Altona Rare Earths has announced its move to the standard section of the main market from Aquis following a successful £2mln fundraise, consisting of a £1.72mln share placing at 5p per share and a subscription for £279,000 worth of shares at the same price.
Meanwhile, founder and CEO of Power Metal Resources PLC, Paul Johnson, is stepping down due to family health matters but will continue to work for the company in the background as it pursues its spin-off and disposal strategy.
Piedmont Lithium Inc and Sayona Mining Ltd have produced the first batch of spodumene concentrate from the North American Lithium Project in Quebec, with the first shipment of saleable products targeted for Q3 2023.
Bens Creek announced the formal cessation of the contract of its chief financial officer Murat Erden on 12 July 2023, after Erden informed the metallurgical coal mine owner that he will not be able to provide the necessary time to undertake his duties. The UK government is also facing pressure from Labour MPs to bolster domestic EV production or risk losing out to firms building factories elsewhere. Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata is reportedly considering building its new EV factory in Spain rather than the UK.
Eclipse Metals Ltd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Minerals, Materials and Society Program at the University of Delaware to ensure sustainable development and economic diversification around its Ivigtût Project in Southwest Greenland, with funding from the US government’s National Science Foundation.
Labour MPs are urging the UK government to strengthen domestic EV production or face losing ground as companies consider building factories in other countries. Tata, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, recently announced it is exploring the possibility of constructing its new EV factory in Spain instead of the UK, which may have become more attractive following the European Union’s response to the US Inflation Reduction Act.
Atlantic Lithium Limited‘s shares surged by 26% after the company issued a response to a false and misleading report regarding its partner Piedmont Lithium Inc, while Oriole Resources PLC announced exploration success in Cameroon.
Endeavour Mining PLC increased its annual dividend payout to US$200mln after confirming another solid year of production.
European Lithium Ltd is making significant progress towards becoming a top battery-grade lithium hydroxide producer in Europe, backed by a strong definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Wolfsberg Lithium Project in Austria. The DFS reveals an NPV of US$1.5 billion and an IRR of 33.3%, highlighting that the project is poised to generate significant returns by leveraging low operating costs and capitalizing on a lithium market expected to be in structural undersupply for most of the mine’s life.
Anglo Asian Mining PLC has secured a seven-year revolving credit facility worth US$32.3mln from the International Bank of Azerbaijan, providing additional finance and operational flexibility for the company’s expansion plans.
Castillo Copper Ltd plans to optimise the Cangai Copper Mine in northern New South Wales, with an upgrade to the mineral resource estimate and model based on drilling work completed since the original estimate in 2017.
Reports that Ukraine has seized shares owned by Ferrexpo PLC’s major shareholder and former CEO resulted in a drop in the company’s shares. The Kyiv Economic Court confiscated indirect stakes of 50.3% in mining plants located in central Ukraine, claiming they were owned by billionaire Kostyantin Zhevago through Ferrexpo.
Meanwhile, GreenX Metals Ltd saw a 14% decline in its shares after a £3.9mln share placing, with proceeds from the placement set to support working capital as the company awaits a decision in its international arbitration against the Republic of Poland.
Greatland Gold PLC’s recent exploration campaign at its Scallywag project has delivered the most encouraging results to date, according to managing director Shaun Day.
“At the A35 Prospect, pre-collar drilling was completed with gold mineralisation intercepted plus important pathfinder geochemistry encountered, including bismuth which is associated with the Havieron and Telfer gold-copper deposits. The high-grade silver and copper mineralisation intercepted at the Pearl Prospect, confirms the possibility of a new style of deposit being identified. The underlying deeper geophysical targets at both prospects are yet to be tested but have now been prioritised for diamond drilling in 2023.”
“These results, together with the continual improvement in understanding of the buried geology, stratigraphy and structure, increase our confidence in the prospectivity of the ground, and our ability to vector towards intrusion related and other styles of mineralised systems at Scallywag.”
Fresnillo PLC announced a 1.2% increase in silver production at its Mexican operations to 53.7 million ounces during the year ended 31 December 2022, while gold production declined by 15% to just under 636,000 ounces. The company’s revenue decreased by 10% to US$2.4bn in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Cornish Metals Inc is making significant headway in establishing a dewatering operation at the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall, with plans to begin production in 2026 when tin supply deficits are projected.
In other news, work has been halted on the Tavsan gold mine in Turkey, co-owned by Ariana Resources PLC, following a court ruling.
Power Metal Resources PLC recorded a pre-tax loss of £2.9mln for the year ending 30 September 2022 and a total comprehensive loss of £375,000, but ended the period with £1.6mln in cash.
Ariana Resources PLC expects its stake in Venus Minerals Ltd to rise to 58% following a capital restructuring and ahead of Venus’s proposed listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Kavango Resources PLC has assessed the mineral exploration potential of its Ditau project in Botswana via a review conducted by Dr. Hamid Mumin, a professor and former chair of the Department of Geology at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada.
Greatland Gold PLC announced that it is well positioned financially as it progresses towards production and generating cash flow from the Havieron mine, with £59.8 million in cash and £43.5 million of debt as of December 31, 2022. The company has made strides in its feasibility study for the gold-copper deposit in the Paterson region of Western Australia, with a newly updated mineral resource revealing a total of 5.5 million ounces of gold and 222,000 tonnes of copper.
Landore Resources Ltd has signed an option agreement with Green Technology Metals Limited (GT1) concerning certain tenements that include lithium prospects on the Junior Lake project in Canada. GT1 can purchase an 80% stake in the tenements, which consist of 591 staked mineral claims covering 10,856 hectares.
