(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Monday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Centrica PLC - Windsor, England-based energy & services company - Says that British Gas agrees to take on the customers of Zebra Power and Bluegreen Energy Services and supply them with gas and electricity after the two energy firms ceased trading last week. Zebra previously supplied around 14,800 domestic customers while Bluegreen supplied around 5,900 domestic customers plus a small number of business customers. The switchover is part of Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort process. Centrica stands to benefit from the collapse of smaller rivals, with British Gas taking on the customers of failed energy supplier People's Energy, in September. Besides People's Energy, British Gas has taken on the customer base of Simplicity Energy, PfP Energy and MoneyPlus Energy via Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort process this year.
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Touchstone Exploration Inc - Calgary, Canada-based upstream oil and gas company - Confirms a light oil discovery in results of the first of three planned production tests at its Royston-1 exploration well in Trinidad. Notes that oil discovery represents a "new pool which has not been encountered in any of the regional offsetting wells". Drilling samples indicated that the well encountered a significant Herrera turbidite package with a total observed thickness of more than 1,000 feet. President & Chief Executive Paul Baay comments: "We are excited to discover a promising new light oil pool in the deepest test section of the Royston well, adding further potential to the future development opportunity in the Royston area, as light oil can be easily and economically developed alongside any gas development."
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Europa Metals Ltd - European lead-zinc explorer - Gets approval from Spanish Government Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology in relation to the stage 1 milestone of its EUR467,000 innovation grant. Europa has now drawn down and received the second tranche of the grant being EUR159,000. Following receipt of the initial tranche of EUR163,000, Europa worked closely with drilling contractors in analysing data generated from its 2021 drilling campaign at its Toral project in north west Spain. On completion of stage 2 work, currently estimated to occur during 2022, a third and final tranche of EUR145,000 will then be available for draw down.
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Bradda Head Lithium Ltd - Isle of Man-based exploration and mining services provider - Receives conditional permission to begin exploration drilling at its Wikieup sedimentary claims in central Arizona. Drilling is expected to start in the fourth quarter, with Bradda Head already engaging drilling contractor Boart Longyear to carry out the environmentally sensitive sonic drilling programme. Bradda says it is "confident that the upcoming drill programme will confirm the prospectivity of the project, with additional lithium mineralisation to support a maiden resource estimate at the project in the second quarter of 2022. "Bradda is continuing with its fast-track efforts to unlock the value of its sedimentary lithium opportunity at the Wikieup/Burro Creek area," Chief Executive Charles FitzRoy comments.
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Artisanal Spirits Co PLC - Edinburgh, Scotland-based owner of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society - Launches JG Thomson & Co, a creator of small batch blended malt whiskies, grain whiskies, rum and gin. Having acquired the legal rights to the JG Thomson brand in 2017, says it is reviving the brand using the proceeds of its initial public offering in June. The move forms part of the company's growth strategy to launch complementary but independent brands without compromising its core membership proposition, the whisky specialist firm highlights. David Ridley, Executive Managing Director says: "This highly anticipated launch builds on the ongoing success of our business, including The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and is a key part of our growth strategy as outlined at the time of the IPO earlier this year."
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Thor Mining PLC - precious, base, energy and strategic metal projects in the US and Australia - Begins diamond drilling at Molyhil tungsten-molybdenum project in the Northern Territory, Australia. Drilling will test a "newly identified magnetic target" adjacent to the Molyhil magnetite skarn, host to the tungsten-molybdenum-copper mineralisation. Thor Mining has been awarded AUD110,000 from the Northern Territory Government as part of the Resourcing the Territory, Geophysics & Drilling Collaborations programme. "The Molyhil resource is highly magnetic (high percentage of magnetite) and this newly identified target is interpreted to be an off-set of this mineralisation. The depth to target of only 270 metres from surface and the location underneath the current pit design has the potential to be a game changer for the project," comments Nicole Galloway Warland, managing director of Thor.
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Personal Group Holdings PLC - Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire-based employee benefits and services provider - Launches partnership with The Retail Trust. The one-year contract will see Personal provide its Hapi technology platform to the trust, a charity dedicated to supporting people working in and retired from the retail industry. Members of the Retail Trust will be provided with a new mobile app that gives access to the charity's benefits and services, as well as discounts offered by Personal Group.
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Harland & Wolff Group Holdings PLC - Belfast-based specialist in ship repair, conversion and offshore construction - Granted full marine licence for its Islandmagee gas storage project by the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs. The Islandmagee gas storage project is a salt cavern gas storage facility located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Islandmagee peninsula is the site of Northern Ireland's main gas-fired power station at Ballylumford, the strategic electrical interconnection point to Great Britain and the terminating point of the existing Scotland-Northern Ireland gas pipeline, Harland notes. Once completed, the Islandmagee facility will consist of seven underground caverns, capable of storing a total of around 500 million cubic metres of gas. Separately, Harland announces signed of framework agreement with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for the haul-out, repair, maintenance, and refurbishment of the RNLI's fleet of lifeboats. The RNLI currently has a fleet of 431 lifeboats and 238 lifeboat stations that will require repairs and maintenance on a regular basis, Harland says.
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Deltic Energy PLC - natural resources investing company - Completes the farm-out agreement of five of its gas licences in the southern North Sea with Cairn Energy PLC, through Cairn's wholly owned subsidiary, Nautical Petroleum Ltd. The agreement will see Cairn buy a 60% interest in each of two licences, and 70% each for the other three licenses. As part of the deal, Cairn will fund 100% of an agreed work programme and operate each licence, up to the point of deciding whether to drill, or give up, the assets. In return, Cairn will pay Deltic USD1 million up-front, and fund 70% of the costs for either of two of the licences - up to a maximum USD25 million - if they decide to drill. The two companies have now entered into joint operating agreements for each of the five licences. "Completion of this transformational multi-licence farm out marks the formal commencement of our partnership with Cairn which will see significant investment being made in Deltic's strategic Southern North Sea gas exploration portfolio," says Deltic Chief Executive Graham Swindells.
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Zenova Group PLC - Brentwood, England-based fire safety and thermal insulation products provider - Gets Zenova FP fire-resistant paint approved for use by the London Borough of Enfield, with its first use to be in a fourteen-story residential tower block. "Zenova FP is rapidly becoming established and recognised as the leading fire protection paint product in the market and, with the London Borough of Enfield specifying it for use in the buildings it owns, we believe we can play an important role in improving the fire safety of multi-residency buildings throughout the UK," says Chief Executive Tony Crawley.
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Katoro Gold PLC - gold and nickel exploration and development company - Raises GBP815,000 in a placing of 81.5 million shares at 1.00p each. Proceeds will be used primarily to fund the advancement of its Haneti Nickel project in Tanzania, where company intends to begin a drilling campaign, and for working capital requirements.
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Power Metal Resources PLC - exploration company seeking metal discoveries in the US, Australia and Africa - Says it is "eager" to see drilling commence at the Haneti project, where its is targeting a large scale nickel and platinum element discovery. Notes announcement by partner Katoro Gold to raise money for this purpose. Power Metal has a direct 35% interest in the Haneti project in Tanzania.
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Bushveld Minerals Ltd - South African vanadium producer - Makes final repayment of loan notes due to Duferco Participations for the purchase of Vanchem. In November 2019, Bushveld bought the Vanchem plant in South Africa for a total price of USD53.5 million. The company has now made its final payment of the USD53.5 million owed and is continuing with the refurbishment of Vanchem's Kiln 3 in its attempt to raise production run rate levels to 2,600 mtV by the end of 2022.
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Mineral & Financial Investments Ltd - Cayman Islands-based investment company - Investee company Redcorp, along with Ascendant Resources, signs definitive mining concession contract with the Portuguese government for the Lagoa Salgada project in the country's Iberian Pyrite Belt. Mineral & Financial owns a 75% stake in Redcorp, with Ascendant owning the remaining 25%. "This represents another huge step towards the full development of the Lagoa Salgada project," comments M&FI President & Chief Executive Jacques Vaillancourt. "We look forward to Redcorp and Ascendant moving Lagoa Salgada to the next stage of its development."
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Enteq Technologies PLC - Buckinghamshire-based oil and gas services provider - Declares field trials of Saber system successful. Says downhole testing shows Saber's control system "successfully demonstrated the ability to operate correctly, meeting the test objectives". Successful development of Saber will "greatly expand Enteq's addressable market", the energy company adds.
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Accsys Technologies PLC - London-based chemical technology company - Agrees new EUR17 million loan to complete Tricoya plant in Hull. The new financing deal sees Accsys lend up to EUR17 million to Tricoya UK Ltd alongside existing funding. The funding and commercial arrangements enable the project to continue as previously reported, Accys notes, with the plant expected to be commercially operational by July 2022.
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Zoltav Resources Inc - Russia-focused oil and gas explorer and producer - Notes ARA Capital to buy 62.6 million Zoltav shares from Bandbear for RUR1.8 billion or around USD24.3 million. The 62.6 million shares amount to a 44% interest in Zoltav. The new purchase price per share equates to approximately 15 pence per Zoltav share.
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Light Science Tech Holdings PLC - environment agriculture and technology and contract electronics manufacturing company - Reports start of contract with Zenith Nurseries, with a total potential value of up to GBP13.8 million. Also notes its electronics manufacturing division, UK Circuits and Electronics Solutions, secures new orders from Rentokil totalling around GBP581,000 which are expected to be delivered through the first half of financial year 2022.
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Panther Metals PLC - Malaysia-based company focused on mineral exploration in Canada and Australia - Expects to list on Australian Securities Exchange on December 10. Aims to raise AUD5.0 million from issue of 25.0 million shares. Chief Executive Darren Hazelwood comments: "Providing the working capital to develop the exciting portfolio held in Australia by Panther Metals Limited is the key aim of the process to listing the business on the ASX. Achieving this goal is now within sight. The world class expertise and network provided by the board in Australia gives Panther Metals PLC a great foundation for building value via its equity stake in the ASX listed vehicle at no extra capital cost to its shareholders."
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IronRidge Resources Ltd - minerals exploration company with projects in Chad, Ghana and Ivory Coast - Shares begin trading on OTCQX market in the US. "The company's objective in trading its shares on the OTCQX market is to provide more efficient access to a new and materially larger pool of prospective US investors," IronRidge explains.
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Logistics Development Group PLC - AIM-quoted investment company - Receives additional GBP2.2 million from Greenwhitestar sale. The company has to date received total proceeds of GBP127.5 million for Greenwhitestar. Notes LDG now holds no "material investment assets, is debt free and has an available cash balance of approximately GBP134.5 million".
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Corcel PLC - London-based mineral explorer and developer with interests in battery metals and flexible energy generation & storage - Confirms advanced negotiations with investors for its Tring Road and Avonmouth gas peaker projects. "The company is delighted to report that these projects have attracted significant interest as they are seen as critical to the UK's transitional energy strategy, providing flexible energy supply to support the inherent volatility of the UK renewables supply; particularly wind and solar," Corcel comments.
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SulNOx Group PLC - London-based supplier of fuel additives - Highlights "very encouraging" progress in a trading update. Marine trials are gathering momentum, the group says, with data from an ongoing, large scale shipping trial confirming increased power and torque production, reduced exhaust temperatures and other positive data which indicates a more efficient engine with reduced emissions. Also says sales from cars, vans, trucks, buses and heavy machinery are "now beginning to gain momentum". Trials also continue to provide further proof of the effectiveness of the SulNOxEco fuel conditioners at reducing fuel consumption by around 10%.
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DP Eurasia NV - master franchisee of the Domino's Pizza brand in Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - Claims that it seeks to "address greater minority shareholder protection as a matter of priority". The group's Independent Committee is currently working with advisors in respect of proposed amendments to the constitutive documents of the company to address the issue, the group outlines.
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By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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