Great Southern Copper has options over potential copper gold projects in northern Chile. Initial exploration should help the company to understand the prospects in the two areas before spending a more significant amount of money.
The cash raised will be split between the San Lorenzo and Especularita projects, with the former getting more than one-third of the cash, plus provide working capital.
A new left wing President, Gabriel Boric, has been elected in Chile and he says that he will block a controversial mining project, but Chile has a long history of being a stable place for minerals explo...
Antofagasta shares sank on Monday after the leftist candidate Boric won 58% of the vote in the Chilean presidential race.
The left-wing president was voted in on the promise of reforms that include greener policies to help protect the environment.
This would include the blocking of the controversial Dominga copper mine operated by Andes Iron.
Although this doesn’t have an immediate direct impact on FTSE 100 -listed Antofagasta, it does suggest life will become harder for the miner during his tenure.
Antogasta shares were down 4.1% at 1,314p at the time of writing on Monday.
The news comes shortly after the release of Antofagasta’s 2021 Climate Change Report in which the group outlined steps it was taking to improve their environmental sustainability.
These include measure such as increasing the use of seawater to help reduce water scarcity and the reduction of emissions.
“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing society and our company today. As a copper producer, Antofagasta can address this challenge both by decarbonising its operations and by responsibly and sustainably providing a key commodity for the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said Iván Arriagada, Antofagasta CEO.
“Our Climate Change Strategy is a dynamic strategy that we will be adapting in line with changing climate scenarios, regulation and scientific and technological advances, always with the aim of boosting the company’s resilience and competitiveness. This is, we believe, the best way to fulfil our purpose of developing mining for a better future.”
In a production report released in October, ANTO said they expected annual production to be in the region of 710-740,000 tonnes.
Antofagasta’s biggest recent issues have been heavy rainfall and the spread of COVID-19, they now have political risk to add to the list.
The FTSE 100 sank on Monday morning as fears over the spread of Omicron and global growth sapped all confidence out of markets causing severe selling in European shares.
The FTSE 100 was down 1.9% at 7,171 and German DAX off 2.76% in early trade on Monday. The Italian FTSE MIB was 2.7% weaker at 25,892.
The selling eased through the session and bargain hunters stepped in to take indices off their worst levels as the session progressed.
‘’The rampant nature of Omicron and its potential impact in sharply slowing global growth is continuing to unnerve investors, with the FTSE 100 opening sharply lower, down 2% in early trade. With the vaccine maker Pfizer estimating that the pandemic will last until 2024, uncertainty about the year ahead is rippling through the markets. Countries are bracing for waves of infection to hit, watching the new variant rip through communities in South Africa and the United Kingdom,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
As a result, Goldman Sachs has lowered it’s growth forecast from 3% to 2% for 1Q, 3.5% to 3% in 2Q, and from 3% to 2.75% in 3Q.
Whilst the downgrade isn’t earth shattering, the timing is terrible. Investors have just learnt there will be reduced stimulus provided by the Federal Reserve and this stimulus is now being withdrawn from an economy with lower growth forecasts.
This played out in European equities as well as US futures on Monday morning.
Few gainers
It will be no surprise few stocks ground put gains on Monday morning. Those gains on the FTSE 100 included pharma company Dechra and precious metals miners Polymetal.
“It says something when the only two risers in the FTSE 100 were Polymetal – a play on precious metal prices, with gold living up to its reputation as a store of value as it holds firm at just under $1,800 per ounce – and Royal Mail. The latter will no doubt benefit as consumers rush to place last-minute online orders for Christmas presents, avoiding the high street for fear of getting Covid,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
AIM-quoted oil and gas company Hurricane Energy (LON: HUR) could make a $54m write-off on its activities in the Greater Warwick area (GWA) of the North Sea.
There is an obligation for the GWA joint venture, which includes a Centrica subsidiary, to start to drill a well on the P1368(S) Lincoln licence by the end of June 2022. The joint venture wants the commencement date to be later, but the authorities do not want a deferral.
The partners, including Hurricane Energy, have decided to suspend funding of this potential well, although there will be spending on the area. An option is a third party could fund the drilling, but there is no formal interest.
It is likely that the licence area will be relinquished because of the failure to drill a well.
NAV
Net assets were $110.6m at the end of June 2021. A lot has happened since then so this figure could have changed significantly since then. Even so, a $54m write-down is going to be significant in terms of assets even though it will not affect the cash in the business.
The repurchase of convertible bonds will reduce interest and debt repayments by $29.4m a year. There will be $79.8m of convertible bonds still in issue.
Hurricane Energy is generating cash from operations. Net free cash was $127m at the end of November 2021 and since then $72.2m of convertibles have been repurchased.
The Lancaster field was producing 9,900 barrels of oil per day by the middle of December.
Last month Crystal Amber Fund (LON: CRS) increased its stake to 28.2%. At 4.2p a share, Hurricane Energy is capitalised at £83.7m.
Deepmatter Group (LON: DMTR) needs more cash. The digital chemistry data company does have cash in the bank, but it requires more to progress the business. Any fundraising could be at a significant discount to the current share price.
Deepmatter has developed platforms that make it easier to discover and replicate chemical reactions. It is estimated that 50% of science is not reproducible. In 2018, global R&D was worth $179bn and if part of this research cannot be reproduced than much of this money is wasted.
Digital technology can help companies get better value from their R&D and err...
Public Policy Holding Company Inc provides public affairs, crisis management and lobbying services in the US. The overall market is estimated to be worth $17.6bn with the core lobbying and public affairs market contributing $5.8bn to the figure.
The share price opened at 140p and ended the first day at 139.5p. The next day it stayed at 139.5p. There were no trades listed on the either day of trading.
The flotation will help Public Policy Holding to grow organically and through acquisitions. Part of the reason for the flotation was to raise the company’s profile. That does not seem to be...
The FTSE 100 flirted with gains on Friday despite sharp declines in other major European equity indices which sank in a broad risk-off move.
The outperformance in the FTSE 100 also came after a surprise rate hike by the Bank of England yesterday.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,268 just after 12pm on Friday whilst the German Dax and French CAC were deep in the red, both down over 1%.
“The Bank of England surprised everyone by hiking interest rates yesterday. In doing so it only confirmed new Governor Andrew Bailey’s reputation as an ‘unreliable boyfriend’ after he flirted with a widely expected rise back in November before thinking twice, but the market seems to be taking this latest development in its stride,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“While the decision to move now seems at odds with the uncertainty around the economic impact of the Omicron variant, and rising rates are not typically good news for stocks, businesses and markets don’t love uncontrolled inflation either so the Bank of England at least trying to get a handle on things isn’t all bad news.”
The early rise in the FTSE 100 coincided with declines in the pound as London’s leading index once again displayed an inverse relationship with the pound.
The pound rose sharply on Thursday following the surprise rate hike and the fade trade was played out in the FTSE 100 on Friday.
The weaker pound helped support exporting stocks with consumer shares and the miners making reasonable gains in early afternoon trade on Friday.
UK banks also gained as investors continued to cheer the prospect of better performance as a result of higher rates.
Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest crept higher after surging yesterday.
Strong UK retail sales also created a sense of optimism as November retail sales rose 1.4%. However, the jump in retail sales could prove to be short lived as the rise was largely down to people doing their Christmas shopping early over fears of shortages.
This could set us up for a disappointing Christmas trading period, especially if Boohoo’s troubles are a reliable barometer.
We were thrilled to once more welcome Craig Martin, the chairman of Dynam Capital, manager of the Vietnam Holding Investment Trust to the UK Investor Magazine Podcast.
Vietnam Holding has had a storming year with 12-month share price performance standing at 95% at the time of recording.
This made Vietnam Holding one of the best performing Investment Trusts listed in London this year and has significantly outperformed its peers.
We discuss the key driving factors behind the trust’s success including the strength of the Vietnamese economy and the increasing number of retail investors in Vietnam.
There is a deep dive into the investment themes Craig and the team are focusing on, and an exploration of the companies held within the trust.
The One Planet Capital EIS Fund is lining up an investment into Zedify, a zero-emissions delivery company utilising electric cargo bikes.
The One Planet Capital EIS focuses on companies in the emerging green economy and Zedify’s solution to urban deliveries will compliment existing holdings in the portfolio.
Zedify are providing a measurable positive impact on the environment by reducing the use of polluting diesel vans and improving the air quality in urban centres.
Expanding market
According to One Planet Capital, Zedify are operating in a market worth £3.9 billion that will welcome such solutions as councils push to reduce traffic and congestion.
New delivery services have popped up during the pandemic but the ‘cargo’ tends to be food, either groceries or takeways.
Zedify are applying this concept to larger deliver of goods offering an alternative to couriers with services such as next day delivery and collections from businesses.
The company is currently operating in the UK, however, there will be the opportunity to expand into Europe in the future.
Zedify are raising £1.2m in total with a pre-money valuation of £5m.
Just Eat has partnered with Asda, where from January customers will be able to order supermarket items.
Andrew Kenny, the UK managing director of Just Eat, said: “We live in an on-demand world. We want to make sure we are getting our customers the food they want, when they want, when they want it. Our tie-up with Asda means we can help people access everything from store cupboard essentials to fresh groceries in a matter of minutes.”
Just Eat has said that 1,000 items will be available from the supermarket. The locations that Asda items will be available for Just Eat customers will be announced early next year.
Simon Gregg, the vice-president of online grocery at Asda, said: “We’re always looking for new ways to offer customers more choice and extend the number of delivery options available. The trial will also see Asda become more accessible to a wider customer base through Just Eat’s significant presence in the on-demand food delivery space.”
