It feels like the new year is now well and truly underway, with London nearly getting back to its usual busy self. We are also seeing the effects on the Covid-19 variant Omicron: cases are down to 109,133, which is 24% lower compared to last week. Another promising development is that, from today, France has lifted the ban on UK travellers – meaning that their alluring ski slopes are officially reopened to us Brits!
The FTSE was up 0.74% this week on the news released from the ONS that the UK economy had reached its pre-pandemic levels of spending in November. The Queen’s official grocer Fortnum & Mason has bounced back from its first annual loss in 12 years, attributing biscuits and teas as the standout sellers. Royal Mail has been the latest victim of the hedge fund Marshall Wace, which took a short position of 0.5% within the company. As a result, shares have fallen 4% today.
Client news:
Oracle Power PLC (AIM: ORCP) announced that the Company Directors purchased ordinary shares as part of the Director Share Purchase Plan, full details can be seen here.
Mila Resources Plc (LSE: MILA) Mark Stephenson, Executive Director acquired 1,000,000 ordinary shares in the company priced at 2.4 pence each. Stephenson’s total holdings in the now 6,116,761 Ordinary Shares, representing 2.00% of the total issued share capital.
Harvest Minerals Limited (LSE: HMI) released its fourth-quarter results and annual 2021 report. Accumulated sales by end of December 2021 soared 6.3% higher to 85,030 tonnes – marking a 57% increase over 2020 sales.
“2021 was a breakout year for Harvest. Our annual sales performance has grown exponentially over the last three full years as the quality and value of our product has been recognised by the market. We have seen repeat clients increasing their orders while adding new clients to our portfolio at a pace faster than anticipated,” said Brian McMaster, Chairman of Harvest. Read the full report here.
Katoro Gold PLC (AIM: KAT) announced that mobilisation for the Haneti diamond drill program has commenced. Following the results received from the RAB drill programme completed incomplete early 2021, it is expected that mobilization will be completed on or around the 17th of January 2022. Drilling on the 1,000-meter programme will commence on or around the 20th of January. Additional information as well as a map highlighting the planned locations for the 2022 diamond drilling programme can be found on slide 11 on the link here.
Alba Mineral Resources plc (AIM: ALBA) announced that a pitting and sampling programme will commence shortly at the historic waste rock dump at the Clogau-St David’s Gold Mine, where an initial sampling exercise in 2021 returned gold grades of up to 9.89 g/t.
“This second pitting and sampling phase should give us a more accurate assessment of the economic potential of one section of the waste rock dump at Clogau. Assuming these next assay values are in line with the first phase of sampling, we intend to process a greater volume of the excavated fines through our existing gravity gold plant and, thereafter, to design and submit a plan to mine and process the higher-grade section of the dump,” stated Mark Austin, Alba’s Chief Operating Officer.
Trident Royalties Plc (AIM: TRR) announced the completion of the recently announced acquisition of a portfolio of producing gold offtake streams from Orion Resource Partners for US$69.75 million.
“The completion of this transaction marks the biggest milestone achievement to date for Trident, increasing our number of producing assets by 350%. When coupled with our existing assets, the addition of a portfolio of offtakes over seven producing mines located in six countries materially increases Trident’s scale and diversification. Now, not only do we provide diversified exposure to lithium, copper, gold and iron ore, but we do so with a portfolio underpinned by assets which provide investors with visibility on sustainable, well-diversified cash flows far into the future,” said Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Trident.
Trident has also announced that, following the completion of the acquisition, it has generated its inaugural cash flow under the streams. The royalties and streaming company acquired 1,858 ounces of gold and subsequently sold for a margin of $30.68/oz, resulting in a total cash flow of $57,001 and an NSR equivalent margin of 1.69% for the batch – well in excess of Trident’s long term base case assumption on the acquisition of the portfolio.
PYX Resources Ltd (NSX: PYX | LSE: PYX) announced that it has started production and sales activity of natural rutile from its Mandiri deposit in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, as a by-product of its primary zircon production operation.
“PYX has hit the ground running in 2022 having kicked off the production of rutile; this is an integral part of our growth strategy, which assists us in expanding the range of products available to our increasingly diverse customers worldwide,” stated PYX’s Chairman and CEO Oliver Hasler.
GreenRoc
SEED Innovations Ltd (AIM: SEED) provided an update on its portfolio company Eurox Group, following a non-exclusive marketing and distribution agreement entered into between Eurox and Alternative Medical Products GmbH (AMP). AMP are beginning the sale of Dronabinol produced by Eurox in Germany, with the aim for Dronabinol to be ready for sale in pharmacies beginning in February 2022.
Eurox have also into an exclusive agreement with Orchid Ventures Inc, a multi-state cannabis innovation company, on a submission to German Authorities for approval of a premium medical vaporizer device.
Firering Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: FRG) updated the market on exploration activities at its Atex dual Lithium-Coltan, as well as progress on the plan to commence near-term pilot production of conflict-free tantalum. The first phase of auger drilling campaign and soil sampling at Atex Project to identify prime lithium and tantalum targets for resource definition notified on 21 December has now been completed. A 2,100m diamond drill programme is scheduled to commence in Q2 2022.
“We are excited about the first half of 2022 and beyond as we push ahead with exploration at Atex. With lithium being in high demand for the production of batteries for the EV market, the time is right to focus on what we believe could be the next major lithium resource in West Africa. Stated Yuval Cohen, Chief Executive of Firering Strategic Minerals. Read the full report here.
In case you missed this…
Seed Innovations have been featured twice on Proactive Investors
George Frangeskides, CEO of Alba interviewed on the work at Clogau-St David’s Gold mine
Paul Smith, Non-Executive Chairman of Trident Royalties discusses the largest acquisition in Tridents History with Zak Mir
Trident also has been featured on Proactive Investors
In other news…
UK economy back to pre-pandemic levels in November
Eon blasted for sending socks to customers
Andy Murray beats Reilly Opelka to reach Sydney Tennis final
