Another bumper week across the sector, I have a feeling that some investors may see multiple returns on their investments when the markets turn, so many basement bargain stocks around, and with resources, demand is outgrowing supplies, something has to give, sooner rather than later.
Here is what has made the news this week, including Tweets Share Talk has shared across social media.
https://twitter.com/Share_Talk/status/1555872914242736128?s=20
Petropavlovsk a Russian goldminer has agreed to sell off assets after going into administration last month. But the administrators may have a big obstacle to being able to carry out the high court order with an announcement made on Friday
Petropavlovsk, which was once the biggest goldminer listed on the London stock market, proposes to sell its subsidiaries and most other assets to UMMC-Invest, a Russian metals producer, for $600 million The Times reported.
#Russian goldminer #Petropavlovsk has agreed to sell off assets after going into administration last month. The company, which was once the biggest #goldminer listed on the @LSEGplc The deal confirms that shareholders will be wiped out https://t.co/ZBPOGH9P0A
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) August 5, 2022
A decree, signed by President Vladimir Putin and published on Friday, immediately bans investors from countries which supported sanctions on Russia from selling their assets in production sharing agreements, banks, strategic entities, companies producing energy equipment, as well as in other projects, from oil and gas production to coal and nickel.
Amur Minerals Corporation (AIM #AMC) Announced on Friday that it, together with its wholly owned subsidiary Irosta Trading Limited, has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”) for the sale of 100% of its interest in Irosta’s wholly owned subsidiary, AO Kun-Manie for a total consideration of US$ 35 million
According to the nickel-copper explorer, the price is a premium of 119% on the company’s current market capitalisation of 3 Aug and 44% on the current Kun-Manie value of US$24.3mln at 31 Dec.
Amur stated that it will pay a special dividend at 1.8p per share if the deal is approved. This will be after receipt of the consideration and within 90 days.
The deal requires approval from shareholders at a general meeting set for 24 August. It also requires approval by a Russian Federation government commission created per a presidential decree issued in March. This specifically addresses the control of assets held in western countries and the consent of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service.
Shares in Amur leapt 49% to 1.32p on Friday.
@WishboneGoldPlc Chairman @RPoulden, commented, "I am pleased that our Australian management team have managed to secure a second rig for Red Setter for next week. The exciting times at #WSBN continue."pic.twitter.com/Oq3W461Sld https://t.co/5ZDjTho8gW
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) August 6, 2022
Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited (AIM: CGH) reported an increase in ore at its Kapan mine, Armenia, in the first half. It also stated that it is on track to meet guidance for third-party and own ore for the entire year.
According to a statement, the company produced 321,100 tonnes of ore during the half-year ending 30 June 2022. This is 6.5% more than the 2021 period. However, the grade was 12.2% lower at 2.94 grams per t gold equivalent due to narrower veins.
Chaarat stated that the second half of this year’s targets will be to “reduce dilution” and develop areas in the mine with larger veins.
Xtract Resources plc (AIM: XTR) Bushranger Project Completion of Phase Two Drilling. Drill hole BRDD-21-055 has now been completed signifying the completion of the Phase Two drilling programme at the Bushranger Copper-Gold Exploration Project
Hole BRDD-22-055 was drilled at the Ascot Prospect and designed to test for the extension of mineralisation beneath the discovery hole (BRDD-21-035) at depth.
The company said subject to laboratory assays, all holes have intersected extensive zones of altered volcanics with trace, to locally weak to strong porphyry-related mineralisation throughout, and once all assays are received, the company intends to complete a maiden resource for the Ascot Prospect
Glencore (LON: GLEN) return an extra $4.5 bln to shareholders after record earnings. Glencore, a miner and trader, announced Thursday that it will return $4.5 billion to investors. This includes a $3 billion share buyback. The company reported a record-breaking half-year profit, largely due to the high price of coal.
- Share buybacks to be paid $3 billion by the company
- A $1.45 Billion special dividend is also promised
- The adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $18.92 Billion
Glencore, unlike its mining competitors, refuses to follow investor pressures to leave fossil fuels. Glencore mines thermal coke, which has seen record prices, reflecting the shortages during prolonged COVID lockdowns. It also trades millions of barrels per year of crude oil.
https://twitter.com/Share_Talk/status/1555269320560840705?s=20
First Class Metals (AIM: FCM) Exploration Program Update, Progression of Key Technical Study and Historical Data Review.
Marc J. Sale CEO First Class Commented: The recent successful listing of First Class Metals PLC in what are generally considered woeful market conditions is testimony to not only the management team but the quality of the assets: the claim portfolio created. We are as a team enthusiastic about the future given the historical data assimilation and encouraging exploration results (visual) to date.
We have hit the ground running hard, the activity in the first half of 2022 leading up to and past the IPO will set us off in a good state to deliver on our objective of developing the potential of these multiple highly prospective projects.
Harvest Minerals Ltd. (AIM: HMI) stated that it has decided to not proceed with the acquisition of Miriri’s phosphate project in Brazil, after doing due diligence.
AIM-listed fertilizer producer stated that the economic and geological merits of the project didn’t meet Harvest’s minimum investment criteria.
https://twitter.com/Share_Talk/status/1555488807696359425?s=20
Power Metal Resources PLC (AIM: POW) announced that a team was mobilised to Molopo Farms Complex, Botswana, to conduct two geophysics surveys. This area has the potential for a large-scale nickel/platinum group-element project.
The concept is that the work of consultants Spectral Geophysics will allow the diamond drilling program to be precisely targeted when it begins in the autumn.
To “underpin forward project developments”, the company’s technical experts have collected all project information in a data room.
Paul Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Power Metal Resources commented: We are making very important progress as we look to reinvigorate the Molopo Farms Project, arguably one of the Company’s major exploration success stories from 2020/2021.
Edenville Energy PLC (AIM: EDL) Corporate Update was not full of joy, following a period of poor production and lack of progress at Rukwa, the Company regained operational control at Rukwa.
Following a period of a previously announced disappointing performance at the Rukwa Coal Project, Edenville is pleased to announce that a new experienced on-site management team has been mobilised to run its mine at Rukwa in Western Tanzania, with the local team expected to be in place as of today, 3 August 2022.
This follows a visit to the site by CEO Noel Lyons and Paul Ryan the Company’s recently appointed executive Board members.
https://twitter.com/Share_Talk/status/1554872145754349569?s=20
Kefi Gold and Copper (AIM: KEFI) 0.60p, Mkt Cap £24m – Rapid Progress in Saudi Arabia. The company reported positive licensing results at Jibal Qutman, Saudi Arabia’s joint venture. It also stated that the JV has been granted two additional exploration licences.
Things are moving in Ethiopia as well, with domestic tensions being resolved to allow the construction of the Tulu Kapi Gold Project.
Botswana focussed metals exploration company Kavango Resources plc (LSE: KAV) provides an update on drill targeting at its Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB) licence PL036/2020.
According to the company, an intensive soil sampling program was conducted across all KCB licenses in order to improve target resolution before drilling. We have not only achieved this but also, through the close spacing of samples, we have identified a previously unknown and potential structure which is being further investigated.
Our drill targets are being sharpened by the combination of soil sampling and geological mapping. We have recently identified multiple instances in our licences of the Ngwako Pan-D’kar Formational Contact. The next steps include upgrading our geophysical interpretation of the data acquired in 2021, and infill soil sampling if necessary.
Shaun Day, Managing Director of @GreatlandGold “We are presently reviewing the opportunity to undertake an ASX cross-listing.” #GGP The big announcement at the start of his @diggersndealers presentation. https://t.co/BqbIw1REdX
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) August 2, 2022
Wishbone Gold Plc (AIM: WSBN, AQSE: WSBN), announced that it has secured a second drill rig for the Company’s Red Setter Gold-Copper Project in the Patersons Range area in Western Australia.
DDH1 Drilling, who have extensive drilling experience in the Patersons Range, are scheduled to mobilise a diamond drill rig (capable of mud rotary drilling through the Permian cover) together with necessary support equipment to Red Setter later this week. Drilling is planned to start around 10 August 2022.
The Red Setter Project is situated on the 57.4km2 wholly owned exploration licence EL45/5297 and is located 13 km south-west of Newcrest Mining’s Telfer Gold-Copper Mine and 60km west of Newcrest and Greatland Gold’s Havieron gold-copper discovery.
Endeavour Mining PLC (LON: EDV) an African-focused gold producer, increased its interim dividend by 43%, to 40 US Cents per share, thanks to its better financial position and optimistic outlook.
The company stated in its interim results that it plans to pay US$100mln in interim dividends and that it now targets a minimum dividend of US$200mln per year. This is US$50mln less than its initial minimum commitment.
It produced 702,000 ounces of gold at an all-in cost (AISC), of US$900 per ounce. The company reiterated its full-year output guidance of 1.32mln-1.40mln at an AISC between US$880-930.
https://twitter.com/Share_Talk/status/1554476468637507584?s=20
Ariana Resources PLC, (AIM: AAU) stated that gold production from the Kiziltepe Mine in Turkey in the first half exceeded expectations.
Ariana owns 23.5% of Kiziltepe and produced 13.378 ounces of gold from the mine, which was about 7% more than expected.
At Kiziltepe we remain very much on target to meet our guidance for 25,000 ounces of gold for the year,” stated Dr Kerim Sener, managing director.
Bens Creek Group PLC, (AIM: BEN), said that most of its infrastructure was unaffected by the severe flooding in West Virginia’s Western region. However, it did pose some logistical and transportation challenges.
As a Company, our prayers and good wishes go out to all those people affected by the devastation.
Although the coal miner stated that the vast majority of its infrastructure was unaffected by the floodwaters, it reported some damage to rail ties as a result of the sheer volume of water that had flooded through.
https://twitter.com/Share_Talk/status/1554727188267765760?s=20
The repairs to the railway line have been completed and passed an inspection undertaken by the rail operator on 1 August 2022. With the imminent arrival of a train scheduled for the week commencing 1 August 2022, it was important for the Company to ensure the railway track was fully functional. Accordingly, the scheduling of the train for arrival at the Bens Creek site this coming week is expected to be unaffected.
Castillo Copper Ltd (LSE, ASX, CCZ), has received better-than-expected results from metallurgical tests on drill core taken from The Sisters prospect in Broken Hill Alliance Project’s East Zone, far west New South Wales. This result suggests that Castillo Copper Ltd could be able to produce a viable concentrate.
“The board was delighted to learn of the extraordinary metallurgical results, particularly at nearly 4 g/t Gold and 1.6% Copper which provide new dynamics for follow-up,” Dr Dennis Jensen stated.
Power Metal Resources plc (AIM: POW), announces an update in relation to its joint venture (“JV”) subsidiary New Ballarat Gold Corporation Plc (“NBGC”), which is focused on the prolific Victorian Goldfields of Australia.
NBGC is a joint-venture held between Power Metal (49.9%) and its partner, London-listed Red Rock Resources plc (50.1%). NBGC has a 100% interest in Red Rock Australasia Pty Ltd (“RRAL”).
@FirstClassMetal A brand-new, Ontario-focused exploration opportunity #FCM With so many potential long-term opportunities on offer, it can be difficult to know where to focus–particularly with so many stocks trading at a heavy discount right now. https://t.co/fy8etw3O0Y https://t.co/0vGu18zJkI pic.twitter.com/ynNMhQn1q5
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) August 1, 2022
First Class Metals: A brand-new, Ontario-focused exploration opportunity
On the one hand, gold prices are primed to remain elevated for some time amid escalating economic and geopolitical uncertainty. On the other, the ongoing “greenification” of the world is set to increase demand for base and battery metals massively as supply struggles to keep up.
With so many potential long-term opportunities on offer, it can be difficult to know where to focus–particularly with so many stocks trading at a heavy discount right now.
But what if there was an opportunity to back a company with a portfolio prospective for a wide range of metals at the very beginning of its journey?
Well, thanks to First Class Metals (LSE: FCM), that opportunity is now available.
@ThorMining (AIM/ASX #THR) commencement of a close-spaced airborne survey over the north-eastern portion of the Company’s 100% owned Ragged Range Project, located in Eastern Pilbara, Western Australia. https://t.co/EyRjHSRu64
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) August 1, 2022
The directors of Thor Mining Plc (AIM, ASX: THR) announced the commencement of a close-spaced airborne survey over the north-eastern portion of the Company’s 100% owned Ragged Range Project, located in Eastern Pilbara, Western Australia.
Nicole Galloway Warland, Managing Director of Thor Mining, commented:
“This airborne survey will ensure full coverage of tenure with high resolution, close-spaced magnetics data, which is critical to the understanding of lithological boundaries and structural controls on mineralisation. This will allow Thor to focus on further developing its geological models in this greenfield area.
“The airborne survey will extend over Kelly’s copper-gold prospect where we have recently highlighted, through rock chip sampling, exciting copper and gold values along strike of the historic copper workings.”
Vast Resources plc (AIM: VAST) announced that it will commence molybdenum concentrate production in August 2022 at its Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine in Romania.
This news comes on the heels of announcements made on 31 January 2022, and 3 May 2022 about the installation and commissioning of a molybdenum flotation system at Baita Plai.
According to the company, the 0.6m3 cells have been installed in the flotation circuit in order to allow production to begin.
Alien Metals Limited (AIM: UFO) update the market on its Mexican projects – San Celso and Donovan 2.
While the Donovan 2 drilling did not yield any significant mineralised intercepts it did find a 34m zone with weakly anomalous zinc hole DONDD–A04. This could indicate weaker mineralisation near a higher-grade orebody.
To determine if future programs are necessary, the company is currently reviewing all available data on the project. Notable is the fact that the San Nicolas deposit was found at 200m depth. This means that Donovan 2’s target zone could be even deeper than it was previously thought.
Alien was recently informed by San Celso’s local stakeholders that they won’t allow the company to drill in the central license, which is, unfortunately, the primary target area for future drilling. Until future access is secured, no further work on the San Celso project will be allowed.
@WishboneGoldPlc (AIM #WSBN) saw its shares surge 23% after reporting encouraging results at the company's Red Setter Gold-Copper Project in the Patersons Range area in Western Australia. https://t.co/GStJKUimJf
— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) August 1, 2022
Wishbone Gold Plc (AIM: WSBN, AQSE: WSBN) announce drilling is delivering encouraging results (Photos 1-5), with the intersection of multiple zones of quartz veining, carbonate and chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite, from drilling targeting the previously reported 3.4km x 1km magnetic targets modelled at the Company’s Red Setter Gold-Copper Project in the Patersons Range area in Western Australia.
Richard Poulden, Wishbone Gold’s Chairman, commented, “It has taken some time to get the diamond drilling underway at Red Setter, and I am very pleased to see these encouraging signs of mineralisation from the drilling thus far. On the strength of what is being seen to date, Wishbone is now endeavouring to secure an additional diamond drill rig. I look forward to furthering positive results as we target the ~3km strike of the magnetic models. This is an exciting time for Wishbone.”
The opinions expressed here are those of the author
Disclaimer: This blog is provided for general information and It does not constitute investment advice, not buy or sell shares, warrants or bonds in any companies written about within the blog. Information is taken from publicly available sources and any comment is that of the author.
