Artemis (ARV) said that an independent technical review has identified a new priority target – Apollo North – by gravity anomaly. ARV said the Patersons Project is a unique greenfields exploration opportunity. With the drilling and reconnaissance work previously undertaken, the project is ripe for additional work to unlock further potential mineralisation. While exploring at depth requires additional resources and capital, as can be seen from the nearby Havieron discovery, the upside may be considerable.
Comment: ARV seems to have all the vibes of being a new Empire Metals currently, something which the latest positive mineralisation news underlines.
EDX Medical Group (AQSE:EDX), which develops innovative digital diagnostic products, announced that the Board of the Company has today approved the issue of 12,966,667 new ordinary shares at 12p to raise £1.56 million. The Subscription completes a fund-raising round that has raised £5.7million, in aggregate, at 12p per share. EDX said this round of fund-raising exceeded its expectations in terms of capital raised and the Company is well equipped to press on with development of product portfolio.
Comment: EDX seems determined to disprove the myth that companies cannot raise significant cash on Aquis, helped along of course by a compelling positive in the diagnostic space, and top flight management.
Vinanz (AQSE: BTC), the London listed Bitcoin mining company, announced that it has raised £447,750 (gross) at 12 pence per share, representing a premium of 6.67% to the closing mid-price of 11.25 pence per share on 27 February 2024, and will be used primarily to assist with raising Company awareness in the US for its OTCQB listing and to acquire additional bitcoin miners to boost the Company’s current Bitcoin mining fleet in North America. BTC said it was fantastic that it has managed to raise this money at a premium to yesterday’s mid-market share price in Vinanz on Aquis. With the next Bitcoin halving fast approaching and the excellent institutional uptake of the spot 1:1 Bitcoin ETFs in the US having recently been approved by the US SEC, the board of Vinanz thought it highly prudent to increase the number of spinning Bitcoin miners in North America as soon as possible.
Comment: It is perfect timing for BTC as far as the latest fundraise is concerned, as Bitcoin heads back to record highs. One would expect far more on the upside for the shares, as the company spreads the word in the US, where it has been said there is not enough crypto real estate in the low market cap / growth company area.
Ananda Developments plc (AQSE: ANA), a company whose ambition is to be a leading provider of cannabinoid-based medicines, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary MRX Medical Limited has signed a Drug Supply Agreement with the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian, for the provision of MRX1 cannabidiol oil to UOE and NHS Lothian’s endometriosis clinical trial, ENDOCAN-1: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial of the Efficacy of a Cannabinoid Oral Tincture in the Management of Endometriosis-Associated Pain. ANA said the drug supply agreement provides the legal framework for the provision of MRX1, our patent pending cannabinoid medicine, to the endometriosis randomised controlled trial. Importantly it also confirms that MRX retains full IP ownership of the medicine.
Comment: ANA continues the newsflow momentum, especially north of the border. The credibility of its counter-parties continues to impress as well as the obvious prospects of revenues associated with a drug supply agreement.
Image Scan (IGE)’s trading update ahead of today’s AGM held a surprise. The shares have been languishing for some years in this specialist supplier, designer, and manufacturer of advanced real-time x-ray screening systems mainly for the security and industrial inspection markets. The finals to September reported a return to profits of £0.1m on increased turnover to £3m. Along with some minor operational news such as the ThreatScan®-AS2 product launch at the Middle Eastern Security Exhibition. There was news that its Hong Kong based major shareholder had reversed her 2018 decision to veto an acquisitive growth strategy. Activities are reported to be underway to identity strategic acquisition opportunities. The net cash at the year-end was £0.9m and almost any deal will have to be a game changing RTO.
Comment: At just 1.4p and a £1.9m mkt cap, this is a classic penny share shell… but as there is a small but profitable business the odds are in the punter’s favour.
Good Life Plus Plc (AQSE: GDLF), an innovator in the luxury prize draw and rewards sector, announced the appointment of David Craven to the Board as Non-Executive Chairman. He will succeed Keith Harris, after the recent successful RTO and capital raise. GDLF said it was an honour to welcome an industry heavyweight like David Craven to its Board of Directors. His extensive profile, deep industry knowledge, and wide-reaching network bring immense value to its Company. It looks forward to leveraging David’s strategic leadership as it continues to thrive and innovate in the sector. His insights will be instrumental in driving growth and enhancing shareholder value.
Comment: Given that there are no small luxury prize draw companies, the RTO of Good Life and the recent fund raise underline the opportunity in this hot space. Adding an industry giant such as David Craven of National Lottery license winning fame, should make the company a disruptive new winner in the rewards sector. One would expect a significant re-rate for the company in the wake of this appointment.
Cykel AI (AQSE: CYK), an AI product and research company, announced its unaudited Interim Results for the period ended 30th November 2023. CYK said that since the IPO the team has been hard at work developing the platform and on 4 December 2023 announced the Beta launch of the Artificial Intelligence-based Task Operating System (TaskOS). TaskOS combines AI assistants and AI agents to deliver automated work at scale for any organisation. Its target is for this AI Operating System to transform the way individuals and organizations manage their tasks and projects.
Comment: A successful IPO on Aquis is always quite an achievement, and this is something we have seen at Cykel, backed by its timely AI theme. One can look forward to an AI version of the RNS Hotlist sooner rather than later.
East Star Resources (EST), the Kazakhstan focused copper exploration and resource development company, announce the award of the first copper porphyry exploration licence under the new copper porphyry exploration strategy initially funded through a US$500,000 grant from the BHP Xplor programme. EST said it was happy to have its first licence under the new copper porphyry strategy which has already undergone an initial site visit in June 2023 by Non-Executive Director, Chris van Wijk. The site visit confirmed easy site access and hydrothermal alteration associated with a silica lithocap which was identified from satellite imagery.
Comment: It is a shame that EST has not gained a higher stock market profile, given the obvious riches the company is sitting on in Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, more newsflow such as today’s should redress the balance.
Adriatic Metals (ADT1), announced that first concentrate was produced on 27 February 2024 at the Vares Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ADT said it was delighted to announce another vital milestone has been achieved with first concentrate produced at the Vares Project. The Vares Processing Plant has been designed and constructed using the latest technology from the leading manufacturers in the industry, whilst adhering to the highest levels of health and safety.
Comment: With shares of ADT1 recently bouncing off the low of the range near 150p, one would expect the shares to continue rebound on today’s production news. It helps that star investment house, with billionaire backing, Queen’s Road Capital is a shareholder.
88 Energy (88E) reported final preparations for the commencement of flow testing operations are advancing at the Hickory-1 well, located within 88 Energy’s Project Phoenix acreage directly adjacent to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the Dalton Highway. 88E said it looks forward to providing an update on commencement of the Upper SFS flow test.
Comment: 88E shares have already had a noticeable rebound over the course of February, and it would appear that with newsflow such as today’s this re-rate is set to continue towards 0.4p plus.
EnSilica (ENSI), a chip maker of mixed signal ASICs, announced that it has secured a significant order for the tape-out of a custom ASIC from a major electronics manufacturer headquartered in the US, worth c.US$20 million in revenue for the calendar years 2025 and 2026. The tape-out process marks the stage where the design of the ASIC is finalised and sent to the foundry for fabrication. ENSI said it was delighted to announce this Supply Win from the US, which reinforces its position as a quality focused supply partner for customers and further strengthens its foundry partnerships in the US.
Comment: It was clearly rather good timing for ENSI to be mentioned in The Times a few days ago. It is always great when media coverage anticipates significant positive news for a company. Perhaps ENSI could be the UK’s new Nvidia?
Redx (REDX), the clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced that the first participant has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial for RXC008. REDX said it was delighted to confirm that the first participant has been dosed in the RXC008 Phase 1 clinical study. RXC008 is a potential first-in-class treatment for patients with fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease, a debilitating condition where successive surgeries are the only treatment option available today.
Comment: The Crohn’s disease cause is certainly a valid one, and with the shares probing new lows today’s clinical trial news is welcome as a potential positive driver.
Bradda Head Lithium (BHL), the North America-focused lithium development group, announced finalisation of the land exchange over the unpatented lode claims at the Wikieup clay project in Western Arizona as initially notified by the Company on 1 March 2023. This exchange is mutually beneficial to both parties avoiding litigation and disruption of exploration activities on highly perspective clay-hosted claims. As such, Bradda Head will retain 66 new claims. BHL said it thanked Arizona Lithium and the countless hours of time undertaken to settle this matter without litigation and allow both companies to proceed with unobstructed exploration on their respective claim groups.
Comment: BHL could do with decent, positive news on an ongoing basis, to lift sentiment in the stock, and today we see that it has had such an event. Perhaps non executive director billionaire Jim Mellon will buy a few more shares?
Trellus Health (TRLS) is a digital health company, has signed an agreement with a large US health plan, focused on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) condition management. The agreement is intended to run for up to twenty-one months, during which time members of the health plan with IBD that are receiving care in two US states will be eligible for inclusion in the Trellus Elevate™ IBD program.
Comment: Perhaps not the most glamorous of companies, but losses have narrowed, and the companies has delivered on last year’s national health plan promise.
Author