Xcite Energy Limited (LON:XEL) is the latest debt-laden small cap oil firm in the crosshairs amid uncertainty over its financial future.
The North Sea heavy oil group has £135mln of bonds due at the end of the month, at last count (end of March) it had US$14mln of cash and it is now hoping for leniency from its lenders.
Shares in Xcite shed more than half their value this past week and on Friday morning hit a low of 6p.
It revealed on Thursday that it had requested a meeting with bondholders with the intention of extending the maturity of the bonds to the end of September, which would give it more time to restructure its finances.
Such a restructuring would involve a conversion of debt into equity, said Xcite, which today has a market capitalisation of around £21mln.
Metals recycler ZincOx Resources plc (LON:ZOX) shot up almost 30% on Friday after a small share placing was priced at a big premium to market value.
Mining group Mkango Resources Ltd (LON:MKA) made a positive start to life on AIM as it rose to a premium.
And, as gold prices pierced US$1,300 per ounce - amid Brexit fears and international currency moves - Serabi Gold advanced thanks to guidance that it is on-track to hit 37,000 ounces this year.
Oil firm Faroe Petroleum Plc (LON:FPM) got a boost from a new discovery in the Norwegian region of the North Sea.
Deal news kept mining investors engaged on Wednesday.
Herencia Resources Plc (LON:HER) bumped 35% higher after it executed formal documents for the sale of its 70% stake in the Paguanta project.
Aureus Mining Inc (LON:AUE) gained nearly 30% thanks to a deal to bring in US$30mln from Turkish conglomerate MNG, which is taking a majority stake.
Uranium explorer Berkeley Energia Ltd (LON:BKY) was advancing on Tuesday as it embarked on a drilling programme that it hopes will enhance the potential of its Salamanca property, eastern Spain.
On Monday, meanwhile, there was something to write home about for Metals Exploration Plc (LON:MTL) which, after a series of delays, finally poured the first gold doré from its Runruno Gold project in the Philippines.