Sirius Minerals PLC (LON:SXX) said work to secure the construction finance for its North Yorkshire Polyhalite Project was “ongoing” and “extensive”.
The capital requirements are put at US$2.91bn, with US$1.1bn needed to get the first phase of the ambitious underground fertiliser mine underway at an initial 10mln tonnes per year.
In other news, W Resources PLC (LON:WRES) has secured a finance package for the fast-track development of La Parrilla tungsten mine in Spain worth up to US$3.2mln.
It has agreed a US$1.2mnln forward sales facility with ICD Alloys and Metals, a speciality chemicals, metals and plastics firm based in the US. A total of US$200,000 has been handed over to date.
Over at Faroe Petroleum Plc (LON:FPM), it has kicked off drilling of the Njord North Flank-2 (NF-2) exploration well in the Norwegian North Sea.
The exploration well is located immediately north of the Njord field, and it is targeting Middle and Lower Jurassic sandstone reservoirs (the Ile and Tilje formations) with target depth in the Lower Jurassic (in the Åre Formation).
Meanwhile, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Motif Bio Plc (LON:MTFB) said its flagship novel antibiotic iclaprim had reached the final stage of development, and is closer to answering a global call for new drugs to fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
“This is a significant milestone for the company,” said chief executive Graham Lumsden.
Elsewhere, shares in Tethys Petroleum Ltd (LON:TPL, TSX:TPL) fell 13% Tuesday Morning after it reported revenues were hit by the fall in oil prices.
For the quarter ended June, oil and gas revenue was down 48% to US$3.5mln compared to US$6.8mln last year, production expenses were down 68%.
Over at South America-focused gold miner Orosur Mining Inc (LON:OMI, CVE:OMI) has increased its forecast production guidance for the current financial year (FY17).
Guidance has been increased to between 35,000 and 40,000 ounces of gold at operating cash costs of between US$800 and US$900 per ounce, up from previous guidance of 30,000 to 35,000 ounces at US$850-950 an ounce.
And finally, Rare Earth Minerals plc’s (LON:REM, OTCMKTS:REMMY) 15.5% owned associate Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSE:MMS) has acquired a lithium exploration project in WesternAustralia.
Macarthur has secured exclusive rights over 191 square kilometres in Western Australia’s Yalgoo region, in an area close to the explorere’s existing Edah Hill project.