RNS Hotlist February 27: Bens, Contango, Empire, HUI, i3, Powerhouse, Synergia, Thor Ex, Touchstone, UKOG, Upland, URA

Synergia Energy (SYN) updated concerning the Cambay field. The company said its CEO visited several companies in Delhi and Ahmedabad concerning the Cambay field farm out process. These companies are finalising their due diligence and detailed technical and commercial discussions are ongoing. It is optimistic that a farm out arrangement will be achieved, enabling the commencement of the full field development in 2023. 

Comment: Today’s RNS comes off the back of recent strong enthusiasm regarding the stock amongst retail investors. Ideally, the phrase “full field development in 2023”, will keep the momentum burning. 

Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI), a company specialising in turning non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into hydrogen and other carbon-free fuels, announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Rocquaine Management Limited to explore opportunities for the development of HUI waste plastic to hydrogen plants in Estonia and elsewhere.

Comment: HUI continues its expanding land grab on mainland Europe, which still appears more appreciative of its offering than those on this side of the channel.

UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) announced that, as a necessary precursor to its planned Horse Hill-2z Portland formation water reinjection project, the company has now installed three, shallow, groundwater monitoring boreholes at its 85.635% owned producing oil field.

Comment: For those who may have thought that Horse Hill was on the back burner, it can be seen that UKOG is still keen to maximise the value  in all of its portfolio.

i3 Energy (I3E), an independent oil and gas company, announced a Q4 2022 operational and financial update. The company said Q4 2022 was very busy it completed its 2022 drilling programme which met management expectations, was executed under budget and achieved peak production rates in excess of 24,000 boepd. It has successfully completed the first phase of our 2023 drilling programme, with multiple wells now on clean-up flow and several Clearwater intervals tested, and is  now on course to deliver positive YE2022 financials and reserves data by the end of March.

Comment: This is a decent business as usual update from i3, one that ideally would turn the tide on the recent share price fall from 30p plus to below 20p. 

Bens Creek Group (BEN), the owner of a metallurgical coal mine in North America, announced that Mark Cooper has joined the board of Bens Creek as a Non-Executive Director. MBU Capital Group Limited, has the right to appoint two directors to the board of the Company as long as it holds more than 50 per cent. of the voting rights in the Company. Bens also said it has agreed repayment terms with ACAM LP in respect of the outstanding $6m of unsecured convertible loan notes issued to ACAM on 17 February 2022. The company said it is now approaching full production and operational cash flows enable us to commence paying down loan obligations. This is the first step towards full repayment of all loan arrangements.

Comment: It is interesting to MBU putting its people on the board of Bens, presumably to keep an eye on things. More important is the second RNS with the company promising to fully repay all loan arrangements.

URA Holdings (URAH) announced that it completed the acquisition of G.E.M Venus Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, the ultimate owner of the majority interest in the Gravelotte emerald mine located in the Limpopo province of South Africa from Magnum Mining and Exploration Limited. The company said it was delighted to have completed the acquisition of the world renowned Gravelotte Emerald mine. The vast majority of the purchase price is to be paid from future emerald production and sales.

Comment: There are a couple of key points here, the first being the completion of the giant killing Gravelotte deal. The second is that the “vast majority” of the deal is to be paid from future production. The other point is that given the second point, URA is very well placed to benefit from the $250m plus value of the project, something which the market has been slow to factor in so far.

Upland Resources (UPL) announced details concerning the subscription by certain directors and managers for new ordinary shares at a price of 0.6p per new ordinary share. The company has also  created a 10% share option incentive plan over the company's issued share capital on Admission and granted options over 110,000,000 ordinary shares to certain Directors and senior managers of the company.

Comment: It is probably just as well that there is a refresher RNS from Upland, given that the market has been rather slow to appreciate the position it is now in after the recent fundraise and increase in its interest in the Sarawak joint venture from 20% to 45%.

Contango (CGO) confirmed that Gordon Thompson, aged 60, has agreed to join the board of Contango as Non-Executive Director with immediate effect. He has over 30 years of experience in building, developing and managing mines across the globe, with an extensive track record in Africa. Mr Thompson is a qualified mining engineer and holds membership of the Engineering Council of South Africa ECSA.

Comment: Hopefully Mr Thompson will get the wash plant going.

Powerhouse Energy (PHE) was the subject of TR1’s from the White family consortium, showing that Messrs Josh, Ben and Howard have trimmed their holdings in the waste plastic to green energy company. 

Thor Explorations (THX) announced the initial drilling results from a reconnaissance drilling program that is currently underway at the company's Western Prospects that are located approximately 15km to the west of the Company's wholly owned Segilola Gold Mine in Nigeria. The company said it was thrilled to announce these drilling results that include an intersection grading 227g/tAu over a length of 2m. Within this intersection is a 1m length that carries ten ounces per ton. Visible gold is prevalent throughout the core from this and the other significant intervals. These results are the culmination of systematic and persistent exploration work leading to the discovery of this high-grade mineralisation. 

Comment: 2023 has rather become the year of the inflection point for quite a few companies, and it would appear that Thor Explorations is set to join this fortunate bunch. The latest drilling results are not only set to reward patient holders, but could surprise those who have been waiting on the company to deliver.

Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (ECO), the oil and gas exploration company, announced its results for the three and nine months ended 31 December 2022, and provided a corporate and operational update. The company said following its drilling campaign on Block 2B, offshore South Africa, in Q4 2022, it continues to analyse the well data obtained from the Gazania-1 well. It remains of the view that considerable untapped potential remains in the asset. Significant progress continues to be made on Block 3B/4B, offshore South Africa, with a number of workstreams progressing well.

Comment: After the slight hiccough in the share price last year, it may take a while for Eco to restore confidence in the market. This latest RNS could be the start of this process.

88 Energy (88E) reported that the Hickory-1 ice pad construction is nearing completion and that pre-spud operations are on schedule. The Hickory-1 well is located within 88 Energy's Project Phoenix acreage, directly adjacent to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the Dalton Highway. Mobilisation of Nordic Calista's Rig-2 to the Hickory-1 well location is expected to commence shortly, together with equipment and services relating to the well operations. Hickory-1 spud remains on track for early March 2023.

Comment: Another company which pulled the rug from under shareholders last year, which is looking to regain trust. Luckily, it would appear there is not long to wait.

Touchstone Exploration (TXP) reports that on February 24, 2023, the company was notified by The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited that they expect to be ready to receive first gas from the Cascadura natural gas and associated liquids facility on or about June 30, 2023. The company said it was encouraged to have received an expected first gas date from NGC, and that first gas from Cascadura will be a transformative achievement for Touchstone.

Comment: Yet another RNS today where a company is able to boast a positive turnaround. It is to be hoped that small cap investors get on the bandwagon.

Blencowe Resources (BRES) announced it has completed the mining and packaging of both the 100t bulk sample and 150kg of sample from its flagship Orom-Cross Graphite Project. The company said its process to secure end-product qualification, which then opens the door to binding offtake contracts, is underway. It said it was very confident in the product to be produced from Orom-Cross, especially given the lack of impurities within the concentrate in all testing thus far.  If it can continue to demonstrate this quality in the months ahead it will be in excellent shape to complete this pre-qualification process.

Comment: Blencowe continues to be underloved. However, it should be the case that steady RNS’s like today’s ensure that the value of the company’s proposition starts to be more fully appreciated this year. 

Empire Metals (EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and development company, updated on the reverse circulation drilling programme recently completed at the Eclipse-Gindalbie Project, located in Western Australia. The company said whilst its focus remains on its potential "Giant" copper project at Pitfield with planning for the maiden drill programme receiving the upmost priority, these recent drill results from Gindalbie are nonetheless highly encouraging, having returned multiple significant intercepts of white kaolin from its initial targeted area, just west of the historical South Gippsland #3 mine.

Comment: Empire’s great run of news continues, and arguably even though the share price has risen in recent weeks, the market is yet to catch up with what Shaun Bunn and his team are delivering.