Papua Mining PLC's (LON:PML) first drilling at the Plateau prospect in Australia has reinforced its view that the prospect is geologically similar to the nearby Mt Wright gold mine. Plateau is in the vicinity of a number of major gold deposits such as Mt Leyshon, Pajingo, Mt Wright and Ravenswood, said David Price, chief executive, and it is seeing similar geological, geochemical and geophysical characteristics to those operations.
Copper-miner, Cradle Arc PLC(LON:CRA), made a steady start on its return to AIM following the reverse takeover of the Mowana copper mine in Botswana. Cradle Arc has been refinanced through a £3.25mln convertible loan issue prior to the re-listing and a £2.4mln placing at 10p.
Cradle Arc intends to raise up to a further £500,000 for shareholders from an open offer. Mowana’s vendor Kevin Van Wouw is the new chief executive with a 57.4% stake in the enlarged company. The purchase of 60% of Cradle Arc, which owns 100% of Mowana, was eventually concluded on November 13 last year.
Strategic Minerals Plc (LON:SML) is to increase its exploration efforts at the Hanns Camp project in Australia after new drilling showed numerous nickel and cobalt indications. Eight of the holes indicated nickel above a grade of 0.63% with additional cobalt credits.
In addition, the project’s new geologist, Dr Martin Gole, has identified the existence of one of the key requirements for the potential accumulation of nickel sulphides. This is a highly significant finding said Strategic Minerals, with potentially major implications for nickel sulphide exploration both at Hanns Camp and other tenements within the district.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) and Metal Tiger Plc (LON:MTR) are teaming up, with the latter providing an initial £300,000 injection of capital. Metal Tiger is subscribing for 10mln new Thor shares, priced at 3p each, and it is also receiving share warrants that can be exercised to increase its stake further at a price of 5p per additional share. In late afternoon trading, Thor Mining shares were 15% higher at 2.88p.
On top of that, Metal Tiger will have the right of first refusal to participate in any joint venture, acquisition or similar transaction undertaken by Thor. The cash injection will support the advancement of Thor’s key projects - Molyhil, Pilot Mountain and Kapunda Copper.
Berkeley Energia Ltd (LON:BKY) is now undertaking final detailed project reviews as it counts down to the commencement of construction at the Salamanca uranium mine in Spain. At the same time production cuts are being announced at some of the world's largest uranium mines, which are likely to result in a 12% reduction in primary mine production this year. This means that the Salamanca mine, the only major uranium mine in construction in the world this year, is scheduled to reach production as the market enters a long-awaited supply-demand deficit.