Sunrise Resources Plc (LON:SRES) found some gains on Friday after it announced positive results from the phase 2 of drilling at the CS pozzolan-perlite project in Nevada. permitting.
The company completed 25 reverse circulation percussion drill holes at 838m to better define the zones of commercial interest and assist in the preparation of mine plans for permitting.
"The phase 2 drill programme has delivered everything that was hoped for and more,” said executive chairman Patrick Cheetham.
“We are now very confident that the Main and Northeast Zones are part of one continuous zone with a very large open-pit tonnage potential," he added.
Hummingbird Resources PLC (LON:HUM) also had news on Friday, saying its Yanfolila gold mine in Mali has been steadily ramping up towards full production since first gold was poured in December.
The plant has achieved around 96% gold recoveries consistently since the start of operations, which is higher than the design specification. Total gold recovered to date is 10,737 ounces of which 5,483 ounces has been shipped to refiners.
In the past 10 days the plant has been operating at an average of 90% design throughput capacity.
Scotgold Resources Limited (LON:SGZ) received a boost to its plans to open an underground gold mine at Cononish this week.
The Director of Rural Planning and Development at the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority has issued a report recommending approval of the company's application, subject to an S75 planning agreement.
Meanwhile, Galantas Gold Corp (LON:GAL) announced that the Court of Appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, Northern Ireland has completed its hearing on an appeal by a third party regarding planning permission granted to the firm's gold mine in Omagh.
In a statement, Galantas noted that the appeal is against a judicial review which upheld the Department for Environment, Northern Ireland's decision to grant planning consent for an underground mine on the former open-pit gold-mine site.
Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP) was in focus as the company updated on plans to start a drill programme at the Havieron licence in April.
The explorer expects to encounter a potentially large mineralised system, based on the results of detailed aeromagnetic and ground gravity data.
Modelling of the data, also suggests that only two of six previously drilled holes at Havieron encountered what is deemed to be the primary target and that those two holes were “at the very top” of the mineralised system.
A new programme of drilling will now include four holes, for a total of 2,400 metres, to test the mineralised system and to evaluate gold, copper and other elements.
Kibo Mining PLC (LON:KIBO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tanzania Electric Supply Company, known as TANESCO, with regards to a Power Purchase Agreement for power that will be produced from Kibo’s 300MW Mbeya coal-to-power project.
The MOU constitutes the precursor to the finalisation of the PPA with TANESCO.
This could happen as early as the end of the current financial quarter, in accordance with the timeline previously agreed with TANESCO and the Ministry of Energy.
NQ Minerals PLC (AQSE:NQMI) told investors that it has raised £130,000 in new working capital through an issue of new shares.
The company revealed that 1.35mln new shares had been issued – with 1mln shares priced at 10p and 352,941 shares priced at 8.5p. A further 4mln new shares are being issued at the equivalent of 7.875p as part of a deal to extend an existing lending facility.
Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd (LON:CGH), the gold exploration company operating in the Kyrgyz Republic, appointed Peter Carter as its new chief operating officer.
Carter will lead the Bishkek team and his primary responsibilities will include preparing the company for operational readiness, building the local team, installing international safety standard and establishing suitable environmental management plans.
Galileo Resources PLC (LON:GLR) updated investors on its ongoing drilling programme at the Star Zinc project in Zambia.
Over 750 metres of diamond core drilling has been completed to date, with individual holes being drilled down as deep as 70 metres, and thirteen holes have intersected high grade mineralisation marking out 100 metres of strike length.
And Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) secured a US$10mln convertible loan facility with a consortium of investors arranged by Riverfort Global Capital.
The convertible loan consists of three advances with the initial advance of US$4mln to be drawn down by the company on February 14. Each advance is repayable by the company in 12 monthly instalments.
It’s been a tough few months for Pan African Resources plc (LON:PAF) as time lost due to industrial action and processing problems at the Barberton tailings operation ate into production. Underground development issues were also a problem.
During the six months to December 2017, Pan African said it delivered 85,282 ounces of gold produced from its South African projects, down nearly 7% on the comparable period in 2016.
Wishbone Gold PLC (LON:WSBN) confirmed that a new Thai entity has now been set up, and highlighted that the first successful delivery of gold has now taken place.
It currently owns 49% of the newly created Asian Commerce and Commodities Trading Co (ACCT), though arrangements are in place that could see Wishbone increase its stake up to 95%.
Ongoing reverse circulation drilling at the Mina do Barroso lithium project in Portugal continues to return significant intersections of lithium mineralisation for Savannah Resources Plc (LON:SAV).
The drilling is designed to build upon the existing JORC resource of 32,000t of Li2O already defined at the Reservatorio deposit, one of three targets currently being evaluated.
Anglo Asian Mining Plc (LON:AAZ) announced it has refinanced the majority of its existing debts with a new US$15mln facility at 7% that will run over a two-year term.
Anglo Asian’s debts are well supported by cash flow, although the loan itself is unsecured.
Oracle Power PLC (LON:ORCP) ticked off another requirement for the Thar thermal power station in Pakistan.
The Private Power and Infrastructure Board has approved the issue of a Notice to Proceed (NOP) and Letter of Intent (LOI) to the company's subsidiary Thar Electricity (Private) Limited (TEPL).
W Resources PLC (LON:WRES) told investors it has secured a US$35mln loan which ensures that the La Parrilla mine development is fully funded.
BlackRock Financial Management is providing the loan, which will have a five-year schedule term (with the option for early repayment) and it has an average interest rate of 12.6%. The lender will also receive an upfront fee as well as share warrants.
Sirius Minerals PLC (LON:SXX) saw its shares gain after the FTSE 250-listed firm said it has awarded the contract for drilling the shafts at its polyhalite project in Yorkshire to Polish firm DMC after ending discussions with AMC.
AMC UK had received a ‘notice of award’ in July last year for the contract, with expectations for a finalised agreement to be signed soon after.
Sirius Minerals PLC’s (LON:SXX) decision to switch drill contractor for its North Yorkshire polyhalite mine is a good move, according to City watchers of the FTSE250 company.
Polish firm DMC Mining Services, part of giant contractor KGHM, is taking over from AMC after the Canadian firm failed to finalise commercial terms despite a ‘notice of award’ being signed last year. DMC is a world-leading shaft sinking company with experience in this sort of geology, said WH Ireland.
Canada-based copper miner Rambler Metals & Mining PLC (LON:RMM CVE:RAB) achieved record throughput at its Ming mine in Newfoundland in the last three months of 2017.
Production for the year overall was also a record with the level of ore processed rising by 27% to 339,631 tonnes, which generated 3,968 tonnes of saleable copper and 3,357 ounces of gold.