19/06/2023

Psych Capital (PSY), an investment firm specialising in the healthcare sector, announced that it has agreed to acquire 100% of the issued share capital of Shortwave Pharma Inc., a biopharmaceutical drug-development company, expanding the Company’s pharmaceutical portfolio to address the growing market for eating disorders. Psych Capital has agreed to pay £3.5m through a combination of cash and new shares. (Young) William Potts, Co-founder and CIO of PSY said, “The acquisition of Shortwave Pharma represents a significant step forward in our mission to improve the lives of individuals affected by mental illnesses such as eating disorders.”

Comment: Psych Capital is a worthy inclusion today, not only off the back of the youth of its Co-founder, but off the back of the way a company on Aquis is making such efforts in term of deal making.

Greatland Gold (GGP) provided an exploration and development update for Havieron, its gold-copper project located in the Paterson Province of Western Australia. The company said it continues to be very pleased with the ongoing progress of the Havieron development which has now surpassed a total of more than 2,400 metres. Its most recent drilling affirms the impressive widths and high grade nature of the South East Crescent.  Particularly encouraging is confirmation of continuous mineralisation through the link zone which connects the South East Crescent with the Eastern Breccia.

Comment: It will be interesting to see whether the latest from GGP is enough to move the dial as far as the share price is concerned. One can say that a lot of water has passed under the bridge as far as progress here is concerned: the share price valuation continues to exclude ongoing progress here.

Arrow Exploration (AXL), the operator with a portfolio of assets across key Colombian hydrocarbon basins, provide an update on the operational activity at the Carrizales Norte (CN) field on the Tapir Block in the Llanos Basin of Colombia where Arrow holds a 50 percent beneficial interest. The company said initial production from the CN-1 well has exceeded expectations and is an exciting event for Arrow. It is looking forward to the CN-2 and CN-3 results which will further develop the exploration discoveries and help determine the size of the pools in the field and the potential reserve additions.

Comment: Arrow continues to progress at pace, and is literally a well oiled machine in terms of the rollout of its targets, and the production it is achieving as it goes. One would expect a fresh leg higher for the shares as we kick into summer.

Avacta Group (AVCT), a life sciences company, said it noted the recent market speculation regarding a possible fundraising. The company said Avacta said it has a strong cash balance of £27 million on its balance sheet as at 31 May (unaudited) and anticipates strong news flow in the coming months from across the Group.

Comment: Although we were told to be primed for a possible fundraise this morning, it would appear that someone attempting to leak the news did not take into consideration the £27m cash balance here. Perhaps the only thing worse than attempting to front run inside information, is when there is nothing to front run. Ideally, the bears here will receive a share price slap this morning. It is interesting that there is no deterrent for those who wantonly throw stones at small caps in order to get the share price down and profit from shorting, which is obviously why they continue to do it.

African Pioneer (AFP), the exploration and resource development company with advanced projects in Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia, announce a fundraising of £790,000 from existing shareholders, new investors and Directors to facilitate drilling at Ongombo and exploration in the Kalahari Cu belt. The company is also issuing 1,222,222 shares to settle £27,500 of accrued consultancy fees. The company said this fundraise will be generally directed towards its predevelopment activities on the Ongombo mine in Namibia. Its previous data compilation, modelling and own drilling have advanced the project into a very favourable development situation.

Comment: Directors taking part is normally a good backbone for any fundraise, a point underlined as far as AFP is concerned here in terms of Ongombo and the Kalahari. One would expect decent progress in the wake of today’s funding. It also seems that AFP has managed to get a £2,500 discount on accrued consultancy fees.

Blencowe Resources (BRES), announced that additional metallurgical test work on its Orom-Cross graphite project in Northern Uganda has been completed by the leading Chinese graphite technical specialist laboratory, based at Wuhan University.  The company said it is delighted that to see that its graphite product continues to deliver strong metallurgical results which is now endorsed by the leading graphite processing team in China. These results indicate that its concentrate is a highly marketable end product and will translate to more interested strategic and offtake parties being able to buy its product.

Comment: One hopes that Wuhan University’s graphite technical specialist laboratory is more rigorous than the Institute of Virology. That said, high quality graphite is not as controversial as gain of function in viruses, and it would appear that BRES shares are ready for a decent 6p resistance break in coming weeks.

Abingdon Health (ABDX), an international lateral flow contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), announced the launch of Salistick™, the first-ever saliva pregnancy test, in the UK and Ireland. Salistick™ offers the ability to test anywhere, anytime, and for the testing experience to be shared with a partner and other loved ones.

Comment: Anytime, any place, anywhere… One can be sure that all loved ones will be delighted at the launch of the Salistick™, although perhaps a more romantic name could have been chosen for the product. Nevertheless, this appears to be a tech breakthrough for ABDX, and could allow the shares to build on recent significant gains.

KEFI Gold and Copper (KEFI), reported that all outstanding major financing conditions precedent requiring Ethiopian government input in relation to the Company’s Tulu Kapi Gold Project have now been met. The company said that KEFI has assembled a first-class international project finance syndicate which is now focused on final definitive documentation for this $390 million transaction.

Comment: We have big talk and big numbers from Kefi. However, it may be that the market is now in the brace position as far as a fresh potential fundraise to get the company to its Promised Land.