KR1 (KR1:AQSE), a digital asset investment company, announced that it has made a number of investments, both into existing projects demonstrating strong progress, and into new opportunities.
The company said it continues to see early-stage projects that represent strong investment opportunities, despite the ongoing crypto bear market and difficult macroeconomic market conditions. It has invested in Superchain and Metaprime, and increased its commitment to HydraDX and Argent.
Comment: KR1 has been one of the beacons of light on Aquis, both in terms of its investment performance and the level of trading in the shares. It will be worth seeing if the latest investments tie in with the strong start we have seen to 2023 for the digital assets space.
Trident Royalties (TRR), the mining royalty company, noted recent updates on the Thacker Pass lithium project, in Nevada, by the project operator, Lithium Americas Corp. Trident holds a 60% interest in a gross revenue royalty over the entirety of the Project. The company said Thacker Pass is an asset with significant strategic importance in the context of the United States’ transition to carbon net zero, and it is encouraged that its status as such has been recognised by General Motors in the largest-ever investment by an automaker securing battery raw metals.
Comment: TRR has been one of the better performers in the mining royalties space, with the shares already trading near year highs. The aftermath of the latest news with the GM connection, should be enough to deliver fresh highs for the company over the near future.
Aura Energy Limited (AURA) announced the Mauritanian Government’s approval and execution of the mining conventions providing tenure security and fiscal certainty for an initial 30-year period, and the Shareholder’s Agreement with ANARPAM in relation to the Tiris Project in Mauritania. The company said it was excited to develop the Tiris Project and deliver its objective to grow production to more than 3.0 Mlbs U3O8 per year, with both Aura and the people of Mauritania sharing ownership of the project.
Comment: Given the way that the company has said the deal is “transformational” one is obliged to take note, and assume with the latest news we could see a break to the upside for the stock, which has already been performing well of late.
Argo Blockchain (ARB), a cryptocurrency mining group, announced that following the successful completion of the sale of the Helios facility to Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd on 29 December 2022, Alex Appleton has resigned from his positions as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director to pursue other opportunities.
Comment: One would assume that Mr Appleton will have a smoother ride in any forthcoming role than he had at ARB. It is interesting how many RNSs the company has used to mention the Helios sale.
Orcadian Energy (ORCA) announced its intention to raise gross proceeds of approximately £0.5 million by means of a placing to certain institutional and other investors at a price of 10p.
The Placing Price represents a discount of approximately 33 per cent to the Closing Price of 15p on 31 January 2023.
Comment: Orcadian can count itself rather unfortunate that given its place in the domestic energy security space, that investors have not embraced the company and its share price. Presumably, this state of affairs will start to correct itself as 2023 progresses.
Harland & Wolff Group Holdings (HARL), the UK quoted company focused on strategic infrastructure projects, announced that it has now formally executed the Subcontract with Navantia UK Limited. Under the terms of the Subcontract, the company will be responsible for delivering works which are expected to generate revenues of between £700 million and £800 million to the company by the time the final vessel is delivered. This is a significant win for Harland & Wolff and will propel the company to the next stage of its development.
Comment: We have seen something of a phoenix from the ashes transformation at Harland, with retail investors already assuming that one plus one here will equal three. A decent move for the shares off the back of the latest news through 20p, may mean that the aforementioned mathematics is not that far off the mark for holders of HARL shares.
CleanTech Lithium (CTL), an exploration and development company in Chile, announced that all of the exploration licences at the prospective greenfield project covering a total area of over 344 km2 which the Company applied for in Q2 2022, have been granted by the Chilean authorities. The company plans to commence an exploration drilling programme at the project in the coming weeks.
Comment: CleanTech has been one of the star lithium plays, and few genuine bullish situations in the small caps space over the course of H2 2022. Today’s news gives the company fresh momentum, with drilling set to arrive in a timely fashion.
Kibo Energy (KBO), the renewable-energy-focused development company, provided an operational update. The company said it was pleased with the progress made since announcing its re-focused strategy to pivot to renewable/alternative energy in 2021. It added it has also recently concluded negotiations with a well-respected international executive in the long-duration energy storage industry to join the Kibo team.
Comment: Given that Kibo is in theory in totally the right place for the misguided mania for net zero, it is to be hoped that the new member on the team can get the company over the line in terms of its re-focused strategy.
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