A busy week for small cap miners ended with Ulster-focused gold explorer Dalradian Resources Inc (TSX:DNA LON:DALR) saying it remained on track to submit a planning application for the Curraghinalt mine later this year.
Patrick Anderson, chief executive, said: "Curraghinalt is one of a handful of quality gold development projects that is being progressed toward production.
“We remain on-track to submit a planning application in the second half of this year to build a low-cost, high-grade gold mine, with cash of $43mln at the end of 2015.“
Work on the Feasibility Study (FS) and Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is also progressing well toward completion in the second half of 2016, he added.
Also this week, Shanta Gold Limited (LON:SHG) reached a major milestone - receiving a US$9.1mln financing with a Tanzania bank to build a 7.5Mw power station at its flagship New Luika gold mine.
The move will cut costs of supplying power to the mining operation significantly, the firm said.
Cash of US$9.1 million will be provided via a 12 month letter of credit by Bank M, a wholesale bank in East Africa.
The interest is a fixed 8% followed by a five year monthly loan bearing interest at 12-month US dollar Libor plus 9% a year, the group said.
Elsewhere, Ariana Resources PLC’s (LON:AAU) partner in the Red Rabbit gold project, Proccea, now owns 42% of the joint venture having spent a further US$2.4mln over the past 12 months.
Proccea has also committed to another US$2.1mln to take its final stake to 50%.
The Turkish firm is building the gold mine at Kiziltepe for the venture and will soon be starting to draw on the US$33mln construction finance facility in place.
To a Canada listed firm and gold and silver miner Mandalay Resources Corp (TSX:MND) has shuffled the responsibilities of its senior executives.
Brad Mills, chief executive, is to become executive chairman and oversee strategic direction and operations.
Mark Sander, currently COO, will become the new president and chief executive.
Elsewhere, Sierra Rutile Limited (LON:SRX) has reported significantly improved numbers for its proposed dry mining operation at Sembehun in Sierra Leone.
Depending on whether the company decides to run at a throughput rate of 500 tonnes per hour (tph) or 1,000 tph, the value of the project over its life is now estimated at US$130mln or US$224mln according to the pre-feasibility study.
At the lower throughput the project would run for 41 years and cost US$72mln upfront, while the higher level of production would mean a 21 year life and a cost of US$99mln.
Those costs are 22% lower than the original scoping study projection, while operating costs of US$343 per tonne are in line with its two existing dry plants.
Metal Tiger plc (LON:MTR) shares were lifted this week as it had news of further progress at its 30%-owned Kalahari copper belt prospect in Botswana.
The shares rose more than 11% on Wednesday morning to 2.45p, for a near 80% rise on the week, as Aussie firm MOD Resources Ltd (ASX:MOD), the senior partner in the Kalahari copper belt joint venture, said copper in the latest drill hole, MO-G-13R, confirmed mineralisation at the T3 target.
The drilling intersected multiple zones of visible copper (Cu) mineralisation similar to the intersections in the first three drill holes (MO-G-10R to MO-G-12R) announced on last week.
Drilling is set to resume after the Easter break.
Shares in Asiamet Resources Ltd (LON:ARS) rose more than 10% after it reported progress with a copper-gold project in Indonesia.
The group confirmed it was still on track to release the findings of a preliminary economic assessment on the Beruang Kanan Main deposit at the company's 100% owned KSK contract of work in Kalimantan, at or near the end of the first quarter.
Shares in royalty specialist Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF) have soared by more than 25% over the past week, as a strong set of financial results serendipitously rode positive market sentiment towards commodities.
It’s underpinned by the strong performance in the company’s royalty portfolio and specifically from the new Narrabri royalty on a coal mine in New South Wales, Australia.
This mine is owned and operated by Whitehaven (ASX:WHC), a well-established coal producer with operations right across Australia.
Narrabri produced 8.3 mln tonnes of coal in calendar year 2015, well ahead of the design capacity of 6 mln tonnes and comfortably ahead of the assumptions made by Treger and his team at Anglo Pac when they priced the acquisition of the royalty back in March 2015.
Further drilling at its flagship Namib lead-zinc project in Namibia has hit high grade mineralisation and underlined the site's resource potential, North River Resources plc (LON:NRRP) told investors this week.
It came as the group updated on current work and said it was mulling options for raising further funds.
The current drilling is being carried out below the current North resource and, in one hole, an "outstanding" high grade intersection of 57 metres at 28.6% zinc extended mineralisation a further 80 metres.
Fourteen holes have been sunk, with eight reported this week, of which four hit "significant" mineralisation, the firm said.