Investors get on board Vela as one of its investee company bags a deal with American Airlines
Vela Technologies PLC (LON:VELA), an investment company focused on the technology sector, was lifted by news relating to one of its investee companies, Portr Limited.
Trading as Airportr, the London-based travel technology start-up has seen American Airlines sign-up to its service, which allows customers to check in their luggage remotely from any London address and have it delivered to the airport.
Shares in Vela rose 14.8% to 0.78p on the news. It has a 3.7% stake in Portr.
Richland Resources falls foul of Aussie weather
If you think the weather is bad here, spare a thought for Richland Resources Limited (LON:RLD), which is suffering weather delays in Australia.
The gems producer has decided to temporarily halt mining operations at its Capricorn Sapphire mine located in Queensland, Australia due to “extreme weather conditions and a weak market environment” and is assessing potential additional project opportunities, including other commodities, such as gold and lithium.
The company has stockpiled gemstones from its third quarter's production to pursue larger-scale, more strategic, sales events at more attractive prices.
In theory, it is meant to be summer down under, although seasonal conditions can vary from region to region.
Richland’s shares fell 0.1p to 0.53p on the update.
Anglo African hit by drilling delays on potentially transformational prospect
Anglo African Oil & Gas Plc (LON:AAOG) lost around one-sixth of its value after a corporate update.
The company said discussions with the relevant authorities in the Republic of Congo for the award of a new licence in respect of the Tilapia field are at an advanced stage.
The company does not want to proceed with the drilling of the TLP-103 prospect until it knows the outcome of these negotiations.
Furthermore, the drilling rig it had hoped to use, which was set to become available in the middle of this month, will now not be available until next month.
Blue Star rocket remains moon-bound
Blue Star Capital PLC (LON:BLU) revealed that SatoshiPay, in which it has a stake, expects its partnership with Stellar to go live this week.
The company expects to be able to accept credit card payments via the payment service provider TransactWorld UK.
This means that consumers will be able to top up SatoshiPay using Visa and Mastercard, which should allow SatoshiPay to target a significantly increased user base as it begins to roll out pilot partnerships with publishers.
Shares in Blue Star rose 8.6% to 0.613p on the news and are up 393% year-to-date and 188% over the last month.
Weatherly gets the cold shoulder despite upturn in copper prices
Outside it is quite “weatherly”, and so, coincidentally, is the stock exchange losers’ board, where Weatherly International plc (LON:WTI) features prominently.
Results from the operator of the Tschudi copper asset in Namibia sent the share price 13% lower to 0.675p.
Although revenue in the year to the end of June rose to US$75.1mln from US$63.7mln the year before, the loss before tax ballooned to US$41.1mln from US$10.6mln.
Chairman John Bryant was taking some comfort from the recent recovery of the copper price.
Proactive news headlines:
Hurricane Energy PLC (LON:HUR) has unveiled a new competent persons report for the ‘Rona Ridge’ assets, excluding the Lancaster oil field. The assets have been estimated to have 1.8bn barrels of contingent resources and over 900mln barrels of prospective resources.
Cadence Minerals Plc (LON: KDNC) (OTC: KDNCY) is to acquire up to 100% of six prospective hard rock lithium assets in Argentina from Lithium Technologies Pty Ltd and Lithium Supplies Pty Ltd, the start of a “strategic shift” in its investing.
Flying Brands Ltd (LON:FBDU) has obtained a CE mark for its StoneChecker software, paving the way for the kidney stones medical imaging software’s roll-out across Europe.
ECR Minerals PLC (LON:ECR) says it has identified 15 high priority targets from the results of an interpretation and targeting study using open-file geophysical data covering the Avoca, Bailieston, Moormbool and Timor exploration licences in Central Victoria, Australia.
Landore Resources Limited (LON:LND) has increased the mineral resource estimate for the BAM East Gold Deposit on its Junior Lake Property, Ontario, Canada of 400,000 ounces gold at 1.37 grams/tonne (g/t) of which 326,000 ounces gold is in the Indicated category.
Film production underwriter FFI Holdings Plc (LON:FFI) is to acquire Buff Dubs, an Australian post-production services provider, for an initial payment of A$881,000.
SDX Energy Inc (LON:SDX) has confirmed a new gas discovery in the KSR-16 development well, its latest in the Sebou permit onshore Morocco. The well, which was drilled down to 1,896 metres, has encountered some 14.2 metres of net conventional natural gas pay in the Hoot formation.
Tower Resources PLC (LON:TRP) has told investors that it has now started work in preparation of an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for a multiple well drill programme for the Thali licence, offshore Cameroon.
Silence Therapeutics PLC (LON:SLN) has netted a sizeable profit after it sold off another chunk of its stake in fellow RNA interference specialist Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARWR). AIM-listed Silence sold just over 2mln shares at an average price of US$3.58. It purchased the shares for US$1.65 back in January, meaning it made a US$3.9mln (£2.9mln) profit on the disposal.
Biopharma Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (LON:FARN) has made another “important step” with its acute respiratory distress syndrome drug, Traumakine. The AIM-quoted company has now completed recruitment for the phase III INTEREST trial which is comparing the efficacy and safety of Traumakine and a placebo in patients with moderate to severe ARDS.
Life sciences group Abzena plc (LON:ABZA) has bagged a contract with a US biotech company and long-time customer worth more than US$5mln. The agreement will see AIM-listed Abzena provide process development and manufacturing services in order to progress an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) towards clinical trials.
MySQUAR Limited (LON:MYSQ), the Myanmar-language social media, entertainment and payments platform, has signed a distribution deal covering the Huawei inTouch platform. Mobile games developed in-house by MySQUAR will be distributed on the Huawei inTouch platform across 30 countries within Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Sula Iron & Gold PLC (LON:SULA) has acquired a cobalt deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A £1.75mln placing and subscription at 0.05p will fund the change of tack, which will be accompanied by a name change to African Battery Metals Limited.
Richland Resources Limited (LON: RLD) says it has decided to temporarily halt mining operations at the its Capricorn Sapphire mine located in Queensland, Australia due to “extreme weather conditions and a weak market environment” and is assessing potential additional project opportunities, including other commodities such as gold and lithium.
Goldplat plc (LON:GDP) has made a breakthrough in its dispute with Rand Refinery, with both sides now agreeing to an arbitration process. The two companies have been in dispute for months over a contract to process silver, with Goldplat claiming £780,000 from the South African refinery. Arbitration proceedings have been scheduled for 25-29 June.
It’s been a whirlwind year for Lionsgold Limited (LON:LION), which was still known by its previous name Kolar Gold this time 12 months ago. A new management team was brought in last July, which included new chief executive Cameron Parry and executive director Luke Cairns, and a few months later the name officially changed.
Strategic Minerals Plc (LON:SML) will look to speed up development of its Redmoor tin project in Cornwall after high grades were found from the latest exploration drilling. Big Pic in September.
Sunrise Resources Plc (LON:SRES) has received permission to start a second phase of exploration drilling at the CS pozzolan-perlite project in Nevada. The Phase 2 programme will see a further 22 drill holes and help define the boundaries of an open pit. Big Pic in September.
Metminco Limited (LON:MNC) (ASX:MNC) said that Graeme Hogan has been appointed as company secretary/chief financial officer with effective from today, replacing Brian Jones, a partner in the accounting firm Rothsay Chartered Accountants, who has filled the position in an interim capacity.
Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (AIM: ECO) (TSX-V:EOG), the oil and gas exploration company with licences in highly prospective regions in South America and Africa, announced that it has appointed Pareto Securities Ltd as joint broker with immediate effect.
Touchstone Exploration Inc. (LON:TXP) (TSX:TXP), the oil and gas exploration and production company active in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, has said it will be holding an online investor presentation and Q&A session for investors today to discuss the recent announcement of a private placement.