The end of quarter is approaching so companies were rushing out end-June trading updates, leading to a very heavy news day.
To make the report easier to read, the news summary has been dividend into two: miners and the rest.
An underground extension to Shanta Gold’s (LON:SHG) New Luika mine will produce 310,000 ounces and add US$72mln to the value of the project, a new study has concluded.
A new mine plan to include underground mining as well as the ongoing surface mining and tailings recovery project envisages enough high grade reserves to maintain average production at 84,000 oz annually over the next five years.
Mariana Resources’ (LON:MARL) first half has been “game changing” for the junior gold explorer, it said today.
Mariana made a loss before tax of £2.9mln, but this was less than the £3.8mln loss in the first half of 2014.
At end June, cash and cash equivalents were £848,000, which broker Shore Capital believes will be sufficient to see the company to the end of the year.
A scoping study for a joint venture at Alecto Minerals’ (LON:ALO) Kossanto deposit in Mali has suggested a project producing 27,000 ounces per year for three year is viable.
Alecto joined forces with neighbour Toronto-listed neighbour Desert Gold (CVE:DAU) to assess whether joint development of their respective deposits in Mali was feasible.
Bushveld Minerals (LON:BMN) has completed the takeover of Lemur Resources.
"We highly anticipate the part Lemur's assets will play as they are developed within the Bushveld group. I look forward to providing updates on this, and notably from our priority vanadium platform, during the coming months," said Fortune Mojapelo, chief executive of Bushveld.
Noricum Gold (LON:NMG) said field work is now well underway on the Bolnisi Project in the Republic of Georgia, where it recently acquired a 50% stake.
The project's current resources consist of 980,000 tonnes of contained copper, 6.6mln ounces of gold and 22mln ounces of silver.
Nickel-copper explorer Amur Minerals Corp (LON:AMC) moved into the black but said there was much to do at its flagship Russian project.
Amur Minerals, which is developing the Kun-Manie nickel-copper sulphide scheme in the Russian far east, made a first-half profit of US$2.9mln against a loss of US$5.3mln a year ago.
Xtract Resources (LON:XTR) has scaled back its profit expectations for the current year after an earthquake in Chile undermined the haulage road at the Chepica mine.
The area, including capital Santiago, was hit by a major tremor, after which Chepica’s management decided it was not safe to use the mine's access road.
Graphite producer Stratmin Global Resources (LON:STGR) said there is a clear pathway to sustained profitable production at its Loharano asset in Madagascar.
The reported operating loss for the first six months of 2015 includes a non-cash one time write off of £680,000 for items historically capitalised to the Jersey subsidiary; excluding this, the normalised loss for the period is reduced to £1.02mln, versus the comparable prior period loss of £1.23mln.
China Nonferrous Gold (LON:CNG) remains on track for first production at its Pakrut gold project in Tajikistan in October.
More than 95% of the foundations for Pakrut and 90% of the Pakrut smelter plant is complete, with the majority of the equipment for the two plants installed and tested.
In the six months to June, the company spent US$29.6mln on the site, compared to US$11.3mln in the same period a year earlier.
Pre-tax losses narrowed to US$1.2mln, from US$2.5mln in 2014, with cash in the business at June 30 at US$13.2mln.
The half-year results statement from Canada-focused minerals company Landore Resources (LON:LND) was dominated by the review of all geophysical work done at its flagship project.
Loss before tax in the first half of 2015 was £1.18mln, compared to a loss of £809,560 in the same period of last year.
IronRidge Resources (LON:IRR) said it may look to diversify away from iron ore as a way of hedging against the commodity cycle.
The company reported it made a loss of a little over £2mln for 2015 and as at June 30 had £14.9mln in cash.
W Resources (LON:WRES) will start to release the results of its infill and grade control programme at tungsten project La Parrilla in Spain in the next quarter.
An upgraded JORC compliant mineral resource estimate will follow three to four months after, it said.
Asiamet Resources (LON:ARS) told investors it continues to encounter high grade copper mineralisation at the Beruang Kanan Main deposit in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Drilling, in fourteen holes, was designed to increase confidence and expand the BKM Resource.
The programme is now complete for 2015, and chief executive Tony Manini said he was very pleased with the findings.
Richland Resources' (LON:RLD) continuing operations had revenues of US$0.28mln in the six months to June 30, while gross margin was reported at 28%.
The company said it ended the period with US$3.4mln of cash and equivalents, and it had US$7.5mln of total assets (of which US$4.1mln were current assets).
It reported a US$3.4mln net loss from discontinued operations, and the group net loss for the six month period amounted to US$4.3mln.