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Mining Minerals & Metals rockets after confirming discussions with potential investor

Last updated: 13:55 04 Dec 2020 GMT, First published: 08:46 04 Dec 2020 GMT

Hunters Property PLC -

Mining, Minerals & Metals PLC (LON:MMM) rocketed 87% to 7.5p in the early afternoon after confirming it is in discussions with a potential strategic investor.

The cash shell company said this investor may subscribe to enough shares to reach a stake of 30%.

However, at this stage there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached nor how much the shares would be placed at.

11.45am: Petro Matad stumbles as Mongolia progress delayed by extended lockdown

Petro Matad Ltd (LON:MATD) shares tumbled 11% to 2.44p after its meeting with government officials in Mongolia was further delayed as the country went into lockdown.

The AIM-listed company had been expecting to hold a meeting with relevant government bodies last month to review and approve the Heron Reserves Report as the next step in the process of awarding the Block XX exploitation licence.

But after the first cases of community spread in Mongolia, the country went into full lockdown that was recently extended until December 11, including restrictions on all business meetings.

Petro Matad said it is ready for the meeting whether it is convened virtually during lockdown or after restrictions are lifted.

10.25am: Ascent on the rise as HSBC takes 5.2% stake

Ascent Resources PLC (LON:AST) was 17% higher at 6.75p after it was revealed HSBC now has a 5.2% stake in the company.

HSBC’s holding in the company was previously below the notification threshold.

The announcement followed Wednesday’s announcement that the energy group had secured a new £500,000 loan facility – not from HSBC.

9.15am: Hunters Property being stalked

Hunters Property PLC (LON:HUNT) rose by around a third to 77.5p in early trading on Friday after the estate agency group confirmed it has received a preliminary takeover approach.

The approach is from fellow estate agent The Property Franchise Group PLC (LON:TPFG), shares in which dropped 4.4% to 172.50p.

No financial details were released and Hunters said terms remain subject to due diligence and further discussions between the two groups.

Alo on the up, McBride PLC (LON:MCB), the white-label household and personal care products maker, rose 9.8% to 72.44p after lifting its profits guidance.

Full-year profit before tax is expected to be at least 10% ahead of the current market consensus of £25.2mln, McBride told investors.

However, the group said it remains mindful of the uncertainty created by Brexit and coronavirus (COVID-19), while it estimates increases in certain input costs in the second half.

Proactive news headlines:

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Coinsilium Group Limited (LON:COIN) (OTCQB:CINGF) said it has completed a follow-on investment agreement with IOV Labs Ltd, the parent company of smart contract platform RSK, while the two parties have also agreed to expand the geographical scope of the IOV Labs Asia joint venture (JV) from regional to worldwide. The Aquis-listed blockchain, decentralised finance (DeFi) and crypto finance venture firm said IOV will invest £330,000 in Coinsilium by way of a private placement, subscribing for 11mln new shares at a price of 3p each, a 22% premium to its closing price on Thursday. A warrant will also be issued for every two subscription shares with an exercise price of 4.5p each. IOV Labs will have the right to appoint one director to the Coinsilium board, while the firm’s holding in the group will increase to 13.9%.

SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (LON:SBTX) has said it is planning a 'self-managed' human study of its AxisBiotix programme targeting psoriasis in the first quarter of next year. And, subject to a positive read-out, it expects to begin commercialising a product, investors were told in an update running alongside the firm’s full-year results. The market will also be keenly tracking the progress of SkinBiotix, a cosmetic additive being developed under a deal the company has with FTSE 100 speciality chemicals and ingredients giant Croda International PLC (LON:CRDA). The launch of this new line is expected in 2022.

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Gfinity PLC (LON:GFIN) said it has acquired EpicStream, a leading online news community for fantasy and sci-fi movies, television, video games, collectable cards and comic books. The AIM-listed esports media firm said it will monetise all of EpicStream’s social channels and that it believed the site’s user numbers and revenues can be “grown through the deployment of a search engine optimisation strategy, technology toolkit and advertising performance optimisation techniques” which it said have delivered strong results for its existing platforms. EpicStream.com currently reaches 600,000 unique visitors per month, with a majority of visitors based in the “attractive high-value advertising markets” of the US and Canada as well as a growing following in the UK.

Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) announced that it has subscribed for 141,956 units in Marimaca Copper Corp, at C$3.15 per unit, for a total investment of C$447,161 (approximately £257,000). The AIM-listed investor in natural resource opportunities said the investment is being made as part of Marimaca’s C$28.98 million equity financing which was announced as having closed on  December 3, 2020. Each unit acquired consists of one common share in Marimaca and one-half of one common share purchase warrant exercisable at C$4.10 for a period of 24 months following the closing date of the fundraising. Accordingly, Metal Tiger now holds, in aggregate, 146,956 shares in Marimaca, representing approximately 0.2% of the group's issued share capital and 70,978 warrants.

MetalNRG PLC (LON:MNRG) has said that it plans to revise the pre-feasibility study (PFS) on Imwelo Project when it completes the acquisition of the project owner, Lake Victoria Gold. The company plans to get the consultant that did the original PFS and reserves estimate to revise, optimise and update the numbers and projections to take into account the significantly higher gold price at present and planned investment optimisation. It is envisaged that the updated study will facilitate the project's fast track to production, with the resultant cash flows supporting further resource development and underground mining studies.

Horizonte Minerals PLC (LON:HZM) said it has made “significant progress” with key workstreams required to commence construction at its Araguaia nickel project in Brazil. In an operational update, the AIM-listed firm said it has completed a value engineering phase at the project with improvements made to plant design and flow sheet to optimise operational performance, while the capital and operational expenditure remain in line with a feasibility study following a comprehensive review. Horizonte also said an operational readiness plan is “well advanced” with all key permits in place for the commencement of the construction phase while key environmental and social programmes are underway in preparation for this stage.

BlueRock Diamonds PLC (LON:BRD) announced that it has recovered a 12.6-carat diamond from its Kareevlei Diamond Mine in the Kimberley region of South Africa. In a statement, Mike Houston, executive chairman of the AIM-listed diamond mining company, commented: "In line with our reporting policy to inform the market of diamonds recovered estimated to be valued at over $50k, we are delighted to announce that another large diamond has been recovered from Kareevlei.  "To put this into perspective, given the average engagement ring weight in the UK is 0.6 carats, a 12.6-carat diamond is considered exceptional.  We are hopeful that the recovery of this diamond marks the start of mining better quality diamonds, having worked through a difficult area in recent months.”

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