14/06/2023

San Leon (SLE), the oil and gas production company, announced a further update in relation to its proposed refinancing and its current financial situation. The company said that based on its most recent discussions with its proposed funding partners, there is good reason to be optimistic that it is nearing a satisfactory conclusion. Once funding has been secured, it expects to progress quickly towards making its further investments in ELI and finalising its accounts.  In the meantime, San Leon’s asset base, including our investment in the OML 18 oil & gas field and its prospects in the second half of this calendar year, particularly through ELI’s activities, is looking exciting.

Comment: The assurance that despite the delay the company is still on track to fulfil its goals should be enough comfort to shareholders. Indeed, given this backdrop the share price to date has actually been relatively firm.

TomCo Energy (TOM), the US operating oil development group, announced that the Company has raised, in aggregate, gross proceeds of £500,000, by way of a £400,000 placing and a £100,000 subscription at a price of 0.08p. On 30 March 2023, the company entered into an unsecured committed facility for up to £1,000,000 via a convertible loan note instrument, this has been cancelled. The funds will also be used to cover the company’s anticipated expenditure as it progresses its plans for Greenfield in relation to the Tar Sands Holdings II LLC site located in the Uinta Basin, Utah.

Comment: It was a smart move to cancel the convertible loan note, and raise funds for Greenfield at the same time. Ideally, now with this out of the way there is some scope for a much needed share price recovery.

Zinnwald Lithium (ZNWD), the European focused lithium company, provided an operational and corporate update on its activities. The company said that with a strong cash position of €20.9 million, it is accelerating multiple workstreams as it focuses on completing a BFS at its integrated LiOH project in Germany early in 2024 and expanding the Project’s size and scope ahead of commencing construction.  This will enable it to upgrade the resource later in the year and deliver a higher output at the Project than the 12ktpa LiOH highlighted in the PEA released in September 2022.

Comment: The temptation to show off its cash pile was clearly too much to resist, but one can hardly blame the company given the straightened times we are in. There is plenty to look forward to at ZNWD, especially the prospect of a resource upgrade.

Mila Resources (MILA), the post-discovery exploration accelerator, announced that drilling will re-commence at the Company’s Kathleen Valley Gold Project in Western Australia next week. The company said it was pleased to be launching this small and targeted RC programme, which it believes will provide useful insights into the wider resource potential at Kathleen Valley. It is also continuing to progress JV discussions as previously reported, for the right to explore for high-demand minerals, other than precious metals and base metals, which Mila will retain the rights to. Whilst no guarantees can be provided at this stage, it is hopeful that it can provide full details of a potential transaction in the coming weeks.

Comment: Long time, no see as far as Mila is concerned, at least on the operational RNS front. Shares of Mila have made tentative improve attempts in recent weeks, so it will be interesting to see whether the momentum can be maintained in the run up to the new drilling.

Ondo InsurTech (ONDO), the claims prevention technology group for home insurers, announced a new one-month pilot programme with G4S in Denmark to test a supplemental go-to-market model for Leakbot in Denmark. ONDO said this is an interesting test of a new route to market, with a potential opportunity to expand its reach in Denmark with one of the largest Danish insurance companies through G4S, who already have a significant presence in the Danish market. It looks forward to seeing the results and progressing conversations with G4S and the insurer.

Comment: ONDO continues to be on the front foot as far as its newsflow, and the international rollout of its claims prevention technology, underlining the significance of the offering in its marketplace.

Tekcapital (TEK), the UK intellectual property investment group, announced that Guident Ltd. has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office related to its patent application “Systems and Methods for Remote Monitoring of a Vehicle, Robot or Drone.” The company said it was thrilled to unveil this remarkable addition to its intellectual property portfolio. This patent not only represents its commitment to passenger safety and assistance services but also signifies a significant leap forward in efficient autonomous vehicle fleet operations.

Comment: TEK needs more announcements like this, looking at the recent share price trajectory. It is disappointing that the market is giving the company less kudos at this mature stage in its life cycle than it did just a few years ago, and especially given the level of the technology.

ValiRx (VAL), a life science company, announced it has acquired the scientific assets of Imagen Therapeutics Limited from its appointed liquidators. Imagen was a pharma services company offering a patient-derived screening platform suitable for large global clients. Total consideration paid for the Imagen assets was a single cash payment of £170,000. VAL said it was delighted to have completed the acquisition of the Imagen assets.  In particular, the biobank of patient derived cell lines is a valuable resource as it enables Inaphaea to offer screening of a wide-range of oncology drug candidates against patient derived cell lines.

Comment: This is a canny acquisition by VAL, both in terms of the cost and the fit with its ongoing activities. Given the lay of the land, one would imagine that there are more such bargain basement deals to be done in the biotech space.