Plenty on the small cap news side today, with Motif Bio (LON:MTFB) receiving a boost from the American regulator that could see its antibiotic fast tracked.
The qualified infectious diseases product (QIPD) designation also has the potential to extend the exclusivity period Motif has over its product, iclaprim, if it successfully makes it to market.
The US Food & Drug Administration has assigned the drug QIPD status for the treatment of hospital acquired bacterial pneumonia (HAPB).
In a mixed news bag, Magnolia Petroleum (LON:MAGP) also told investors it had spudded the Shimanek #2 vertical well in Oklahoma.
The total drill time is expected to be eight to 10 days.
Rita Whittington, chief operating officer, said: “With an estimated US$8 per barrel operating cost, the economics of drilling the Shimanek#2 well remain highly attractive.
Elsewhere, AFC Energy (LON:AFC) has given chief executive Adam Bond one million shares as part of a package to keep him at the fuel cell developer.
The first tranche of 250,000 shares has been issued already with the remainder to be handed over in equal amounts every six months until December 2016.
Options over a further 6m shares are dependent on targets being hit and vest at 51p. AFC’s share price has risen more than five-fold this year so far.
KEFI Minerals (LON:KEFI) has opened final bidding for the construction contract for itsTulu Kapi gold mine.
Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, executive chairman, said: “Progress on the project remains on schedule for optimisation of development funding this quarter, commencement of works next quarter and production in early 2017."
In other mining news, Sula Iron & Gold (LON:SULA) has defined an 2km long exploration target at its Ferensola project in Sierra Leone and is assessing its options for a drilling programme.
Based on historical JORC compliant data and recent samples, consultant SRK estimated a tonnage range of between 5 and 7 mln tonnes (Mt) at a grades between 4 and 8 g/t, the equivalent of 0.8 and 1.5 mln ounces of gold.
The Exploration Target was restricted to 2km strike length, though the regional fold belt has a potential overall strike length in excess of 10 km, which may add additional ounces, Sula said.
Toronto- listed Mart Resources (CVE:MMT) told investors that the Umusadege, an oilfield in Nigeria in which it has an economic interest, produced an average of 15,750 barrels per calendar day in June.
There were approximately 2.7 days’ worth of downtime and, when counting only operating days, the field yielded around 17,300 bopd.
Overall production totalled 472,500 barrels of oil for the month.
A total of 454,050 barrels (net) were delivered though export pipelines. And the corresponding figure, accounting for pipeline losses was estimated at 400,570 barrels.
Caledonia Mining has reworked the preliminary economic assessment for the expansion of operations at its Blanket mine in Zimbabwe, after the Ontario Securities Commission asked it to consider expansion below the 750 metre level as a standalone project.
In its initial plans Caledonia had put forward the proposed development below 750 metres as part of its ongoing activities at Blanket.
The mine has been producing at the rate of around 10,000 ounces per quarter for the past few quarters at an all-in sustaining cost of under US$1,000 per ounce.
Now, though, the new PEA shows the economic implications of working below 750 metres without factoring in the existing workings and cashflow.