Mining news played a part today and Aureus Mining (LON:AUE, TSE:AEU) told investors it had held a ceremonial opening and celebrated a first gold pour at its New Liberty mine in Liberia.
The ceremony was attended by the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and the minister for Lands, Mines and Energy, Patrick Sendolo.
That’s as high a level in-country endorsement as it’s possible to get, and goes to show how much store Liberia is putting by New Liberty, which is the first modern major gold mine in the country.
Elsewhere, shares in Vast Resources (LON:VAST) surged 10% as it commissioned the plant at its Pickstone-Peerless gold mine and has earmarked first gold production and sales for the end of this month (August).
It marks a further milestone in this firm's transition into a cash generative mining company.
Roy Pitchford, chief executive, said: "The commencement of gold production at Pickstone-Peerless Gold Mine in Zimbabwe, following the commencement of production at the Manaila Polymetallic Mine in Romania, will be a further step in the process of transitioning Vast into an operating mining entity."
To brokers and the research house Edison has started coverage of Ethiopia- focused gold junior KEFI Minerals (LON:KEFI) with a bullish assessment of its value.
The mine developer, which hopes to have its Tulu Kapi mine in production in late next year, is worth 1.93p a share currently, rising to 2.82p from 2019.
That compares with the current share price of 0.81p (up 4.5% on the day).
Tulu Kapi will be an open-pit mine extracting 80-90,000 ounces of gold a year at an all-sustaining cost of US$779 an ounce – making it one of the lowest quartile producers in the world.
It is expected to cost US$128mln to create – though Edison’s Charles Gibson expects investors to have to stump up no more than around US$20mln, minimising dilution.
It is not often that fundraising, albeit a modest one, prompts a rise in the share price.
But that’s exactly what’s happened in the aftermath of the £2.5mln placing by Atlantis Resources (LON:ARL), which was greeted with a 2% advance in the value of the stock.
Usually the momentum is downward as professional traders anticipate the trickle of new equity onto the market and adjust value accordingly for dilution.
The uptick, and the minor discount at which the new paper was placed, reveal that investors are right behind the strategy of the tidal energy specialist and its chief executive Tim Cornelius.
Switching direction, Advanced Oncotherapy (LON:AVO) saw shares nudge higher as it announced a deal over a proton therapy centre.
The company is developing proton therapy systems for treating cancer and its partner in the Chinese market - Sinophi Healthcare - recently signed a framework agreement with China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University over the new centre, it told investors in a brief statement.
Its LIGHT system accelerates protons to levels seen in previous machines but in a unit that is smaller and between a quarter and a fifth of the cost.
In a statement, the company said the cash would be used to “fund project development activities across the Atlantis portfolio and to secure opportunities for portfolio growth”.
Shares in Real Good Food (LON:RGD) rose this morning as its executive chairman topped up his stake in the bakery and ingredients specialist.
Pieter Totté bought 92,000 shares at 56.25p, taking his total to 2.7mln.
The shares were worth more than £50,000, boosting his stake in the company to 3.89%.
Elsewhere, the software firm eg Solutions (LON:EGS) said trading was in line with expectations as it revealed the order book had swelled £2.5mln year on year to £15.5mln.
Revenues for the six months to July 31 are expected to be £500,000 higher than last year at £3.6mln, while the company is set to book a modest loss of £300,000.
The latter figure is the result of the investment being made in its sales and marketing effort – as well as accelerating product development.
Elsewhere, Sula Iron & Gold has raised around £400,000 to fund an initial drilling programme at its Ferensola project in Sierra Leone.
The company will issue 66.6mln shares at 0.6p per share to raise the funds.