Miners and oil stocks took to the stage today and investors in the Horse Hill Gatwick airport project stakeholders were put out of their misery after shares were suspended yesterday pending news.
Today, blue chip contractor Schlumberger presented a second opinion of the eyebrow-raising estimates relating to the discoveries, weighing in with an even bigger number.
A report in April, by US consultancy group NUTECH, claimed the tight reservoirs that form Horse Hill’s Kimmeridge play could contain 158mln barrels of oil per square mile..
Schlumberger’s report today, however, suggests the ‘play’ could actually comprise 255mln barrels per square mile.
Trading in UK Oil & Gas Investments (LON:UKOG) resumed and shares rose over 6%. Trading also started again for Solo Oil (LON:SOLO), Doriemus (LON:DOR), Alba Minerals (LON:ALBA), Stellar Resources (LON:STG) and Evocutis (LON:EVO).
Another share riser bit from a different sector was Ariana Resources (LON:AAU).
It’s now to be constructed Kiziltepe mine at the Red Rabbit project was boosted by latest exploration results, which showed new gold discoveries, which could add to output.
It has the potential to enhance the life of mine and the economics of the group's flagship gold project, the company said.
Premier African Minerals (LON:PREM) said it had produced the first concentrates from its RHA tungsten mine in Zimbabwe.
Production so far has been coarse grades, which represent about 75% of expected production from RHA. Fines production is expected to start next week.
In January, Premier estimated the mine would generate net revenue of US$26mln over a 22 month life of mine with pre-tax cash flow of US$8.9mln.
Rare Earth Minerals (LON:REM) has outlined upcoming milestones for joint venture partner Bacanora on the Sonora lithium project in Mexico, including a further resource update.
Work over the next six months, kicking off on July 1, will also include the start of an expansion and infill drill programme and the completion of process flowsheets.
This flowsheet development will add to work already done on the pre-feasibility study (PFS), the firm said.
Meanwhile, assays from SolGold’s (LON:SOLG) 11th hole at Cascabel in Ecuador showed vein intensity and copper mineralisation increased the further it went down.
At a depth between 320m to 1060m, the drill unearthed an intersection of 740m of 0.24% copper and 0.16 g/t gold, which included a high grade zone of 58m at a grade of 1.45% copper and 1.44 g/t gold either side of 1,000m down.
Also from a digger, Xtract Resources (LON:XTR) is excited about the year ahead and reckons it's around three months away from its Chepica mine in Chile generating a profit.
In its final results statement, it said "significant progress" has been made taking it from a start-up operation to a mine that will produce at a steady state and turn a profit after expenditure.
Funding raised after the end of 2014 will help it grow operations at Chepica and explore the remaining 70% of the tenement, it added.
In other news, Allergy Therapeutics (LON:AGY) snapped up Spanish vaccine specialist Alerpharma in a deal which could be worth up to €5.8mln.
AIM-listed Allergy has paid an initial cash sum of €3.8mln for Alerpharma, which owns Inmunal, a spin-out from biopharmaceutical company Zeltia Group.
The Madrid-based company posted a pre-tax profit of €146,000 last year on revenues of €4.5mln.
Under the terms of the deal, Allergy could end up paying an extra €2mln for the group based on its 2016 sales performance.
In broker coverage, Falcon Oil & Gas (LON:FOG) has inched nearer to starting shale exploration in South Africa where the government has now gazetted new regulations, reckons Job Langbroek, analyst at broker Davy.
He highlights that the new rules include clear statements on how hydraulic fracturing processes should be conducted in the country.
The gazetting has removed a blockage to the issue of formal exploration licences in South Africa, Langbroek said.
“The publication of the regulations opens up the way for the issue of shale gas exploration licences to companies that had previously applied, including Falcon Oil & Gas," said the analyst...