CleanTech Lithium (CTL), an exploration and development company, announced it has completed the planned acquisition of the 23 Laguna Verde licences previously subject to an option agreement resulting in the Company now having full ownership, as well as control, of the full 108 mining licences comprising the Laguna Verde project. CTL said acquiring the 23 Laguna Verde licences under new commercial arrangements, so the Company has full ownership as well as control, is a prudent decision, which will support potential long-term returns to investors. The Company has also been advised that gaining full ownership of the licences will clear the path for the dual-listing on the ASX.
Comment: CTL is boldly going forward under the leadership of Steve Kesler, Chairman and Interim CEO. The double win of acquiring licences and heading towards ASX listing, should be a decent shot in the arm for the company.
Cobra (COBR), an exploration company, announced that the conditions precedent to the Wudinna Sale Agreement with Andromeda Metals (ASX: ADN) for Cobra to acquire the remaining 25% of Wudinna have been satisfied, entitling Cobra to 100% ownership of Wudinna. COBR said it expects to be able to bring further rare earth re-assay results to the market imminently which test Cobra’s modelled scale, followed by ISR column leach results. These workflows are important in demonstrating the economic significance of ISR to ionic rare earth mining.
Comment: COBR had a brief spike in the shares last month, and it could be the case that if there is no follow through from today’s decent update, it may indicate that the market is bracing itself for a funding event.
Ondine Biomedical (OBI), the Canadian life sciences company, announced that Mater Hospital, North Sydney, a private hospital in New South Wales, has become the first Australian hospital to start using its light-activated antimicrobial Steriwave® technology to prevent the spread of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs).
Comment: OBI’s move into OZ really should be a big deal for the company, as it expands its international footprint, reminding us of how scalable the business is and how easy adoption is across the world.
Made Tech, (MTEC) win a substantial new contract with, The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC), worth up to £19.5m revenue over a 24-month with a 12-month extension option. Made Tech services, enable central government, healthcare, local government , organisations, and other regulated industries to digitally transform processes and hopefully improve effectiveness. The interims to November reported, in February, showed Revenues 7% lower at £19.1m but with an improved gross margin to 37% and increased (adjusted) profits to £1.3m, before impairment and exceptional costs. Made Tech won its first rather small contract with DLUHC in 2019 to deliver the Energy Performance Buildings Register worth cir.£0.8m. MTEC will work with DLUHC on the design and development of new digital tools and services. Its debt free and has a strong balance sheet with £7.9m net cash.
Comment: The SB2G (Small-Business to Government) market seem an area for strong opportunity and Mtec have just won cir. £7.2.m of gross profit. At 9.25p the market cap is just £13.8m.
MTI Wireless Edge (MWE), the technology group focused on comprehensive communication and radio frequency solutions across multiple sectors, announced that it has been nominated for the ‘Dividend Hero of the Year’ award at the UK Small Cap Awards 2024. The Small Cap Awards, celebrates companies and participants in the sub-£350m market cap quoted company sector. The awards dinner and ceremony will take place on Thursday, 13 June 2024. MWE said as a management team it believes strongly in delivering long-term shareholder returns and to that end, it has paid an uninterrupted dividend, at attractive levels, for the past 15 years as a public company. It believes this is important to its loyal shareholder base and that this nomination reflects this achievement.
Comment: It has to be said that the Small Cap Awards is one of the funniest events on the stock market calendar, even though when one sees “junior” peers getting awards this tends to wipe the smile of one’s face. But at least the lifetime achievement award could still be on its way for the Bulletin Board Hero. At least as far as MWE is concerned, given the dividend history, it is amazing that sentiment towards the company is not far more positive.
Acuity (ACRM), the software group, announced that its wholly owned operating subsidiary, Acuity Risk Management Limited which supplies the award-winning STREAM software platform for the Governance, Risk and Compliance market, together with associated consultancy services, has launched STORM, a counter terrorism risk management report, at a reception held at the House of Commons. ACRM said it was proud to launch STORM, its latest innovation in risk management reporting. With the increasing global threat of terrorism, it has never been more important for organisations to proactively manage their security risks and ensure the safety of their stakeholders.
Comment: It sounds as though ACRM had a decent shindig at the House of Commons. STORM appears well timed given the terror / geopolitical nightmare our leaders have created for us.
Ora Technology (AQSE: ORA) announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 31 January 2024. ORA said that it is a software company that is developing a digital carbon trading platform that intends to offer users the ability to buy, sell and retire carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market, an instrument used by both the public and private sectors to work towards carbon neutral and net-zero climate goals announces its unaudited financial results for the six months ended 31 January 2024.
Comment: It is a shame that a company on Aquis has to spell out to the market what it does months after listing, especially when it is actually such a decent prospect in terms of the business model. At least the RNS Hotlist is giving ORA a mention.
Golden Metal Resources (GMET), a strategic development and mineral exploration company, announced an update with regard to Pilot Mountain project. GMET said it believes the importance and criticality of this Project is nearing all-time highs, and with this drilling programme it aims to both increase in-ground resources and collect import data which will be required in order for it to complete the Project’s first economic study, further details of which we will announce in due course.
Comment: While we wait on GMET delivered a mother lode of US grant news, it can be seen the company is busy on and in the ground. However, the big driver for the shares would be the non-diluting funding news.
ANGLE (AGL), a liquid biopsy company, announced that the European Patent Office has granted a European Patent for its innovative CellKeep™ slide. A formal communication has also been received from the United States Patent and Trademark Office indicating that grant of the equivalent US patent application is imminent. AGL said it was delighted to have secured intellectual property rights for its proprietary CellKeep slide in two major jurisdictions. Following harvesting of rare CTCs from patient blood samples using the Parsortix system, the CellKeep slide and associated methodology will significantly improve the capture of CTCs for microscopy-based biomarker assays and will enhance sensitivity across ANGLE’s assay portfolio.
Comment: One would suspect that even Louis Pasteur would be struggling to understand the science contained in today’s RNS from ANGLE. But at least the patent news finally provides an excuse for the shares to bounce off the floor of the recent range near 10p.
First Class Metals (FCM), the UK listed metals exploration company, announced the signing of the Kerrs Gold earn-in agreement. FCM said the signing of this deal signifies two important events for FCM, firstly reinforcing the concept of identifying opportunities to add value then monetise, secondly the potential acquisition of the Kerrs Gold Project catapults FCM from an explorer to a company with a resource. Given the continuous rise in gold prices, with new all-time highs being reached, the opportunity to earn into Kerrs Gold is an incredibly appealing proposition for FCM.
Comment: FCM has appreciated that the market enjoys liquidity events in all their forms in order to go long / stay long of stocks these days. The latest earn-in agreement is just what the doctor ordered in this respect.
Kendrick Resources (KEN), the mineral exploration and development company, announced that the Company has entered into an unsecured convertible loan funding facility for £500,000 with Sanderson Capital Partners.
Comment: Given that most brokers these days cannot raise a bean, and most share prices are too low to raise a bean, it is good to see our friends at Sanderson step up to the plate for Kendrick, a company which is actually one of the better the mineral exploration and development companies. Its focus on vanadium, nickel and copper battery metal projects in Scandinavia could yet surprise the market on the upside.
DG Innovate (DGI), the company developing solutions in sustainable mobility and energy storage, announced the publication of the Company’s Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Comment: Alas, a lot of the Tesla sizzle associated with the company earlier this year has been allowed to dissipate. It will be interesting to see who / what can bring this back.
Chill Brands Group (CHLL) announced the appointment of Fieldfisher LLP to conduct an investigation after allegations were raised around the use of inside information. The Company will be engaging with relevant authorities, including the Financial Conduct Authority, and the investigation’s findings will be reported in due course. Callum Sommerton has been suspended as Chief Executive Officer of Chill Brands in connection with these allegations. This suspension does not constitute disciplinary action or a disciplinary penalty and does not imply any assumption that Mr Sommerton is guilty of any misconduct or that any decision has been made. The process of appointing an interim Chief Executive Officer is underway, and it is a shame the outgoing one has not stayed for the big reveal on vape sales.
Comment: Yesterday’s “Week In Small Caps” referred to the concept of judging a company by the service providers it keeps, management experience, ability to fund. Going by the wording of the RNS itself, with no wrong doing there should logically be no need for a new “interim” CEO. Referring to a comment posted on X today regarding CHLL, it is difficult to think of any newsflow at the company where (positive) inside information would have worked. Of course, front running negative inside information via shorting is practically embraced by the powers that be.
GSTechnologies (GST), the fintech company, provided an update as the Group continues to focus on developing a borderless neobanking platform providing next-generation digital money solutions, both organically and through complementary acquisitions. This is being undertaken under the Company’s GS Money banner primarily through the Group’s GS20 Exchange and Angra Global businesses. GST said it has continued to make significant progress in the second half of the financial year as it focuses on developing and rolling out its borderless neobanking platform providing next-generation digital money solutions. Both the GS20 Exchange and Angra Global are performing well and it was delighted with the performance of the recently acquired Semnet business.
Comment: It is a shame that GST has been in consolidation mode since the turn of the year. Ideally, the company will take the bull by the horns with its neobanking platform being the catalyst.
Kavango Resources (KAV), the Southern Africa focussed metals exploration company, announced an exploration and production update for the Hillside Gold Project in Zimbabwe. KAV said it was looking forward to testing the bulk-minable gold potential at Prospect 4. The possible presence of four parallel, gold-bearing shear zones makes this an increasingly attractive exploration target. It was originally looking for an additional high-grade ore source for production at Hillside. Hole SKDD001 was designed simply to test underneath current artisanal gold mining. It initiated the IP survey after the hole was completed.
Comment: KAV is certainly turning up the newsflow, as well it can given the way that it is all cashed up, gold is through the roof, and it is apparently sitting on a very strong asset in Zimbabwe.
Hellenic Dynamics (HELD), a medical cannabis cultivator, announced that it has entered into a 15 year secured loan agreement with a European investment and consulting house focused in health along with oil and gas, commodities construction, and financing, for EUR 1 million. HELD said that by securing the Loan Agreement Hellenic Dynamics SA will significantly reduce the median cost of financing for the Company in its growth stage. The commitment to a 15-year loan underpins the approach that the Company is taking to deliver high quality cannabis products into the global markets. It is also in advanced discussions on additional financing with a number of parties for expedited growth and further announcements will be released to the market in due course.
Comment: Presumably HELD will need a little more than the €1m announced today, but what may be more important is that the pesky seller(s) in the shares are finally out, and the company can attract fresh blood to the stock.
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