Tekcapital (TEK) the UK intellectual property investment group, announced that MicroSalt® plc ordinary shares have been admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc and dealings in the Ordinary Shares have commenced at 8.00 a.m. today, 1 February 2024, under the ticker SALT. SALT said it was delighted to announce its successful fundraise and admission to AIM, which is an important step in its development and provides an excellent platform for future growth. The WHO has stated ambitions to reduce sodium intake by 30% by 2025, and MicroSalt is extremely well placed to help meet the rising demand for lower sodium products with our disruptive, proprietary product and manufacturing process.
Comment: Given the recent history of IPOs on the London market, one is not necessarily sure how to react to a company heading for AIM. Presumably the view to have is that at some point soon things will change in a positive way.
Power Metal Resources (POW), the London listed exploration company with a global project portfolio, announces a financing raising £1.3million. POW said it is highly active in its exploration and corporate activities and it expects to announce further important news from across our varied business interests in the near term. Corporately, it has been seeking to augment its shareholder register with strategic high net worth and institutional investors, to further strengthen the ownership of the Company and achieve a greater proportion of the Company’s shares in the hands of long term investors. This process, started in May 2023 with the involvement of Rick Rule’s investing vehicle.
Comment: POW takes advantage of the new found appreciation of the company, its portfolio, Rick Rule, and its stake in Golden Metal Resources, to raise a decent amount of cash. Ideally, the recent rally in the stock continues above 1p.
First Class Metals (FCM) the UK metals exploration company, announced high-grade gold assays from channel sampling undertaken following the recently completed exploration at the Company’s 100% owned Sunbeam property. FCM said that since it optioned Sunbeam in late 2022, it has made quick and significant progress in developing the Property both in terms of understanding the mineralisation and increasing its scale. The channel results from Roy and Pettigrew are most encouraging and have identified drill targets at both locations.
Comment: Whatever the share price is in its range, FCM reminds us that it continues to prove up its assets. Today the focus is on Sunbeam, where once again, Marc and the team are getting on with the job.
Sovereign Metals (SVML) reported southern extensions to the mineralised area at Kasiya. Hand-auger drilling has identified a number of zones ranging from ~400m to 2km wide over a strike length of approximately 8km. These results indicate potential to expand the already significant, high-grade rutile and graphite Mineral Resource Estimate at Kasiya. SVML said these drilling results re-confirm the significant scale of the Kasiya deposit with the strike now stretching over 37km long. Sovereign continues to test the extent of regional mineralisation via low-cost hand-auger drilling, which has the potential to increase the already very large Kasiya Resource.
Comment: SVML is accelerating the newsflow at Kasiya, and with the expansion of the asset we can expect the market to finally admit that the present valuation of the company is well under what it should be, even by early 2024 standards.
Seeen (Seen) A Trading Update for the year-end December and an NED appointment are reported. The focus remains on the commercialisation of its technology developed over the last three years. An increasing customer base is reported in new extremely broad vertical markets such as sports and services. This provided recurring income as well building sales momentum by leveraging existing customer case studies and adding managed services. 2023 was largely a transition although the Interims showed traction with a reduced EBITDA loss. There is a growing sales pipeline for CreatorSuite 2.0, with contract sizes ranging up to $2m in revenues per year. Net cash is cir.$1.2m, and are reported to be on track to achieve monthly cash flow breakeven in 2024 from the current pipeline of opportunities. Michael Zigman is joining the board as NED and will add significant experience in structuring strategic partnerships and domain expertise in a new vertical market of education and training. Michael is currently CEO of an educational non-profit company that promotes STEM learning including AI.
Comment: At 5.4p with a £5m Mkt cap solid progress is made in this fast-moving sector and the company are set to be opportunistic and aggressive in seeking growth.
Galileo Resources (GLR) said that following the recent announcement of the discovery of three copper targets on the Galileo licence PL253/2028, the Company announced two further new targets derived from a recent TerraleachTM* soil geochemical survey on licences PL039/2018 and PL040/2018 located towards the south-eastern basin margin of the Kalahari Copper Belt. GLR said that following on the back of the recently announced discoveries on PL253/2028 to the north of these licences its new targets are very encouraging particularly when one considers that the copper values in soils on PL39/2018 define an area independently assessed to be directly analogous to the Khoemacau/Arc Mowana Fold prospect.
Comment: GLR steps on the front foot as far as newsflow, gathering the RNS momentum the shares need to break out of recent trading ranges. Once again one can see that the company is copper crazy. Rick Rule (of POW investment fame) has reminded us that major miners should be knocking on the door of juniors, so this may be a positive influence on GLR as well.
Neo Energy Metals (NEO), the near term, low-cost uranium developer, is pleased to announce that its audited accounts for the 18 months ended 30 September 2023. NEO said a significant milestone was securing a cornerstone investment of £3.5million in June 2023 from Q Global Commodities Group, one of South Africa’s leading independent commodity, mining, logistics and investment funds. Led by Quinton Van de Burgh, a highly successful South African entrepreneur with nearly two decades of mining experience and a track record of developing over 47 projects, including two large-scale mining companies, this marked QGC’s inaugural investment in uranium.
Comment: Given how hot uranium is currently, one would expect shares of NEO to deliver a strong 2024, especially given the cornerstone investor in the form of Q Global Commodities, and associated deep pockets.
Emmerson (EML), the Moroccan focused potash development company, announced the results of an in-depth scoping study on a new, innovative processing route at its 100% owned Khemisset Potash Project, which significantly reduces the Project’s environmental impact and enhances its economic returns. EML said the KMP transforms the environmental credentials of the Project by eliminating the requirement for the disposal of brines through DWI and significantly reducing process water consumption, both important points for the Moroccan authorities and local communities. It believes it further strengthens the case for approving our Environmental and Social Impact Assessment.
Comment: Although one would suspect that the Moroccan authorities are focused as much on the financial benefits of Khemisset, reducing the environment impact of the project has to be a positive fundamental driver for EML as well.
CAP-XX (CPX), a company involved in the design and manufacture of thin, flat supercapacitors and energy management systems, announced its interim results for the half-year ended 31 December 2023. CPX said its half-year results reflect resilience in the face of industry challenges in the passive electronic market, achieving +59% growth on product revenue versus H1FY23. Key strategic initiatives, including a new salesforce as well as new distributor integration and market-focused approaches, position it for sustained success. This is underlined by a 33% growth in sales bookings. The book-to-bill ratio remains above one and its progressive pipeline remains strong.
Comment: Given the recent hiccough regarding alleged patent infringement, we see CPX coming out with all guns blazing regarding its current position, and prospects.
Orcadian Energy (ORCA) reported that NSTA has announced the offer of a further tranche of licence awards in the 33rd Round. NSTA has confirmed, in an announcement dated 31 January 2024, that Orcadian Energy will be offered two licences in the Central North Sea one in partnership with Parkmead Group, and the other in partnership with Triangle Energy. Orcadian anticipates that these licences will be formally issued within the next three months. ORCA said it was delighted that NSTA has announced these offers of licence awards. Its strategy has been to licence or acquire discoveries and compelling prospects, and then to farm-out an interest in the licence to finance exploration drilling or, best of all, development.
Comment: It has been quite a ride as far as ORCA, and its North Sea journey, not helped by the slings and arrows of the green lobby. With the shares now mid range, and backed by the latest RNS, one would expect a push back towards the 20p’s over the rest of Q1 2024.
Trinity Exploration & Production (TRIN), the independent E&P company, announced updated guidance for 2024 and provides an operational update. TRIN said 2024 is an important year for Trinity as it looks to build on its opportunities in the Buenos Ayres block and wider Miocene play using data gained from Jacobin, and also progress its planning for Galeota. Operationally it will be highly focused on offsetting natural production decline through a very active programme of workovers, recompletions and swabbing operations.
Comment: One can see TRIN trying hard to regroup after the rather painful setback for the shares over the course of the autumn after it reduced guidance at the end of October. One would expect things to stabilise as it offsets production decline with fresh initiatives.
Ferro-Alloy Resources (FAR), the vanadium producer and developer of the large high grade Balasausqandiq vanadium project in Southern Kazakhstan, announced a comprehensive update on the Project’s current Feasibility Study. The Company has also launched a third tranche of bonds with a nominal value of US$5 million under its existing exempt US$20 million exempt offer bond programme.
Comment: FAR is back with another bond launch, something which perhaps reminds us why the share price has drifted since the autumn, despite the awareness that this is a company with significant potential.
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