Australia

Resolute Mining Limited (ASX:RSG) (LON:RSG) has committed more than US$1 million to support West African host governments in their response efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has committed direct financial assistance to the Special COVID-19 Funds set up by the governments of Mali and Senegal, as well as the sourcing and supply of vitally important Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), COVID-19 testing kits and other medical equipment. Managing director and chief executive officer John Welborn said: “Extraordinary events require an extraordinary response. “Resolute is proud to assist Mali and Senegal in the fight against COVID-19.” “Working with host governments”[hhmc] Welborn said: “The challenges presented by COVID-19 continue to change daily and we must remain agile and united in our response to the pandemic. “Resolute will continue to work closely with our host governments and local communities to keep people safe and maintain our operational capacity. “We rec..

Alkane Resources Limited (ASX:ALK) has received further broad, high-grade gold results from resource definition drilling on San Antonio and Roswell prospects south of the Tomingley Gold Operations (TGO) in Central West NSW. Assays from the final 6,608 metres at San Antonio of the overall initial 60,000-metre program have been received and will be incorporated in a maiden resource calculation at the prospect, which is expected shortly. Best of the latest results are 18 metres at 12.7 g/t gold from 117 metres, including 5 metres at 35.5 g/t from 120 metres, and 19 metres at 4.90 g/t from 104 metres, including 6 metres at 10.8 g/t from 113 metres. Roswell resource[hhmc] The San Antonio resource is expected to add to the Roswell inferred resource of 7.02 million tonnes at 1.97 g/t gold. Roswell and San Antonio are immediately south of the TGO mine and processing facility. Tomingley Gold Project covers about 440 square kilometres stretching 60 kilometres north-south along the Newell Hi..

88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) has repeated that it does not expect to incur any costs from the drilling of the Charlie-1 well, which saw “mixed” results. In a quarterly activities update, 88 Energy also said it would launch a new partnership programme for the Charlie asset. Whilst partner Premier Oil PLC (LON:PMO) has chosen to exit the project, AIM-quoted 88 Energy confirmed that US$23mln was deposited into the joint venture bank account (in accordance with the JV deal) and the well costs remain within the expected budget. READ: 88 Energy to wrap-up Charlie-1 testing due to “mixed” results[hhmc] Charlie-1 is being plugged and abandoned after it found its primary target “poorly developed” although it also encountered a condensate discovery and other horizons with some potential. The well had originally targeted in excess of 1bn barrels of prospective resources. 88 Energy, which until recently had been focused on the HRZ shale, noted that it would now also analyse these horizons in the C..

Galena Mining Ltd (ASX:G1A) is progressing with the construction of Abra Base Metals Project in WAs Mid-West with the box-cut for the underground mine completed. This work by a third-party mining contractor means that the construction by Abra Mining Pty Limited (AMPL), the joint venture company for the project, is 9% complete. Having completed the box-cut work, the surface mining contractor has demobilised from the site. “Site is de-risked”[hhmc] Galenas managing director Alex Molyneux said: “Abra construction is now 9% complete and site is de-risked for full construction. “Progress on debt financing has been slowed down by COVID-19 but were in robust financial shape and have been careful not to commit beyond our means.” Abras box-cut is about 190 metres long (north-south) to a depth of 25 metres and an average width of about 45 metres (east-west). The southern wall that is the base of the box-cut is the location of the future main portal for the underground mine decline. The pe..

ioneer Ltd (ASX:INR) (OTCMKTS:GSCCF) has expanded support for conservation of Tiehms buckwheat perennial herb, which is specific to the area of its Rhyolite Ridge Project in Nevada, through funding a new five-year study. This will expand ioneers research agreement with the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), with the study to focus on the propagation and growth of Tiehms buckwheat at Rhyolite Ridge. Success with seedlings trial[hhmc] The expanded agreement follows early success with the UNR research team successfully growing over 1,000 Tiehms buckwheat seedlings in the UNR greenhouse from seeds collected at Rhyolite Ridge. Germination rates of about 32% are much higher than the anticipated rate of 16%. When appropriate, a portion of the seedlings will be transplanted into unoccupied suitable habitat at Rhyolite Ridge. “Thrilled with early success”[hhmc] ioneers managing director Bernard Rowe said: “We are thrilled with the early success of our collaboration with UNR and very pleased..

Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:PAR) has placed A$35 million in shares to leading Australian and international institutional and sophisticated investors with bids received exceeding the size of the placement. The placement was priced at $1.30 per share, which represents a 23.1% discount to Paradigms last trading price of $1.69 per share. Proceeds will be applied to costs of the second Phase 3 osteoarthritis (OA) clinical trial and leaves Paradigm fully-funded through to completion of this trial for which readout is expected to take place in late 2022. "Endorsement" of PAR[hhmc] Paradigm chief executive officer Paul Rennie said the receipt of firm commitments for the placement indicated the growing confidence in Zilosul in the treatment of OA along with Paradigms pathway to regulatory approval and commercialisation. He said: “The strong support shown by leading institutional investors both domestic and international, is a huge endorsement of the company and its aim of developin..

European Metals Holdings Limited (LON:EUZ) has sent out a notice ahead of its shareholder meeting to approve a £25.6mln investment in the companys Cinovec battery-grade lithium project. The Czech state power utility CEZ has agreed to plough in the cash. The formal notice being circulated to investors outlines the full details of the funding obligations and right of CEZ to withdraw from the project on reaching one of two “specified milestones”. For more information Read More – Source [contf] [contfnew] Proactiveinvestors [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

Trigg Mining Ltds (ASX:TMG) consultant geologist Matthew Wheeler has increased his stake in the company to 5.37% following a series of share acquisitions from October 2019 to March 2020. Wheeler is a geologist with more than 20 years experience in the Australian and international mineral resources sector. Maiden resource at Lake Rason[hhmc] Last month, Trigg delivered a maiden resource of 6 million tonnes of drainable sulphate of potash (SOP) with an average grade of 5,080 milligrams per Iitre at its Lake Rason project in Western Australia. Total contained SOP in the brine volume is 25 million tonnes and there is further potential to expand the resource to the west where higher grades have been encountered and two additional teRead More – Source [contf] [contfnew] Proactiveinvestors [contfnewc] [contfnewc]

In my last article on gold, I examined the 43% decline in proven and probable gold reserves from Gold majors over a 13-year period. For this analysis, we use the same data set from ten of the largest global gold producers to look at why gold reserves have fallen so dramatically. Figure 1 Amount Spent on Exploration by Gold Majors Since 2007 Source: Metals and Mining Research Corporation Unsurprisingly, gold exploration budgets peaked in 2012, the same year the average annual gold price peaked at US$1,669/oz Au (Figure 1). At its peak, these ten gold producers were spending a total of nearly US$2bn on exploration in just one year. Between 2012 and 2016 the amount spent on exploration by these companies decreased by over 50%, reaching less than US$1bn in 2016. Since 2016 exploration budgets have gradually risen, reaching US$1.2bn in 2019, but thats still 38% less than the peak in 2012. Figure 2 Amount Spent on Capex by Gold Majors Since 2007 Source: Metals and Mining Research Corpo..

SP Angel . Morning View . Wednesday 08 04 20 Risk sentiment weakens with Euro members unable to agree on coronabonds European Metal Holdings (AIM:EMH) – CEZ investment Ormonde Mining* (AIM:ORM) – 2019 results Sunstone Metals Limited (ASX:STM) – Identification of high-priority drilling target at Espiritu Tri-Star Resources* (LON:TSTR ) – SPMP progress report SP Angel Healthcare team Amphista Therapeutics raises $7.5m in Series A round Novacyt* (AIM:NCYT): COVID-19 test included in WHO procurement list and collaboration with AstraZeneca, GSK and University of Cambridge Avacta (AIM:AVCT): Collaboration with Cytiva to develop a COVID-19 test Is it too soon to call the end of the Coronavirus? Economists call for shortened lockdowns to limit economic damage and avert the depression which historically follows pandemics Mortality rates and details in each country will be critical to the shape and potential repetition of this years lock-downs Equity markets are forecasting a return..