Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN), the mining giant, is strategically building a 'moat' around its business by focusing on recycling, a sector that aligns closely with the company's 'core marketing DNA', according to analysts from Citi.
In business parlance, a 'moat' refers to an advantage that is difficult for competitors to overcome.
There are three aspects of the Trident Royalties investment proposition that mark it out from the pack.
The first two are fairly straightforward.
Premier African Minerals Ltd (AIM:PREM) is making headway on the installation and commissioning of the RHA Ball Mill at the company's Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project.
"I am pleased to confirm the completion of the installation of the Mill including all necessary feeds and discharge components, pumps, control circuitry and grinding media requirements that are expected to support planned production of up to 1,000 tons per month of spodumene from November 2023 at Zulu,” said chief executive George Roach.
Neometals Ltd (ASX:NMT, OTC:RDRUY, AIM:NMT) shares jumped 6% to 23.5p after the company said it can better assert its commercial rights after being awarded a patent in Australia for its battery material recycling process.
It is the first of 17 patents the company's 50%-owned recycling intellectual property subsidiary has applied for around the world for the LiB Recycling Technology.
Harvest Minerals Ltd (AIM:HMI, OTC:HMIFF) said sales of fertiliser remain a challenge in its target market of Brazil as farmers continue to cut back due to low crop prices and high energy bills.
Sales in the six months to end June 2023 fell 74% to 7,280 tonnes (t) and though traditionally this is the weaker half of the year, volumes to date remain below expectations, Harvest added.
Emmerson PLC (AIM:EML) said strategic investors Global Sustainable Minerals (GSM) and Gold Quay Capital have stated they will replace an existing convertible loan note with more suitable funding once the Khemisset fertiliser project in Morocco receives environmental approval.
Morocco’s recent disastrous earthquake might delay this process, Emmerson added, as although the project was not directly affected by the shocks the government understandably is focusing on relief and humanitarian assistance.
Trident Royalties PLC (AIM:TRR, OTCQX:TDTRF) said Anson Resources, the operator of the Paradox and Green River lithium developments in south-eastern Utah, has announced progress at both projects.
Earlier this month, Trident bought a 2.5% net smelter return royalty over all of Anson's projects in Utah's Paradox Basin, including Paradox and Green River.
Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) could quadruple its earnings from battery recycling over the next five years, according to a note from UBS.
Analysts from the Swiss bank have come to that conclusion after they visited Glencore’s e-waste sampling plant at East Providence (Rhode Island) and then Li-Cycle's Rochester black mass processing hub (under construction).
Greatland Gold PLC (AIM:GGP, OTC:GRLGF) said it can resume on-ground exploration activities after signing a land access and mineral exploration agreement with the Wakamurru Aboriginal Corporation for the company's Ernest Giles project on the Manta Rirrtinya native title area.
The agreement is the first land access agreement entered into by the Manta Rirrtinya since their native title determination in 2018, which the company said is structured to provide "significant benefits" to the Wakamurru and the Manta Rirrtinya community.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has raised its 12-month forecast for Brent oil from $93 per barrel to $100 as it now expects modestly sharper inventory draws.
The key reason behind the change is that significantly lower OPEC supply and higher demand more than offset significantly higher US supply, it said.
Wishbone Gold PLC (AIM:WSBN, AQSE:WSBN) told investors it has now kicked off a drill programme at the Red Setter project in Western Australia, as the explorer looks to build on last year’s successes.
The project, spanning 57.4 square kilometres, is located in the neighbourhood of Newcrest Mining’s Telfer gold project (some 13 kilometres away) and the Greatland Gold/Newcrest joint venture (some 60 kilometres away).
Thor Energy PLC (AIM:THR, OTCQB:THORF, ASX:THR) shares advanced in Wednesday’s early deals as it raised new funds to accelerate its exploration venture in Colorado and Utah – in the uranium-vanadium mining district of the Uravan Mineral Belt.
The company, in a statement, said it is planning a new programme comprising 4,000 metres of drilling at the Radium Mountain/Wedding Bell Project in Colorado and a maiden drill at the Vanadium King Project in Utah.
Power Metal Resources PLC (AIM:POW) has taken stakes in more ground around its Perch River uranium project in Athabasca, Saskatchewan, after recently discovering “highly significant helium anomalies”.
The additional stakes increase Power Metal's acreage at Perch River by approximately 38% to a total of 5,455 hectares (Ha) and cover several strong hyperspectral helium anomalies, said the statement.
Great Southern Copper PLC (LSE:GSCU) (GSC) has signed a binding term sheet to acquire the Monti Lithium project in the Salar de Atacama region in Chile.
Salar de Atacama is Chile's premier lithium brine production region, GSC added, with the concession in an ideal location with excellent infrastructure for power, transport and port facilities.
Shanta Gold Ltd (AIM:SHG, OTC:SAAGF) hailed record-breaking first-half results as it reaped the benefit of its new mine opening at Singida in Tanzania.
Revenues jumped 70% to US$88.3 million in the six months to June 2023 as gold production rose by 55% to 44,770 ounces due to Singida chipping in from March and better recoveries and purity at the existing New Luika mine, also in Tanzania.
Galileo Resources PLC (AIM:GLR) said it has identified drill targets at the Shinganda copper/gold licence in Zambia following a licence-wide geophysical review.
Added to reviews of previous airborne surveys, three large clusters of intense iron alteration were highlighted towards the west and closer to the ground a splay fault containing soil anomalies greater than 285 parts per million (ppm) copper.
Cornish Metals Inc (AIM:CUSN, TSX-V:CUSN, OTC:SBWFF) has started a new drill programme to test the extent of the tin in the recently discovered Wide Formation target at South Crofty in Cornwall.
A 14-hole/9,000-metre (m) exploration programme will drill the Wide Formation target in the Carn Brea South exploration area on the southern boundary of the underground mine permission area.
Analysts at Stifel have reacted well to Trident Royalties PLC (AIM:TRR, OTCQX:TDTRF)’s latest earnings, which showed a 45% year-on-year rise in royalty receipts in the first six months of the year.
It was “an eventful period highlighted by multiple transactions”, said analysts, specifically the sale of Australia-based pre-production gold royalties and royalty acquisitions with associated milestone payments off Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE).
Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd (LSE:FAR) has launched a second tranche of an ongoing US$20 million offer bond programme after the initial batch largely sold out.
This latest batch has a nominal value of US$5 million, said the Kazakhstan-focused vanadium miner, compared to US$3 million for the first tranche.
Technology Minerals PLC (LSE:TM1)'s’ battery recycling associate Recyclus has appointed motorsport marketing veteran Sadie Wigglesworth as a consultant advising on sales strategy.
Wigglesworth has three decades of experience working at a senior strategic level in the automotive sector, Technology Minerals said, including as commercial director for Aston Martin Racing and in senior marketing roles for motorsport teams ranging from World Rally to Formula One (F1).
Corcel PLC (LSE:CRCL) shares surged over 23% higher in Monday’s early deals as the company confirmed it has secured a £10 million loan note financing agreement.
Extraction Srl, an investment company in which Corcel chair Antoine Karam is a shareholder, will initially make £1 million available in October followed by £1 million in January, while the other £8 million is potentially available over the three-year term of the agreement.
Kodal Minerals PLC (AIM:KOD) has announced Qingtao Zeng’s resignation as a non-executive director on the company’s board.
Having represented Kodal’s largest shareholder Suay Chin International Pte Ltd since November 2017, Zeng tendered his resignation due to personal reasons, the company said on Monday.
Trident Royalties PLC (AIM:TRR, OTCQX:TDTRF) said it has seen a "marked increase" in the opportunity pipeline as it reported a 45% year-on-year rise in royalty receipts in the first six months of the year.
One of the highlights of the period was the sale of several pre-production gold royalties for up to US$15.6 million, delivering a 140% return on invested capital.
Australia-focused mining company ECR Minerals PLC (AIM:ECR) has raised £580,000 in a direct subscription of shares priced at 0.175p each to a number of high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors.
ECR will use the funds raised to advance the company’s existing assets, new potential opportunities and for general working capital purposes.
Wishbone Gold PLC (AIM:WSBN, AQSE:WSBN) said the first five reverse circulation (RC) holes drilled at Cottesloe in recent weeks have reinforced its view that the licence is potentially highly prospective for precious and base metals.
In a statement, Wishbone said large sulphidic and pyritic shale zones were encountered with widths over 70 metres.
Andrada Mining Ltd (AIM:ATM, OTC:AFTTF) said the final batch of assay results from recent drilling at the Lithium Ridge (ML133) licence in Namibia intersected mineralised pegmatites and confirmed that the 6km of mineralisation at the surface continues at depth.
Anthony Viljoen, chief executive, added: “As previously stated, these results for the remaining 2km of strike indicate intersections at higher lithium grades than those recorded at Uis and are commensurate with similar hard-rock resources globally.