Oracle Power (ORCP), an international project developer, announced the successful completion of the Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for its proposed 1.3 GW renewable power plant located in Jhimpir, Sindh Province, Pakistan. The ESIA was conducted by SGS Pakistan, a leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company.
Comment: If nothing else one can give credit to ORCP for stepping up the newsflow, from both Australia and Pakistan. While the market may not grant the ESIA completion the credit it deserves, this is a decent milestone on a massive and significant project.
Synectics (SNX) SNX designs and integrates advanced security and surveillance systems to protect people, property, and assets. It has won a £800,000 multi-site contract with a new major UK utility customer to deliver its specialist surveillance systems which include a flexible, open-architecture software platform. The new customers centralise feeds to main command and control centre from numerous disparate locations throughout the network into one simple interface. This will enable it to efficiently detect and respond to potential threats. The finals to November, reported in March, showed a 26% increase in Revenue to £49.1m with a substantial increase in operating profits from £1.2m to £3.1m. The net cash of £4.6m allows a 50% increase in dividend to 3p, while EPS is 14.2p up from 6.9p.
Comment: At 185p with a £33m Mkt Cap, the P/E is 13x and yield of 1.6% and does not seem overvalued for these uncertain times. Shares of SNX have nearly doubled off their lows in December, quite a feat in current stock market conditions, with the latest contract win likely to keep this momentum going.
Zinc Media Group (ZIN), a British television and content creation group, announced it has been awarded Production Company of the Year at The New York Festivals’ TV & Film Awards, 2024. ZIN said to be awarded Production Company of the Year for the second consecutive year, amongst such distinguished competition is such an honour. The recognition it has received reflects the dedication of everyone within Zinc Media Group and these awards are shared among its team, freelancers and collaborators. “Thank you to the judges and to the New York Festivals, we are delighted at the continued recognition of our work.”
Comment: Thanks for the invite! Although the New York Festivals’ TV & Film Awards sounds like something of a Luvvie convention, presumably there is decent networking Stateside for Zinc, in a kind of Colin Welland, “The British are coming” way.
Katoro Gold (KAT), the strategic and precious minerals exploration and development company, announces a business update for shareholders. KAT the aim of Katoro is to focus on high impact exploration and development projects, rather than a diverse wide-ranging portfolio, enabling the allocation of working capital into focused business interests. Potential additional opportunities have been identified by the Company and its advisers, with review work of these prospects currently underway in respect of project suitability in respect of various project options. The Company is well advanced in the identification and selection of a new Chief Executive Officer, however given the forward direction of the business under certain options may lead to a more extensive Board restructuring, the appointment of the CEO has not been finalised to date.
Comment: Kindly send your CV to info@katorogold.com with a covering letter. Although it has to be said that one would assume with Power Metal CEO Sean Wade already having his feet under the desk as Non Executive Chair, only those with extensive experience of the exploration space need apply.
Wildcat Petroleum (WCAT), announced that the Chairman Mr. Mandhir Singh on 15 April 2024 purchased 6,900,000 Ordinary Shares into his personal SIPP at a total value of £10,727.50. Mr. Mandhir Singh is the beneficial owner 1,714,225,000 Ordinary Shares which equates to 61.16% of the total share capital of the Company.
Comment: Despite the slight hiccough regarding the Bamboo Oil Field, WCAT has said that it will now focus on South Sudan, and has enough cash for the next 12 months. Mandhir Singh adding to his already significant skin in the game can at least be regarded as a positive.
Asiamet Resources (ARS) reported the results of recent grab samples collected during due diligence site visits to the BKM project area in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia within the KSK licence area. ARS said the recent due diligence site visits have been very positive with good feedback received from all groups. The assay results from these grab samples are outstanding and, specifically for BKM, provide encouragement for the Company in the fact that samples of this grade are found at surface. Its current mine plan targets mining of high grade starter pits from the BKM resource delivering high grade feed early in the life of the project allowing strong ramp up of copper production.
Comment: Anyone wondering how and why shares of ARS have come back to live in the last few days has their answer today. Given how depressed the stock has been of late, the latest news may be a driver for a return towards the 0.8p plus zone.
Bradda Head Lithium (BHL), the North America-focused lithium development group, provided an update on work at its Basin Project in Arizona. The target is a resource expansion from 1.08 to a minimum of 2.5 million tons (MT) of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). Achievement of this would generate a US$ 3.0 million royalty payment from Lithium Royalty Company (LRC). BHL said it has successfully now completed nearly half of the planned program, bringing Bradda Head increasingly closer to achieving the significant milestone of our target of resource 2.5MT, and unlocking the next royalty payment of US$3m from LRC.
Comment: Clearly the $3m is needed asap for BHL, given the sentiment in the stock and for lithium in general at the moment. The market being the market one would assume that there will not be much upside for the shares until this milestone is achieved, or the last of the pesky sellers in the stock are out.
Deltic Energy (DELT), the AIM-quoted natural resources investing company, announced its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2023. DELT said it is now in the enviable position of drilling two consecutive wells in the second half of the year, with two world class partners in Shell and Dana. It was delighted with the progress that Deltic made in 2023 and firmly believes it can continue on this trajectory throughout 2024. The UK needs to bolster its security of energy supply more than ever and I believe that Deltic will play a key role in this.
Comment: Unfortunately, in terms of energy security the powers that be could not fill up their car at a petrol station, but at least DELT has the run up to drilling in H2 2024, and the relative novelty of no debt.
Union Jack Oil (UJO), a UK and USA focused onshore hydrocarbon company, announce an update in respect of the Wressle hydrocarbon development in the Humber Basin. UJO said Wressle continues to deliver robust revenues, bolstering our already strong Balance Sheet. The next stage of Wressle’s development will underline the management’s approach to unlocking value and further optimise production and economic returns for shareholders from its flagship asset. Given its sound financial position and the additional cash flow from Union Jack’s expanding United States Mineral royalty portfolio, the Board will be announcing the payment of a dividend to qualifying shareholders, details of which will be notified in May 2024.
Comment: Another day, another small cap offering a dividend to shareholders. What is the world coming to? Yesterday it was SEED (SEED). At least with UJO it was logical given the $19m generated, something which more than justifies a payout, and the recent share price rebound.
Empire Metals (EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and development company, announced that the terms of the JV covering the Pitfield Project in Western Australia have been amended to include all minerals discovered within the Project tenements. EEE said the consolidation of all minerals under the JV was a logical and strategically important next step, one that supports Empire and allows them to focus on unlocking the inherent value of this huge titanium-rich mineral system.
Comment: EEE shares were one of last year’s big small cap winners, and it is clearly looking for the fundamental trigger to revamp that momentum. Including all minerals in the JV at Pitfield could be the right kind of trigger.
Agronomics (ANIC), a listed company in cellular agriculture, announced that its portfolio company Mosa Meat B.V. has successfully raised EUR 40 million in new capital to help finance further scaling up of production processes and prepare its products for market entry. ANIC said Mosa Meat has been at the forefront of cultivated beef for over a decade. With a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions in the food industry resulting from beef production alone, a long-term solution for beef production is essential. Today’s announcement reinforces its confidence in Mosa Meat’s technical and commercial expertise, and it looks forward to their receiving regulatory approval later this year.
Equals (EQLS) issued a strategic review update. It said it recognised the time elapsed since the commencement of the Strategic Review, having now received indicative non-binding proposals from both MDP and the Consortium, it considers it to be in the best interests of shareholders that the Strategic Review remains ongoing to allow further time for it to reach its conclusion.
Comment: EQLS’s strategic review is a reminder that not all strategic reviews are negative on the market. However, given the London stock market’s insanely low and perhaps rigged way of valuing even the best companies, it is understandable that even the best of them are considering how to extract optimum shareholder value.
Serabi Gold (SRB) announced the Company’s first quarter production results and operating highlights for FY2024. SRB said it was very satisfactory start to the year with over 9,000 ounces produced, in line with guidance. This has been the highest quarterly total since Q3-2021. The process plant continued to perform admirably with a quarterly record of over 54,000 milled tonnes. Mine output exceeded 56,000 tonnes, which was also the highest ROM total in 3 years.
Comment: Shares of SRB have effectively tripled off their lows last year, and it will be interesting to see how the sharp Q2 2024 hike gold prices boost the company’s bottom line in future updates.
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