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Proactive weekly mining highlights - Bezant Resources, Greatland Gold, Thor Mining and more

Published: 07:15 19 Aug 2017 BST

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A busy week for the smallcap mining sector..

Shares in Bezant Resources plc (LON:BZT) zipped higher after the junior miner confirmed it had achieved the first commercial gold and platinum production at its Choco project in Colombia.

The milestone has been reached within two months of plant commissioning at this first mining area, Bezant added.

After receiving the necessary approvals from the Colombian authorities at the end of last month, the AIM-quoted firm expects first sales from production in the near future.

“First commercial production of gold and platinum has been achieved on schedule and we are now reviewing the run-of-mine production data to achieve full operational ramp-up during the next few months,” said chief executive Bernard Olivier.

Greatland Gold

Elsewhere, Greatland Gold plc (LON:GGP) headed higher on Thursday after the explorer announced that regional targeting across its Paterson project area in Western Australia has highlighted the potential for a new iron oxide copper gold ore (ICOG) district.

In a statement, the AIM-listed firm said approximately 50 IOCG targets have been identified by the company in the broader region, with around half located in ground held by Greatland.

Shanta Gold

In other news, Tanzania-focused gold producer Shanta Gold Ltd (LON:SHG) continues to ramp up operations at its New Luika gold mine, as it reviews its business plan amid changing legislation in the African country.

As well as posting latest half year figures, the miner revealed it had terminated a previous arrangement to buy Helio Resource Corp, which owns land next to New Luika, for US$5.6mln because of last month's legal changes.

Gold shipments now attract higher royalty rates of 6%, up from 4% previously, and a clearing fee of 1% has been applied.

As reported previously, Shanta has repeated its output guidance for 2017 of between 80,000 and 85,000 gold ounces and ASIC (all in sustaining costs) of between US$800 and US$850 per ounce.

Production in the first half was 40,073 ounces compared to 48,237 ounces in the same period last year, leading to revenues of US$52.7mln (2016: US$55.7 mln).

In the six months, the firm sold 41,234 ounces of the yellow metal at an average price of US$1,257 per ounce, compared to average spot price of US$1,239 per ounce.

The loss before tax narrowed to US$649,000 versus a loss of around US$3mln in the same period last year.

Thor Mining

Nevada might be the state for gambling in the US, but Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) (ASX:THR) looks to be on to a sure thing with its Pilot Mountain project in the region, particularly with the tungsten price continuing to climb.

Thor today announced positive preliminary results from the first drill hole at the Good Hope deposit at the wholly-owned Nevada project.

The group said the drilling highlights were encountering 1.1% of copper, 1.3% of zinc, and 0.19% of tungsten trioxide at 27.4 metres.

It also noted that there was unexpected mineralisation from the surface followed by 10m of higher tenor mineralisation from 17.5m, broadly confirming expectation based upon historical drilling.

Pan African Resources

Over to South Africa, and the strength of the Rand currency there against pound sterling in the year to end June 2017 means Pan African Resources plc (LON:PAF) is expecting to report lower EPS (earnings per share), it told investors.

Under Johannesburg Stock Exchange rules a firm must disclose if it believes results will differ by at least 20% from those of the previous corresponding period.

Using the average ZAR:GBP exchange rate 17.25:1 during the year, which was 19.6% higher than the average rate in the 2016 year, the firm now expects EPS to be 24% to 13% lower than the 1.41 pence for the prior reporting period, it said in a statement.

Vast Resources

Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) revealed this week it has received another funding option.

As reported last month, the mining group agreed conditional heads of terms on a US$10mln funding deal with a Romania-focused corporate finance and investment firm.

Now, the firm said that Sub-Sahara Goldia Investments has exercised its right to provide equivalent finance on the same terms and conditions.

Capital Drilling

Meanwhile, a sharp rise in revenues helped Capital Drilling Ltd (LON:CAPD) to return to profitability in the first half of the year.

The AIM-listed drilling solutions firm saw revenues for the six months ended 30 June jump 49% to US$62.3mln (H1 2016: US$41.7mln). That helped it swing to a post-tax profit of US$2.6mln (H1 2016: Loss of US$0.8mln).

Cash generation also strengthened to US$13.1mln (H1 2016: US$7.7mln), resulting in period-end net cash of US$3.3mln (31 Dec 2016: US$0.6mln).

As a result of the “strong” performance, Capital declared an interim dividend of 0.5 US cents per share for the period (H1 2016: 1.5 cents).

Wolf Minerals

Wolf Minerals PLC (LON:WLFE, ASX:WLF) is making progress in its ambition not to be a noisy neighbour down in Devon.

In an operational update on its Hemerdon tungsten and tin project, the company said it is making progress on the implementation of a turnaround plan, designed to achieve a sustainable production platform by the final quarter of the year.

The company has voluntarily shut down the vibrating screens in the processing plant on weekends, while it has continued to develop technical solutions with its lead construction contractor to speed up a comprehensive low frequency noise (LFN) damping solution.

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