Echo Energy PLC (LON:ECHO) shares soared higher after it said it is assessing the positive effect of a decree signed by the Argentinian government on Tuesday which sets a fixed reference price of US$45 per barrel for Argentine standard crude upon its Santa Cruz Sur assets, including the prospect of increasing oil production In a statement, the Latin American focused upstream oil and gas company noted that in order to support and promote the local hydrocarbon industry, the government of Argentina signed and published the decree on May 19, which, amongst other matters, set the fixed Neuquén Medanito crude reference price, subject to standard local quality discounts. The company pointed out that the fixed reference price is significantly above current international prices and provides potential support for local producers such as Echo to increase cash flows in the current climate.
Aminex PLC (LON:AEX) has told investors it is now set to complete its pivotal farm-out transaction as the Tanzanian authorities have now issued a Tax Clearance Certificate, following the payment of a capital gains tax bill. It means that Aminex and new partner ARA Petroleum have satisfied all requirements for the government to approve the transfer of a 50% interest in the Ruvuma PSA. "This is a major milestone. With the receipt of the Tax Clearance Certificate from the TRA and with the onward submission to the TPDC, Aminex has now accomplished all of the conditions within our control in order to complete the Ruvuma farm-out," Robert Ambrose, Aminex chief executive said in a statement.
AFC Energy PLC (LON:AFC) has told investors it is advancing plans for its teams to return to their offices towards the end of May. In a statement, the group said key teams in the AFC business - science, engineering and manufacturing - have seen no slow down due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and they are actively responding to new project development opportunities. No AFC staff were furloughed. It noted that it previously made arrangements so that certain staff members who were unable to work from home could access their offices and labs. The continued efforts of many staff members have ensured the continuity of validation work in AFC’s labs and manufacturing activities over these past few months, the group said.
Itaconix PLC (LON:ITX) said it has received US$200,000 in funding from a US government programme designed to help businesses keep their workforce employed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. The company said it received the maximum amount allowed under the programme based on its payroll and may qualify for partial forgiveness under the terms of the loan if certain payroll conditions are met. If these conditions are not met or the board chooses not to seek forgiveness, the loan is repayable in equal instalments over eighteen months commencing in December 2020.
FastForward Innovations Ltd’s (LON:FFWD) has noted that its portfolio firm, EMMAC Life Sciences, has become the first European cannabis company licensed to manufacture medical cannabis extracts as active pharmaceutical ingredients containing delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for commercial purposes at its Medalchemy manufacturing site in Spain. EMMAC said Medalchemy will immediately begin production and distribution of a number of medical cannabis products across multiple jurisdictions in Europe and beyond as well as supplying white-label medical cannabis products. FastForward holds a 2.3% interest in EMMAC.
AdEPT Technology Group PLC (LON:ADT) has unveiled a strategic partnership with 8x8, a global provider of pure cloud solutions. The two companies will jointly address the unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and contact centre as a service (CCaaS) markets. AdEPT said the partnership would allow it to win more unified communications (UC) business, with an initial focus on public sector organisations and healthcare providers.
Live Company Group PLC (LON:LVCG) has updated on its business activities as several countries began to ease their coronavirus pandemic lockdown restrictions. In a statement, the media group and owner of the BRICKLIVE brand said the first zoos were beginning to open in Germany, providing it with an opportunity to expand sales in the country, and added that it is also working with the JB Zoo in Michigan in the US to install its Animal Paradise tour ahead of a planned reopening at the end of May. The firm also confirmed that despite around a third of its events being postponed to the second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021, none have been cancelled at this time.
Curzon Energy PLC (LON:CZN) has said it is enthusiastic about the opportunity to potentially acquire London Critical Metals Market as it reported its full-year 2019 results on Tuesday. The company, which is looking to reboot itself via the transaction, told investors that management is presently working to conclude a definitive agreement to acquire the business.
Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd (LON:RBW) has completed a structural and lithological review of the Gakara rare earths project in Burundi which has confirmed high priority areas for the group's ongoing exploration programme. The results of the structural review and other historical mining and exploration data are being incorporated into 3D models of mineral resources and exploration targets in compliance with the standards defined in the JORC Code, the company said. Trial mining and processing continues to demonstrate that high total rare earth oxide (TREO) grade ore sourced from across the licence area has similar metallurgical and mineralogical characteristics
Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) noted that Cobre Ltd (ASX:CBE), a company in which it holds a 19.99% interest, has revealed plans to drill 6,000 metres at the Perrinvale project in Western Australia. Cobre’s upcoming drill programme includes 3,400 metres of reverse circulation drilling and 2,600 metres of diamond drilling (DD). The field crews have begun mobilising to site in preparation for the arrival of drill rigs later this month. Separately, Metal Tiger also announced the death of Terry Grammer, a non-executive director of the company.
Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE) said it has made the “difficult but necessary” decision to cut the cost base by A$12mln as it looks to navigate the “challenges” created by the global coronavirus pandemic. Among the initiatives being enacted by the company, the developer of in-vehicle eye-tracking technology, is the implementation of a four-day working week. Alongside this, chief executive Paul McGlone is taking a 20% pay cut and deferring his bonus for the year, while the chairman’s fees will be reduced by 30%. Operationally, Seeing Machines said it has restructured its business to “improve the focus on profits” for its three main units - automotive, fleet/off-road and aviation.
Arc Minerals Ltd (LON:ARCM) has acquired a further 20% interest in Zaco Investments Ltd, increasing Arc's interest to 72.5% from 52.5%. The additional interest has been acquired from Mumena Mushinge, a non-executive director of Arc and founder of the Zamsort project in Zambia, via an all-equity deal for 10 million new ordinary shares of no par value in the company. Mumena's stake in the Arc will increase to 6.87% of the company. The remaining interest in Zaco will be held by Kopara Investments, Arc's partner at the Zamsort project.
accesso Technology Group PLC (LON:ACSO), the premier technology solutions provider to leisure, entertainment and cultural markets, confirmed that, as announced in the group's preliminary results announcement on March 18, the company’s former CEO Tom Burnet did not seek re-election to the board at today's AGM and has now stood down from his position as a non-executive director of the group. Bull Russell, accesso non-executive chairman commented: "Tom has built Accesso from Lo-Q, the pioneer of virtual queuing, into a leading technology player across the global leisure industry. During his ten years with the Group he's expanded its capability significantly, building a first-class product-set and an enviable client-base reflecting Accesso's unique ability to deliver value for operators and guests alike.” He added: “Tom leaves with the Board's deepest thanks for all he has contributed, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavours." Accesso also announced separately that all resolutions put to the meeting were duly passed by poll vote.
Power Metal Resources PLC (LON:POW) and Red Rock Resources PLC (LON:RRR) joint venture Red Rock Resources Australasia has applied for new licences in the Victoria Goldfields of Queensland, Australia. The ground under application covers 215 square kilometres, bringing the total licence area under application by Red Rock Australasia to 919 square kilometres. Power Metal has a 49.9% interest in the joint venture, with Red Rock owning 51.1%.
KR1 PLC (AQSE:KR1) told investors it has generated US$352,620 from the sale of tokens in the Rocket Pool (RPL) project. Some 210,657 RPL tokens were sold with an average price of US$1.67 per token, the digital assets specialist said. Rocket Pool, a next-generation Proof-of-Stake (PoS) infrastructure service, is compatible with staking in the Ethereum 2.0 cryptocurrency. KR1 said it continues to hold the majority of its Rocket Pool position and it intends to use its holdings in its own Ethereum 2.0 staking activities to generate further yield revenue for the company.
Jubilee Metals Group PLC (LON:JLP) has worked out a low-cost deal to move fine-chrome operations from a joint venture to its larger operations elsewhere in South Africa. The fine chrome operation, which is currently part of the Dilokong Chrome Mine (DCM) joint venture with Sinosteel and Samancor, is paused with no plans to reopen, the AIM-listed company said. Jubilee noted that moving the fine chrome facility to its larger Inyoni and Windsor chrome sites, both of which are still operational, would enable it to contribute more significantly to earnings.
Broker SPAngel has valued Condor Gold PLC (LON:CNR)(OTCMTKS:CNDGF) at US$122mln, allowing for completion and execution risk. Condor Gold is developing the La India gold mine in Nicaragua within a large, relatively underexplored, licence area with a history of previous gold production dating from the 1930s to the mid-1980s. Initial expectations are for the production of around 100,000 ounces per year of gold from open-pit mining of the main La India vein system, and nearby high-grade satellite mineralisation, the broker said. Production at this level would place Condor Gold among the five largest gold producers on London’s Aim market.
Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP), the AIM-listed precious and base metals exploration and development company, has announced the exercise of options and sale of shares by Gervaise Heddle, its chief executive officer. It said Heddle exercised 17,500,000 options at 0.7p per share for a total consideration of £122,500. The company added that it has also been notified that, in order to cover the cost of the option exercise and associated taxes, Heddle sold 4,500,000 ordinary shares in the company at a price of 9.25p for a total consideration of £416,250 on May 18. Following the option exercise and sale of shares, the group said, Heddle has an increased holding of 68,750,000 ordinary shares, representing 1.9% of the company’s issued share and, additionally, he has 46,000,000 share options at various strike prices.
Gfinity PLC (LON:GFIN), a leading esports and gaming solutions provider, announced that it has received warrant exercise notices over an aggregate of 14,650,000 new ordinary in the company with an exercise price of 1p per share, providing it with proceeds of £146,500.
Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (LON:FARN) (NASDAQFIRSTNORTH:FARON) said its annual general meeting, which took place in Turku, Finland on Monday, May 18, approved all the proposals of the board of directors and its committees as set out in the notice of the AGM published on April 14. It added that the minutes of the AGM will be available on the company's website from June 1 at the latest.
Oriole Resources PLC (LON:ORR), the AIM-quoted exploration company focused on West Africa, has posted on its website a pre-recorded shareholder presentation and question and answer session ahead of the company's annual general meeting on May 26 which can be viewed via the following link: https://orioleresources.com/investors/reports-presentations/
Bluebird Merchant Ventures PLC (LON:BMV), the Korean focused gold development group, announced that Align Research Limited has initiated coverage on the company. The research note is available from Align's website: https://www.alignresearch.co.uk/cpt-company/bluebird-merchant-ventures/
Benchmark Holdings PLC (LON:BMK), the aquaculture health, advanced nutrition, and genetics business, has said it will announce its Q2 and Interim results for the three and six month periods ended March 31, 2020, on Friday May 29. It added that Peter George, its executive chairman, Septima Maguire, chief financial officer, and Trond Williksen, incoming CEO, will host a webcast for analysts on that day at 9.30am. To register your interest, please contact benchmark@mhpc.com.
Shield Therapeutics PLC (LON:STX), a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company with a focus on addressing iron deficiency with its lead product Feraccru/Accrufer (ferric maltol), a novel oral iron treatment, has said it will announce its preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2019 on Thursday May 21.
IQ-AI Limited (LON:IQAI) has announced that its annual general meeting will be held at 3rd Floor, Forum 4, Grenville Street, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 4UF on June 15, 2020, at 11am. In the interests of public health, attendance of the meeting in person is not permissible, the group added, although attendance by telephone is possible and details can be found in the notice for the annual general meeting posted to shareholders.
Arix Bioscience PLC (LON:ARIX) noted that Hardman & Co. has issued a report on the company which can be accessed via the following link: https://www.hardmanandco.com/research/corporate-research/1q20-portfolio-update/