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Tullow Oil in demand after Ugandan assets sale approval

Last updated: 15:15 21 Oct 2020 BST, First published: 08:58 21 Oct 2020 BST

Spectra Systems Corp - Spectra Systems rises after contract with a central bank

Tullow Oil PLC (LON:TLW) added 24% to 20.5p after the Government of Uganda and the Ugandan Revenue Authority approved the sale of its Ugandan assets to French giant Total.

The oiler will receive US$500mln consideration and a further US$75mln when a final investment decision is taken on the development project.

It is also entitled to receive contingent payments linked to the oil price payable after production commences.

2.30pm: Eco Animal Health surges after boasting strong half-year performance

Eco Animal Health Group Plc (LON:EAH) surged 21% to 250p in the afternoon after announcing half-year revenues are ahead of management expectations and last year.

The veterinary pharma products producer saw a stronger Chinese market, supported by the rebuilding of pig herds and the high price for pork.

Outperformance of markets such as China and the US offset weakness in India and Southeast Asia.

1pm: Fresnillo dips after cutting gold production guidance

Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) dipped 6% to 1,259.5p at lunchtime after cutting full-year gold production guidance to 745-775,000 ounces from 785-815,000 previously.

The miner said it is due to fewer workers at Herradura due to COVID-19, lower-than-expected ore grades at the dynamic leaching plant and restricted access at the Noche Buena mine.

Silver production guidance was maintained at 51-56mln ounces.

12noon: Thor Mining shines on with visible gold at Pilbara

Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) was the top riser at noon, shooting up 33% to 1.18p after confirming gold in stream sediments at the Pilbara Goldfield tenements project, in Western Australia.

The AIM-listed miner noted that the presence of visible gold panning is consistent along an interpreted 13-kilometre anomalous gold corridor.

Next steps at the project will include a further sampling programme focussed on priority targets, subject to the findings of geochemical analysis and the recently flown airborne magnetic survey.

11am: PipeHawk climbs after posting 16-fold profit growth

PipeHawk PLC (LON:PIP) climbed 31% to 8.5p after its full-year profit before tax soared 16-fold to £194,000 compared to last year.

With turnover only up 24% to £8mln in the year to June 30, the underground radar and mapping group said last year’s low profits were due to “faffing around” with the Brexit process.

Despite uncertainty brought by the pandemic, the company was able to move forward with orders that had been placed on hold.

10am: Alba Mineral Resources slips despite good progress at Wales gold mine

Alba Mineral Resources PLC (LON:ALBA) shed a tenth of its value to 0.47p despite flagging that its underground exploration programme at the Clogau-St David's Gold Mine should not be affected by the new two-week lockdown in Wales.

The AIM-listed miner said the programme progressed well during October and is scheduled to continue until the end of the month.

It will then start the first phase of the regional surface trenching programme as well as preparations for the surface drilling campaign, planned for next month.

Remaining in the mining sector, Centamin PLC (LON:CEY) tumbled 21% to 127.6p after confirming its reduced guidance of 445,000-455,000 ounces of gold for this year.

It is estimated to fall to 400,000-430,000 ounces next year.

Although reduced guidance was expected for this year, chief executive Martin Horgan said 2021’s much lower output reflected “continued work required to improve operational flexibility in the open pit”, having begun waste stripping work to improve optionality in Sukari mine's open pit, though it is not expected to reap benefits until 2022.

9am: Spectra Systems rises after inking contract with a central bank

Spectra Systems Corporation (LON:SPSY) jumped 15% to 199p in early trade on Wednesday on the back of news it has won a contract for sensor development, manufacturing, and service for a central bank.

The software firm said the contract includes US$1.9mln to initiate Phase 1 development work and has three additional phases.

They include a US$5.6mln Phase 2 development through 2023, US$34mln for the delivery of sensors, and a service component worth US$7.5mln, covering the current sensors and including the typical ten-year life of the maximum number of new sensors to be delivered after development.

Sticking to the theme of contracts, Petards Group PLC (LON:PEG) advanced 8% to 8.5p on the back of a contract to supply Bombardier Transportation with its eyeTrain systems.

The contract is part of a £55mln upgrade programme with train owner Porterbrook and train operator Govia Thameslink Railway.

Activities will commence immediately with the first equipment deliveries starting early 2021, to be completed in early 2023.

Proactive news headlines:

Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) (ASX:THR) said that there was visible gold in stream sediment sample panning from the third phase of gold geochemical sampling carried out earlier this month at the 100%-owned Pilbara Goldfield tenements in Western Australia. In a statement, Mick Billing, executive chairman of Thor Mining, commented: "Another step closer in the process of narrowing down Ragged Range drill target selection, with visible gold again found in the stream sediment samples consistently along the 13 kilometre corridor of anomalous gold."

Europa Oil & Gas Holdings PLC (LON:EOG) has been granted a one-year extension to the initial phase of the Inezgane exploration permit, offshore Morocco. The extension makes up for the time lost on the project due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and allows sufficient time for the company to complete its technical work programme. This work sees the company derisking 30 prospects and leads, estimated to host some 10bn barrels of unrisked oil resources. Europa owns a 75% stake in the project which spans some 11,228 square kilometres.

W Resources PLC (LON:WRES) has told investors it is “extremely encouraged” by the La Parilla mine’s performance in the month of September, as the Spanish operation began showing improved performance following a phase of upgrade work. The producing week was truncated to three days during the third quarter, allowing teams to access plant facilities so that they could be optimised. La Parilla produced a total of 171,454 tonnes of run-of-mine ore feed to the plant, representing a pro-rata improvement of 58% - in actual like-for-like terms volumes were down 32%.

Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE) revealed it has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with global aerospace and defence technology company, L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) to collaborate to enhance pilot training technology. The technology company, that designs advanced computer vision AI-powered operator monitoring systems to improve transport safety, said the MOU frames the intent to enter into a global non-exclusive license agreement to collaborate on the firm's dedicated precision eye-tracking system for flight crew training in the full flight simulator (FFS) environment.

Guild Esports PLC (LON:GILD) has unveiled its latest signing - a top-tier squad competing in Valorant, a shooter game launched by Riot Games in June. Yacine Laghmari ‘Yacine’, Malkolm Rench ‘Bonkar’, Leo Janneson ‘Leo’, William Sundin ‘Draken’, and Filip Gauffin ‘Goffe’ have moved from Sweden’s successful ‘Team Bonk’. They will join Guild’s existing outfits competing in Rocket League and FIFA.

LoopUp Group PLC (LON: LOOP) has launched a new affordable HD videoconferencing service to enable businesses to organise their own virtual meetings. Known as LoopUp Rooms, the company said it will combine its existing remote meeting solution with off-the-shelf hardware to create competitively-priced, plug-and-play video conferencing suites accessible to all users.

Mineral & Financial Investment Limited (LON:MAFL) has noted the start of work on Ascendant Resources Inc's autumn exploration program at the Lagoa Salgada VMS project in Portugal. Ascendant's programme is part of a phased earn-in to the project through its joint venture agreement with Redcorp Empreedimentos Mineiros (75% owned by MAFL). This programme follows the robust findings of a preliminary economic assessment, announced in January 2020, and, comprises 2,700 metres of drilling and downhole induced polarity (IP) surveying.

Oncimmune Holdings PLC (LON:ONC) has welcomed the publication of abstracts from two clinical studies that provide “independent validation” of the company’s EarlyCDT Lung blood test. The data were presented in detail at the recent American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) annual meeting. The first paper assessed the performance of the EarlyCDT Lung blood test in PANOPTIC clinical trial samples to identify potentially malignant indeterminate pulmonary nodules (growths in the lung). The second paper looked at the use of two blood-based biomarker tests in tandem to reclassify the risk of indeterminate pulmonary nodules.

AEX Gold Inc. (LON:AEX) (CVE:AEX), an independent gold company with a portfolio of gold licences in Greenland, has updated investors on the 2020 exploration drilling campaign at its Nalunaq property in South Greenland. The company said that infill drilling at Nalunaq successfully intercepted the Main Vein with true thicknesses of up to 1.36 meters and visible gold, among the thickest intersections ever drilled at Nalunaq.

C4X Discovery Holdings PLC (LON:C4XD) is to raise £15mln to strengthen its balance sheet while it is in partnership discussions and provide working capital for its drug development programmes. The money raised would be sufficient for at least twelve months said C4X and will be raised via a bookbuild placing undertaken by broker Panmure Gordon today at a price of 14p per share. The funding comprises an EIS/VCT offer and units including a warrant for those not entitled to the tax breaks with the issue price a discount of around 11% to yesterday’s closing price.

Premier African Minerals Limited (LON:PREM) has raised a gross £1.1mln through a placing at 0.04p per share. States Bridge Capital, which has just been appointed the company’s financial adviser, helped arranged the financing and will now assist Premier find high-value exploration and/or cash generative assets.

Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. (LON:FOG) (CVE:FO) said it has been informed that the Bankruptcy Estate of Petrohunter Energy Corporation is the beneficial owner of 48,101,000 common shares of the company representing 4.90% of Falcon’s issued and outstanding Shares. Sweetpea Petroleum Pty Ltd. is no longer a beneficial owner of Falcon Shares, it added.

RM Secured Direct Lending PLC (LON:RMDL), an investment trust specialising in secured debt investments, announced that on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, its investment manager, RM Capital Markets Limited acquired 12,500 ordinary shares of 1.00p each in the company at 79.00p per share. Following the purchase, the investment manager's total holding of RM Secured Direct Lending ordinary shares is 1,237,325, the firm added.

Remote Monitored Systems PLC (LON:RMS) said it has received notification to exercise a further 10,000,000 warrants at an exercise price of 0.5p each. The consideration received by the company will be £50,000.00.

Itaconix PLC (LON:ITX) (OTCQB:ITXXF), a leading innovator in sustainable specialty polymers, has announced that the company will release interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2020, at 7.00am on October 28, 2020, and provide a live presentation of the results at 1.00 pm via the Investor Meet Company platform. Investors who are not registered with Investor Meet Company can sign up for free and add the meeting with Itaconix via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/itaconix-plc/register-investor

Salt Lake Potash Limited (LON:SO4)n (ASX:SO4) has said its annual general meeting will be held at the Conference Room, Ground Floor, BGC Centre, 28 The Esplanade, Perth, Western Australia on Friday, November 20, 2020 at 11.00am WST.

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