St Brides Partners Weekly Brief, Saturday 5th March 2021

This week marked the beginning of March and with it, Shrove Tuesday. Although better known as Pancake Day, where we celebrate the beginning of Lent by using up items in our cupboard in preparation for the traditional abstinence period, it also goes by the name of Mardi Gras. The practise of abstinence isn’t as common anymore but fortunately, the tradition of making pancakes has remained!

The markets have had a tumultuous time this week with further sanctions being placed against Russia, including the seizing of assets of Russian oligarchs, and the Ruble now worth less than US$0.1c. US Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, spoke before the Senate on Thursday in his congressionally mandated semi-annual testimony on monetary policy and it looks like the Fed are still preparing to move forward with interest rate increases aimed at curtailing inflation. The European Central Bank has also been in a tricky position recently, with inflation approaching 6% (three times the official target) and the war between Russia and Ukraine impacting the continent’s economy – the challenge being to provide support for companies whilst preventing prices spiralling out of control.

All this has caused the markets to fluctuate further in a week that has shocked the world with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The Dax 30 (German stock exchange) fell 7.17% in the last five days, the CAC 40 (French) was down 6.99%, whilst the Moscow Exchange has shut for the fourth day in a row with £420 billion worth of shares wiped off the LSE. Finally, the FTSE has fared slightly better and is down 5.94% this week.

In ever so slightly better news, a depressed parrot has found its groove again and has started to swear and play with its toys (Thanks to BBC). The African Grey Parrot, Jesse, fell into a slump when her owner of nine years passed away. After having been re-homed, Jesse has come back to her old parroting, potty-mouthed old self. The RHS, or the Royal Horticultural Society, has decreed that snails and slugs will no longer be classified as ‘pests’ as, according to research, only 9 of the 44 species in the UK actually eat our plants. So, we had it wrong all along!

 

Client News:

Caracal Gold plc (LSE: GCAT) has appointed Mr Franck Bizouerne as Group Mineral Resource Manager, effective from 1 April. A senior geologist with over 22 years of experience and an expert in greenfield exploration, in particular, gold but also lithium and base metals across the African continent, the mining veteran brings a wealth of experience to the East African gold player. https://bit.ly/3sTqvuo

BlueRock Diamonds PLC, (AIM: BRD) sold four gem-quality stones in its February tender totalling  US$460,000.  Notably, the average tender price of the total parcel of $638 per carat was significantly above the 2021 average of $ 465 and follows BRD’s strong January 2022 tender, which had an average price of $565. https://bit.ly/3pC8mAE

Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc (AIM: EOG) conditionally raised gross proceeds of £7.02 million before expenses, through the conditional placing of 390 million new ordinary shares. The funds will bankroll its acquisition of a farm in the Serenity oil field located in the North Sea – allowing the oil and gas company to fulfil its goal of adding a potentially highly valuable appraisal asset to its portfolio. https://bit.ly/3CeTixJ

Cora Gold Limited (AIM: CORA) updated the market on its exploration activity at its portfolio of gold assets in southern Mali. Results included a new surface gold discovery at its flagship Sanankoro Gold Project in previously unexplored areas, and gold assay results from selected rock samples at the Bokoro II deposit, which neighbours Sanankoro, returned up to 0.85 g/t gold.  The positive results support future follow up exploration work on the permit areas at Sanankoro s. https://bit.ly/CORAGLD

SEED Innovations Ltd, (AIM: SEED) noted an announcement released by its portfolio company, Little Green Pharma including its half-year financial report to  31 December 2021. During the reporting period and early 2022, LGP was granted the first local registration for cannabis medicines in Denmark, signed an exclusive distribution agreement with PharmaServe Hellas for Greece, and was awarded an Italian Government tender to supply cannabis flower into Italy. The Company continued to achieve strong growth during the reporting period, with a significant increase in revenue to $7,321,504, up 94% compared to the previous corresponding period (31 December 2020: $3,771,237)
SEED owns a holding of 7,324,796 ordinary shares in LGP representing 3.1% of LGP’s issued share capital. https://bit.ly/SeedInn

Quantum Exponential Group plc (AQUIS: QBIT) made its first investment since listing in November 2021 – investing invested c.£300,000 as part of a c.£470,000 seed funding round in Siloton Limited, a tech company that uses quantum techniques and photonic integrated circuits for use in sub-surface optical scanning devices used across healthcare. The most significant application is in the monitoring of age-related macular degeneration, the market for which is expected to reach 288 million patients by 2040. Following the investment, Quantum Exponential will hold 2,752 ordinary shares in Siloton representing 12.79% of Siloton’s enlarged issued share capital. https://bit.ly/3KfoUGy

Mila Resources (LSE: MILA) announced a drilling update from its Kathleen Valley Gold Project in Western Australia. The second hole drill hole intersected ~9.3m wide mineralised sulphide zone from 195.68m, which contains 2m of Bellevue Style quartz-sulphide lodes discoveries. Kathleen Valley is situated next to Bellevue Gold one of the highest-grade gold discoveries in the world, making this a particularly exciting find. https://bit.ly/3Gs638G

In case you missed it:

Proactive interview Neil Hutchison, CTO of Mila, on the ‘very promising’ results found at Kathleen Valley.
Zak Mir interviewed Shaun Bunn, Managing Director of Empire Metals (AIM: EEE), regarding the company’s exploration plans at the Gindalbie Gold Project.
Proactive covered the appointment of Mr Franck Bizouerne as Global Mineral Resource Manager at Caracal Gold.

In the news this week:
Brazil is considering lifting mining ban in the Amazon in wake of Ukraine conflict
Quantum tech breakthrough for subsurface mapping
Ed Sheeran attends court over £20m battle for rights to his hit ‘Shape of You’


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