23/05/2023

URA (URAH), a minerals exploration company, announced that it has raised £280,000 (before expenses) through a placing and subscription, issuing in aggregate 14,000,000 new shares at 2p. The company said the proceeds of the Fundraise will be used to place orders for critical equipment required for the restart of mining operations at the Gravelotte Emerald Mine and for general working capital. The company said it welcomes the participation of new shareholders and participation in the CLN by Austin Acquisitions 1 Limited, a personal investment company of Mr Andrew Austin, which it believes speaks highly of confidence in its strategy and plans. It looks forward to progressing into the next phase of mine development to bring forward its planned early move back into production. It remains extremely excited for the future of the company.

Comment: As we look forward to the restart of mining operations at Gravelotte, and the disconnect between the current market cap of £2m and the value of the emeralds, north of $250m, it is the named participation of Andrew Austin that catches the eye. He is the man who achieved 42x at Rockrose, and multibagged Kistos (KIST). One would assume that stock market legend Austin will have at least some of his happy investors casting their eye over URA in the wake of his personal participation here.

Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU), an African focused mining and development company, updated on operational progress at the Kinusi Copper Project, located in the Mpwapwa District in the Dodoma Region of central Tanzania, and where the company is advancing its plans for the Project to commence copper ore processing activities in H2 2023. The company said it was pleased with the progress that has been made at the Kinusi Copper Project. Its site visit last week was, once again, confirmation of the potential that it believes this Project holds. Representatives from offtake groups have also conducted site visits, highlighting their interest in the Project.

Comment: Marula continues to fire on multiple cylinders and multiple metals. Today’s copper news is another string to its bow, something made all the more interesting by the presence of potential offtakers.

Tap Global Group Plc (AQSE: TAP), the regulated crypto app, announced the appointment of David Hunter as Non-Executive Chairman with effect from 1 June 2023. Current Non-Executive Chairman, John Taylor, will remain on the Company’s board as a Non-Executive Director. The company said At Tap, Hunter will work alongside the board and directly with David Carr, Group CEO, Arsen Torosian, Group CSO and Kriya Patel, CEO designate of Tap Global Limited to oversee the business to profitability and sustainable growth, building on the Company’s momentum since listing both in terms of user growth and breadth of offering.

Comment: Tap completes the beefing up of its board, with a new Chairman to add to the forthcoming CEO’s arrival. It will be up to them to evangelise regarding how the company has been successfully growing its business since the RTO with Quetzal at the start of 2023.

Wishbone Gold  (AIM: WSBN, AQSE: WSBN), announced the appointment of SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP as the Company’s broker with immediate effect. The company said SP Angel are a leading broker in the natural resource space and it is a pleasure to be working with them again. It looks forward to their analysts providing a clear view of Wishbone and its exciting properties.

Comment: With the switch to the good people of SP Angel, Wishbone is now at a broker that can highlight to the market the qualities of the company, and ideally reverse the surprising weakness in the stock at a time of near record gold prices.

Southern Energy (SOUC) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with PetroTX Energy, LLC to acquire the remaining producing acreage in the Gwinville Field not already owned by the Company, in Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi for a cash purchase price of $3.2 million. SOUC said it was very excited to consolidate the Gwinville Field under one operator at an accretive price. This will be the first time this has been done in over 30 years since Selma Chalk and City Bank early exploration and development started in the 1990s.

Comment: Shares of Southern have been on the front foot ahead of today’s announcement, and it is likely that this recovery will continue, off the back of what appears to be a solid deal.

Bradda Head Lithium (BHL), the North America-focused lithium development group, announced the assay results from the first five drill holes of the Basin East Extension 2023 drill programme; delivering the highest grade assays in all four drill programmes to date and confirming that lithium bearing clay continues and thickens to the west, northwest and north into its BEE lease. These significant indicators are expected to lead to significant resource expansion for the Company in H2 2023. The company said these assay results were very encouraging and were showing higher grade and greater upper clay zone thickness than previously encountered at Basin; it expects a significant resource upgrade from this programme in H2 of this year.

Comment: Ordinarily the prospect of a significant resource upgrade later in the year would be something for the market to celebrate, and it will be interesting to see whether today’s RNS will be strong enough to move the dial as far as the market’s perception of Bradda. At the very least, one can say the company deserves this, given its recent efforts.

Baron Oil (BOIL), the AIM-quoted oil and gas exploration company, announced its audited financial results for the year ended 31 December 2022. The company said 2022 was a year of considerable progress for Baron. Its overriding task was to progress our two material projects, Chuditch and Dunrobin, to their key evaluation points which was achieved with the publication of CPRs on both projects in early 2023. The considerable and potentially transformative value for shareholders in the Company’s assets offshore Timor-Leste and in the UK is now clearly defined and its efforts are now focused on the drilling decisions to be made in 2023 for a Chuditch-1 appraisal well and a Dunrobin West exploration well.

Comment: Baron shares have rather come off the BOIL since the company’s very sensible £5m raise in November. It now remains to be seen how long it will take to churn up the 4 billion shares, and how quickly the company can execute with regard to Chuditch-1 and Dunrobin.

Canadian Overseas Petroleum (COPL), an international oil and gas exploration, production and development company, announced a project construction update for the gas gathering system at its Barron Flats Shannon (Miscible) oil production Unit. The company said the GGS Phase 1a project is designed to connect its top producing wells in the Shannon (Miscible) flood and other wells proximate to the main GGS trunkline, alleviating pressure related issues, reducing flaring requirements and allowing its facilities to return produced gas back to the BFSU gas plant.  It was pleased with the progress to date which is on time and on budget.

Comment: For the first time in a long time we have a “getting on with business” update from COPL, something which is the kind of thing a company needs to get its share price, and sentiment coming back in its favour.