Some of the dread tension seems to have gone out of the junior mining sector, Proactive wrote in a feature this week.
To be sure, times are still tough, fundraising is incredibly hard, and equity valuations are not a patch on what they were five, or even ten years ago.
And yet... since Christmas some junior miners have been on the receiving end of significant support in the market.
Strong share price gains, if not exactly common, are at least now occasionally happening.
Take Metal Tiger (LON:MTR), whose shares have more than quadrupled since February, Firestone Diamonds, whose shares have risen by 60% since November, and Berkeley Energia (LON:BKY), whose shares have risen by 25% since mid-December and by 100% since June 2015.
Indeed, Metal Tiger, in a fairly busy week for the sector, highlighted on Friday what it described as further encouraging assay results from the ongoing drilling programme in the Kalahari copper belt in Botswana.
The day before, broker Cantor said Hummingbird Resources (LON:HUM) shares should rise if it can gets its Yanfolila gold project in Mali financed and built. It rates shares a 'buy'.
The point appears rather obvious but the City broker is drawing attention to the relationship between financing and building a project and increasing its net present value.
"The multiple revisions to the Yanfolila project have had the desired effect of lifting NPV and making the project robust at gold prices below today's level. However to realise a greater proportion of Yanfolila's value , HUM must get the project financed and built," said analyst Asa Bridle.
Premier African Minerals Ltd (LON:PREM) revealed it was on the brink of profitable underground operations this week at its RHA tungsten mine in Zimbabwe.
The miner expects positive operational cash flow from the site, before capital expenditure and working capital, when first ore from the 870 level is processed and crushing circuit upgrades are installed.
Meanwhile, Sunrise Resources PLC chairman Patrick Cheetham (LON:SRES) said he was “particularly excited” by the firm’s “exposure to the resurgent gold sector in Nevada” as he updated on progress.
In fact he is so convinced of the mineral potential of America’s desert state he has set up a Sunrise subsidiary to acquire projects there.
On Wednesday, Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP) shot up nearly 52% as it revealed resource investor Metal Tiger plc (LON:MTR), mentioned above, was poised to take a stake.
Metal Tiger is to put in £150,000 to acquire 150 million shares in Australia- focused Greatland at 0.10p a share, equal to around 12.6% of Greatland Gold shares after the placing.
Metal will also receive 150 million warrants at an exercise price of 0.20p each, exercisable at any time within three years.
Polo Resources Limited (LON:POL) highlighted progress reported by its 18.84% owned associate Ironstone Resources which has completed a strategic plan for its Clear Hills project.
The plan at Clear Hill is intended to see Ironstone through the commercialisation phase, Polo said.
Ironstone’s partner, North American Coal, has outlined a conceptual mine plan for Clear Hills which features a relatively low-cost open pit mine design and environmentally-friendly electric drag-lines for overburden removal and surface miners to strip the ore body.
Elsewhere, Noricum Gold (LON:NMG) has moved to the mine planning stage at its Kvemo Bolnisi project after completing a drill programme on the outcropping gold mineralisation.
The explorer wants first production from the deposit in the Republic of Georgia by the third quarter this year and said it remained on track to achieve that.