RNS Hotlist: AEX, Altus, Avacta, 88 Energy, Cambridge, Firering, i3, Landore, MJ Hudson, Novacyte, Oriole, Pathfinder, TM1, URU

i3 Energy (I3E), an independent oil and gas company with assets and operations in the UK and Canada, which has ticked all the right stock market boxes over the past couple of years, revealed audited results for the year ended 31 December 2021. Dividend distributions to its shareholders of up to 30% of free cash flow have been the icing on the cake. The company said 2021 was another truly transformational year for i3 which saw very significant growth across all factors which drive shareholder value - production, cashflow, reserves and portfolio scale and scope.

Firering (FRG), an exploration company focusing on critical minerals, unveiled the appointment of FOREMI, as its diamond drill contractor for the planned 3,000m drilling campaign at its Atex dual Lithium-Tantalum Project, in the Côte d'Ivoire. The company said the appointment of FOREMI marks another major milestone for Firering as it embarks on the next phase of core drilling. FRG has also received all assay results from its auger drilling programme identifying areas of interest related to potential lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite mineralisation to the south-west of Spodumene Hill and some narrower zones to the north-east.

88 Energy (88E) updated on operations at its recently acquired Project Longhorn conventional oil and gas production assets in the proven Permian Basin, onshore Texas, U.S.  88 Energy has a circa 73% average net working interest in these established production assets, which have independently certified net 2P reserves of 2.05 MMBOE.

Panthera Resources (PAT), the gold exploration and development company, has arranged an equity capital fundraise with existing and institutional investors for approximately £1.06m. The raise will fund the planned Bassala drilling programme in Q2 2022.

AEX Gold (AEX), an independent mining company, announce the results of its 2021 exploration campaign at the Sava Project in South Greenland. They confirm the company's belief that the geology of the Sava licence has great potential, opening up the prospect of a new IOCG belt in South Greenland, which warrants further exploration in 2022.

MJ Hudson Group (MJH), the end-to-end solutions provider to the asset management industry, announced its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2021. Revenue growth hit 48% to £23.4m from £15.8m in H1 FY21 driven by strong organic growth and full contributions from successful acquisitions.

Novacyt (NCYT), an international specialist in clinical diagnostics, said its PROmate® COVID-19 1G (q32) Real-Time PCR test has been approved in the UK under the UK Health Security Agency's Medical Devices (Coronavirus Test Device Approvals) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.

Avacta Group (AVCT), a clinical stage oncology drug and diagnostics company said that the poster it presented at the American Association of Cancer Research 2022 Annual Meeting, entitled 'AVA6000, a novel pre|CISION™ medicine, targeted to the tumor microenvironment via Fibroblast Activation Protein mediated cleavage' is now available to download from the company's website. It will be interesting to see whether this breaks the internet.

Cambridge Cognition (COG), a technology company which develops and markets patient-focused solutions to better assess brain health, announced its unaudited preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2021. This showed a strong performance in 2021 with revenue growth of 50% and a record sales order intake for the second year running. 

URU (URU) said that ZEB Nickel Corp. has announced a new gold zone discovery on its Zeb Project, located in Limpopo, South Africa. URU successfully completed the disposal of the Project to ZEB Nickel Corp. in August 2021 and the Project remains the primary focus of URU, through its 74.82% interest in Zeb Nickel Corp. and URU's continuing role as the technical adviser on the Project.

Parsley Box Group (MEAL), the direct-to-consumer provider of ready meals focused on the over 65s announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2021. Repeat customer revenue grew by 18% to £20.7m (FY20: £17.5m). Total revenue grew by 4% to £25.5m (FY20: £24.4m). Whatever happened to Meals on Wheels?

Altus Strategies (ALS) said that the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Morocco has issued a 10 year mining licence in respect of the Company's 100% owned Agdz copper project. Agdz is located 14km southwest of the Bou Skour Cu-Ag mine in the eastern Anti-Atlas of the Kingdom of Morocco.

Oriole Resources (ORR), the AIM-quoted exploration company focused on West Africa,  has received a rebate totalling £403k HMRC in relation to a R&D tax relief claim in respect of geoscientific advances sought by the company through its exploration programmes. The Claim is for the year ended 31 December 2021. If one can get money back from HMRC, one can do anything.

e-therapeutics (ETX), a specialist in computational drug discovery, has reached a key milestone in its collaboration with Galapagos NV, a European biotech. This key milestone results in a cash payment to e-therapeutics.

Landore Resources (LND) provided a review of its Lithium Zone together with an update on the Junior Lake Property, Ontario, Canada. Landore said it is planning to commence Pre-Feasibility studies in H2 2022 on the BAM Gold Project now that the Indicated portion of the resource has passed the one million ounce target.

Feedback (FDBK), the specialist clinical communication company, has been awarded two twelve-month contracts to provide its flagship product, Bleepa®, across two NHS Trusts, for an aggregate value of £200,000.

Warpaint London (W7L), the specialist supplier of colour cosmetics, updated on current trading ahead of the release of the company's results for the year ended 31 December 2021 on Tuesday 26 April 2022. Group sales for the first three months of 2022 are approximately 60% ahead of the same period in 2021, with sales increases seen across all of the Group's brands.

Keras Resources (KRS) today provided an operational update on the Diamond Creek organic phosphate mine in Utah, USA. The company said that post acquiring 100% ownership of this asset it is “great”to have all our permits and authorisations in place and be back on the mountain as it moves into Spring.

Technology Minerals (TM1), which is focused on battery metals, announced its results for the six months to 31 December 2021. The company said its aim is to build ten battery recycling plants within six years in the UK, with the first two coming online in the second half of this year.  On this basis, for the first time in the UK, there will be the capability to recycle Lithium-ion batteries on an industrial scale.

Pathfinder (PFP) updated regarding the dispute concerning mining concession 4623C in Mozambique and potential routes to monetise the company's claim and pursue additional opportunities. A successful claim could net PFP between a minimum of $110m for an ex-ante damages award through to $1,500m for an ex-post damages award. All in all, better than a lottery win.