Another eventful week in the mining sector, with announcements from multiple companies.
ECR Minerals plc (LON:ECR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Australia, announced that Cordillera Tiger Gold Resources, Inc. (“Cordillera Tiger”), in which ECR is entitled to a 25% interest, has successfully renewed Exploration License EP-006 at the Danglay gold project, which is located in a prolific gold and copper mining district in the north of the Philippines.
The Company also notes that former ECR consultant and CEO Stephen Clayson, who resigned from ECR Minerals on July 16th 2021, has, in addition, resigned as director of Cordillera Tiger.
Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) stated that it expects full-year underlying earnings (EBIT), to be at or near the top of its US$2.2bn – US$3.2bn guidance range. This is after a strong first half for its marketing operations.
The mining and commodities trading company said that its key zinc and copper businesses performed in line with expectations, but that nickel and coal volumes were down.
Kibo Energy PLC (LSE:KIBO) Completion of Agreement with Industrial Green Energy (Pty) LTD to Co-develop Renewable Energy Projects in South Africa. Announce that further to its previous announcements in this regard (see RNS’ dated 18 May 2021 and 16 June 2021), it has now satisfied all conditions and completed the agreement with South Africa-based Industrial Green Energy Solutions (Pty) Ltd (‘IGES’) ( https://www.industrialgreenenergy.com/ ) to jointly develop a portfolio of Waste to Energy projects in South Africa (‘the Agreement’). Kibo and IGES have entered into an amendment (the ‘Amendment’) to fast track the implementation of the first project.
Rio Tinto PLC (LSE:RIO) announced the biggest dividend payouts ever made in London. This was after its earnings for the second half of the year more than tripled. It said that it would pay US$9.1bn in dividends to shareholders via a combination of an average dividend of US$6.1bn (376c), and a special dividend (185c).
Conroy Gold & Natural Reso (LON:CGNR) Discovery of Extensive New Gold Target in Longford-Down Massif. Update on Drilling Programmes on Other Licences. The newly discovered gold-in-soil target lies between the Company’s Derryhennet gold target, where drilling and trenching have identified significant grades and widths of gold-in-bedrock, and the site where the Clay Lake Gold nugget was discovered in the 1980s, with a weight of 30.05g and gold content of 28g
Kodal Minerals PLC, LSE:KOD) reported that drilling results showed wide, high-grade intersections in gold mineralisation at Nielle Concession in northern Cote d’Ivoire. Bernard Aylward, CEO of Kodal Minerals, commented: “These wide, high-grade drill results from our first drilling campaign at Nielle are very encouraging. We have been able to confirm and extend the zone of gold mineralisation discovered by our former joint venture partner, and in addition we have been able to identify new zones of gold mineralisation that highlight the prospectivity of this new region.
Ariana Resources PLC, (LON:AAU) reported better-than-expected gold production at the Kiziltepe Mine in the first half of 2021. A joint venture produced 7,941 ounces of gold in the first six months, which was more than expected by 19%. Average monthly mine production during H1 2021 was approximately 34,000 tonnes of ore and a stockpile of over 285,000 tonnes has been established, representing about 10 months of enhanced production capacity.
Alien Metals Ltd (LSE:UFO) has ended the exclusivity agreement with the owner at Elizabeth Hill silver project site, Western Australia. Bill Brodie Good, CEO & Technical Director of Alien Metals, commented “With a number of key project developments and priority technical work in the pipeline, we have decided to suspend our current work and review of the Project. We still see potential in the silver tailings, and may revisit the Project in due course when other projects will allow for this.”
Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd, (LON:CGH) produced just less than 26,000 ounces gold equivalent from its Kapan Mine in Armenia, during the six-month period to June 2021.
Galantas Gold Corp, (LON:GAL) said that it will soon begin a Phase 1 underground and surface exploration program, consisting of 4,000m of diamond drilling at the Omagh goldmine in Northern Ireland.
Xtract Resources plc (LON:XTR) Updated shareholders with Phase Two Drilling Update at Bushranger copper-gold porphyry exploration project in New South Wales, Australia. Drilling commenced as planned at Racecourse from two drill pads utilising one diamond drill rig at each pad. Hole BRDD-21-008 was completed at 591.4m depth and drilling on hole BRDD-21-007 is continuing. Drilling on a third hole at the first drill pad is already under way.
Pembridge Resources PLC, (LSE:PERE) announced that drilling began on July 20, as per plan in the Minto North region of the Minto copper–gold-silver mining operation in Yukon. Exploration drilling will be conducted in unexplored areas of the Minto claims.
Oriole Resources PLC (LSE:ORR) announced that its Phase 1 drilling programme at Fare prospect, part the Senala project, was completed by joint venture partner IAMGOLD Corporation.
Power Metal (LON:POW) The company announces that it has exercised its option (the “Option”) to acquire a 100% interest in two gold-nickel exploration licences located within the Tati Greenstone Belt (the “Tati Project” or the “Project”) located near Francistown, Botswana, through its local wholly-owned operating subsidiary Power Metal Resources Botswana Pty Limited (“Power Metal Botswana”).
Earlier in the week, the company announced the recommencement of the 2020 diamond drilling exploration programme at the Silver Peak Project (“Silver Peak” or the “Project”) located in British Columbia, Canada. The Project includes the Eureka-Victoria Silver Mine which is covered by the first ever Crown-granted mineral claim within the Province.
The Project is located on Silver Peak Mountain, which is 6km south of the TransCanada Highway and the town of Hope, British Columbia. The Project and the historic mine workings are accessed via recently upgraded mine access roads that connect to the TransCanada Highway.
Empire Metals Ltd (LON:EEE) announce the results of the third phase of reverse circulation (‘RC’) and infill diamond drilling at the Eclipse Gold Project, located 55km northeast of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia (‘Eclipse’ or the ‘Project’). The RC drilling has confirmed the existence of several parallel veins in addition to the main Eclipse vein and the diamond drilling has replicated intercepts from previous RC drilling as well as providing an invaluable insight into the nature of the mineralisation and the alteration zones
Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LSE:APY) is optimistic about 2021’s future after the fall of its portfolio contribution to natural resources royalty, streaming company, in the first half.
ECR Minerals plc (LON:ECR) Purchase of Second Drill Rig for Central Victorian Goldfields, Australia. MGA has recently signed a contract for the purchase of a new Cortech CMR1000 multi-purpose drilling rig for a total of US$402,957. This follows the purchase of the Midas Drilling Rig (“Midas”) currently engaged in an aggressive drilling programme at the Bailieston project. The new rig is a high capacity, heavy duty multi-purpose drill rig which is highly effective in diamond coring, reverse circulation and rotary drilling techniques. It has been purchased complete with spares and all downhole equipment and is capable of drilling as deep as 2,000 metres*. The rig will be delivered in Q4 2021 and will further boost MGA’s in-house drilling capability.
Bradda Head Holdings Ltd. (LON:BHL) has increased its acreage in Western Arizona by staking land adjacent to its existing land packages. These new claims are located next to existing Burro Creek East and Burro Creek West clay deposits, as well as Wikieup clay.
Caerus Mineral Resources Plc, (LSE:CMRS) sold the Black Pine nickel cobalt project in Southern Cyprus to Caerus Mineral Resources Plc for PS0.5mln (A$0.9mln). This was in a cash-and-shares deal with Aeramentum Resources Pty Ltd.
Oracle Power PLC (LON:ORCP) Announce the appointment of Mr. Edward Mead as Exploration Manager for Oracle’s Western Australian gold projects. Mr. Mead is a qualified geologist with more than 25 years’ experience in gold and base metals exploration, mine development and mine production. He has worked in a wide range of geological settings and with projects at various stages.
Jangada Mines PLC, (LON:JAN) reported an increase of 45% in the estimated resources for its Pitombeiras ferrovanadium mine in Brazil. The total mineral resource estimate has been increased to 8.26 millions tonnes. It includes results from three exploration targets areas.
Eurasia Mining PLC (LON:EUA.) announced an appointment of a new CEO of its Kola subsidiaries. Konstantin Firstov, former Managing Director of Rosgeo has been appointed as CEO of Eurasia’s 100% subsidiary Yuksporskaya Mining Company / Yuksporskaya Gornaya Kompaniya (“YGK”) (for more details on YGK please see below).
Konstantin is an experienced mining engineer having also previously worked as the head of open-pit mining at Achinsk, the largest operation of Rusal, a leading company in the global aluminium industry, producing metal with a low carbon footprint.
Anglesey Mining PLC, (LON:AYM) has appointed Jonathan Battershill chief executive effective 1 August 2021. Battershill, a Camborne School of Mines graduate in mining geology, has extensive experience in both operations and finance in Australia as well as the UK.
Thor Mining PLC (LON.ASX.THR) Quarterly Report April to June 2021 release. Managing Director’s Comments Thor is excited about commencing its maiden diamond drilling program at the Alford East Copper-Gold Project, where our geology team’s new geological model strongly indicates weathering boundaries opening up copper oxide mineralisation potential at depth and along strike, and zones of potential higher grades adjacent to structural controls.
Geological logging and preliminary pXRF results from the initial drillholes are validating this model and allowing drill targeting to vector in on potential higher-grade zones associated with controlling structures. The step out of 21AED002 and confirmation of a wide indicative higher-grade copper intercept highlights the potential to increase the current Mineral Resource Estimate. We look forward to completing the drill program, [which remains] on time and on budget, with initial assays anticipated to come in over the next few weeks.
Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) highlighted quarterly updates from Sandfire Resources Ltd, and two additional natural resource investments. Sandfire, which holds 3.4% of the shares, reported strong sales in June and exceeded its FY2021 copper production guidance.
Cadence Minerals PLC (LON:KDNC) announced that DEV Mineraço S.A (“DEV”) has been permitted to export a further US$10 million (after the deductions of all logistical, regulatory, shipping and sale costs) of iron ore from its stockpiles situated at its port in Santana, Amapa, Brazil (“Second Permission”). This authority is in addition to the first permission granted to DEV on 10 February 2021, in which it was permitted to ship an initial US$10 million, net of costs, of iron ore (“First Permission”).
In August, DEV is scheduled to complete its fourth and last shipment under the First Permission; the four shipments of 58% beneficiated iron ore has netted approximately US$10 million to DEV. On completion, DEV will begin the shipments to fulfil the Second Permission.
