Gold explorer Oriole Resources (LON: ORR) has announced heads of terms with contractor BCM International for the development of the Bibemi and Mbe gold projects in Ghana. BCM can earn up to 50% of the Bibemi project by making a cash payment of $500,000 and commit to spend $4m on the project. BCM will pay $1m in cash and spend a further $4m to earn a 50% stake in Mbe project. The share price jumped 82.9% to 0.1875p.
RUA Life Sciences (LON: RUA) says the change in strategy has reduced the cash burn while also enabling operations to make progress. There has been a contract manufacturing bid request that could be worth £1.5m/year and is further potential work worth £500,000/year. This business could double in scale over the medium-term. Development and testing of the structural heart valve leaflets is exceeding expectations. The plan is to make the company’s composite available to other companies to use in their heart valves. A large heart valve company is expected to start testing the composite. The vascular product is ready for regulatory testing in the US. As this will take up to three years and cost £6m a partner is being sought. The share price is 42.9% ahead of 22.5p.
musicMagpie (LON: MMAG) is in bid talks with BT Group (LON: BT.A) and asset manager Aurelius. The talks are at an early stage. The share price recovered 25.3% to 23.5p. The April 2021 flotation price was 193p.
Battery technology developer Ilika (LON: IKA) has achieved its D4 development point for the Goliath battery. This is the start of the productisation of the battery. Ilika will be able to create P1 samples for testing by customers. The share price improved 22% to 36p.
FALLERS
Velocys (LON: VLS) is the worst performer on the day after the sustainable fuels company said that there is a potential bid at 0.25p/share from a consortium including Lightrock and Carbon Direct Capital Management. This would ensure long-term funding of the business. The low share price makes it difficult to finance the sustainable fuels operations. The share price slumped 60.5% to 0.2725p, which values Velocys at £4.5m. A large multiple of that value needs to raised to fund development and production. Interim funding will be required.
Helium One Global (LON: HE1) says that drilling at the Tai-3 well confirms the presence of helium. Onsite pressure volume temperature analysis of fluid samples yielded helium concentrations of 8,320 parts per million. The drilling rig will be moved to Itumbula, where the iron rough neck and hydraulics will be repaired. The news disappointed the market and the share price dived 46% to 3.025p.
Active Energy Group (LON: AEG) says construction of Coalswitch fuel reference plant at Ashland, Maine is still being delayed. It will not be up and running until the first quarter of 2024. The facility is 12 months late and management has lost confidence in contractor Player Design Inc. The share price dipped 43.6% to 2.325p.
Eqtec (LON: EQT) is refinancing its debt and making annualised cost savings of £1.5m. The waste-to-energy business will issue £1.125m of shares to satisfy £900,000 owed to Altair. The Riverfort facility, which has a balance of £4.5m is being replaced by a £10m facility. There are plans to reduce the nominal value of the shares. The Gardanne project will generate €186,000 of pre-feed work in the near future and follow on studies will generate a further of €900,000. The share price fell 19.1% to 0.0425p.
