You wait ages for a story about Mongolia and then two come along at once.
Kincora Copper (CVE:KCC) is set to resume field activities on the ground at its copper exploration properties in Mongolia shortly.
The company said that it will conduct infill mapping and geochemistry work on the Bronze Fox and Tourmaline Hill properties, which lie not far from the giant Oyu Tolgoi development currently being undertaken by Rio Tinto (LON:RIO).
Kincora also said that it is considering “options both inside and outside Mongolia”, by which it means potential acquisitions.
Petro Matad (LON:MATD) will next month kick off a surveying programme designed to’ high-grade’ exploration prospects for a fresh round of exploration drilling in Mongolia.
The airborne survey will assess an area of mountainous desert and steppe, and the company expects to gather around 11,000 square kilometres of data.
Sector peer Eland Oil & Gas (LON:ELA) revealed that the Opuama field, in Nigeria, was operational for around 81% of the first half of 2015 and the majority of downtime was the result of planned maintenance.
The company told investors that work on the Opuama-5 well has now completed successfully, and the early indications are that the re-perforated well will see a positive result, with gross production of 400-600 bopd anticipated.
Range Resources (LON:RRL, ASX:RRS) expects the second half of the year to be pivotal in improving operating performance in Trinidad.
Production has in the past two months fallen around 8% to 570 barrels of oil per day (bopd), from about 620 bopd in May.
Range said it is disappointed by the recent production decline and operational delays it has encountered, but it expects with the addition of four new rigs the second half will see an improvement and a return to production growth.
Dragon Oil (LON:DGO) has cut its interim dividend following the mopping up of the outstanding shares by its parent Emirates National Oil (ENOC).
ENOC added it will delist Dragon Oil from the London Stock Exchange on 7 September.
Sound Oil (LON:SOU) is to change its name to Sound Energy to reflect the increasing importance of gas in its portfolio.
The effective date of the change of name is expected to be 1 October.
Also making changes is Golden Saint Resources (LON:GSR), with executive director David McDonald taking the role of executive chairman as Cyril D'Silva steps down from that position.
D'Silva has now become full-time chief executive and executive director to focus more on operations in Sierra Leone.
Another diamond grabber, Paragon Diamonds (LON:PRG), said it has received official sign-off for the US$8.5mln acquisition of the Mothae kimberlite in Lesotho from Toronto listed Lucara Diamond Corp.
Canada-listed gold explorer Alexander Nubia (CVE:AAN) saw shares fall as it revealed it planned to issue shares worth C$282,500 to settle outstanding debt, it said.
The Egypt-focused group plans to issue 2.26 million shares at 12.5 cents a pop.
In contrast, investors have been queuing up for shares in NQ Minerals (ISDX:NQMI), prompting the company to issue more shares less than a month after it listed.
The ISDX-listed Australia-focused mining group has placed just over nine million shares at 11p each, raising £1mln.
Metals Exploration (LON:MTL) has experienced unanticipated delays receiving the final permits to get its Runruno gold mine in the Philippines into production.
While construction of the plant has made good progress, Metal Ex said it cannot complete the commissioning until it receives a water discharge permit.
Metals Ex cannot move from commissioning into operations without a permit and is not sure when this approval will come through; as a consequence, it needs immediate additional funding for general working capital purposes.
Management is currently in talks with its major shareholders to ensure ongoing support for the company, but no agreement had been reached at this time.
Finally, bakery and ingredients specialist Real Good Food (LON:RGD) says the business is in 'good shape' and that it's upbeat on the future following the sale of its sugar division, which was affecting performance.
Underlying earnings (EBITDA) fell to £1.9mln in the year to March 31, compared to £3.3mln the year before, driven by the Napier Brown performance where a loss of £3.4 million was incurred, a deterioration of £1.8mln compared to the previous year.