Shanta Gold Limited (LON:SHG) hailed the success of its cost-cutting programme as it swung into profit at the half-year stage.
The East Africa-focused gold producer made a profit before tax of US$8.45mln in the first half of 2018, compared to a loss the year before of US$649,000.
Revenue eased to US$50.24mln from US$52.75mln the year before, with the company selling 37,827 ounces (oz) of US$1,303 an ounce. Cash costs of production for the first half of the year was US$549 an ounce, up from US$549 in the same period of 2017, but were reduced to US$505 an ounce in the second quarter.
The miner achieved a new record for monthly underground production in June 2018 of 51,130 tonnes at 5.30 grams per tonne (g/t) for 8,705 oz contained gold. Guidance for full-year production was left unchanged at 82,000 to 88,000 ounces.
IronRidge Resources Limited (LON:IRR) has uncovered what it describes as large, coherent gold targets on its project in Chad after a successful trenching programme.
The highlights from Dorothe prospect included four metres at almost 19 grams per tonne of the precious metal, including a two-metre section at 36 grams.
A 32-metre section of trench came in at 2 grams per tonne, and it also identified 12 metres at 2.5 grams and a further 12 metres at 2.3 grams.
Galileo Resources PLC (LON:GLR) is to undertake a second diamond-drilling programme on its highly prospective 85%-owned Star Zinc project in Zambia.
The programme will comprise about 1,000 metres of diamond core drilling to depths of up to 80 metres, with average depth likely to be around 60 metres.
Drilling will initially target areas that are open-ended east-north-east and south-east of the known mineralised zone.
Drilling will also target several nearby high-gravity geophysics anomalies. An independent review of Star Zinc's historical geophysics data showed a good correlation of gravity anomalies with the mineralisation intersected in the initial programme.
Premier African Minerals Ltd (LON:PREM) is raising £750,000 before expenses at 0.18p per share.
The money raised will be allocated to the restructuring and ongoing holding costs of the RHA tungsten mine and plans to bring it back into production.
Premier's development proposal has been favourably received by the relevant ministries in Zimbabwe, and the company will now begin mobilising the driller with the aim to commence a drilling programme of up to 2,750 meters as soon as possible.
Precious metals explorer Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP) is to kick off a new exploration programme at its Patterson project in Western Australia.
The new programme will focus on the Scallywag target, which is located with the Havieron licence and consists of several magnetic anomalies, each of which has the potential to host gold and/ or copper mineralisation.
News of the third programme comes on the back of “excellent results” from maiden exploration campaigns at Black Hills and Havieron, and all three will run in parallel with one another.
The objective will be to expanding the resource base.
Avesoro Resources Inc (LON:ASO), the gold company built up by David Reading and then taken over on the cusp of production by Turkish interests, is now fully into its production stride.
During the six months to June, revenues of US$165.9mln were generated from gold sales of 125,838 ounces at an average realised gold price of US$1,318 per ounce.
That’s a considerable improvement on the US$39mln generated from gold sales of 30,375 ounces in the first half of 2017.
Production from both the New Liberty mine in Liberia and the Youga mine in Burkina Faso rose.