10/05/2023

Golden Metal Resources (GMET), a mineral exploration company, announced that, at 08:00 today, its ordinary shares will commence trading on AIM under the ticker GMET. The company has raised gross proceeds of £1.98m at 8.5 pence per share, equating to a market capitalisation of £7.16 million on Admission. The company said it believes that our Pilot Mountain Project, with its tungsten MRE, offers the greatest potential for exploitation, given that the US currently has no domestic primary production of the metal and is looking to reduce its heavy reliance on imports of critical metals from China. It is looking forward to actively pushing forward various exploration and corporate developments both within the US and UK.

Comment: It looks like great timing for GMET in terms of coming to market now, with the US Government so focused on weaning itself off China dependency. GMET is in the box seat, especially with its Pilot Mountain Project and the tungsten there.

Solid State (SOLI), the supplier and design-in manufacturer of computing, power, and communications products, announced a $10.7m follow-on order for radio frequency components from its customer CyanConnode, through its Components division, Solid State Supplies Ltd. SOLI said Solid State Supplies has been working very closely with CyanConnode on their longer term requirements to meet the needs of the market opportunity in India. This close collaboration has enabled proactive stock management so that it can both have confidence in being able to meet the delivery dates.

Comment: Judging by the quotes in the RNS it would appear that there is something of a bromance going on between Solid State and CyanConnode, quite justifiably given the $10.7m deal announced today.

Quantum Blockchain Technologies (QBT) said it has now completed a key testing phase of its proprietary bitcoin mining search algorithm and is pleased to announce satisfactory results. The test results show that QBT’s algorithm, known as Method B, has theoretically increased the rate of successful bitcoin mining by 2.6 times compared to standard bitcoin mining industry practices widely used over the same time period. The company said it intends to begin development of the industrial commercialisation phase of its bitcoin mining Method B, including deployment on mining rigs of the type currently in widespread use by larger bitcoin mining corporations.

Comment: It will be interesting to see whether the 2.6 increased rate is enough to induce a wow factor in the stock market and in the crypto community. This is especially if achieved in a greener way than currently.

Afentra (AET) announced the completion of the acquisition from INA-Industrija d.d.  of a 4% interest in Block 3/05 and 4% interest1 in Block 3/05A offshore Angola pursuant to a sale and purchase agreement between INA and Afentra’s wholly owned subsidiary, Afentra (Angola) Ltd, dated 18 July 2022. This acquisition marks Afentra’s entry into Angola where it is well positioned to build a material production business and contribute to a responsible energy transition for the country. AET said it is also highly encouraging that the terms for the Block 3/05 licence extension award have been agreed; this represents a major step towards completion of the Sonangol transaction within our previously guided timeline.

Comment: There has been something of a sigh of relief in the market, as far as today’s long awaited announcement. This should clear the log-jam we have seen in the share price over the past 10 months.

Dekel Agri-Vision (DKL), the West African agriculture company, provided an April production update for its Ayenouan palm oil project in Côte d’Ivoire. The company said it was pleased to see the Palm Oil Operation’s high season come to fruition, which began later than its usual schedule this year, culminating in a record monthly production outcome for April. The production of Crude Palm Oil has demonstrated continued strength in early May, compared to May last year. These positive trends bode well for the Palm Oil Operation, positioning it to achieve an excellent period of production and financial performance throughout the second quarter of 2023.

Comment: It is not surprising that shares of DKL have been rebounding well in recent weeks, as the market has anticipated the solid all round production numbers from the company unveiled today. The re-rate can be expected to continue.

Union Jack Oil (UJO) a UK focused onshore hydrocarbon production company, announced that material landmark net revenues, in excess of $15,000,000 have been achieved from the Wressle hydrocarbon development, located within licences PEDL180 and PEDL182 in North Lincolnshire on the western margin of the Humber Basin. The company said that since the last production update, another consistent and impressive performance from the Wressle-1 well has been recorded and the trend during 2023 remains positive with materially higher production rates than those seen on a like-for-like basis during the same time period in 2022.

Comment: UJO keeps hitting new, improved milestone, something which should very soon be of a magnitude to get the dip in the stock from 50p last year in the rear view mirror imminently.