Video games development services provider Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS) has hit the acquisition trail again, beefing up its music and audio offering. It has acquired Cord Worldwide and Laced Music from the Cutting Edge Group for £4.5mln and Maximal Studio from its owners for up to €500,000.
Directa Plus Plc (LON:DCTA) has completed the first phase of industrial field testing of Grafysorber, its graphene-based oil pollution treatment. Romanian group OMV Petrom said the quality of water improved using Grafysorber, which will now be tested on another contaminant.
Concepta PLC (LON:CPT) has achieved the certification necessary for manufacturing the myLotus fertility product at its facility in Doncaster. The AIM-listed firm said that ISO123485 certification allows the company to utilise the automated production lines recently installed at the Doncaster facility to begin manufacturing the diagnostic tests.
Bob Wigley, a non-executive director of Symphony Environmental Technologies plc (LON:SYM) addressed the 2018 Economic and Social Council Partnership Forum last week on plastic pollution. Wigley noted that 11 countries have adopted oxo-biodegradable plastic technology, with the most recent convert being Saudi Arabia.
Solo Oil PLC(LON:SOLO) chairman Neil Ritson has described himself as “pleased” with the evident progress partner Aminex plc (LON:AEX) is making in the preparations for an upcoming appraisal and exploration programme in the Ruvuma project area. Aminex, separately, this morning revealed that the Chikumbi-1 well (which was just renamed from Ntorya-3) will now be drilled deeper to test an additional exploration target.
Strat Aero PLC (LON:AERO) said it has invested £0.25mln to acquire 37% of rotating shaft data monitor Gyrometric Systems Limited.The AIM-listed aerial reconnaissance specialist said Gyrometric had developed a unique system for reliably collecting, analysing and monitoring digital data from rotating shafts over a wide range of speeds and shaft sizes.
Aminex plc (LON:AEX) told investors it remains in “advanced discussions” with Zubar Corporation over a potential farm-out of the Ruvuma asset, including the Ntorya discovery and appraisal area, meanwhile, it also updates on present operations in Tanzania. As part of preparations for the next planned drill programme the company has agreed to a Tanzania government request to change name of the proposed Ntorya-3 well which will now be referred to as Chikumbi-1.
Columbus Energy Resources PLC (LON:CERP) chairman Leo Koot said that production growth at the Goudron field, in Trinidad, is “not without its challenges” as the company updated investors on its operations in its first quarter. Despite technical challenges, the company described its production base as “solid” whilst reporting that peak production measured 627 barrels of oil per day - which exceeded a ‘high case’ target for 600 bopd in February – though overall the quarter’s volumes were impacted by testing and monitoring work.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) confirmed that its divestment of Italian assets to Coro Energy Plc, previously named Saffron Energy, has this morning completed. As previously communicated, the Coro Energy consideration shares will be redistributed to Sound shareholders to hold directly. Shareholders on the record date of April 3 are entitled to the shares, which will be issued proportionately to their stake.
BlueRock Diamonds PLC (LON:BRD) saw grade and sales increases as it published results for the first quarter of 2018, while reiterating its guidance for the coming year. The AIM-listed, South Africa-focused diamond miner said grades from its Kareevlei diamond mine were 3.8 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht) for the first quarter, up from 1.92 cpht for the same period last year.
Frontier IP Group Plc (LON:FIPP) said it has agreed to acquire an increased stake in its portfolio company Fieldwork Robotics. The AIM-listed intellectual property investor said it had agreed to provide extra development and engineering support to Fieldwork in exchange for an increased stake in the company to 27.5% from 21%.
Halozyme Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HALO) has told Abzena plc (LON:ABZA) that it intends to stop using the latter’s ThioBridge linker technology in its antibody-drug conjugate products. Nasdaq-listed Halozyme had been using ThioBridge in some of its ADCs, including HTI-1511 which had shown promise in treating various tumour types in pre-clinical trials.
Ariana Resources plc (LON:AAU) has boosted its resource base at the Tavsan project in Turkey to 3.98ml tonnes grading 1.32 grams per tonne gold. There’s also 4.46 grams per tonne silver. That gives a total of 168,900 ounces of gold and 571,000 ounces of silver, all within established pit shapes.
Gold producer Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (LON:CMCL; NYSE:CMCL; TSE:CAL) has maintained its full-year production guidance after a solid start to 2018 at its 49%-owned Blanket mine in Zimbabwe. The company – which is listed in London, New York and Toronto – produced 12,924 ounces of gold in the first quarter of the year, in line with expectations and consistent with what it produced in the same period of 2017.
The mining team at Liberum Capital have singled out Asiamet Resources Ltd (LON:ARS) as its pick in a copper sector that is heading into surplus, with the price of the red metal set to slide to US$2.50 a pound by the middle of next year. “We prefer the re-rating upside in developers over the negative earnings momentum of the expensive producers,” the broker said in a note to clients.
Shanta Gold Ltd (LON:SHG) has hit more gold at its Singida project in central Tanzania. The company conducted exploration and resource infill reverse circulation during the first quarter of 2018 to test down-dip and down plunge continuity of high grade mineralized shoots below the current designed pits.
AfriTin Mining Ltd (LON:ATM) has announced the signing of a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with mineral and petroleum trading firm MRI Trading AG (MRI) for an artisanal buying operation for tin concentrate in Namibia. The AIM-listed firm said together with MRI it intends to explore the possibility of sourcing cassiterite concentrate from local artisan miners and establishing a Buying Station, which would analyse the quality of tin concentrate.
Union Jack Oil PLC’s (LON:UJO) 20% owned North Kelsey oil project has been held up as Lincolnshire County Council deferred making a decision on a planning application. The company had applied to extend an existing planning approval, out to December 2020, but, it is now expected that a decision won’t be made by the planning committee until after a site visit.
Kazera Global PLC’s (LON:KZG) share price surged following an operational update from African Tantalum (Aftan), in which it has a stake. Aftan said its fifth shipment of tantalum from the Namibia Tantalite Investment (NTI) mine has been sent to its customer, a global North American leading tantalum consumer, with the recent shipment reaching grades of more than 40% purity.
Golden Saint Resources Limited (LON:GSR) has raised £169,660, before expenses, via a placing of 942,555,555 new ordinary shares at a price of 0.018p each. The AIM-listed company said it intends to use the net proceeds for general working capital purposes, including maintenance of its licences in Sierra Leone, pending disposal, and to complete the conditional acquisition of EMS Wiring Systems Pte Ltd, announced on 18 December 2017.
Medical diagnostics group Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) has appointed industry veteran Tom Lindsay to its board as a non-executive director. Lindsay has been involved in the diagnostics sector for 35 years, holding several senior positions at Alere, which was bought out by Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) for US$5bn in 2017. “Tom has exceptionally strong experience in commercialising diagnostics in Africa and other low and middle income markets,” said Genedrive chairman Ian Gilham.
Bezant Resources Limited (LON:BZT), the AIM quoted mineral exploration and development company, has announced the appointment of Novum Securities Limited as the company's sole broker with immediate effect.
Range Resources Limited (LON:RRS) has advised that today it has published an updated company presentation which can be accessed on its website.