become the flagship project for Oracle, given the lack of energy security in Pakistan, over and above the Thar Coal Project.
Vast Resources (VAST), the AIM-listed mining company, announced that it has raised £2,382,500 gross through a placing at a price of 0.55p per Ordinary Share (the ‘Placing and Subscription Shares’). The Placing was undertaken by the Company’s joint broker, Axis Capital Markets Ltd in addition to participation from Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited and Andrew Prelea, CEO of Vast Resources. The net cash raised from the Placing and Subscription will be focused on the ongoing drilling programme and the production ramp up at the Company’s Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine in Romania.
Comment: There may be some in the market saying that It is just as well that Vast had the long delayed boost from Zimbabwe to secure the ramp up at Baita Plai.
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The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.
