African Barrick Gold PLC (HOLD, 315p) (ABG LN, MCap: £596.7M, 145.5p) announced an update on its operational review. The Review has been broken into three concurrent workstreams with an immediate focus (Workstream 1) on the Corporate Overheads, Exploration, Capital spend and the overall Organisational Structure. The Company has already implemented a series of measures which will substantially reduce the year on year expenditure in these areas, including:

• A $50M reduction in our sustaining capital
• A reduction of $25M in our exploration spend
• $8M of savings in our corporate overheads.

As part of the Review process, the Company are reassessing our staffing requirements both at its mine sites and offices in order to ensure it has the optimal structure, as well as the appropriate mix of employees and contractors. This incorporates the ongoing progress it has made in increasing the proportion of Tanzanian employees in its workforce to the extent that over the last 12 months it has reduced the level of international employees by 16%. This substantially lowers the turnover in the workforce and improves the cost profile, and this is an area where it will continue to work to make further improvements.

The second workstream is focused on the other operating costs which represent the largest area of expenditure within the organisation and it has identified a range of opportunities where it believes there is significant cost reduction potential. Project teams have been formed for each of these areas and are working to identify and quantify specific cost reduction opportunities within each of the following areas:

• Maintenance
• Aviation, Camp Services, Travel, Vehicles and Administration
• Consumables
• Contractor and External Services
• Energy.

The third workstream is the complete review of its life of mine plans at each of its operations and the options available to ABG to enhance cash flow generation in the near term. The review is aimed at optimising production levels with the amounts of operating and sustaining capital required in order to maximise returns. Given the recent movements in the gold price, scenarios are also being run at different gold prices in order to ensure maximum flexibility at various potential price levels.

The Company is also reviewing all future expansion capital as part of the overall Review process. The CIL Expansion project at Bulyanhulu is well underway and scheduled to deliver first production and positive cash flows in Q1 next year, with an annualised run rate of 40,000oz. The project, which is substantially financed through a $142M export credit facility at 250 basis points over LIBOR, remains on budget and schedule, with $48M spent to date. With respect to other projects, its intention is to review them in light of the current cash generation of the business and other capital commitments.

Bullabulling Gold (BGL LN, MCap: £8.9M, 2.9p) has released the results of the initial DFS open pit optimisation report.
In this news:

• Substantial gold production and mine life maintained over a range of gold prices
• Sound cash margins indicted under all scenarios evaluated
• Indicative cash costs some 20% below PFS estimates
• Additional high grade resources to contribute to lower cash costs in early years.

FD Comment:
The report was done on various gold price scenarios. For the $1,350/oz scenario which most closely represents the PFS, the optimisation produced 1.9Moz over a 10 year mine life as indicative C1 cash costs of $850-950/oz. The average life of mine grade is 0.86g/t, but as we discussed yesterday with the Edwards/Gryphon resource update we expect initial grades to be higher and correspondingly costs to be lower. The results of the study are very positive as the PFS had life of mine C1 cash costs of A$1,145/oz (A$891/oz over the first 3 years of production due to high grading), which when you include depreciation, debt repayments, tax etc would be marginal in our view. However we still view the initial A$326M capex a major hurdle and it may be the only way the project would get into production in the current market is for it to be taken over. There is no indication whether the figures today are US$ or A$ but as they are currently trading at a parity, so this will make no difference to our analysis.

Conroy Gold & Natural Resources (CGNR LN, MCap: £6.4M, 2.2p) has identified further targets across the thirty mile gold trend running across Counties Armagh, Monaghan and Cavan in Ireland.
In this news:

• A series of new targets identified by independent review of airborne geophysics
• Geophysics over targets shows similar characteristics to known gold occurrences
• Two target areas also coincide with known regional soil geochemical anomalies.

FD Comment:
There were no details of what follow up work is proposed on these targets, and given the current market conditions we suspect that these will be left as targets for the time being.

Gemfields PLC (GEM LN, MCap: £124.2M, 23p) announced an operational update for the three month period ending 31 March 2013. Gemstone production at the Kagem emerald mine increased by 33% to 6.5M carats in the quarter ending 31 March 2013 (from 4.9M carats in the quarter ending 31 March 2012). Grade for the quarter increased to 265 carats per tonne (from 236 carats per tonne in the quarter to 31 March 2012). Unit production costs for the quarter reduced by 34% to US$0.56 per carat (from US$0.85 per carat in the quarter to 31 March 2012); and cash rock handling unit costs reduced by 18% to US$3.06/t (from US$ 3.73/t in the quarter to 31 March 2012).

Revenues from the recent auction in Lusaka totalled US$15.2M, a record for lower quality auctions. The next auction (of higher quality emerald and beryl) is scheduled for 10-14 June 2013 in Singapore. Bulk sampling activities continue at the Montepuez ruby deposit in Mozambique, with the first auction of rough rubies likely to take place in the first calendar quarter of 2014. The acquisition of 100% of the globally recognised Fabergé jewellery brand was completed in January 2013.

Hochschilds Mining PLC (HOLD, 300p) (HOC LN, MCap: £866.9M, 256.4p) announced that at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Metals, Mining & Steel Conference in Barcelona today, Ignacio Bustamante, CEO, will give an update on Hochschild Mining's progress in 2013 and, in particular, detail on several of the measures taken as part of the Company's previously announced cashflow optimisation action plan, implemented as a prudent response to recent volatility in precious metal prices. The 2013 exploration budget has been cut by 29% to $55M with greenfield exploration initiatives focused on the most promising prospects. A positive impact has already been achieved from cash flow optimisation initiatives. The 2013 production target maintained at 20.0 million attributable silver equivalent ounces. Unit cost increases in Peru now expected at 10-15% for 2013, previously 15-20% increase and increases in Argentina maintained at 10-15% for 2013. Sustaining capital expenditure at main operations now expected to be approximately $160M.

Landore Resources (LND LN, MCap: £12.6M, 3.9p) has released its Final results.
In this news:

• Group incurred a loss of £4,330,518
• Finished year with £1,166,919, has since raised an additional £835,000 and is confident of raising additional funds as required
• Post period Company reported an updated indicated resource estimate for the B4-7 deposit of 2.695Mt at 1.24% Nickel equivalent (NiEq) for 33,248t of contained metal
• Company currently working on Pre-feasibility studies, including ancillary metallurgical, geotechnical, environmental and socio economic studies, on the combined B4-7 and the VW deposits.

Kirkland Lake Gold (KGI LN, MCap: £150.8M, 215p) announced its operational results for the fourth quarter (February, March, April 2013) and fiscal year 2013. During the fourth quarter, 89,384 tonnes were produced at a head grade of 0.3673 ounces per tonne ("opt") and a recovery rate of 95.94% to produce 31,503oz of gold. Produced ounces for the month of April were 15,464oz. Following the completion of the hoisting capacity increase, April saw the Macassa mine record daily ore tonnage of 1,192t and head grades of 0.4501 opt. Average daily ore tonnage rates for the quarter were 1,004t per day, slightly surpassing the upper end of the Company's 900 - 1,000t per day target for the quarter.

For fiscal year 2013 (ended April 30, 2013) 91,756oz were sold, meeting revised production guidance. Ounces produced were 91,518 from 304,062t of ore at a head grade of 0.3145 opt and a recovery rate of 95.72%.

Minera IRL (BUY, 53p) (MIRL LN, MCap: £42.6M, 24.5p) announced its unaudited first quarter results for the three month period ended 31 March 2013. Revenue of US$9.2M, was down 17% (Q1 2012: $11.1M) which was based on gold sales of 5,660 ounces, down 13% (Q1 2012: 6,515 ounces) with an average realised gold price of US$1,631/ounce, down 4% (Q1 2012: US$1,699/ounce). Profit before tax of US$0.2M, was down 94% (Q1 2012: $3.1M). The cash balance as at 31 March 2013 was $6.5M.

FD Comment:
The lower profit has been caused by lower gold prices and falling production as the grade drops at Corihuarmi. The focus of attention is on getting all the permitting for Ollachea completed.

Richland Resources (RLD LN, MCap: £5.9M, 5p) announced its Q1 2013 operational and sales update. All figures are unaudited. Total tanzanite production amounted to 788,198cts compared with 533,400cts in Q1 2012. The grade averaged 97 carats per tonne average grade (51 carats per tonne in Q1 2012). Total sales were US$4M during the quarter, excluding the insurance pay out of US$1.4M. This was for the sort house theft in December 2012. Positive results were obtained from initial bulk sampling at Tsavorite. Graphite exclusivity agreement signed with major international trading company. There is continuing illegal underground mining activities from neighbouring mines and this will severely impact the 2012 results.

Serabi Gold* (SPECULATIVE BUY) (SRB LN, MCap: £24.8M, 6.9p) has released an operational update, a progress on the proposed acquisition of Kenai and appointment of a new director.
In this news:

Operational Update - Palito

• Development mining now underway
• Ore production from remnant ore blocks underway
• Development ore stockpile now being generated
• Two main ventilation raises to surface have been started
• Reassembly of the primary crushing circuit due for completion by end of 2Q'13
• Remediation of flotation circuit due to be completed by end of the 2Q'13
• Detailed engineering of the milling circuit complete and disassembly and reassembly of the old plant well underway
• Initial mining fleet on site in February 2013 with further items expected to be commissioned at start of third quarter 2013
• Plant commissioning remains on schedule

Update on the Kenai Transaction

• Kenai will hold shareholder meeting on 5th July to discuss transaction

New Director

• Mr. Nicolas Bañados has become a Non-executive Director of the Company with immediate effect.
• Mr Bañados, aged 36, is an attorney-in-fact of Fratelli Investments and becomes its second representative to join the board of Directors of the Company following the subscription by Fratelli Investments Limited in January 2013.

Tertiary Minerals (TYM LN, MCap: £7.8M, 5.8p) has released its 1H'13 report to the end of March.
In this news:

• Cash and equivalents of £792,337
• Reported loss for period of£253,718 of which £236,278 was administration costs

Storuman, Sweden

• Company engaged in a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) targeting production of at least 100,000 tonnes per year of acid grade fluorspar.
• Environmental base-line sampling is continuing on schedule and will provide data for the planned mining lease and environmental permit applications.
• Technical studies are also ongoing with the emphasis on completion of metallurgical testwork, currently being undertaken in South Africa.

Lassedalen, Norway

• Remains lower priority whilst financial market conditions remain challenging.

MB Fluorspar, USA

• Planning a phased programme of follow-up drilling with the objective of defining a JORC compliant Mineral Resource
• To be sufficient to support planning of a mine-starter pit for up to the first ten years of production and to target higher grade areas in the centre of the known deposit.

FD Comment:
This is a frustrating time for the Company as it has lots to do, but lacks the cash to do it all, so continues to focus on the biggest value adding activities - the Storuman PSF and the MB Fluorspar maiden resource.

Amerisur Resources (AMER LN, MCap: £544.5M, 52.5p) - Platanillo Continues to Deliver - What's Next?: The management update provides further support to the management's assertions for Platanillo. What is not clear, at this stage, is the extent of progress elsewhere in the portfolio. This is somewhat of a Catch-22 for management, as they have now conditioned us what to expect, and while we are positive that in due course it will be forthcoming, currently it is obvious by omission. Still, this management team is generating a real track record of delivering against its promises, and we believe that investors should be heartened by that.
In this news:

• Platanillo-11 encountered a 49.5ft total net pay in the U sand and 17ft net pay in the T sand
• Alea-1R sidetrack encountered a 40ft total net pay in the U sand and 8.5ft in the T sand
• Platanillo Field production currently at approximately 5,400bopd, constrained by pipeline and export facility upgrade works
• Total field production capacity estimated at 7,500bopd before the contribution of Platanillo-11 and Alea-1R ST1.

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Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LOGP LN, MCap: £57.3M, 40.5p) - Barryroe Dominates: Today's annual results are less about the numbers, with the exception of the cash, and more about the future. The future in two respects: (i) the extent to which the Company will need to raise further funding to support its interests in Barryroe; and (ii) the next stages in its exploration programme. We believe that the Company is well positioned to take advantage of the growing interest in the offshore Ireland basins, and the strong technical work that has been conducted to date coupled with the high equity positions, means that it will be able to leverage maximum value for its shareholders whilst minimising the risks.
In this news:

• Barryroe appraisal well 48/24-10z successfully tested at a stabilised rate of 3,514bopd and 2.93 mmscfd
• Barryroe updated operator estimate of P50 oil in place estimates currently total 1,043MMBO for the Middle and Basal Wealden reservoirs
• Barryroe additional potential identified in Lower Wealden and Purbeckian reservoir intervals with operator estimate of P50 oil in place of 778MMBO
• Barryroe technical reservoir resource audit by Netherland Sewell & Associates Inc. of the Basal Wealden Sand
• Total gross audited on-block 2C recoverable resources of 346MMBOE (69 MMBOE net to Lansdowne)
• Barryroe North Licensing Option secured over 521km²
• Amergin, Midleton & Rosscarbery prospects de-risked substantially by 3D seismic mapping and subsequent inversion. Industry farmout discussions on-going with Macquarie Capital as advisor to the Company.

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Madagascar Oil (MOIL LN, MCap: £72.4M, 12.8p) - 2013 the Start of the Recovery?: Today's results appear to have drawn a line underneath the problems that has beset the Company, and the arrival of Paul Ellis will certainly bring greater technical rigour than has hitherto been brought to bear on the project to date. Consequently, we believe that 2013 will be the start of the reduction of risks, to being more about the technical execution of the geology.
In this news:

• Construction phase of the Tsimiroro Steam Flood Pilot is reaching completion and steam injection into the first wells has commenced
• Company drilled 28 wells in the Tsimiroro field in 2012, including:
• • 16 production wells
  • 9 steam injection wells
  • 3 observation wells
• The Steam Flood Pilot designed to evaluate the potential production rates and recovery factor
• A 24,000 line km Airborne Gravity Gradiometry survey conducted across three exploration blocks
• • Initiative is underway to consolidate all available data to assess the potential for light hydrocarbons
• Major overhaul of the Board, management and control environment was initiated in Q4 2012
• • New Chairman
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Restructuring of risk and project cost controls to provide greater visibility and oversight by the Board of Directors
  • Houston office to close In July 2013 and responsibilities moved to offices in Madagascar and the UK.

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Matra Petroleum (BUY, 2p) (MTA LN, MCap: £17.1M, 0.9p) - Solid Update: Today's upgrade to internal estimates is a welcome step forwards for Sokolovskoye, but it somewhat vindicates the previous management's focus on getting the geology right. While this is in no doubt a great step forwards for the Company, investors have mostly backed the Barsky name, hence will be keen to see transformational transactions as soon as possible. While this is good news, we are reiterating our 2p Target Price and BUY Recommendation.

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Afferro Mining (AFF LN, MCap: £73.8M, 68p) has released an update on discussions with IMIC.
In this news:

• Afferro has noted the announcement made on the 8 May 2013 by International Mining and Infrastructure Corporation confirming that it has successfully arranged financing of US$100M for the cash element of its potential offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company
• Afferro has now received the relevant documentation for the source of funds and discussions on the indicative offer are taking place
• Afferro advises shareholders to take no action at this time.

Atlantic Coal (ATC LN, MCap: £7.9M, 0.19p) announced an update in relation to the option agreement to acquire additional anthracite mining assets in Pennsylvania, further details of which were originally announced on 15 February 2012. As announced on 2 April 2013, the option exercise period ended on 31 March 2013. The Company has subsequently held a number of discussions with the vendor in connection with the further extension of the option exercise period. However, following these discussions, it was determined by the Atlantic Coal board of directors that an agreement on principal terms could not be achieved that would be acceptable to the Company and in the best interests of the Company's shareholders. Discussions with the vendor have therefore been terminated.

As part of its negotiations in connection with the proposed Target Transaction, the Company was able to secure three indicative offers of debt financing. Separately, and further to the announcement made on 21 January 2013 regarding the exercise of a lease option over the 410 acre Pott & Bannon Pennsylvanian anthracite mining property, the Board confirms that it is accelerating the payment for and subsequent opening of the Pott & Bannon site. Further details on the expected opening of the site will be announced in due course.

Bullabulling Gold (BGL LN, MCap: £7.9M, 2.6p) has released a resource upgrade.
In this news:

• 3.9Mt at 1.68g/t for 210,500oz added at Edwards/Gryphon
• Total resource now 113.2Mt at 1.02 g/t for 3,715,500oz
• Additional resource grade exceeds expectations and lifts global resource grade by 2%
• Continuity of mineralisation between Edwards and Gryphon confirmed
• Additional high grade ore expected to boost early project cash flow.

FD Comment:
This is a positive update for Bullabulling as the additional resources are above the global resource grade and provides potential for the Company to focus on higher grade mineralisation within the total resource, which we believe it will need to do in the initial production phases to justify the capex requirements.

Bushveld Minerals*** (BMN LN, MCap: £30.9M, 10.9p) intends to make an off-market takeover offer for Lemur Resources (BUY, A$0.12) (LMR AU, MCap: A$14M, A$0.06).
In this news:

• The Offer provides consideration of three (3) Bushveld Shares for every five (5) Lemur Shares
• Values Lemur at A$0.099 per share and provides a premium of 65.5% to Lemur's closing price on 10 May 2013 of A$0.060 per share, based on the closing share price for Bushveld Shares of £0.109 per share on 9 May 2013 and an exchange rate of A$1.00:£0.659 on 9 May 2013
• Lemur Shareholders will benefit from exposure to Bushveld's strategy to create a diversified African junior mining company and its quality management team and will gain exposure to a diversified portfolio of mineral assets
• Bushveld has been advised that certain Lemur shareholders, who together hold approximately 42% of the issued capital of Lemur, intend to accept the Offer within five business days after commencement of the Offer Period in the absence of a superior proposal being publicly announced before the end of that five business day period.

FD Comment:
Lemur Resource has risen 20% on the ASX to A$0.072/sh, making the offer a 37.5% premium to the current share price. As well as having the Imoloto Coal project in Madagascar, Lemur had A$17.46M in cash at the end of March, equivalent to A$0.091/sh.

Caledonia Mining Corporation (CMCL LN, MCap: £36.9M, 73.5p) has released its 1Q'13 results.
In this news:

Operating Highlights - Blanket Mine, Zimbabwe

• As previously announced gold produced in 1Q'13 fell from 11,821oz to 10,472oz QoQ due to fewer working days during the period (84 days) due to Easter, but still up 14% on 1Q'12 (9,155oz)
• Gold production in April was 4,385oz and Blanket on target for forecast 40Koz in FY13
• Cash costs rose to US$669/oz from US$605/oz QoQ, due to the lower production, but total cash costs were US$7M from US$7.2M QoQ.

Financial Highlights

• Gold sales during the Quarter were 11,964oz at an average sales price of C$1,601/oz of gold
• Gross Profit (i.e. after depreciation and amortization but before administrative expenses) was C$9.0M from C$9.3M QoQ and CS$9M YoY
• Net profit after tax for the Quarter attributable to Caledonia shareholders was U$4.6M up from C$3.4M QoQ and C$7.1M YoY
• At March 31, 2013 Caledonia had cash and cash equivalents of C$25.2M.

FD Comment:
The production figures were already released in April and the rise in cash costs were as expected given the Blanket's high fixed cost base. We expect this to come down next quarter and going forward as production expands from 40Koz this year to 48Koz in FY'14 to 76Koz from FY'16. Given the Company's strong cash position the Company is trading on an undemanding 1.9x FY'13 forecast earnings.

Chaarat Gold (CGH LN, MCap: £50.4M, 20.1p) has released a strategic update on how it plans to "unlock the value" of the Chaarat deposit.
In this News:

• Fast tracking to Definitive Feasibility Study to underpin discussions on strategic alliances
• Acceleration of infrastructure development
• No fund raising required, no shareholder's dilution and no debt arrangements required
• New management of Shandong Gold confirms its interest in investing in Chaarat
• Cash reserves of approximately $24M are available to fund the revised strategy.

FD Comment:
Chaarat has made various changes to the development strategy for the project. It was planning to bring the open pit Tulkubash part of the project into production in 2H'13 using a heap leach, but has now abandoned that idea, deterred by the required US$20M working capital requirement which would be difficult to raise for the Company in the current market. Instead it is now continuing with the main project DFS and hoping that by the time it is finished the markets will have improved or Shandong Gold will make a further investment or offer.

DiamondCorp (DCP LN, MCap: £11.4M, 4.1p) announced its Final Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2012. The company reported a net loss of £3.534M, a reduction from the loss of £4.239M reported for 2011. Cash on hand at the end of 2012 amounted to £4.319M. A further US$6M (£4.2M) in term loan funds received from Tiffany & Co. subsidiary Laurelton Diamonds since year-end. There is also the IDC Loan R220M (GBP15.7M) available for drawn down when required in Q3 2013. Progress on the box cut and ramp development is on schedule and within budget.

Mwana Africa (MWA LN, MCap: £43.1M, 4p) has released the results from a metallurgical scoping study for its Zani-Kodo project located in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In this news:

• The 398kg of samples taken from six holes across the Kodo Main orebody were non-refractory and responded well to all recovery processes investigated, with higher than 90% gold extraction being obtained across all the recovery methods tested
• • The ore showed high amenability to the following process routes for gold recovery:
  • Cyanidation on a milled run of mine ("ROM") ore (96.4%)
  • Gravity recovery followed by cyanidation on the gravity concentrate and gravity tails (94.16%)
  • Normal flotation on ROM followed by cyanidation (95.61%)
  • Flash flotation on ROM followed by cyanidation (91.43%)
  • Gravity concentration followed by flotation on the gravity tails and intense leach on the gravity concentrate, and float concentrate with carbon in leach ("CIL") on the final float tails (94.13%).

FD Comment:
Mwana will carry out an economic assessment of each method before deciding what further testwork is required.

Premier Gold Resources (PGR LN, MCap: £1.2M, 0.19p) has announced an expansion to its Cholokkaindy Licence in the Kyrgyz Republic.
In this news:

• The State Agency for Geology and Mineral Resources, the controlling mining authority in the Kyrgyz Republic, has granted an 8km² extension to the south-east of the Company's Cholokkaindy licence
• The expanded area now forms part of the Cholokkaindy licence which was recently extended through to 31 December 2017.

FD Comment
Premier Gold believes the mineralisation at Cholokkaindy extends into the new license area, so the application which increases the total license area to 32km² makes sense.

Petropavlovsk (POG LN, MCap: £274.5M, 145p) announced that following the recommendations of its Operating and Executive Committees, the Company's Board of Directors has approved adjustments to the Company's business plan in response to the recent volatility in the gold price. The aim of these adjustments is to reduce the level of the Company's net debt and improve the Company's cash flows. The Company also announces that Mr. Dmitry Chekashkin has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer and an Executive Director of the Company by the Board on 10 May 2013. The company plans to extend the development period of the pressure oxidation ("POX") Hub and the related flotation plant at Malomir by 12 to 18 months, thereby deferring US$150M in capital expenditure which would have been incurred in 2013. A comprehensive cost-cutting programme has been implemented to reduce annual operating and central administration costs by approximately US$10-15M giving total estimated cash savings of $160M in 2013 which will strengthen the financial position of the group. The 2013 gold production forecast of 760,000-780,000oz was reiterated. Gold production in 2014 is expected to be in line with 2013 levels, unchanged from previous guidance despite the extension of the POX Hub development period, due to recent exploration successes, particularly:

• Malomir, where new non-refractory resources are expected to sustain current levels of production in 2014
• Pioneer, where the Group received positive indications of the existence of further high-grade ore bodies; and
• Albyn, where there are significant historical resources at the newly-acquired Uglichikanskaya deposit (located 15km from the Albyn RIP plant).

Sable Mining Africa (SBLM LN, MCap: £71.9M, 7.8p) has expanded drilling at the Nimba Iron Ore Project in Guinea.
In this news:

• Will be drill-testing an extension to the area of mineralisation covered by the current 121.5Mt at an in-situ grade of 57.8% Fe JORC Resource
• Extension area is approximately 200m wide and up to 3.9km in length
• Extension has an exploration target potential of between 45Mt and 80Mt of canga
• Potential to increase the Nimba Project's current JORC Resource of 121.5Mt
• Current JORC Resource covers only Plateau 2 and a portion of Plateau 3
• 37 borehole programme planned for Q2 2013 to test the quantity and quality of new area of mineralisation.

Sunkar Resources (SKR LN, MCap: £30.8M, 9p) has released its FY'12 results.
In this news:

FY'12 results

• Balance of US$11.8M received under the conditional subscription agreement with Sun Avenue Partners Corp
• Loss of US$9.2M (2011: US$10.1M)
• Group net cash inflow in the year was US$0.3M (2011: net cash outflow - US$1.5M)
• ATF Bank Kazakhstan debt refinancing with new US$3M credit line from AsiaCredit Bank (Kazakhstan); cost of borrowing reduced from 14% to 9.5% per annum
• Commenced work on an approximately US$8.1M earth moving contract with a general contractor building a new railway in Western Kazakhstan
• Listing on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange completed in December 2012

Post Period

• Detailed Feasibility Study completed, demonstrating robust economics and attractive IRRs for the Chilisai Phosphate Project
• New resource update for 100% of the Chilisai licence area estimates a 130% increase in contained P₂O₅ in total resource compared with previous resource estimate for 40% of the Licence Area
• Signed second earth moving contract valued at approximately US$12M (at current exchange rates)
• Finished year with US$462k in cash up from US$213k in FY'11.

Vane Minerals (VML LN, MCap: £1.9M, 0.5p) has released a 1Q'13 update from its gold and silver operations in Mexico.
In this news:

• 1,139oz. Au and 19,380oz. Ag produced in 1Q (4Q'12: 1,154oz. Au and 17,830oz. Ag)
• 8,697 tonnes of ore processed during 1Q (4Q'12: 7,856 tonnes) with average grades
• 5.62g/T Au and 97g/T Ag (4Q'12: 6.36g/T Au and 96g/T Ag)
• Average recovery rate of 78.4% Au and 77.1% Ag (4Q'12: 79.5% Au and 77.7% Ag)
• Total revenue for 1Q of US$1,924,656 (4Q'12: US$2,411,318)
• Direct production cost of $782/oz Au equivalent or $14.5/oz Ag equivalent (Q4
• 2012: $688/oz Au equivalent or $13.2/oz Ag equivalent)
• 38.3 tonnes of concentrate and 38.4kg of precipitates held in inventory at period end (Q4
• 2012: 34.9 tonnes and 38.4kg of precipitates)
• All gold and silver sold unhedged.

Circle Oil (BUY, 95p) (COP LN, MCap: £94.4M, 17.3p) - 2012 Positive, But Egypt Still a Concern: Today's 2012 results announcement serves to highlight the strong operational performance, with projects being delivered and brought online in accordance with plans. Operationally, however, Egypt continues to be the fly in the ointment, and while the Company reports an improvement in payments from Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation ("EGPC"), stating that "Cash receipts from the EGPC were up significantly on 2011." Nevertheless, Receivables remain stubbornly high at ~$40mm (~200 days), and while EGPC payments may be improving, this is just relative to an absolute disaster last year; still, it is moving in the right direction, and we believe that over time, this will unwind itself fully. Given the operating performance, well balanced portfolio (we believe that the value for the shares remains at 95p), and that Cash (~$20mm) and Receivables (~$40mm) are such a significant proportion of the Company's current valuation (~40%) we believe that the Company is increasingly becoming a target for predators. We are taking this opportunity to reiterate our BUY Recommendation and 95p Target Price.
In this news:

• Group revenue of US$73.M- up by 26% on 2011
• Operating Profit of US$28.2M - up by 41% on 2011
• EBITDA of US$39.3M - up by 48% on 2011
• Cash generated from operations of US$39.3M - up by 243% on 2011
• Cash at bank at year end of US$20.4M - up by 42% on 2011.

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Ithaca Energy (IAE LN, MCap: £333.5M, 110p) - Whole looking Greater than the Sum of Parts: Today's 1Q results underline the potential of the synergies that are available to Ithaca following its acquisition of Valiant. The combined entity has now attained a level of critical mass, and while further production and exploration success needs to be achieved, the barriers to achieving it have been significantly reduced. We believe that this will increasingly lift the shares, and provide the potential for significant additional value creation, over and above the levels that each would have been able to achieve as independent entities.
In this news:

• Cashflow from operations increased over 20% to $34.8M (Q1 2012: $28.4M) - cash flow per share $0.13 (Q1 2012: $0.11)
• $14.6M of earnings excluding unrealised losses on financial instruments of $11.1M (Q1 2012: $12.1M)
• Average realised oil price of $114.32 /bbl (Q1 2012: $116.42 /bbl) including a realised hedging gain of $8.00 / bbl
• Strong clean balance sheet with cash net of drawn debt of $10.6M at end Q1 2013
• UK tax allowance pool of $424M at end Q1 2013.
• Approximately 2.6M barrels of future 2013-2014 oil production hedged at a weighted average price of ~$106 /bbl (approximately 25% puts / 75% swaps).

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Premier Oil (BUY, 485p) (PMO LN, MCap: £2074.6M, 391.5p) - Matang's no Monkey: A successful conclusion to Matang-1's test earmarks a successful conclusion to this round of exploration. While appraisal will be required to assess the Matang's commerciality, this is a positive step. While there is significant CO₂ in the accumulation (15%), we do not see this as being a barrier to commerciality at this stage. Until such times as we have a better idea of the asset's potential, we are reiterating our 485p Target Price and BUY Recommendation.

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Amara Mining (AMA LN, MCap: £41.2M, 24.5p) announced that a National Instrument 43-101-compliant technical report entitled 'Yaoure Gold Project, Côte d'Ivoire, Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for Amara Mining plc', dated 09 May 2013, detailing the Mineral Resource update for its Yaoure Gold Project ("Yaoure") in Côte d'Ivoire was filed on SEDAR yesterday. This follows the news release dated 25 March 2013. There are 1.7Moz of sulphide ore in the Inferred Mineral Resource category, 34.6Mt grading 1.52g/t. There is 8Mt grading 1.31g/t in the upgraded Indicated Mineral Resource.

The resource is open at depth and along strike with all 106 holes drilled in 2011/12 encountering mineralisation and initial metallurgical testwork has confirmed the non-refractory nature of the gold mineralisation with 94% recovery in a conventional carbon-in-leach circuit. A Preliminary Economic Assessment is expected to be completed in Q4 2013. The location of Yaoure is highly advantageous due to close proximity to Kossou dam, which offers cheap hydro-electric power and abundant water, excellent roads and accommodation.

African Copper (ACU LN, MCap: £22.1M, 2.8p) announced its production of 2,429Mt of copper in concentrate for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 from its 100% owned mines in Botswana. During the quarter the Company processed 164,588t or ore grading 1.67% copper. With a recovery of 88.2%, it produced 2,429t of copper in concentrate. Copper recovery at the plant has continued to benefit from the increasing proportion of sulphide ore, particularly during March 2013 when a new production record of 1,314t of copper in concentrate was achieved. In the three months reported below, the proportion of sulphide ore processed increased to 80% of the total from 54% in Q3 and 56% in Q2. Trucking operations from Thakadu to the Mowana Mine processing facilities, a distance of 70km, ran to plan throughout the quarter and FY 2013. During December 2012 the mining contractor at Thakadu gave notice of termination of contract, exiting from the mine during January 2013. There was a resultant drop in ore mined during December 2012 and into January 2013. A new mining contractor was engaged during February and ore production ramped up during February approaching more normal levels during March 2013. Post the period end, April has seen some production issues around the performance of the mill, which has been subject to some vibrations following a production halt for three days for mill relining. Accordingly, April production was 556Mt of copper in concentrate. We have identified the source of the vibrations and as a result have ordered new mill gear mechanisms which are expected to be available for installation in September 2013 with resultant necessary mill downtime.

Centamin Egypt (HOLD, 41p) (CEY LN, MCap: £502.2M, 45.6p) announced an Egyptian Legal Proceedings Update. The Company has been informed that the first hearing in its appeal against the decision of the Egyptian Administrative Court on 30 October 2012, which sought to revoke Centamin's exploitation lease for the Sukari Gold Mine, shall be heard on 19 June 2013 before the Supreme Administrative Court of Egypt ("SAC").

Prior to such hearing, the Egyptian State Commissioner's Office has produced a report containing non-binding recommendations for SAC. Whilst these recommendations are not positive, the Company does not believe that they address the substantive merits of Centamin's appeal and as such the Company's grounds of appeal remain unchanged upon the initial review of the State Commissioners report.

The Company continues to prepare for the appeal hearing and shall continue to vigorously defend its rights to the Sukari Gold Mine. The recommendations of the State Commissioner's Office are advisory only and importantly Centamin notes that in its ruling on 20 March 2013, in enforcing its decision to suspend the ruling of the Administrative Court, SAC unanimously held that, "on the basis of the copy of the exploitation lease executed by the Minister of Petroleum presented to SAC, the annulment of such lease by the Administrative Court was likely to be cancelled upon the issuance of a judgment on the merits of the case."

As such pending the final outcome of the court process, Sukari continues to operate normally.

Ferrexpo (FXPO LN, MCap: £1154.3M, 196.1p) has released its Interim Management Statement.
In this news:

• This was the first quarter of production from the Ferrexpo Yeristovo Mining (FYM) open pit
• As announced in April, 1Q'13 pellet production from own ore was up 10%
• Average C1 cash cost for 1Q'13 were US$63.9/t vs US$59.0/t in Q4'12 and US$59.4/t 1Q'12
• Increase due to building up production at FYM with costs of US$69.9/t which fell to US$60/t in March and is expected to cut group costs when at full capacity in 2H'13
• Pellet sales were in line with production at 2,565kt, but below 4Q'12 when inventory was sold
• Average achieved price in 1Q'13 was 19% higher than 4Q'12 broadly reflecting the 23% improvement in market prices, with fixed price settlements generally lagging the market increase.

FD Comment:
This was a good quarter for the Company benefiting for the lagged price rises in 4Q'12. Production from own ore was up 10% YoY and Company states it remains on track to produce 12Mt of pellets in 2014. Key to this will be the performance of FYM, especially the plant. The Company says that initial tests of the ore are promising, but the exact yield won't be known until 2H'13 when the plant will be processing more meaningful volumes.

Great Western Mining (GWMO LN, MCap: £2.3M, 3.5p) announced an exploration update on its 73km² of mineral claims in South Western Nevada. Significant Copper above 0.2% Cu cut-off was intercepted in five of the nine holes drilled in 2013. Significant individual intercepts in these five holes ranged from 40ft (12.2m) of 0.2% Cu (M2-001-Appendix A) to 30ft (9.1m) of 1.13% Cu (M2-004-Appendix A). Drill hole (M2-005-Appendix A) also intercepted 30ft (9.1m) of significant copper but with a lower grade of 0.84% Cu. Anomalous copper above 0.05% Cu cut-off was intercepted in eight of the nine holes of 2013. Individual anomalous intercepts ranged from 10ft (3.0m) of 0.08% Cu to 60ft (18.3m) of 0.6% Cu.

Lemur Resources (BUY, A$0.12) (LMR AU, MCap: A$11.6M, A$0.06) has been placed in Trading Halt Session State on the ASX at the request of the Company pending the release of an announcement.

Orosur Mining (OMI LN, MCap: £12.3M, 16p) has appointed a new Interim Chairman.
In this news:

• Mr. Rafael Vergara has been appointed new Interim chairman following the resignation of Mr. Tony Shearer
• Company reviewing composition of the Board to ensure that it is appropriately structured and may look to make additional appointments in due course.

SolGold (SOLG LN, MCap: £7.8M, 1.5p) has appointed a new CEO.
In this news:

• Alan Martin appointed as CEO after 5 years at Colonial First State, specialising in junior mining and exploration companies
• Alan has a significant personal investment in SolGold
• Alan Martin has a personal interest in 9,200,000 shares in the Company and after a 4 month probationary period will receive options over an additional 16m shares exercisable between £0.14 and £0.50
• Drilling plans imminent at Cascabel.

Sylvania Platinum (SLP LN, MCap: £33.9M, 11.4p) has released an update on the Volspruit Mining Right Application.
In this news:

• Submitted Mining Right Application on 29th September 2011, but was requested to submit additional information to complete the Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA")
• Information was planned to come from the regular flood event on the Nyl River which flows in close proximity to the proposed open pit mine
• As river did not flood this year, the Company will simultaneously withdraw and resubmit a new MRA thus allowing the ground water specialist time to complete the study
• Not expected to delay the project as the supply of power remains on the critical path for the project with a decision on the EIA expected within 120 days of submission of the new application.

FD Comment:
With the project only 40km upstream from the Nylsvley nature reserve, the environmental of the proposed mine is highly sensitive. As a result the Company needs to ensure that the EIA is comprehensive and will now be carrying out additional studies. The Company says that the re-submission won't impact project timelines, but due to the "on-going depressed platinum price and generally weak demand" is reviewing its options for the project anyway which include a delay the start up, sell the project or relist the project as a new entity.

TomCo Energy*** (BUY, 5p) (TOM LN, MCap: £22.1M, 1.2p) - The Waiting Game Starts: Today's interim underlines the fact that the Company has been cleaned up, costs reduced to a bare minimum and it has entered the final stages of permitting and approvals before the "go." The key permit, however, the environmental approvals permit (the "401" permit) has been granted by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which has considerably reduced the cost (as an expensive environmental impact study is not now required) and shortened this part of the process. All that is required now is for Red Leaf to get a move on and start to progress its commercialisation programme, part of which is being fairer to its licence holders. Following today's news, we are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 5p Target Price.
In this news:

• Successfully raised £1.781M through a share placing where proceeds will be used to advance permitting required for commercial production at the Company's Holliday project and for general working capital purposes
• The United States Army Corps of Engineers has issued the Company's Holliday project a nationwide 401 permit.

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Aureus Mining (AUE LN, MCap: £89.1M, 40.3p) announced the release of its unaudited consolidated interim financial results for the quarter-ended March 31, 2013. During the March quarter the Company made a loss of $845k. At the end of the quarter the Company had $68.9M of cash on hand. A feasibility study has been completed on the New Liberty Gold Project and construction has commenced with initial earthworks. The Project is expected to have an eight and a half year mine life and annual production of 120,000oz for the first five years of production. The Company has financed the Project's equity funding requirement and is in advanced discussions with interested parties to fund the balance.

Kalimantan Gold (KLG LN, MCap: £6.6M, 3.9p) announced that it has been granted a further extension of the Forestry Permit for its PT Kalimantan Surya Kencana ("KSK") sixth generation Contract of Work. The Forestry Borrow to Use extension now covers all the priority areas sought when the application was made in autumn 2012 including the Tumbang Huoi, Baroi and Mansur prospects, which are historically three of the most prospective exploration targets within the CoW (see map that follows). Fieldwork and mobilization of equipment will commence immediately on all of the newly permitted prospect areas.

Further, the deep drilling programme has been completed at Focus One and drill pads are now being prepared at the gold-rich Mamuring Prospect. The second deep rig is drilling hole BKD04-01 at South Beruang Kanan. Two shallow holes have been completed at Rinjen and a third hole is commencing. Shallow drilling to 300m is underway at Beruang Kanan on drill hole BK051-01. KLG has purchased a new drill rig which will be mobilized to the KSK CoW in May. The drill pad for the new rig at Beruang Tengah Bukit Dea zone to test further high-grade gold surface anomalies to 600m has been completed. Two 600m drill holes are also planned at the Beruang Low Zone copper gold porphyry target and locations have been selected.

Surface mapping and sampling has recently been completed at the Volcano, Rinjen, Focus One, Mamuring, Ketambung, Low Zone, and Bukit Dea prospects. Surface mapping is underway at Beruang West Zone where high-grade copper samples were recovered in previous surveys. Long line (4km) IP surveys are in progress over the Beruang Kanan, Low Zone and Beruang Tengah prospects. The permitting process for airborne gravity and high resolution magnetics geophysical surveys covering the entire CoW is on-going and progress is being made.

London Mining (LOND LN, MCap: £160.6M, 116p) announced that in the March quarter 706,000wmt of iron ore concentrate were produced, a 29% increase on the previous quarter. Sales totalled 589,000wmt, a 52% increase on the previous quarter. An annualised export rate of 3.9Mwtpa was achieved in April following arrival of first self-propelled barge mid-month, with second self-propelled barge contracted to arrive in June. The production guidance of 3.3 to 3.6Mdmt and sales guidance of 3.6 to 3.8Mdmt has been maintained for 2013. Production from the gravity circuit as well as a 5Mtpa run rate is expected Q4 2013.

Minera IRL (BUY, 53p) (MIRL LN, MCap: £46.1M, 26.5p) announced the discovery of three new gold vein systems in Patagonia, Argentina. These are the Cecilia Prospect which hosts an undrilled, 2km long, vein system with recent surface diamond saw channel sample results up to 19.3g/t gold, the Paula Andrea Prospect is an undrilled vein system with recent surface diamond saw channel sample results up to 54.4g/t gold and the Goleta Prospect, recent surface sampling returned scattered gold values up to 24.9g/t gold over an area of 600m by 400m. All three prospects are in close proximity to the planned infrastructure for the Don Nicolas Project, where financing negotiations with Argentina based funds are currently progressing.

FD Comment:
This is good news. All three veins lie within 6km of the Don Nicolas project and demonstrate the high prospectivity and growth potential of the Deseado Mass.

Tertiary Minerals (TYM LN, MCap: £8.2M, 6p) announced an update on the MB fluorspar project in Nevada, USA. Meetings were held with potential drilling contractors and a shortlist of contractors will now be asked to provide detailed drill quotes. The drilling industry in Nevada is experiencing low utilisation levels at present and the Company expects to secure competitive pricing. It is anticipated that drilling will commence in or around June/July and will be carried out in two consecutive phases.

Phase 1 will comprise a short drill programme twinning diamond and lower-cost percussion drilling techniques to evaluate the most cost-effective drilling technique for the MB Project. Suitable analytical techniques for fluorine will also be evaluated during this first phase and the diamond drill holes should provide sufficient diamond core for use in preliminary metallurgical testing.

Phase 2 will follow-on when analytical results from Phase 1 become available and will employ the most appropriate drilling technique. The objectives of Phase 2 drilling will be to:

• Define, on the south side of the 1known fluorspar deposit, a 2 JORC compliant Mineral Resource of sufficient size to support planning of a mine-starter pit for up to the first ten years of production
• Indicate the extent of higher grade areas in the centre of the known deposit
• Test, on the north side of the known deposit, an alternative site for a mine-starter pit.

Solo Oil (SOLO LN, MCap: £20.4M, 0.49p) - Building Towards Critical Mass: While today's announcement from the Company isn't going to change its fortunes overnight, the fact that the management team are seeking to add to their Tanzanian acreage, but stay within Africa, is a testament to the fact that it is seeking to expand its horizons beyond its existing positions. While no projects have been highlighted, most likely due to the fact that they are yet to be finalised, it positions the Company well for the future, and not just via this transaction.
In this news:

• Cash & Shares deal
• • £200M cash
  • £300M shares.

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Hardy Oil & Gas (BUY, 185p) (HDY LN, MCap: £80.9M, 110.8p) - Déjà vu?: Today's announcement brings a sense of disappointment and déjà vu. It would appear form this statement that all the progress has been largely due to other peoples' progress, D3 (Reliance & BP) and arbitration on CY-OS/2 (lawyers). The stuff yet to come, and is always yet to come, is PY-3 (still an unmitigated disaster) and GS-01 development approvals. While the majority of these issues predate the existing management, there is a sense that the same problems are being repeated, which is a shame, as the Company's assets are a solid core around which you could build a strong business. This management team has a chance to break from the past by delivering PY-3, GS-01 and CY-OS/2 on time and in the case of PY-3, quickly. At this stage, we are giving the management team the benefit of the doubt, and reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 185p Target Price.
In this news:

• D3 - Interpretation of PSDM processing of 3D seismic data of 1,292km² covering the eastern area of the block is in progress and new exploratory locations are being identified
• D3 - Declaration of commerciality (DOC) for the Dhirubhai 39 and 41 natural gas discoveries is under review by the Government of India (GOI)
• PY-3 - Continued work towards the submission to partners and the GOI of a full field development plan
• GS-01 - Field development plan for Dhirubhai 33 natural gas discovery is with the GOI for review, discussions continue to increase our interest
• CY-OS/2 - tribunal ruled in the Company's favour, allowing for a further three years to appraise the Ganesha-1 natural gas discovery and awarded interest and costs to the Company (contingent asset - $24.8M)
• Cash and short term investments at 31 March 2013 amounted to $28.6M which is sufficient for the Company's committed exploration drilling programme; Hardy has no debt.

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Arian Silver Corporation (AGQ LN, MCap: £21.9M, 7p) announced the Company has drawn down £300,000 of its £5M Standby Equity Distribution Agreement ("SEDA") with YA Global Master SPV Ltd ("YA"), as announced by the Company on 27 September 2012. Under the terms of the SEDA, the Company has allotted, conditional on admission, 4,403,160 Common Shares of no par value to YA at a price of £0.068133 per share. This price is calculated under the terms of the SEDA. The proceeds will contribute to working capital and other costs in the short-term, facilitating the acquisition of the El Bote mill, as announced on 15 March 2013.

Beowulf Mining (BEM LN, MCap: £15.3M, 7.3p) announced an operational update, together with details of the relinquishment of certain exploration permits. An application for an exploitation concession on the Kallk North deposit has been submitted. Good progress has been made with the drilling campaign at Kallak South; two rigs are in operation and approximately 2,900m of drilled to date covering 13 holes. The Kallak North work plans now valid as no objections have been received. Test mining operations are to commence as scheduled and will include limited forest clearing, till removal, the cleaning of exposed bedrock (for geological mapping), drilling and blasting of 16 test pits and road transport by truck of approximately 400 tonnes of mineralised material to a pilot plant in Finland. Certain exploration permits, including Ruoutevare nr1, have been relinquished in order to concentrate resources on those projects which offer the best potential for generating long term shareholder value.

Chaarat Gold (CGH LN, MCap: £48.5M, 19.4p) has announced the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer and non-executive director.
In this news:

• Mac DeGuire appointed as a non-executive director of the Company with immediate effect
• Mac most recently worked as President and Chief Operating Officer of Guyana Goldfields, a company engaged in the development and construction of a combined open pit and underground gold mine in Guyana
• David McNee appointed as Chief Operating Officer in March
• David is based in Bishkek and a mining engineer. He has 24 years of operational experience in Africa and Central Asia, including three years as mine manager at Centerra Gold's Kumtor mine, currently the only producing gold mine in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Continental Coal (COOL LN, MCap: £16.3M, 3.3p) has settled the transaction with Village Main Reef.
In this news:

• Continental Coal and Village Main Reef complete strategic financing transaction
• A$8M placement, of 100m ordinary Continental Coal shares at an issue price of A$0.08 per share, has been completed with all funds received and shares issued for trading on the ASX and AIM
• Sale of Small Shareholdings completed, with Village Main Reef acquiring a total of 11,752,818 shares at a price of A$0.0521 per share
• Village Main Reef now holds an interest in Continental Coal of 16.34%.

Ferrex (FRX LN, MCap: £9.6M, 1.4p) has agreed to purchase an additional 17% of Resources Equatoriales.
In this news:

•   Announced on 14 January 2013 that Ferrex was being granted the 309km² Megaba iron project in Gabon in West Africa
• Ferrex has agreed to purchase an additional 17% of Ressources Equatoriales SARL from minority shareholders for 40 million new Ordinary Shares
• Increases interest in Megaba will be 82%
• Under the terms of the Agreement, 40m new shares will be issued at 2.5p per share, equivalent to 4.7% of the enlarged share capital.

Goldstone Resources (GRL LN, MCap: £5.4M, 1.6p) has completed the three hole diamond programme at the Ngoutou Project in Gabon.
In this news:

• Wide zones of hydrothermal alteration and sulphides intersected with assay results for three diamond holes pending
• Additional drilling planned for 2013.

FD Comment:
Although the assay results have not yet been received the Company is encouraged by the core recovered which intersected and included an approximately 50m wide sequence of intercalated BIF and amphibolite contains abundant disseminated pyrite. The drilling is being done over the central part of the 15km long Ngoutou gold in soil anomaly and further drilling to test the centre of the soil anomaly along two additional lines has been scheduled for later this year.

International Mining & Infrastructure Corporation (IMIC LN, MCap: £14.4M, 23p) has confirmed the financing of its acquisition of Afferro Mining (AFF LN, MCap: £77.2M, 77.5p).
In this news:

• Confirmed it has successfully arranged financing for the US$100M cash element of its proposed offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Afferro.

FD Comment:
IMIC notified Afferro in April (announced 17th April) that it would make a potential offer for the entire share capital of Afferro subject to successful raising of finance for the transaction, completion of documentation required to enact a reverse takeover under the AIM Rules and negotiation of an arrangement agreement. The offer would be in the form of 80p in cash plus a convertible loan note of 20p, making a total of 100p for each Afferro share; or 50p in cash plus a convertible loan note of 70p, making a total of 120p for each Afferro share; or Shares in IMIC equivalent to a valuation of 140p for each Afferro share. Now that the cash component has been raised IMIC can make a formal offer. We expect to hear from the board of Afferro of what their own feelings are about the proposal, but alongside the cash offer IMIC has stated it has a consortium of Chinese strategic partners capable of developing the infrastructure required to bring Nkout and other projects into production.

Papua Mining (PML LN, MCap: £26.4M, 75.5p) announced its final results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2012. The Company made a loss for the year of US$1.758M compared with a profit of US$55,589 in 2011. 

Petra Diamonds (PDL LN, MCap: £541.7M, 106.3p) announced its Interim Management Statement ("IMS") for the period from 1 January 2013 to 7 May 2013, covering production and sales from 1 January 2013 to 31 March 2013 ("Q3 FY 2013"). Production for Q3 FY 2013 was up 4% to 647,248 carats (Q3 FY2012: 622,509 carats). Production for 9 months to 31 March 2013up 20% to 1,894,767 carats (9 months to 31 March 2012: 1,576,061 carats); Petra on track to meet FY2013 production target of circa 2.65 million carats. The rough diamond market continued the firmer trend experienced since November/December 2012; revenue for Q3 FY 2013 was up 8% to US$105.7M (Q3 FY2012: US$98.0M). As usual, revenue will be weighted towards the full FY 2013 H2 period due to the seasonal timing of Petra's diamond sales; two more tenders are to take place between the date of this IMS and financial year-end. On 17 April 2013, Petra announced the recovery of a 25.5 carat blue diamond at the Cullinan mine in South Africa; the Company is considering the various routes to market for this exceptionally rare and valuable high quality stone and will update the market in due course.

Sovereign Mines of Africa (SMA LN, MCap: £5.9M, 2.7p) has started its third phase drilling at its Mandiana-Magana gold project in eastern Guinea.
In this news:

• Drilling programme aims to increase drilling density at the Yagbelen and Wyondjian prospects to support a maiden inferred gold resource for the project; and to drill four additional highly prospective gold prospects within 10km of Yagbelen
• Programme planned to consist of around eight thousand metres of reverse circulation drilling
• Initial batch of assay results from the satellite prospects should be available in June with a regular stream of updates over the summer culminating in release of the maiden inferred resource in 3Q'13.

Providence Resources (PVR LN, MCap: £382.9M, 630p) - 2013 to be Better: Today's 2012 results announcement officially closes what has been a solid year of progress for the Company, and one which started its transition from, an explorer to a developer. 2013 will be a year of continued transition, and promises it to continue to progress towards being a producer, and hence providing it with added flexibility to manage its forward programme, and on its terms. While there will inevitably be a funding round to get the assets into development (~€17M in cash at yearend 2012), we believe that the Barryroe development, coupled with the further prospectivity in its exploration and appraisal acreage are fast becoming a compelling valuation story.
In this news:

CELTIC SEA BASIN - BARRYROE OIL FIELD

• Drilling and testing of 48/24-10z well with flow rates of 3,514 BOPD and 2.93 MMSCFGD (c. 4,000 BOEPD), which materially exceeded pre-drill expectations. (March 2012)
• Additional gas interval also successfully tested
• Competent Person's Report (CPR) on Basal Wealden Sands issued by leading international audit firm Netherland  Sewell & Associates Inc (NSAI) (April 2013)
• Audited figures validate the significant volumetric and recoverable resources. Total on block audited figures (April 2013)
• • 2C STOIIP of 1.048 billion barrels
  • 2C Recoverable Resources of 311 MMBO
• Farm out process has now commenced.

SOUTH PORCUPINE BASIN - DUNQUIN OIL/GAS PROSPECT

• Commencement of drilling operations  (April 2013) with results expected later this summer
• Forward Plan - Await drilling results

PORCUPINE BASIN - SPANISH POINT GAS CONDENSATE FIELD

• Pre-drill site survey completed (August 2012)
• Farm in by Cairn Energy in to FEL's 2/04 and 4/08, and LO 11/2 (May 2013)
• • Revised Equity levels - Cairn 38.0%, Providence 32.0% , Chrysaor 26%, and Sosina 4.0%
• Farm in calls for up to 2 wells to be drilled & 3D seismic on LO 11/2
• • Cairn to become Operator.

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San Leon Energy* (BUY, 25p) (SLE LN, MCap: £128.9M, 6.9p) - Ingredients in Place: Today's announcement that Talisman is refocusing on core assets will undoubtedly be interpreted negatively. However, what has been overlooked is the fact that the Company has continued to make progress on its polish assets. We continue to believe that the technical questions relating to the fraccing of the tighter horizons will be resolved, and the recent partnership with Haliburton and today's with United Oilfield Services is the more salient joint agreements. With further support added by the liquids prospectivity in the interspersed conventional reservoirs, the commerciality barrier is becoming for obtainable. While Poland is an important part of the Company's exploration portfolio there are other assets. In fact, of our 25p Target Price, which we reiterate today, we are carrying 7p for Albania, 3p for the appraisal assets, and 4p for the exploration potential. SLE as a multi-nodal exploration company, with a well balanced portfolio of geologic risk types. Following this news, we are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 25p Target Price.
In this news:

• Acquires Talisman interests in Poland's Baltic Basin
• San Leon retains assets in Talisman Energy Polska Sp. z o.o. ("Talisman Polska") valued at an estimated US$10M
• San Leon regains operatorship of Baltic Basin concessions
• Two-staged vertical well fracture in the Lewino-1G2 well planned on the Gdansk W concession in Q2 2013.

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Trinity Exploration & Production (TRIN LN, MCap: £101.4M, 107p) - Outlook & Delivery Key: Today's maiden results announcement for the enlarged Trinity group are largely irrelevant as a lot of what is contained within it has been well flagged, highlighted or discussed. What is more important now is the delivery against the plan outlined in the recent merger and fund raising. Production is currently at ~5m bpd, and on an improving trajectory, but what is key is the fact that to attain sustainability, the Company needs to accelerate its programmes. With a strong management team and available funds, theoretically all is in place that needs to be in place; we will keenly await the news of delivery.
In this news:
Corporate

• Bayfield Energy Holdings plc ("Bayfield") announced that it was to be acquired by Trinity Exploration & Production Limited ("TEPL") on 15 October 2012
• The transaction was completed on 14 February 2013 and Bayfield was renamed Trinity Exploration & Production plc (the "Enlarged Group")
• The Enlarged Group successfully completed a placing of new shares in February 2013 raising £57M (before expenses) to accelerate delivery of a combination of development and high impact exploration drilling
• The Enlarged Group is the largest independent exploration and production company in Trinidad & Tobago with net current production of c. 3,900 bopd and 36 mmbbl in net 2P reserves at the end of 2012 (includes an un-audited upgrade to onshore reserves of over 4 mmbbl)
• The Enlarged Group is targeting a 2013 exit rate production of 5,000 bopd

Financial Highlights

• Revenue of US$36.2M (2011: US$22M)
• Loss before tax of US$23.9M (2011: US$17.2M) after write off for unsuccessful exploration costs of US$21.9M
• Loss after tax of US$13.0M (2011: US$14.3M)
• Capital expenditure for the year was US$69.8M (2011: US$41.3M) comprising Trintes field development costs (US$22.9M) and exploration costs (US$46.9M)
• Cash and cash equivalents at year end were US$9.7M (2011: US$59.4M)

Operating Highlights

• Average gross production from the Trintes field increased by 43% to 1,715 bopd (2011: 1,202 bopd)
• Net 2P reserves at Trintes increased by 25% from 19.3mmbbl at December 31, 2010 to 24.1mmbbl at June 30, 2012 (audited by Gaffney Cline Associates)
• EG-8 exploration well suspended as an oil and gas discovery in March 2012 with estimated gross recoverable resources of 32 mmbbl and 69 Bcf of gas

Post period-end highlights

• Six onshore development wells drilled to date. Four wells have been brought onstream with average initial production rates of 150 bopd per well (versus budget of 50 bopd)
• New operating team installed at Trintes and infill drilling programme commenced
• The exploration campaign on the Galeota Block is expected to commence in Q3 2013 using the Rowan Gorilla III (RG III) drilling rig. A Rig Sharing Agreement has been signed by Trinity, Repsol, EOG and Centrica with Trinity committing to take one rig slot using the RG III after EOG's 2013 drilling campaign is completed
• Discussions underway with holders of the adjacent block on appraisal plans for the EG-8 discovery.  These discussions should result in an Unitisation Agreement across the discovery with the expectation that an appraisal well will be drilled in the near future.

Access the full story here

Serabi Gold* (SPECULATIVE BUY) (SRB LN, MCap: £25.3M, 6.9p) has entered into an agreement to acquire Kenai Resources Ltd (TSXV:KAI).
In this news:

• Deal subject to shareholder approval
• Serabi will issue 0.85 new Serabi share for each Kenai share, anticipated to be 90,020,724 new Serabi Shares in total and 20.8% of enlarged share capital
• Deal values Kenai at £6.19M, a 87% premium to the closing price on 3rd May and a 66% premium to the current shareprice
• Kenai's wholly owned subsidiary Gold Aura do Brasil Mineração Ltda ("GOAB") owns the high-grade Sao Chico gold deposit, some 23km from Serabi's Palito gold mine
• Sao Chico hosts a NI 43-101 compliant combined Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 25.275koz of gold at 29.77g/t an Inferred Mineral Resource of 71.385koz at 26.03g/t
• Serabi has provided Kenai with  US$7.75M secured loan to start an estimated 6,000m diamond drilling programme at Sao Chico and for general working capital
• Serabi will assume the required payments to the original Brazilian vendors of Sao Chico as follows
• US$600k at US$75k per quarter to September 2014 of which US$150k has already been paid
• US$3.5M on securing project finance of US$15M or more of which US$1.5M is payable within 30 days of securing finance and US$2M payable over 36 equal monthly instalments starting 11 months after project finance acquired
• 3% NSR up to US$10M and an additional US$3.75/oz on all gold produced
• Sao Chico will provide additional feed to Serabi's Palito gold mine which is expected to enter production at the end of 2013 producing 24koz pa at 9g/t and will have additional processing capacity.

FD Comment:
This is the first play in Serabi's planned consolidation of the regions. Originally our understanding was that Serabi would bring Palito into production and then look to increase the minelife before using the projects cashflows to enable Serabi to be a regional consolidator. However, the Company has the opportunity to fast track its plans by acquiring Kenai. The transaction values Kenai's current resource at US$149.97/oz including the initial original vendor payment and US$193/oz once the project finance is secured. However, Serabi believe there is significant scope to increase the resource (thereby lower the actual acquisition cost), but more importantly quickly turn it into cash flow by utilising the spare capacity at Palito. Ore from Sao Chico would be trucked 32km by road to Palito and as it doesn't contain any copper so won't require any floatation, reducing costs further.

Afferro Mining (AFF LN, MCap: £75.6M, 73p) has released a maiden National Instrument 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource for the Ntem iron ore project in Cameroon.
In this news:

• A total Indicated Mineral Resource of 39.1Mt at a grade of 34.0% iron
• A total Inferred Mineral Resource of 76.4 Mt at a grade of 34.2% Fe
• Positive pilot-scale metallurgical testwork indicates a saleable and high grade product.

FD Comment:
With Ntem only 80km from the proposed deep-water port at Kribi, Afferro believe this resource will be able to be developed a smaller scale operation capable of providing early cash flow. This should be clearer once the infrastructure scoping study is released. This will be based on using existing road haulage and is expected shortly.

African Mining & Exploration (AME LN, MCap: £2.7M, 3.3p) has released its final results to the end of December, 2012.
In these results

• Finished period with £1.76M at 31 December 2012 and since implemented measures to save £350k during Cy'13
• The Company's cash balance at 2 May 2013 was £1.18M
• Acquired Caracal Gold Mali SARL in July 2012 with positive drilling results published in December
• Expects to provide maiden resource later in 2013
• Significant board changes initiated by major shareholders Praetorian Resources Limited and Fiske plc in February
• Non-Executive Directors, Stephen Oke, Roger Williams and Douglas Chikohora resigned and Mike Johnson (Chariman), Charles Cannon-Brookes (nominee for Praetorian) and Clive Harrison (nominee for Fiske) were appointed to the Board alongside Mark Jones, the existing Chief Executive Officer.

Archipelago Resource (AR LN, MCap: £297.7M, 52p) has announced that Marcus Engelbrecht will resign as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company to pursue other opportunities.
In this news:

• Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer resigns effective 30 May 2013.
• Colin Sutherland, currently CFO will become CEO
• Matthew Salthouse, currently Vice President - Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs, will become President - Corporate Strategy.

Aureus Mining (AUE LN, MCap: £90.2M, 41p) has ordered a new Ball Mill for its New Liberty gold project in Liberia.
In this news:

• The 145t/hr Ball Mill is expected to be delivered in May 2014
• Commissioning and pre-commissioning checks on the mill are scheduled to be carried out in October 2014
• First gold production is expected in December 2014.

Edenville Energy (EDL LN, MCap: £9M, 0.2p) has released its Final Results.
In this news:

• Upgraded resource of 173 million total tonnes in-situ at Mkomolo, Namwele and Muze combined, of which 57.5Mt Measured and Indicated at 17.42MJ/kg (float density = 2.0, yield = 34.4%)
• Company believes quality is suitable with appropriate processing, for coal fired power generation
• Scoping Study has now started at the Namwele coal deposit
• Second option exercised on the Rukwa Coalfield project in south western Tanzania. Interest in two prospecting licences and 66 primary mining licences increased to 90% with the remaining 10% held by the local partner on the project
• Sally Schofield appointed Chairman and Rufus Short appointed Non-Executive Director
• Finished period with 784,072 cash and since raised £106,895 for working capital through Equity Financing Facility with Darwin Strategic Limited.

Firestone Diamonds (FDI LN, MCap: £12.9M, 2.8p) has released the results of diamond tenders held in February and April at the independently operated Antwerp World Diamond Council's ("AWDC") facility.
In this news:

• Tender attended by 80 diamond buyers in February and 109 diamonds buyers in April 2013
• Total sales of 55,950 carats for ~US$5.1M
• 35,718 carats sold at February tender at average of US$84.49/ct and 20,232 carats sold at April tender at an average of US$101.67/ct (+20% on February)
• All parcels sold and no high value stones tendered in April 2013.

FD Comment:
These are good sales figures from Firestone, with all parcels sold and stronger demand and prices. With a record attendance in April with 109 buyers, the rough diamond market looks robust. The Liqhobong DFS was carried out assuming US$100/ct, which as no high value stones were tendered, looks conservative in the current market. 

Patagonia Gold (PGD LN, MCap: £111.2M, 13p) has issued a progress update on the Lomada de Leiva, Cap-Oeste/COSE and La Manchuria Projects in the Santa Cruz province, Argentina.
In this news:

Lomada de Leiva:

• Preparation works for the 200,000 tonne expansion of the existing trial heap leach pad were completed in late March 2013 with loading of mineralised material, irrigation and production of gold in progress
• Construction of the first stage of the main heap leach pad remains on schedule for completion in late Q2 2013. The PVC membrane lining of the drainage dam and buttress sections is now in place with pipework installation underway
• Patagonia Gold's mining fleet has been delivered to site and commissioned. Operator training and demobilisation of hire gear is underway, with all contractor equipment scheduled to be off site by the end of May 2013.

Cap-Oeste/COSE

• Drilling in the structural corridor between the Cap-Oeste and COSE deposits continues to intersect wide zones of gold-silver mineralisation with drill-hole CSE-091 intersecting 66.6m at 2.04 grammes per tonne (g/t) gold and 36.18 g/t silver
• COSE resource update to include the newly identified mineralisation scheduled to commence in Q3 2013 with completion in Q4 2013
• Pre-Feasibility study on the Cap-Oeste deposit is set to commence in May 2013 led by Newfields Inc. of Reno, Nevada USA.

La Manchuria:

• Drilling has recommenced at La Manchuria with 4,000 metres of extension and exploration drilling scheduled for completion in Q2 2013
• The Manchuria deposit is currently being re-evaluated as a potential bulk tonnage heap leach target that will incorporate mineralisation not previously included in the model.

FD Comment:
Targeted mine production of 65kt per month is scheduled to be reached by June with the main heap leach project well advanced and expected to achieve full 'nameplate' production of 21koz pa towards the end of the current quarter. This will provide funds to the Company for exploration to build on the current resource base.

Richland Resources (RLD LN, MCap: £5.8M, 5p) has announced a Letter of Intent between Tanzanite One & STAMICO, which is the mining arm of the Tanzanian Government.
In this news

• Letter of Intent signed between TML and STAMICO the mining arm of the Tanzanian Government  with main points being:
• A new mining licence to be issued on a 50:50 basis between TML and STAMICO in the next few days
• Full legal documentation to be completed between TML and STAMICO over the coming weeks. The documentation will cover the price to be paid by STAMICO to TML for their 50% interest in the licence
• STAMICO will facilitate and liaise with the Tanzanian Government authorities to ensure that necessary regulatory and law enforcement actions are taken to curb tanzanite smuggling and illegal mining operations
• Assets, including all buildings, plant, equipment and infrastructure to remain the sole ownership of TML
• Graphite project to be subject to separate provisions.

FD Comment:
The price remains to be agreed and STANICO can pay for their equity in full or more likely utilise 40% of the annual profits due to them from the mining of tanzanite. In return Tanzanite One will look to the Government (through STAMICO) to stop the illegal mining and smuggling which has been a blight on the project.

Sirius Minerals (SXX LN, MCap: £361.5M, 27.5p) has released an update resource for the York Potash project.
In this news:

• Increase of Total Mineral Resource to 2.66Bt at an average grade of 85.7% polyhalite within an area representing 7% of the York Potash Area of Interest
• Upgrade of 820Mt of polyhalite at an average grade of 87.3% to Indicated Category
• Upgrade to Indicated Resource provides basis for a Reserve estimate expected later in the year.

FD Comment:
The upgrade reflects the recent results from SM11 and its deflections. With the Project Study update indicating the project is economic and the reserves estimate expected later this year, the project is progressing well. The key risk at this stage is now the permitting process and how this will impact the development timetable.

Premier Oil (BUY, 485p) (PMO LN, MCap: £2035.5M, 394p) - Luno II Test Advances Field: Today's disclosure that the Company has conducted a successful test on the Luno II well is another step forwards in the asset's appraisal and a step closer to a declaration of commerciality. We believe that this news will continue to buoy the share price, and supports our BUY Recommendation and 485p Target Price.

Access the full story here

Providence Resources (PVR LN, MCap: £382.9M, 595p) - Porcupine on the Map: Today's announcement from Providence resources that Cairn Energy has farmed into its licences in Quad 35 (2/04, 4/08 & Option 11/2), subject to a $20M cap on the first well. This is not only an indictment of the technical work that has been completed to date, but also announces the establishment of the Porcupine basin as an exploration hot spot, if any more were needed of course. This is good news not only for Providence, and its immediate partners in the licence blocks, but the wider participants in the Porcupine basin such as Fastnet (FAST LN) and Petrel Resources (PET LN).
In this news:

• Appraisal well at Spanish Point
• Further well to be drilled on another target
• 3D seismic acquisition.

Access the full story here

TXO*** (BUY, 0.4p) (TXO LN, MCap: £2.4M, 0.2p) - Empire's SmartWin Case Inches to Resolution: Today's news that Empire Energy is moving for a dismissal of SmartWin's case is another step forward in Empire's attempt to clean up its shareholding. The only interest for TXO is that it will receive 50% of any awards to Empire in respect of its counter claim, but we do not consolidate any value to such situations, regardless of their respective merits. However, what is does continue to do is focus attention on the value in its GBG business, which is on the cusp of generating revenues; net positive cash flow should follow soon thereafter due to the minimal manning and investment required in the preliminary stages. We are taking this opportunity to reiterate our 0.4p Target Price and BUY Recommendation.

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Other News

• BP (BP LN, MCap: £89745.3M, 470.7p) - Buyback Continues: BP's management team are awash with cash at the moment, so much so they appear to not know what to do with it. We believe that despite the support for the share price coming from the share buyback scheme, the shares will come under increasing pressure, as the US' Moncando litigation process rumbles on. We see considerable value in the stock, above current levels, but concede that the share price will worsen before it get better, mostly in line with the vacillations in court.

Access the story here

• BG Group (BG LN, MCap: £39121.3M, 1149.5p) - Queensland Gas Agreements Executed: What must seem like a relief to BG's management team at the moment, with the announcement of definitive agreements being signed for Queensland Curtis LNG. Following what was a difficult period, we believe that the share price will start to recover towards where we believe that it should be.

Access the story here

• Sound Oil (SOU LN, MCap: £23.4M, 8.1p) - Step by Step…: Today's news that the rig scheduled to drill its Nervesa appraisal well has begun the final stages of its current programme in the Netherlands allows the Company to put some more substance to its drilling guidance; the Company expects drilling to start at the end of the month.

Access the story here

• Max Petroleum (BUY, 10p) (MXP LN, MCap: £66.4M, 3.7p) - Each Well is a Step: Today's news that the ZMA-E6 development well in the Zhana Makat Field on Block E has been spudded is a welcome boon, as each well in the programme is a step towards not only stabilising the Company, but allowing it to plan for a longer-term future. We are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 10p Target Price.

Access the story here

Jubilee Platinum (JLP LN, MCap: £27.2M, 7.5p) has released an update on its planned merger with Platinum Australia detailing amendments to some of the terms of the Implementation Deed.
In this news:

• The amendments include
• An extension of the End Date to 30 June 2013
• An alteration to Jubilee's depositary interests to accommodate.

FD Comment:
According to the Deed administrator the merger of Jubilee with PLA remains on track, despite some delays in the expected timing of the implementation of the Scheme.

Uranium Resources (URA LN, MCap: £13.8M, 1.9p) has released a maiden resource for its Mtonya Uranium Discovery in Tanzania.
In this news:

• CIM Inferred Resource estimate of 3.6 million tonnes at 255 ppm U₃O₈ containing 2.0 Mlb U₃O₈
• The current resource consists mostly of Tier 1 mineralisation over 4.5 km of the 36km-long Mtonya Redox Corridor, which includes the untested Nyoka and Lukimwa uranium targets
• Only a short segment of Tier 2 has been drill-tested while the deeper inferred Tier 3 has not been drilled
• Mineralisation remains open in all directions, including the deeper Tier 2 and Tier 3
• Remarkable continuity and mineral assemblages suggest similarities with uranium deposits of Chu-Sarysu, Kazakhstan and Wyoming, USA.

FD Comment:
Although generally investors look for "pounds in the ground", grade and for situ recovery (ISR) permeability of the host are key. However, these results are still very underwhelming, the size and grade are too low in our opinion for what the Company is planning to achieve. The resource estimate is based on a low 50ppm cut off and a long term uranium price of US$75/lb, whereas the current Cameco long term uranium price is US$57/lb and the spot price is only US$40.5/lb. Based on a 150ppm and 200ppm cutoff the total resource is 1.907Mlbs at 293ppm and 1.542Mlbs at 383ppm respectively.

Sirius Petroleum (SRSP LN, MCap: £32.7M, 4p) - Step Forward: The Company has resolved the funding issues that has dogged the share price in recent months, and now the attention switches to development and execution. While the Company hitherto could drift along, the introduction of leverage means that the pace of the development will be kept by external factors, which means that the stakes have just been raised. It is time for the team's operational credentials to be tested.
In this news:

• Sirius acquired 40% of Ororo field and is entitled to a preferential cash flow of 88% while it is net invested in the project
• Situated in shallow water offshore in depths ranging between 23ft and 27ft
• Discovered in 1986 with the drilling of the Ororo-1 well by Chevron 
• Tested at approximately 2,200bopd from a single zone, and 600bopd from another oil-producing sand.

Access the full story here

Afferro Mining (AFF LN, MCap: £73.3M, 69.8p) has released an update on metallurgy results for its iron ore project at Ntem in south west Cameroon.
In this news:

• High grade concentrate ranging between 68.5% and 65.2% iron obtained from a grind size of 75μm to 150μm (P80), respectively
• Excellent mass recovery and iron recovery of 46.7% and 81.6% at 150μm, respectively Results obtained from pilot-scale tests (Low Intensity Magnetic Separation, "LIMS") of composite 15kg samples
• Testing designed to accurately reflect large-scale processing
• Marketable product with low deleterious elements
• Davis Tube Recovery ("DTR") tests on 125 samples show that an average 81.7% of iron is present as magnetite phase
• High level of consistency between LIMS and DTR testwork provides further confidence in LIMS results.

FD Comment:
Whilst discussions with IMIC are on-going, the Company continues with its' develop work. These latest results are positive, but as with all bull commodities infrastructure is key and we await the Infrastructure scoping study which is looking at the 80km road haulage to the planned port which will significantly reduce the projects capex requirements and increase the projects chances of actually going into production.

Avocet Mining (AVM LN, MCap: £33.4M, 16.8p) has released its unaudited 1Q'13 results.
In this news:

• 1Q'13 production at Inata in line with life of mine plan at 30,481oz down -1.4% from the 30,909oz in 4Q'12
• Total cash costs were US$1,169/oz down -6.18% from the US$1,246/oz in 4Q'12
• Full year guidance remains 135,000oz at a total cash cost of $1,100/oz
• EBITDA of US$6.7M (Q4 2012: US$5.3M) reflecting sale of 28,751oz during quarter
• Positive cash generated from operating activities was down to US$4.8M from US$16.4M in 4Q'12)
• The resulting Cash outflow from operating activities was US$15.4M, which excludes a US$20.2m buyback of forward contracts
• The Gold hedge restructured with 29,020oz bought back with 144,230oz at US$937.5/oz remaining and rescheduled to be cleared 18 months earlier at 31 December 2016
• Loan agreement with affiliate of largest shareholder, Elliott Management, to finance feasibility study at Tri-K and corporate costs for remainder of 2013
• Revised Inata Ore Reserves announced in quarter - reduction to 0.9m ounces, based on US$1,200/oz pit shells.

FD Comment:
Not for the first time, we view Avocet as a Company undoing transition. The reduction in cash costs during the quarter is a good positive sign. However it is still above the US$937.5/oz forward sales price. With cash constrained closing this out was a dilemma, however the loan agreement with Elliot Management will allow the Company to complete the feasibility study at Tri-K as well fund general corporate activities for the remainder of the year. The facility is for an initial US$5M which was drawn down at the end of March 2013; and a second secured facility of US$15M of which US$5M will be used to repay the initial unsecured facility. Although the second facility requires shareholder approval, this should be received as without it the Company will cease to be a going concern.

Botswana Diamonds (BOD LN, MCap: £4.7M, 3.4p) announced that further to its announcement of 5 February 2013, the Memorandum of Understanding with the private South African Company which granted Botswana Diamonds a three month exclusivity period to review the available data on a licence area has been extended until 14 June 2013. The counterparty holds an 85 per cent interest in the thirteen licence block located to the southwest of the Orapa region of Botswana. The board of Botswana Diamonds is pleased with the results of the Company's in-house evaluation. To confirm the findings Botswana Diamonds' joint venture partner in the Orapa area is, at the Company's request, applying its technology to the initial analyses. The joint venture partner expects to have results by the end of May 2013.

Randgold Resources (BUY, 7008p) RRS LN, MCap: £4707.9M, 5110p) announced that in the March quarter it produced 199.0koz of gold and sold 188.65koz. Total revenues amounted to $309M, generating a profit attributable to equity shareholders of $69.6M. Gold production was down due to lower grades and recoveries from the Loulo-Gounkoto complex. The group cash operating cost was $757/oz with total cash costs per ounce of $841/oz. These figures are a significant improvement on the $701 and $790/oz figures reported for the previous quarter.

Strategic Natural Resources (SNRP LN, MCap: £29.9M, 17.5p) has announced a further draw down on LCL facility and issued an operational update.
In this news:

LCL Facility

• £3.5M drawndown to date
• Company issued drawdown notice for a further £1.0M and intends to issue an additional drawdown notice for £1.5M within the next two weeks
• As a condition of the drawdown Company has entered into a deed of amendment with LCL so that all sums previously drawndown will be secured against 8% of the issued share capital of Elitheni
• The additional drawndown, once approved will be secured against the Company's wash plant and coal stocks
• Total amount of principal which can be drawn down reduced to £6,382,675 from £10,000,000 of which £6M will have been drawn down
• Entire amount drawn down under the LCL Facility and all accrued interest are repayable by no later than 30 July 2013, at which point the LCL Facility will cease to be available to the Company

Additional Funding

• SNRC to seek a partner who will invest in the Company's operations at Elitheni either in new equity in SNR (up to 29.9% of the enlarged share capital) or directly in the subsidiary share capital of Elitheni through new shares or the sale of part off the Company's existing shareholding
• Board looking to complete transaction by end June 2013

Operational Update

• The full operational review at the Elitheni mine is nearing completion and has resulted in a number of changes, optimisations to the mining process, the wash plant, the site set up and key personnel, which will enable Elitheni to commence deliveries of coal
• Change expected to impact full production level for a few more months and further update on the expected dates for the commencement of coal deliveries will be given with the interim results, expected before the 31st May.

FD Comment:
Although the project has been beset by various commissioning issues, not least with the wash plant for which we still do not have an indication of probable recoveries, we do like the project which unlike most new coal projects has secured significant infrastructure capacity, However, the changes to the LCL facility means that SNRC will have to find at least £6M in additional funding before the end of July and makes securing an additional partner rather more pressing. This is equivalent to 24% of the resulting enlarged share capital. In truth it will require rather more to implement all the changes planned in the operational review.

Stratmin Global Resources (STGR LN, MCap: £16.9M, 28p) announced that is has appointed Scheich & Partner as its market maker for providing a quote on the Börse Frankfurt ("Frankfurt Stock Exchange" or "FSE") under the symbol "LYC1". Gobind Sahney, Group Chairman, commented: "A quotation on the Börse Frankfurt will widen the universe of potential investors in StratMin and hopefully increase liquidity for existing shareholders."

Tri-Star Resources (TSTR LN, MCap: £16.9M, 0.34p) has released an update on its Roaster JV and a proposed placing and acquisition.
In this news:

• Raised gross proceeds of £500,000 at a price of 0.30 pence per share
• Entered into non-binding letter of intent for the acquisition of Portage Minerals Inc. for 1,086M shares (valued at £3.5M) to gain additional Canadian antimony and gold deposits into the Company
• UAE Roaster JV partner, Union International Group, has indicated its intention to exercise its right to take its interest in the UAE Roaster JV to 49.99%
• Environmental Impact Assessment filed in relation to the UAE Roaster Project
• Subject to funding, proposal to commence small scale production on Turkish mine dumps by end of 1Q'14
• Non-binding indications of funding received from third parties.

FD Comment:
In addition to securing 3^rd party concentrate, Tri-Star is busy securing additional antimony resources. The Portage acquisition is another step in this direction which the Company plans to use to supply its planned roaster in the UAE which plans to produce 20ktpa, equivalent to 12% of global supply. We see the submission of the EIA as an important step for the Company as without it, the roaster cannot be built and the Company's strategy and access to cheaper energy falls flat.

ZincOx Resources (ZOX LN, MCap: £18.6M, 18p) announced its results for the year ended 31 December 2012. On revenues of $10.8M the Company reported a net loss of $9.4M. After several years of research and the successful development of the first phase of the Korean Recycling Plant ("KRP1"), 2012 saw the Company transformed into a zinc "producer". KRP1 has almost ramped up to full targeted capacity and we are looking forward to it generating a significant positive cashflow before the end of the current year.

KRP1 has had to overcome numerous challenges which have resulted in its ramp up taking much longer than planned. The delay has been extremely frustrating for management, employees and shareholders alike. The challenges have now been almost entirely overcome and the plant is currently running close to target throughput; but the poor mechanical reliability and reduced recovery have limited the production of zinc concentrate. We are now optimising zinc recovery, increasing iron product quality and reducing operating costs so that we may achieve constant profitable targeted production.

While some operating parameters will not be confirmed until we are in full steady production, the majority are well known and in line with its pre-development expectations. As in all start-ups of plants of this size and complexity, throughput is increased in steps which gradually test the various pieces of equipment. At each step the Company encountered many more mechanical issues than it had expected, frequently involving standard equipment. In several cases this was due either to the very abrasive and sticky properties of the feed or the corrosive nature of material in the process.

With the exception of the heat exchangers, where there are still some corrosion issues, the plant, including the hot briquetting of our iron product, is now working well and in almost all cases, problems were overcome without purchasing new equipment. The Company's initial capacity for the first year of the plant's operation was targeted at 175,000t of Electric Arc Furnace Dust ("EAFD") per annum ("tpa"), with the intention of reaching full nameplate capacity, 200,000tpa, twelve months thereafter, following on-going fine tuning and debottlenecking of the process. It hopes to achieve this target at the end of 2013.

A comprehensive process review has recently been undertaken that has led to a number of actions which are expected to improve recovery and throughput over the next few months. As part of this study, recent test work has demonstrated that the Company are able to use a significantly larger briquette than is currently the case. This will improve the distribution on the rotary hearth, greatly facilitating its operation. KRP1 can produce the larger briquette without major modifications to the existing equipment while still giving the same high zinc recovery.

New briquetting segments with larger moulds are currently being evaluated. The delay in making the hot briquetting circuit work as designed has meant that the production of the iron product (ZHBI), of the planned quality has been significantly delayed and commercial test marketing has only recently commenced. By contrast, the quality of the zinc product, which is likely to account for over 90% of the revenue, has continued to exceed expectations and it has all been sold to Korea Zinc. Indeed the high quality has led the Company to investigate if the Halide Zinc Oxide ("HZO") could be simply upgraded to a commercial grade zinc oxide chemical. Having examined a number of options, it have recently demonstrated a process at the laboratory scale that has produced samples that have been shown to be equivalent to material being used in the ceramics and rubber industries, the two largest markets for zinc oxide.

The value of zinc units in a commercial oxide are about twice as valuable as those in a concentrate, so that there would be potential to add considerable value using this process and a preliminary evaluation of the economics looks very encouraging.

Falklands Oil & Gas (BUY, 55p) (FOGL LN, MCap: £86.4M, 27p) - Solid Foundations. Now for the Finish: Today's full year results underline the difference a discovery can make. FOGL is rightly optimistic about its immediate future, as it is not only well funded for its immediate drilling programme, which gives it the ability to be able to dictate its future to some extent at least, but that before any subsequent funding round, it will is able to choose what type of funding it will seek, and more importantly, when with a new seismic programme being shot, and well control data to integrate with it, the Company's pencil should be sharper than it was previously, hence we believe that any fund raising will be conducted from a higher level. Furthermore, we believe that Argentinian Government is an irrelevance outside its borders and the Falklands Island Government and the South Falklands Basin's ("SFB's") Operators will reach an understanding regarding limited onshore, or near-offshore, development that will unlock the potential of the SFB. Consequently, we are upgrading our Recommendation to BUY from Hold, but maintaining our Target Price (55p).
In this news:

• Strong financial position
• • At 31 December 2012, cash balances were $174mm with a further $45mm due from the farm-outs
  • The overall profit for the year was $1.1mm (2011: loss of $6.6mm)
• Resources in place to deliver value growth
• • Fully funded for planned work
  • Extensive 3D seismic surveys in progress to optimise target selection for next drilling campaign
• Industry endorsement secured
• • Endorsement of asset value and potential through farm-out transactions with established international players, Noble Energy Falklands Limited and Edison International S.p.A
  • Position maintained as the largest acreage holder (40,000sq km gross) in the Falkland Islands with a substantial interest retained post farm-outs
• Increasing operational capability
• • As operator, successfully drilled two deep-water exploration wells safely, on schedule and within budget
  • Demonstrated year round drilling is possible, with minimal weather downtime
  • Benefitting from Noble's operating experience and track record
• Working petroleum system proven
• • Loligo Complex estimated to hold significant in place gas volumes, between 50 and 100tcf
  • Results from Loligo, Scotia and Toroa have significantly advanced subsurface understanding
  • Substantial areas remain prospective for oil rather than gas
• Outlook
• • Focus on further de-risking of assets through an extensive 3D seismic programme covering over 10,000sq km
• Initial 5,235sq km 3D survey over the Cretaceous aged Diomedea Fan Complex completed in April 2013
• A 1,000sq km survey over the Cretaceous fault block area underway
• Further  large  3D survey in the Northern Licence Area planned for 4Q 2013
• • Defining targets for exploration drilling during H2 2013.

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President Energy (PPC LN, MCap: £50.4M, 20p) - Argentina Still the Only Fly in the Ointment: Today's full year results not only underline the progress that the Company has made over the last 12 months, but that its management team is focusing on measured growth with a balance between cash sources and cash uses. While it might seem obsequious, the fact that it recognises the need to fund its work programme with organic cash flow is welcome. However, the one issue that we have is that a substantial proportion of the Company's growth in the near to medium term will be focused on Argentina, a country which continues to be run into the ground by its government. On this basis, the fruits of its diversification strategy can't come soon enough, which in turn is the Company's major risk factor. That said, management is doing all it can to mitigate this prospect, and while 2013 will be a transition year, as the acquisitions made in 2012 are bedded in, we believe that the Company is well poised to make progress.
In this news:

• Corporate Highlights
• • Significant expansion of the Company with entry into Paraguay by way of a farm-in, as operator, to world class exploration assets, which provide material upside leverage in the near to medium term, with operations already underway
  • Total hydrocarbon production up 44% year-on-year
  • Net risked Prospective Resources increased by 109.3mmboe, as a result of the Paraguay acquisition and independent technical review during 2012, with risked NPV10 success case value net to President in excess of US$2 billion (management estimates)
  • Increased exploration upside complemented by existing 2P reserves of 6.9mmboe
  • Fraccing campaign underway in Argentina, and two new 100% owned and operated concessions added to the portfolio through an open tender
  • Louisiana continues to provide solid profits and cash flow
  • Non-core Australian assets subject to current farm-out discussions
  • Net revenue for the year increased by 60% to US$11.3mm (2011: US$7.0mm) while gross profit increased by 64% to US$3.2mm (2011: US$2.0mm)
  • Cash balances of US$17.5mm at the year end with nil gearing and US$15mmof unused loan facilities
  • Board strengthened by appointments of Dr. Richard Hubbard (Chief Operating Officer), Miles Biggins (Commercial Director), and Dr. David Jenkins (Non-Executive Deputy Chairman)
• Outlook
• • Exciting prospects in Paraguay with a rapidly moving programme and potential for exponential growth in shareholder value during 2013 and 2014 with a success case target of over US$2 billion net to President
  • Following interpretation of the 3D seismic, Paraguay drilling campaign to commence in Q2 2014
  • Potential  to materially increase production in Argentina from current fraccing campaign
  • Louisiana is a continued source of solid profits and cash flow.

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Leni Gas & Oil (LGO LN, MCap: £20.5M, 1.1p) - Debt an Endorsement - But Raises the Stakes: Today's news that the Company has secured a $50mm line of credit should be welcomed by investors as it does two things: (i) provides and endorsement as to the Company's assets and strategy; and (ii) should alleviate concern that the Company will need immediate funding via equity. However, what debt does do is introduce an obligation that will need to be met irrespective of whether the Company meets its technical and corporate objectives, or not. As such, when a company has a small production base that needs to grow to meet the obligations that it is entering into, it creates an on-going funding risk. That said, at this stage it should be welcomed by investors, and should lead to a rerating of the Company, as investors start to look at its asset base, rather than viewing it as an underfunded company. 

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Antofagasta (HOLD, £10.15) (ANTO LN, MCap: £8848.1M, 897.5p) has released is 1Q'13 Production Report.
In this news:

• Group copper production was 183,800 tonnes in Q1 2013, in line with our expectations. This represents a 12.8% increase on production in Q1 2012 mainly due to higher plant throughput at Esperanza. The 5.2% decrease in copper production compared with Q4 2012 is mainly due to the expected lower production at Los Pelambres as a result of major scheduled plant maintenance
• Molybdenum production at Los Pelambres was 2,600 tonnes in Q1 2013 as expected, compared to 2,700 tonnes in Q4 2012
• Gold production was 86,200 ounces in Q1 2013, marginally below the 86,400 ounces produced in Q4 2012
• Group cash costs (net of by-product credits) in Q1 were 115.5 cents per pound, a 1.8% increase compared with Q4 2012 mainly due to increased cash costs at Los Pelambres, partially offset by lower cash costs at Esperanza
• Group cash costs (before by-product credits) in Q1 were 171.7 cents, in line with Q4 2012 cash costs of 171.6 cents per pound
• The Group remains on track for production forecasts for 2013 full year as previously guided.

Baobab Resources (BAO LN, MCap: £57.1M, 18.3p) has appointed Dr Mohan Kaul as a Non-Executive Director to the Company with immediate effect.

Continental Coal (CCC AU, MCap: A$24.2M, A$0.04) has released its quarterly activities report.
In this news:

• Production and operational improvements across all aspects of the Company's thermal coal mining operations in South Africa:
• • Record total ROM coal production of 631,557t, a 35% increase on previous quarter
  • Penumbra ROM coal production of 52,876t, a 99% increase on previous quarter
  • Plant feed of 222,532t through the Delta Plant, a 26% increase on previous quarter
  • Export yield of 71.3% on tonnes processed from the Ferreira Coal Mine
  • Export yields increase by 46% on tonnes processed from the Penumbra Coal Mine
  • Export thermal coal sales increase by 16% on previous quarter
  • Increased thermal coal sales of 463,671t, a 4% increase on the previous quarter
• Penumbra Coal Mine cashflow positive in first full quarter of operation
• All the Company's three thermal coal mining operations in South Africa generating positive cashflow from operations
• Financial settlement of the sale of Company's shareholding in the non-core Vanadium and Magnetite Exploration and Development Co (SA) (Pty) completed
• Acquisition of the outstanding minority interests in Mashala Resources completed by the Company's principal subsidiary in South Africa
• Strategic financing agreements entered into with diversified South African mining company, Village Main Reef Limited
• Placement of 100m shares to South African based Village Main Reef at an issue price of A$0.08 per share approved by shareholders
• Total cash and cash equivalents as at the end of the Quarter was approx.A$6.2M
• The Company has available approx. A$8M under the ABSA Capital Debt Facilities to fund outstanding capital expenditure and working capital costs associated with the development and commissioning of the Penumbra Coal Mine.

Forte Energy (FTE LN, MCap: £8.4M, 0.84p) released its quarterly activities report.
In this news:

• On the 15th February the Company entered into a £10M Equity Financing Facility with Darwin Strategic Limited, a majority owned subsidiary of Henderson Global Investors' Volantis Capital
• On 6 March 2013 the Company completed the placement of 29,250,000 Shares each at an issue price of £0.0201 (Placement Shares) to raise £587,177 (before costs)
• A 5,000m drilling contract signed with Wallis Drilling Africa Pty Ltd
• Drilling in the highly prospective areas close to the A238 prospect and at Hassi Baida is scheduled to start in Mid-May, following the shipment of the drill rig to Mauritania
• Forte Energy U₃O₈ JORC resources (all at a 100ppm cut-off) are 44.9Mlbs at 266 ppm U₃O₈
• Cash at the end of the quarter was A$469k.

Goldplat (GDP LN, MCap: £16.8M, 10.1p) has released an update on its African Gold Recovery Operations.
In this news:

South Africa

• New tailings re-treatment carbon-in-leach ('CIL') plant on time and within budget in March 2013. Selected tailings currently on site enough for 5 years production
• Second rotary kiln is on budget with commissioning planned for end of July 2013
• Board has appointed Hansie van Vreeden, a qualified Metallurgist, as General Manager of GPL.

Gold Recovery Ghana Limited - Ghana ('GRG')

• Profitable and Tax free until 2016 but margins under pressure and will institute tighter controls in the procurement department
• Refractory failure in one of the fluidised bed incinerators, which has reduced the throughput of that section
• Agreed more favourable terms on its toll treatment agreement with Endeavour Mining Corporation's Nzema Mine in Ghana
• Company is planning to add an additional spirals circuit to the Fine Carbon Section which will improve the quality of the feed to the incinerator; a thickener has been delivered to site and will be erected in May 2013 to improve the gold recovery at the CIL plant; and a rotary kiln has been purchased for installation at GRG in 2H'14.

Burkina Faso: Midas Gold SARL ('Midas')

• Development of 3rd gold recovery operation has been delayed for a number of reasons
• Midas has re-commissioned the Environmental Study for the site in Dano which is expected to be completed at the end of August 2013 with all operating licences to be in place by the end of the year
• Expected to be in operation by end 2013.

Noricum Gold Limited (NMG LN, MCap: £3.2M, 0.5p) has released details of its 2013 exploration programmes for its Rotgulden and Schonberg Gold & Precious Metals Projects.
In this news:

• Rotgulden Project - strategy to advance previously producing mine and high grade gold and multi-element targets along 8km of strike:
• • Work will commence with an upgrade of the access road to Friedrichstollen Adit
  • Underground diamond drilling programme planned at existing Rotgülden Mine
  • Review of historic drill core from the Rotgülden underground mine on-going with results to be released once validated
  • Further geophysics, sampling and mapping to be undertaken at the newly identified Wandstollen target
  • Surface diamond drilling programme at the Altenberg target in final planning stage
• Schonberg Project - advancement of attractive exploration target identified through 2012 exploration
• Systematic soil sampling and geochemistry programme to commence in late May
• Work to commence following the Spring thaw - late snowfall and wintery conditions have resulted in delays to the commencement of this year's programme
• The Company is sufficiently funded to undertake the current planned work programmes at Rotgülden and Schonberg from its existing cash resources.

Norseman Gold (NGL LN) has cancelled its Aim listing.

Nyota Minerals Limited (NYO LN, MCap: £12.3M, 1.1p) has appointed Cutfield Freeman to evaluate the options available to the company to develop Tula Kapi.

Rambler Metals and Mining (RMM LN, MCap: £35.9M, 25.3p) has made a further repayment to Sprott Resource Lending Partnership.
In this news:

• On 30 April 2013 a payment of CAD$500,000 was made to Sprott Resource Lending Partnership
• The payment reduces the outstanding balance on the Company's recently renewed credit facility to CAD$ 6.5M
• Further reductions to this outstanding facility are planned over the coming months, with the intention of having the facility repaid by the end of calendar year 2013.

Scotgold Resources (SGZ LN, MCap: £32M, 1.5p) has released its quarterly report.
In this news:

• Cononish Final Development Study completed by AMC
• The Company's cash position as of 31 March 2013 was AUS$ 0.6M and this was augmented shortly thereafter through the final drawdown of £0.3M of the RMB pre-development financing totaling £1.5M. All discretionary spending on the project has been cut and Company is looking to defer any immediate capital raise until market sentiment improves.
• In the meantime RMB remain supportive and the Company is looking at a number of strategic alternatives, although no details are given.

SolGold (SOLG LN, MCap: £8M, 1.6p) has released an update on the Cascabel Project in northern Ecudaor.
In this news:

• 3D magnetic modelling supports the presence of a copper and gold rich magnetic core zone at the apex of a deep regional intrusion feeding copper gold rich solutions to Cascabel.
• Magnetic core zone covers an area of 1000m x 500m under the clay-silica-pyrite cap south east of the outcropping rich copper gold Alpala zone at Cascabel.
• Geochemical trenching and mapping confirms mineral zonation typical of a predictable rich porphyry copper gold system.
• The extent of surface copper and gold mineralisation, and accompanying clay, pyrite and silica cap rocks cover most of an area of 2km2.
• A 1 to 2 billion tonne copper gold porphyry target is supported by 3D magnetic data, surface alteration mapping and the extent of copper-gold-molybdenum anomalism in soil sampling data.
• Community liaison programs well received and progressing well.
• Drill permitting well advanced.
• Drill contractor selection during May.
• Company's recently raised A$2.6M to fund the project.

Resaca (RSOX LN, MCap: £0.9M, 4.8p) - Everything Must Go!: Its always very sad to see a fire sale, but that is exactly what we have reported today by the Company. We imagine that the nature of the sale will leave little for the equity holders once the debt has been satisfied. Given that this was an exploitation story, it is difficult to understand how the exploitation of the reserves differed from plan as we are reminded that this has been enacted since 2006; one assumes this plan was developed and refined to support the development of the assets. Will we find out? Given that nearly all the key personnel work for a third party, it suggests that any navel gazing and reporting to the owners of the Company where its management team have not performed according to its own plan will be doubtful, but we will see. Ultimately, what this will leave is a shell company; hence prospect for a recovery, but this will be due to the endeavours of an alternate management team. The next chapter could be exciting, but the money lost by this management team is now set to be crystallised.

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Rialto Energy (RIA LN, MCap: £21.4M, 3p) - Clean-up Continues: Today's news, while never actually adding value to the Company, does alleviate one of the clouds that has been hanging over it, so is less negative. There needs to be a cleansing strategy update, but we feel that the new management is starting to make headway. Let's just hope after what now appears to be a close shave (still a few obstacles to overcome), that it maintains its focus on cash flow, which is the lifeblood of any Company.

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Max Petroleum (BUY, 10p) (MXP LN, MCap: £66.4M, 3.8p) - Rehabilitation Continues: Today's operational update marks the start of what we believe has been a change in the Company's fortunes, where containment and control was once the order to the day, following today's news, we sense that the Company is once again looking at expanding its operating base. While there is a long way to go before the Company operates in an environment where it can look forward confidently, we believe that this is a significant step forwards. Management continues to work hard at trading the Company out of its issues, and as such, we are taking this opportunity to reiterate our BUY Recommendation and 10p Target Price.

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Ophir Energy (OPHR LN, MCap: £2392.9M, 416.2p) - The Big just get Bigger: Today's announcement that its Mzia-2 DST was at the upper limit has precipitated a 22% uplift in Contingent Resources to 4.5tcf, only serves to underline the success that the Company has had at the drill bit. While further appraisal will be required, the regional recoverable gas volumes appear to be leading towards the establishment of sufficient volumes to support an LNG development, which would be good for both Tanzania and Ophir alike.

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Amara Mining (AMA LN, MCap: £50.4M, 30p) has received Environmental and Construction Permits for the haul road at its Kalsaka/Sega gold project in Burkina Faso.
In this news:

• Connects existing Kalsaka heap leach plant with the Sega deposit, 20km to the north
• Construction to take 3 months with first material transported in 2Q'13
• Full Environmental Permit for Sega expected in 2Q'13, with full Mining Licence 6 weeks later
• Mining to commence at Sega in 3Q'13.

FD Comment:
The development of Sega is key for Amara allowing it to increase production and lower costs providing increased revenue to fund exploration.

Beacon Hill Resources (BHR LN, MCap: £40.2M, 3.3p) has released its quarterly report to the end of March.
In this news:

• Successful development of an economically attractive end-to-end logistics solution to transport coking coal produced at the Minas Moatize mine to export markets via the port of Beira:
• Rail: Receipt of 0.5Mtpa capacity allocation on the Sena Line
• Rolling Stock: Lease agreement with Thelo Rolling Stock Leasing Proprietary Limited ('Thelo') for the provision of rolling stock on the Sena Line
• Commissioning for Phase 2A of the Minas Moatize Coking Coal Plant progressing well with first coking coal production due in Q2 2013
• Mining Contract signed between the Company and the Government of Mozambique to enhance the stability of the fiscal and regulatory environment for a period of 25 years
• 31% increase in JORC Resource at Minas Moatize - upgraded to 86.8Mt (Measured and Indicated of 76.3Mt) from 66.4Mt Measured and Indicated
• Raised US$21M from new and existing shareholders to strengthen the Company's balance sheet, upgrade rail infrastructure including rail sidings, commence Phase 2B and 2C wash plant upgrades and for rail rolling stock related and general working capital purposes.

FD Comment:
Receiving rail allocation was key to being able to leverage Minas Moatize early mover advantage, which is what makes the last quarter particularly good for the Company. The focus now is on implementation and production of first coking coal. The expansion remains on track of which the expanded washplant is key and the Company is looking to arrange additional secured debt for capital expenditure, on-going working capital funding and to refinance the senior secured US$10M debt facility with Vitol Coal S.A.

Fox Marble*** (BUY, 48p) (FOX LN, MCap: £19.7M, 18.3p) has issued 132,404 shares to Non-Executive Directors of the Company as part of their remuneration package.
In this news:

• Non-Executive Directors of the Company agreed to utilise their first year's fees (net of tax) to subscribe for Ordinary Shares in the Company at the Company's request
• Priced at 18.02p ps equivalent to the 30 day volume weighted average price as at 20 April 2013.
• Andrew Allner received 44,986 shares, Sir Colin Terry 22,895 shares, Roy Harrison 22,895 and Amati Global Partners LLP on behalf of Dr Paul Jourdan received 41,628 shares.

Ferrum Crescent (FCR LN, MCap: £3.5M, 1.1p) has released its quarterly results to the end of March.
In this news:

• Signed Process Enginnering Agreement for Moonlight Iron Ore Project with Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche S.p.A. to act as process engineer in the Bankable Feasibility Study including Beneficiation Plant, Peletising Plant and Laboratory testing
• Analysis by Ferrum Crescent of final pellet plant location and related infrastructure near completion
• Cash as at 31 March 2013 is approximately A$1.2M.

FD Comment:
The Company already has an offtake agreement with Duferco SA back in 2011 and its final mining licenses granted. The issue now is how to fund the BFS. Planned expenditure for the next quarter is only A$600k split A$200k exploration and A$400k on administration, but with A$1.2M in the bank, the Company will have to raise further funds very soon.

Horizonte Minerals (HZM LN, MCap: £27M, 7.5p) has released new high grade nickel results from the infill drilling programme at Araguaia.
In this news:

• New high grade nickel intersections at the Vila Oito East Target include:
• • 14.33m grading 1.79% Ni
  • 9.88m grading 1.78% Ni
  • 11.86m grading 1.75% Ni
• New high grade nickel intersections from the Vila Oito Target include:
• • 4.33m grading 1.85% Ni
  • 6.24m grading 1.77% Ni
  • 299 holes (8,688m) of the Phase 3 infill drill programme completed to date (commenced on 18 September 2012) targeting the Jacutinga, Vila Oito West, Vila Oito, Vila Oito East and Pequizeiro West targets at Araguaia.

FD Comment:
More positive results from Horizonte and with the drill programme coming to an end we expect the Company will now be able to upgrade the current resource to the indicated category sufficient for a 20 year mine life. Significantly the Company has been focussing on higher grade areas with the latest results significantly higher than the 1.22%Ni grade of the current inferred portion of the resource. The Company expects to award the contract for the PFS imminently and the Social Environmental Impact Assessment ('SEIA') is on track and expected to be filed with SEMA, the Brazilian Environmental Agency, in Q3.

Metminco (MNC LN, MCap: £29.2M, 1.7p) has released its March quarter results.
In this news:

Los Calatos Project - Peru

• Independent Mining Scoping Study indicates low-cost, long life, copper mine.
• Long-life asset with 31-year Life of Mine ("LoM")
• Project would comprise an open pit followed by underground block cave mining operation
• Total material treated over LoM of 656Mt at 0.45% Cu and 0.026% Mo (0.56% CuEq)
• Initial open pit operation with a 7-year life and a low strip ratio of 2.2:1
• Average annual copper in concentrate production of 83.3kt (184m lbs)
• Lowest quartile LoM cash operating costs net of credits of U$1.09/lb
• Pre-production capital expenditure of U$1.5B including initial underground development
• Optimisation work on the mine plan continues with the objective of increasing the mineral resources amenable to open pit mining and reducing the pre-production capital expenditure relating to the underground development

Mollacas Project - Chile

• Final phase of metallurgical testwork currently in progress
• Geotechnical work on planned open pit and heap leach pads complete

Vallecillo Poject - Chile

• Internal Scoping Study initiated

Corporate

• Cash position as at 31 March 2013 was approximately US$15.0M
• The Company is in a position to consider a range of strategic options in relation to the development of Los Calatos and the Chilean assets, whilst at the same time continuing to reduce costs.

FD Comment:
The Company has US$1.5B capex itself. However, unlike most of its peers the Company does have cash (US$15M) and so doesn't have to make any hasty decisions.

Scotgold Resources (SGZ LN, MCap: £3.4M, 1.6p) has released the Final Cononish Development Study by AMC.
In this news:

• Annualized processing plant recovery of 20,200oz Au equivalent to concentrate and doré over initial 7 years at average operating cash cost1 of $698 per oz Au equivalent
• Using base case gold price of US$1,300 /oz pre-tax IRR of 26% and NPV10 of £11.8M and payback over 33 months from start of production
• At spot price of US$1,428/oz (24/4/13) pre-tax IRR of 37%, NPV10 of £21.1M and payback 26 months from start of production
• Preproduction project expenditure is estimated at £22M, including an overall 15% contingency allowance on capital expenditure (excluding working capital and fixed bond amounts).

FD Comment:
The project looks robust even on recent lows, but the difficulty the Company will have is in raising the required £22M given its current share price. As a result the Company is looking to defer any immediate capital raise until market sentiment improves. In the meantime RMB remain supportive and the Company is looking at a number of strategic alternatives, although no details are given.

Vane Minerals (VML LN, MCap: £1.9M, 0.4p) has issued a trading update.
In this news:

• 1Q'13 results will be announced mid-may but revenues from its gold and silver operations at its joint venture in Mexico will be 20% lower than expected and lower than 4Q'12
• Company looking to reduce costs and looking at a potential sale of its uranium assets and expects to be able to announce positive developments soon
• Looking for third party finance for its U.S. porphyry copper exploration programme, but nothing expected to be announced in short term
• The DOI has filed a Motion to Dismiss the Company's lawsuit seeking redress on financial losses as a result of the withdrawal of the lands where VANE held its mining claims on which it had invested US$8.5M
• David Newton, CEO is to leave the Company to pursue new opportunities. David will remain with the Company until 31 July 2013.

FD Comment:
After a record 4Q'12 it's back with a bump. Lower grades, weaker gold and silver prices and a stronger peso all hit last quarter. Although grades have since improved and commodity prices strengthened somewhat it looks like being a tough period for the Company and the resignation of the CEO will do little to help investor confidence.

African Barrick Gold (HOLD, 315p) (ABG LN, MCap: £779.2M, 190p) announced the appointments of Peter Tomsett and Graham Clow as Independent Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect. Mr Tomsett, who will act as Senior Independent Director of ABG, has a wide range of technical, operational and senior management experience in the mining industry. He spent 20 years with Placer Dome Inc. in a number of senior roles, culminating in serving as President and Chief Executive Officer until its acquisition in 2006. He has been a Director of the Minerals Council of Australia, the World Gold Council and the International Council for Mining & Metals.

Graham Clow is currently Chairman and Principal Mining Engineer of RPA Inc. He is a senior mining executive with 40 years' experience in all aspects of acquisitions, exploration, feasibility, finance, development, construction, operations, and closure. Prior to joining RPA, he spent more than 20 years in senior executive and operating positions with publicly listed mining companies and is currently Non-Executive Director of Dominion Diamond Corporation. Mr Clow is a former Chairman of the Metal Mining Division of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum ("CIM"), and was a Member of the Committee on Ore Reserve Definitions that established the requirements for Canadian Regulatory Standard NI43-101 for mining companies. He is also a Fellow of CIM and has been awarded the Metal Mining Award for contributions to the industry.

Bullabulling Gold (BGL LN, MCap: £8.5M, 2.6p) released its quarterly activity report.
In this news:

• Prefeasibility Study (PFS) completed confirming potential for development of a substantial gold mine
• 10+ years mine life at 7.5Mt per annum
• 1.95Moz of gold production
• Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) commenced and progressing well
• Updated resource expected in June
• Cash at 31 March 2013 of A$2.3M
• Post period Entitlements offer closed raising additional gross proceeds of $2.0M.

FD Comment:
This has been a busy period for the Company. The PFS was largely positive, but the post period closure of the entitlements offer gives the Company breathing space and the ability to complete the re-optimisation phase of the DFS.

Central Rand Gold (CRND LN, MCap: £6.9M, 0.4p) announced an update on significant events that occurred during the first four months of 2013, expanding on detail provided in the Annual Report for 2012. Total mine production for the quarter was 54,613 tonnes, of which 40% was from opencast mining. Underground mining continued to focus on developing and opening up new mining stopes through off-reef development. The mining operations have been successfully developed through the Western dyke, which appeared to bear fruit in March with production stabilising at 15,645 dry has provided Central Rand Gold with a significant new mining front within our CMR West mining area. The Mine Call Factor has showed steady improvement through the first quarter of 2013 with batch test work of underground sulphide ore averaging 67% for the year to date with a high in March of 71%. The medium-term target remains to achieve a MCF of above 75%. The challenges of erratic milling availability surrounding the Bateman Mill continued throughout January and February, requiring several gearbox replacements and major modifications to the mill drive train. These modifications tonnes, arising from a solid 85% plant availability. In April however, a further two weeks were lost on the Bateman Mill due again to further gearbox failures. The Bateman Mill was brought back online on 13 April 2013 with larger improved gearboxes and a strengthened drive train and has operated well since. Since the January planned shutdown, the CIL Mill availability has been consistently above the target of 80%.

The current low grades were largely expected as mining progressed through a known low grade area of the mine. The issues surrounding the Bateman Mill are a source of concern and thus the Company has embarked on remedial steps to assure continuous steady state production.

The Company is currently in talks with an external toll processing company with a view to exploring the possibility of toll treating the majority of the Company's mine production at commercial rates more closely aligned to the existing internal cost of production. The option to outsource gold production provides operating cost protection; access to additional metallurgical production capacity as well as ensuring a more stable production profile. Due to the aforementioned factors, on 8 April 2013 the Company commenced discussions with its employees and other affected parties, with regards to potential redundancies, in terms of Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. The process will be completed by 8 June 2013, where after the new agreed upon organisational structure will be implemented.

Coal of Africa (CZA LN, MCap: £123.2M, 11.8p) has released its quarterly activities and cashflows.
In this news:

• Improved safety statistics with one lost time injury recorded during the quarter (FY'13 Q2: three), although there was 1 fatality post period
• Run of mine coal production decreased 21% QoQ to 911,563t (Q2 1,153,486t) due to depletion of the Vuna colliery resource, flooding at Vele and the derailment on the Matola rail corridor and the resultant force majeure that caused a slow-down or suspension of mining activities at the Company's three collieries
• Export coal sales from the Matola Terminal decreased by 34% to 271,069t (FY'13 Q2: 411,292 tonnes) due to the force majeure and the reduced rail capacity during the reporting period
• Approval for the $100M direct investment Haohua Energy International (Hong Kong) Company Limited ("HEI") and co-operation agreement signed formalising CoAL's strategic relationship with HEI a wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing Haohua Energy Resource Co. Limited ("BHE")
• Completion of payment for the acquisition of the Chapudi Project shareholder claims from Rio Tinto Minerals Development Limited
• Repayment of $12.5M of the Deutsche Bank facility (balance remaining of $25.0M)
• Available cash at period end of US$67.4M.

FD Comment:
Given the derailment, flooding and force majeure we were not expecting this to be a good quarter, which finished with the CEO announcing he would not be renewing his contract. Overall production was down 21% and sales down 34%. Production costs and logistics were US$43.721M for the quarter against sales of US$26.392M and the Company reported a US$69.7M net operating loss for the year to date. The Company also repaid of US$12.5M of the Deutsche Bank facility during the period with US$25M remaining, which we believe will need to be repaid before Woestalleen can be sold to reduce the Company's losses. The influx of cash from HEI was only US$72.7M after fees and commissions, leaving the Company with US$67.4M in cash. This won't last long, with cash outflows for the current quarter expected to be US$53.8M and revenues of just short of US$440M mean the Company will need a further cash injection or JV to develop Vele and Makhado fully. In the meantime the Company needs to cut its losses. On a brighter note the Wood Mackenzie has confirmed that the Makhado Project has the potential to produce a hard coking coal product. Our concerns are over yields and whether the Company will be able to market its middling product given logistic constraints.

Condor Gold (CNR LN, MCap: £39.2M, 107p) has started a 2000m Drilling Programme at Central Breccia, La India Project, Nicaragua.
In this news:

• La India Project hosts a CIM compliant Mineral Resource of 2,375,000oz gold at 4.6g/t
• A 2000m drilling programme has commenced on the Central Breccia area
• Aims to prove a maiden gold mineralised resource on the Central Breccia and drill beneath the soil anomalies identified near to the Central Breccia to test for further buried gold mineralised breccia systems
• Two drill holes for 234m completed.

Fresnillo (FRES LN, MCap: £6268.9M, 1153p) will issue new shares to ensure it is compliant with changes to the Ground Rules of the FTSE UK Index Series.
In this news:

• Will issue 19,633,430 new ordinary shares at a price of £11.30 per share, a 1.99% discount to the closing price at Friday 26th of April
• Issued to funds and accounts managed by First Eagle Investment Management LLC who are existing shareholders in the Company
• Placing will ensure that Fresnillo is compliant with changes to the Ground Rules of the FTSE UK Index Series that require constituents to maintain a minimum free float of 25% or more.

Herencia Resources (HER LN, MCap: £14M, 0.8p) has signed a Community Relations Agreement with the Cultane Community in relation to its silver-zinc-lead project in northern Chile.
In this news:

• The Cultane community is located approximately 25km by road north-east of Paguanta and is one of the closest communities to the Project
• In recent years, a number of the Cultane community members have been employed by the Company in various roles at the project site
• This agreement will expand on this relationship and will form the basis of an ongoing community relations program
• The Agreement will see the Company undertake a number of community based initiatives including repairs to the Community Centre damaged by snowfall in 2011, supporting the management of wetlands near the Cultane community, improving the access road into Cultane and the acquisition of a community passenger vehicle
• The Agreement will see the Cultane community support ongoing development of the Paguanta Project, future exploration activities and active participation in the development of the Environmental Impact Study
• The Agreement will also see the Company work closely with the Cultane community to develop long term cooperation in the areas of employment, education and the environment.

Kalimantan Gold (KLG LN, MCap: £6.9M, 4.1p) announced its audited 2012 financial results. The Company made a profit of $62,715 for the year, an improvement in the loss of $1.4M reported in 2011. Having completed the initial period of the KSK Agreement by sole funding exploration of $7M by early October 2012, SK LLC notified KLG that SK LLC has elected to continue to sole fund all remaining exploration and feasibility study expenditure under the KSK Agreement, subject to SK LLC's right to withdraw from the Joint Venture in accordance with the terms of the KSK Agreement. A substantial drilling and exploration project at the KSK CoW of up to $16,200,000 for 2013 is underway. Exploration activities at the KSK CoW have recently been focusing on delineation drilling and deep drilling at Beruang Kanan, deep drilling at Beruang Tengah, as well as reconnaissance mapping & sampling and prospect evaluations throughout the permitted area to further prioritize the drill targets. There are more than 300 workers involved in drilling and exploration activities over the permitted areas of the KSK CoW. All exploration activities are helicopter supported, using a B3 Squirrel operated by PT Hevilift Aviation Indonesia and the back up support of a Hughes MD500 helicopter operated by PT Intan Angkasa.

Resource delineation drilling at the Beruang Kanan copper prospect is well underway, with two rigs active since mid-2012. A third larger capacity rig is currently testing deeper levels of the Beruang Tengah porphyry Cu-Au-Mo system. A team of geologists are systematically mapping, sampling and evaluating eight of 16 known prospects throughout the CoW. This work has identified several new prospects and upgraded some existing prospects to drill ready targets. By mid-February 2013 a total of 15,108m of drilling had been completed to date. The current drill production rate is approximately 2,500m per month.

Orosur Mining (OMI LN, MCap: £24.2M, 29.5p) has released an operational update.
In this news:

• Following the recent steep decline in the gold price, the Company has commenced a review of its operations
• In the meantime the Board has decided that it will not commence the pre-strip and development at San Gregorio Deeps
• Santa Teresa, Argentinita Sur and Crucera will get to the end of their currently defined reserves during this quarter
• In addition to Arenal Deeps, which will form the mainstay of Orosur's near-term production, the Company has reserves at Sobresaliente and Vaca Muerta which it plans to mine later in the year
• The Company is also evaluating new alternative open pit ore sources to maximise margin and hence grade and ounces at lower unit cash cost
• • Production guidance has been cut to 63koz for FY'13 and FY'13/14 will be impacted by the deferral of San Gregorio Deeps which was expected to contribute approximately 12,000oz and a lower gold price assumption will lead to lower production and lower revenues
  • As at 26th April 2013, the Company had a cash balance of US$3.6M, debt of US$9.4M, and access to US$6.5M of undrawn and committed debt facilities.

FD Comment;
The lower gold price means the Company can't carry out the 9 months pre-strip at San Gregorio Deeps given its current revenue and cash position. This will be reviewed, but the Company needs to conserve cash and maximise revenues to do this work which it does need to do given the run down in reserves.

Paragon Diamonds*** (BUY, 30p) (PRG LN, MCap: £17.1M, 8.8p) announced an update on progress at its Lesotho Lemphane Kimberlite Project bulk sampling programme. Following the successful installation of its water supply pipeline, the Company has now increased the plant process rate to over 230 tonnes per day and has completed the processing of two additional kimberlite samples of 3,371t (2,849 dry tonnes) and 1,201t(1,029 dry tonnes). The 3,371t sample P5 has yielded the largest diamond recovered to date at Lemphane, an 8.86 carat yellow dodecahedron. Photos can be found on the Company's website. The same sample also produced four other diamonds above one carat (of 3.00, 2.27, 1.19 and 1.08 carats) for a total of 35.35 carats at a grade of 1.24 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). This grade excludes diamonds which may still be recovered by re-processing tailings and thus the grade may increase marginally. To date the Company has processed 14,401t (12,398 dry tonnes) of a planned total 35,000t (~30,000 dry tonnes) and has recovered 201.79 carats (183.3 from the main pipe), for an average recovered sample grade of 1.62cpht. The results to date also reflect a coarse diamond size distribution with an average diamond size of 0.23 carats per diamond (at an approximate 1.5mm cut-off) and 0.41 carats per diamond (at an approximate 2mm cut-off estimated from diamond weights) and some 36% of diamonds above one carat in size (40% above one carat at 2mm cut-off). In total, 31 diamonds over one carat and 10 diamonds over two carats in size have been recovered to date.

Patagonia Gold (PGD LN, MCap: £85.5M, 10p) announced the financial results for the year ended December 31, 2012. The company made a loss for the year of $25.9M. This was after realising a $4.9M investment gain on the purchase and sale of Argentine bonds during the year. In October and November 2012, Patagonia Gold raised approximately $12.1 in equity capital before expenses. These funds were used to develop the main heap leach at the Lomada Project subsequent to receiving the full and final permit in November, repay the overdraft account and to provide general working capital for the Company. In December 2012, the Company received $0.8M in proceeds from the first gold pour at the new gold processing facility to an external refinery in Canada. As at December 31, 2012, the Company had $4.7M in cash and cash equivalents.

Since year end, the Company raised $9.4M in equity capital before expenses. The net proceeds of the subscription will be used to fund exploration and drilling expenditures on the Cap-Oeste and Cap-Oeste South East Projects and to provide general working capital for the Company. In March 2013, the Company received $3.8M in proceeds from the second gold pour.

Wolf Minerals (WLFE LN, MCap: £36M, 20p) announced the following update on the Hemerdon tungsten and tin project in Devon, UK, for the three month period to 31st March 2013. During the quarter, the Company continued to make strong progress on the development of the Hemerdon Project. The Company is in the final stages of closing the detailed finance documents for the senior loan facilities announced and also, as part of this process, is completing the details of the binding off take contract, which is expected to be complete in the current quarter.

During the quarter a conditional £75M EPC Contract for the Hemerdon project was awarded and the land acquisition process commenced and remains on-going. Hemerdon Mining Service Contractors were shortlisted and senior management were appointed. Archaeological work at the Hemerdon site continued.

Archipelago Resources PLC (AR LN, MCap: £274.7M, 47.8p) announced an increase in the mineral resource estimate for its 95% owned Toka Tindung Mine in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Total resource has increased to over 3M Au oz. On a gold equivalent basis, the overall resource has increased to 3.1M Au Eq oz. Excluding silver as gold equivalent ounces and net of depletion from mining, the contained gold resource has increased by more than 400,000ounces or 16% (in addition to the 52% increase reported in the previous update to the Company's resource statement in January 2012). The resource from the high grade Batupangah or southern deposits increased significantly by 34% to 1.34M Au oz. Studies are continuing in relation to mine optimisation and plant expansion, which will impact on the upgrade to the ore reserve. The Company expects to release an updated ore reserve estimate in conjunction with study outcomes towards the end of Q2 2013. Further exploration drilling is continuing at site. Archipelago expects to commence drilling on the prospective Marawuwung area to the west of the main Toka pit in the near future.

North River Resources PLC (NRRP LN, MCap: £2.9M, 0.4p) announced that it has conditionally raised gross proceeds of approximately £1.0M through a placing of 285,714,300 new Ordinary Shares of £0.002 each through its brokers, Ocean Securities and SP Angel, at a price of 0.35 pence per Ordinary Share. The Placing allows North River to accelerate the program of re-opening the Namib Lead-Zinc mine in Namibia. The proceeds will be used to fund the structural geology review currently underway by CSA Global, underground and surface drilling, and for general working capital purposes.

Sunkar Resources PLC (SKR LN, MCap: £34.1M, 10p) announced mineral resource update, prepared by Wardell Armstrong International Limited, covering 100% of the Company's 836km² Chilisai licence area. The Company had previously published a resource estimate in January 2010 and announced an ore reserve estimate in March 2011 covering 40% of the Licence Area. There is a total Measured and Indicated resources of 484Mt at a grade of 10.53% P2O5 (at a 6% cut-off grade), giving a total of 51Mt contained P₂O₅. And a total resource including Inferred material is 1,128Mt at a grade of 10.28% P₂O₅, giving a total of 116Mt contained P₂O₅. The tonnage of Measured and Indicated resources increased by 65% (at a 6% cut-off grade) from the previous resource estimate over 40% of the Licence Area at 5% cut-off grade. The resource estimate is based on an historical database containing more than 4,000 drill holes and trenches, complemented by the Company's new geological data of 160 drill holes, which were undertaken in 2012 for the purposes of verifying the historical database and for filling in the historical drill hole grid.

Weatherly International PLC (WTI LN, MCap: £16.8M, 3.1p) announced the granting of the required environmental clearance for its Tschudi project.

Berkeley Mineral Resources PLC (BMR LN, MCap: £22.8M, 2.3p) announced that Ascot Ltd, its appointed processing consultants, has received the final batch of representative samples of the Washplant stockpiles sent to it from BMR's Kabwe mine-site in Zambia. Ascot is currently testing the samples and verifying its multi-gravity processing programme's ability to maximise recoveries.

A Pre-Feasibility Study for the processing of the Washplant tailings into a combined zinc and lead concentrate is to be issued by Ascot when the verification process is complete and finalised concentrate levels are established. Preliminary studies by Ascot show the project can produce commercially saleable concentrates in the current calendar year with robust economics.

In preparation for the commencement of processing operations, Enviro Processing Ltd, BMR's Zambian-registered subsidiary, has been issued with a Processing Licence from the Zambian Ministry of Mines in Lusaka. Enviro has submitted its tailings Environmental Project Brief to the Zambian Environmental Management Agency and is expecting its approval within the next three weeks. Further to the announcement of 12 March 2013, in addition to completing the Washplant Pre-Feasibility Study, Ascot is continuing to develop the processing programme for the Leachplant tailings at Kabwe. Ascot's geological team will also be visiting Kabwe in early May to produce an Underground Scoping Study in co-operation with BMR's management. This will bring forward proposals to mine and process the partly-mined and un-mined underground ores still contained in the former Kabwe mine. Additionally, the Scoping Study will include an assessment for an exploration plan for the unexplored section of BMR's Licence area.

Condor Gold PLC (CNR LN, MCap: £39.2M, 103.5p) announced that it has commenced a geotechnical drilling programme of ten drill holes for 1,700m on La India open pit resource. The current 1,700m of geotechnical drilling is designed to test the competency and strength of the host rock and determine the optimal pit angles for the La India open pit resource. The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) identifies an open pit containing 800koz gold at a 40-42 degree pit angle resulting in a cash cost of US$682 per oz. Sensitivity analysis on the pit slope angles has shown that by steepening the pit angles to 50 degrees, the cash costs to produce an 800koz gold pit reduces by 18% to US$558 per oz due to lower strip ratios. However, there is circa 500koz gold resource beneath the pit, an optimised open pit would seek to drive the pit down as deep as possible while retaining strong economics. Sensitivity analysis shows that using a US$1,200 gold price and 50 degree pit angle may result in 1.23Moz gold within the open pit extracted at a cash cost of US$702 per oz. A geotechnical report is expected in August 2013, which will help determine the pit angles of La India Open Pit. With further mining studies, there is potential for the 800koz gold pit used in the PEA to increase by 25% to 50% should steeper pit angles be achieved allowing for a deeper open pit.

International Ferro Metals Limited (IFL LN, MCap: £53.3M, 9.6p) announced production of 34,172t for the quarter, as expected, given one furnace is participating in Eskom electricity buy-back agreement that extends from 15 February to 31 May 2013. There was a six week shutdown of Furnace 1 for maintenance work and it underwent an efficient ramp up to full load during March. FeCr sales in the quarter were 41,630t, mostly to Europe. Ore sales totalled 98,000t as inventory was managed to optimise working capital. Co-gen plant produced 5.3GWh of electricity for the quarter, 4.1% of total requirement and in excess of 10% at the end of the quarter. 18% of targeted production cost savings achieved for the quarter; on track to reach target by financial year end.

Ncondezi Coal Company (NCCL LN, MCap: £20.9M, 17.3p) has signed a Power Framework Agreement with Mozambique Government.
In this news:

• Company has concluded a Power Framework Agreement with Government of Mozambique
• Provides contractual framework for cooperation between Ncondezi and Mozambican Government for delivery of key Government and Developer Milestones required for development phase of the Ncondezi Power Project, prior to financial close.

FD Comment:
After being hampered by infrastructure issues and poor coal quality, this is a step in the right direction for the Company as they shift focus from being a planned coal exporter to a domestic power supplier The agreement is a legal pre-requisite before the Company can initiate formal power offtake discussions and details the key milestones that must be met prior to Project Financial Close for Ncondezi to become eligible for the award of a formal Power Concession. There are still a number of conditions precedent that must be settled within 364 days for the PFA to become effective including the conclusion of "heads of terms with credible off-takers for all or part the Project's power generation" and transmission arrangements. Ncondezi anticipates meeting all these conditions precedent within the agreed timeframe. NCCL is aiming to start generating power in 2017 and PFA covers the first two phases of generation up to 600MW. Through the PFA the Government has formally undertaken to support Ncondezi in this.

Orogen Gold (ORE LN, MCap: £6.9M, 0.32p) has released an operational update on its Deli Jovan gold project in Serbia and Mutsk property in Armenia.
In this news:

• The 2nd phase drilling announced on 27th February will be delayed until later in 2Q once work focused on the high grade trench discovery at Gindusa West is completed
• This work will include additional high-density soil sampling and step out trenching with the results expected later in this Q
• At the Gindusa Mine zone further drilling is proposed to establish a resource and Snowden Consultants will review results to date and provide guidance on the 2013 drill programme
• Snow has cleared at the Mutsk JV in Armenia and the Company will now commence an initial due diligence evaluation programme
• Programme to consist of re-logging and sampling of existing drill core, as well as detailed mapping and sampling in the under-explored permit area. A limited programme of follow-up diamond drilling is planned commencing in Q2, subject to satisfactory confirmation of the previously reported gold values.

FD Comment:
We should expect good news flow from the Company over the coming months both from Gindusa West and Gindusa Mine Zone at Deli Jovan where it has the option to increase its current 55% interest to 75% by financing C$2M of exploration expenditure and from Mutsk where orogeny has the option to earn an 80% by spending a total of US$2.5M by the end of August 2016. The Company says its sufficiently funded to undertake the planned work programmes, having raised US$1.2M in October however we suspect final budgets won't be allocated until the initial results from Gindusa West are received. 

Mwana Africa (MWA LN, MCap: £41.6M, 3.7p) has released an operations and exploration update to the end of March, 2013.
In this news:

Freda Rebecca

• Gold production from Freda Rebecca for the 12 month period to March 2013 was 65,350ozs, a 36.8% increase to the comparable period last year
• C1 cash costs of US$883/oz for the 12 month period to March 2013, down from US$1,021/oz for the comparable period last year
• 12,510oz of gold sold by Freda Rebecca for the quarter despite decreased volumes being processed due to the leach tank failure in February 2013
• Disruption due to the tank failure was minimised and regular production throughput recommenced on 1st April using an interim tank configuration
• Pilot plant construction underway to evaluate the economic potential of Freda Rebecca tailings, with commissioning expected to be completed in the September quarter, 2013

Zani Kodo

• Resource upgrade - total combined JORC compliant gold resource of 2.6Moz, a 30% increase to the previous resource statement from February 2012
• Exploration drill campaign continues at Kodo Main, Lelumodi and Zani North with four diamond rigs drilling 21 holes for a total of 4,972m
• Key mineralised intercepts received in the quarter include: 13.3m at 3.06g/t (KDODD095), 37.0m at 2.44g/t (ZNSDD058), 5.5m at 5.7g/t (ZNSDD054)

Bindura Nickel Corporation

• Trojan refurbishment programme completed with first shipment of nickel concentrate to Glencore dispatched on schedule in April 2013
• Resource upgrade - total combined JORC compliant nickel resource for the Trojan mine of 114,952t Ni, a 152% increase on previous resource statement.

FD Comment:
Mwana has made great strides forward this year, marred by the leach tank failure in March. Fortunately the environmental impact was minimal and the impact on production was less than expected. The 64.35koz production was ahead of the 63koz revised guidance issued at the end of February from the original 70Koz implying a 5koz loss or ~US$8M in revenues. Hopefully the Company will use the incident as an opportunity to put in larger tanks to improve recoveries further. At BNC the first shipment of nickel concentrate is a positive.

Sierra Rutile Ltd (SXX LN, MCap: £324.6M, 63.8p) announced its results for the year ended 31 December 2012 and has today published its Annual Report & Accounts. The Company reported a 226% increase in revenues to US$179.1M (2011: US$55.0M). This resulted in an EBITDA of US$107.8M, up from US$0.1M in 2011. There was a 9% reduction in rutile cash production costs at US$637/t (2011: US$701/t). The profit for the year of US$83.5M compared to a loss of US$28.0M in 2011. The Government of Sierra Leone's ("GOSL") minority interest in Sierra Rutile's operating subsidiary eliminated through US$13.0M payment for PAYE liabilities. These excellent results were brought about by a 39% increase in rutile production to 94,493t (2011: 67,916t).

African Consolidated Resources (AFCR LN, MCap: £28.6M, 3.4p) has appointed a new non-executive director.
In this news:

• Neville Nicolau has been appointed as Non-executive Director with immediate effect
• Mr. Nicolau was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Anglo American Platinum ('Amplats'), the world's largest platinum producer.

FD Comment:
Mr Nicolau stepped down from Amplats in September, one of several platinum company CEO's to do so last year and following 6 months of gardening leave is looking for new opportunities. We see this as a good appointment for ACR.

Archipelago Resources PLC (AR LN, MCap: £276.2M, 48p) announced its production results for the Toka Tindung Mine in North Sulawesi, Indonesia for the quarter ended 31 March 2013. Gold production was 31,575gold equivalent ounces. This was achieved by processing 401,912t or ore grading 2.56g/t gold and 6.05g/t silver with a recovery of 90.3%. For Q1'13, the processing plant operated slightly below nameplate capacity on a quarter by quarter basis, primarily due to the metallurgical nature of ore from the southern deposits.  The Company expects recovery rates to improve, with the recently installed oxygen plant expected to have a positive impact on recovery rates for the remainder of the year. 

Overall, the Toka Tindung Mine operated broadly in line with mine planning for Q1'13 and remains on track to achieve full year production targets. Archipelago expects production to continue to build during the course of the year, as drier weather conditions prevail; especially during the second half of 2013. In this regard, the Company is maintaining FY'13 production guidance of 140,000 to 155,000 Au Eq oz. Full year cash cost guidance is also maintained at between $620 and $680 per Au oz (net of Ag credits and royalties).

Goldplat plc (GDP LN, MCap: £17.1M, 10p) has released an update on the 100% BEE Transaction.
In this news:

• South African subsidiary signed a binding Memorandum of Agreement with its Black Economic Empowerment partner Amabubesi Property Holdings (Pty) Ltd to increase its interest in the subsidiary from 15% to 26% as required by the South African BEE legislation to be in place before 1 May 2014
• The terms of the MoA will see Amabubesi acquire a final 11% interest in GPL for a total consideration of ZAR 29,503,483 (£2,107,392), with a 10% upfront cash payment on completion
• The remaining 90% will be Vendor Financed by GPL with Amabubesi repaying the loan using its pro-rata dividends
• This transaction values GPL at ZAR 268,213,481 (£19,158,105).

FD Comment:
This transaction will make Goldplat's subsidiary compliant with existing BEE legislation. No details were given of the payment terms of the "loan" or whether Amabubesi see any cashflow until the additional 11% is paid for. This makes valuing the transaction and the implied "see-through" value difficult, although Goldplat stress it values the subsidiary at 10p per share close to the current share price, but accounts for only 50% of net profit. However, we would hope that Amabubesi will receive continued dividends from the project to avoid any future source of conflict.

Ironveld (IRON LN, MCap: £14.2M, 4.9p) and Sylvania Platinum (SLP LN, MCap: £31.3M, 10.5p) have announced that Hacra Mining and Exploration Company, a 71% subsidiary of Sylvania has submitted an application for a Mining Right on the Farms Harriets Wish, Cracouw and Aurora.
In this news:

• A decision by the DMR on the Mining Right Application is expected during the course of 2014.

Gem Diamonds Ltd. (GEMD LN, MCap: £187.7M, 135.8p) announced its interim management statement for the period 1st January to 23rd April. The Letseng mine in Lesotho mined 1.45Mt of ore in the first quarter of 2013 and processed 1.47Mt, recovering 18,775 carats of diamond. Waste stripping was ramped up in the last quarter of 2012 and this has continued into Q1 2013 to ensure timely exposure to the Satellite ore required for mid-2013. During the first quarter of 2013 both Letšeng Plants 1 and 2 treated a total of 1.2MT of ore which was sourced entirely from the Main pipe as planned, with the remainder treated by Alluvial Ventures. The lower tonnes of ore mined and treated for Q1'13 is due to test work which was undertaken at both Plants 1 and 2 in order to establish diamond damage profiles at various throughput rates in preparation for the new crusher installations. An unplanned scrubber breakdown cost Plant 2 two days production. The reduction in carats recovered during the Period is as a result of the lower tonnes mined and treated and mining taking place in lower grade areas. Higher grade ore will be exposed and available towards the end of H1'13 and the Company remains confident that it will meet full year guidance given in March 2013 with regards to carat production.

It is planned that a similar amount of Satellite material as was mined in the previous year will be mined in 2013. However, mining of the Satellite ore is only planned to take place in the second half of 2013.
During the quarter Gem sold 29,205cts of diamonds for a total value of $46.7M, with the achieved US$/ct being US$1,599.
At Project Kholo, the procurement and installation of the new secondary crushers for Plants 1 and 2 is underway and on target for installation by the end of Q2'13. It is expected that these crushers will contribute significantly to reducing diamond damage and hence improving revenue.
Work is on-going in terms of revising Project Kholo implementation options, production levels and waste stripping profiles. Indicative costs, timelines and updates will be provided during the course of Q2'13.

In Botswana, Gem Diamonds' wholly owned subsidiary, Gem Diamonds Botswana, is currently developing the Ghaghoo mine in Botswana. During the first quarter of 2013 good progress was made in the development of the access decline, advancing a further 167m. The tunnel is now entering into weathered basalt country rock. The Company is reviewing the rate of development of Ghaghoo, now that the sand portion of the access decline and the plant are complete, in light of the need to maintain a strong balance sheet.

Stonehenge Metals (BUY, A$0.07) (SHE AU, MCap: A$4.7M, A$0.01) has released its Quarterly Cashflow reports.
In this news:

• Received drilling approval for Daejon Project and started a 12 diamond hole programme in April
• Awarded 3 hole programme at Gwesan Project in April which will be fully funded by KORES to be completed by end of October
• Spent A$404k on exploration and A$138 on administration, but received A$189k income tax refund during quarter
• Ended quarter with A$2.112m in cash and equivalents.

FD Comment:
After a "quiet" December quarter, Stonehenge made good progress securing drilling approval for Daejon. It takes time to build relationships in Korea and hopefully this is a sign that the Company's efforts are being to bear fruit. The cash position is also healthy and based on current expenditure the Company should be able to complete its Yy'13 targets.

Talvivaara Mining Co. PLC (TALV LN, MCap: £281.2M, 14.8p) announced its interim report for the quarter ending March 31, 2013. Nickel production was 2,732t and continued to be impacted by the water balance changes. The purification and discharge of excess water from the mine site commenced in March utilising the additional 1.8Mm³ discharge quota granted by the Kainuu Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment in February 2013. A number of financing arrangements undertaken to de-risk Talvivaara's balance sheet, secure liquidity for the continued ramp-up of operations towards full capacity and provide an appropriate capital structure to enable repayment or refinancing of short- and medium-term indebtedness, including the remaining EUR76.9M convertible bond maturing in May 2013. The financing transactions consist of a fully underwritten rights issue to raise approximately EUR 261M in gross proceeds, renegotiation of the EUR100M revolving credit facility, an increase of advance payment from Cameco by US$10M to US$70M and a EUR12M additional up-front payment from Nyrstar.

Since the end of the period an oversubscribed EUR 261M rights issue completed; and trading in the new shares commenced on 17 April 2013. A gypsum pond leakage was detected on 7 April 2013 and stemmed on 9 April 2013; with all leakage waters contained within the mining area.

Ore production operations expected to be re-started in May, approximately 1.5 months ahead of earlier plans; temporary lay-offs announced in February cancelled due to mining re-start. Production guidance for the full year 2013 of 18,000t has been reiterated and a return to a clear ramp-up anticipated in the second half of the year following re-start of mining in May and improving water balance situation.

Range Resources* (RRL LN, MCap: £100.1M, 3.9p) - Proposed Transaction: Range Resources has today announced that it is in talks to merge with International Petroleum, with International Petroleum investors receiving 3 Range shares for every 2 that they hold. The combined entity will have operations in Colombia, Georgia, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Niger, Puntland, Russia and Trinidad, with Russia and Trinidad being near-term cash generating assets.
In this news:

• Range proposes to merge with International Petroleum on a ratio of three Range ordinary shares for every two International Petroleum ordinary shares (3:2 basis) subject to various conditions, including final due diligence and regulatory approvals;
• Based on Range's current share price (on the AIM market), this values International Petroleum at approximately A$105 million;
• International Petroleum holds highly prospective assets in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Niger with total 3P Reserves of 233mm bbls of oil and best estimate prospective resources of 761mm bbls of oil and 157 Bcf of gas;
• The merger will create a leading ASX & AIM listed oil and gas company with a strong production growth profile from the ongoing development of its significant reserves and resources base. The key near term focus of the merged entity will be the expansion and development of the projects in Trinidad, Russia and onshore Africa;
• The merged entity would hold estimated 1P, 2P and 3P reserves of 23.6mm bbls, 100mm bbls and 264mm bbls of oil respectively, and best estimate prospective resources of 802mm bbls of oil and 156 Bcf of gas;
• Combined current production for the merged entity would be approximately 1,000 bopde, with a target of increasing production to 10,000 bopde from conventional operations and an additional 3,000 bopde from unconventional operations by the end of 2015;
• The Company will be looking to appoint Mr Chris Hopkinson as a Managing Director of the merged entity. Mr Hopkinson is currently CEO of International Petroleum and has over 23 years' experience in the oil and gas industry, including senior management positions with BG Group, TNK‐BP, Yukos, Imperial Energy Corporation PLC, and Lukoil;
• Subject to further considerations, the merger will be undertaken by way of either an off market takeover offer by Range to International Petroleum shareholders or a proposed scheme of arrangement under Australian laws;
• The board of International Petroleum have unanimously agreed to recommend the proposed merger in the absence of a superior proposal; and
• Range has received commitments to a A$20 million placement to major funds and institutions and agreed to provide US$15 million to International Petroleum Limited by way of a secured loan over International Petroleum's Russian assets.

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Sound Oil (SOU LN, MCap: £23.7M, 8.5p) - Drill Ready…Permitting Required: Today's announcement that its technical work has improved Badile's chance of success and the well design is close to being finalised now means that the asset is drill ready and a rig should start to be secured. While the fiscal terms are benign and promote development, its permitting process is a considerable drawback. Still, it has the financial resources to drill the well, it is technically ready to spud, the rest, we will have to wait and see. Management continues to make good progress, and we expect that to continue as the year progresses, and with Badile, we now have an embryonic 2014 drill programme to look forward to.

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Coal of Africa (CZA LN, MCap: £132.4M, 12.6p) has announced changes to the Board, with the CEO stepping down and the Chairman becoming interim CEO.
In this news:

• John Wallington, CEO will not be renewing his contract with the Company by mutual agreement with his executive role ending on 31 May 2013
• David Brown, Chairman of CoAL, will become the interim CEO for a maximum period of six months whilst the appointment of a permanent successor will be progressed
• Professor Alfred Nevhutanda, currently the Executive Director Corporate Affairs, has also by mutual agreement tendered his resignation from the Board with effect from 30 April 2013.

FD Comment:
The CEO stepping down, does not come as a surprise and has been an open secret since David Brown became Chairman. Performance at CZA has been exceptionally poor since he took over, although not all the blame can be put at the CEO's door. It is difficult to see who will step in as the balance sheet is in disarray and we believe Haohua Energy International will have to step in again and at the current share price, will effectively take control of the Company. The muted asset sales of Woestalleen and Mooiplats won't really help as we believe the US$37.5M Deutsche Bank facility is secured against Woestalleen and will have to be repaid, with the equity value less than the current outstanding loan facility.

Frontier Mining Ltd (FML LN, MCap: £55.8M, 3.1p) has released an operational and financing update as it recommences operations at its flagship Benkala Copper Project.
In this news:

• Agglomerated ore had been loaded onto pads before December to enable the immediate start-up, without the need for crushing stockpiled ore, or depending on activity resuming at the mine
• Frontier anticipates shipping of cathodes to begin in the first week of June
• Company continues to work on the expansion of the Benkala site to 10ktpa capacity
• Will spend an additional US$6M of Capex on additional leach pads, improvements to the crushing and agglomeration process and general site enhancements
• Company has now received credit committee approval from Sberbank to provide KazCopper LLP (Frontier's wholly owned subsidiary) with a loan and credit facility of US$17.9M
• This will comprise a US$6M increase in the Capital Investment Loan at in interest rate of 9% and a US$11.9M increase in the Working Capital Credit Facility at an interest rate of 8.5%. All conditions of the existing loan arrangements remain unchanged
• The additional loan brings the total amount of existing Sberbank facilities to US$52.9M.

FD Comment:
Frontier was operating on a pilot test basis and with the onset of winter, production ceased as planned. With the warmer weather and the earlier preparation of ore, Frontier hopes to quickly restart whilst upgrading the SXEW plant. If the increased debt facility is fully drawn down, the balance sheet is looking stretched with interest payments of ~US$4.5M pa, equivalent to 675t of Cu before costs, taxes and royalties.

Dragon Oil (DGO LN, MCap: £3006.3M, 613.5p) - What Next?: This update continues to highlight the progress that the Company makes quarter on quarter, but there is a sense that the management, to some extent at least, is resting on its operating laurels. Given the depressed asset values in the market, the fact that it has $1.7B in cash and enough production and shareholder support to raise a further $4B (our estimate) there is a question as to when it will seek to leverage off of this position. We believe that this update supports the longer-term outlook, and the cash pile coupled with the financial leverage provides it with significant flexibility as to what is tackles going forward.
In this news:

• The average gross production rate in 1Q 2013 was approximately 71,800 barrels of oil per day ("bopd")
• March average gross production was approximately 74,000bopd with the month's exit rate at about 76,400bopd
• Two new development wells were put into production during the first quarter of 2013
• Installation of the Dzhygaybeg (Zhdanov) A platform is in progress
• Tendering process for the construction of the Gas Treatment Plant has commenced
• Capital expenditure on infrastructure and drilling was approximately US$57M in 1Q 2013
• The Group reached an agreement to secure a reliable marketing route for all its anticipated export entitlement production from the Cheleken Contract Area until 31 December 2014; and
• The drilling of the Hammamet West-3 exploration well commenced in early April 2013 offshore Tunisia in the Bargou Exploration Permit.

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Exillon Energy (EXI LN, MCap: £230.9M, 145p) - Geared Up: Today's announcement is the first following what has been a difficult period for the Company, and production appears to be building nicely. However, what the tuffle did highlighted is the lack of technical expertise and independent rigour on the Board. That said, the production rates continue to climb, and although below the Company's original plans, they are in line with its revised plans. What we would like to know, or understand better, is the extent to which the Company is utilising horizontal wells, especially in low energy reservoirs such as these. This is a positive update, and one which should help to restore confidence in the Company's operations.
In this news:

• Average daily production of 14,869 bbls/day in January, 15,186 bbls/day in February and 16,422 blls/day in March - in line with internal budgets
• Drilling currently ongoing or due to commence with a total of 23 wells are planned in 2013, 6 in Exillon TP and 17 in Exillon WS
• 41 workovers completed in Q1 2013
• New 40km pipeline completed in Exillon WS doubling capacity
• New 25km pipeline completed in Exillon TP which will allow the sale of oil via a pipeline as opposed to by truck and the sale of associated gas to a local refinery.

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Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP LN, MCap: £24.2M, 2.8p) - 2013 is Year of Delivery: Today's final results tell of progress made during the year, and one that management rightly deserve to be congratulated for. However, with ~$2.2M in the bank, and an ambitious 2013 work programme, we believe that the Company's timings will need to be accurate and to plan to save the cash resources from needing topping up. Nevertheless, we believe that here is where the multiple asset approach will pay dividends, as it means that any one failure will have a de-minimis impact, but then the opposite is also true. The Company will need to move up the food chain if it is build a sustainable business, and 2013 should see the start of that process.
In this news:

• $11.1 million capital raised to acquire acreage in proven onshore US formations such as the Bakken, North Dakota and participate in wells with leading operators such as Marathon Oil and Statoil
• Interests in 101 wells as at 31 December 2012 - 86 producing and 15 drilling/completing - 46% increase year on year
• Production as at 31 December 2012 stood at 122.5 boepd
• 194% increase in full year revenues to US$709,395 (2011: US$241,038)
• Monthly run rate increasing - December 2012 revenues three times higher than January 2012
• Significant increase in 2P reserves to 1.367 million barrels of oil and condensate and 4,513 MMcf of natural gas (1 January 2013)
• • 68,700 barrels of oil and condensate and 249.8MMcf (1 October 2011)
• 3P reserves valued at US$94M underpinning market valuation - 422% increase since Admission to AIM in November 2011
• • Reserves estimate only includes approximately 5,500 net acres out of a total of 12,700 in proven formations - substantial upside potential
• Over 13,000 net mineral acres with more than 600 potential drilling locations in producing onshore US plays acquired during the year providing strong future pipeline of growth
• First well drilled as operator in Oklahoma - awaiting fracture stimulation.

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Premier Oil (BUY, 485p) (PMO LN, MCap: £1857.7M, 363.8p) - On a Roll…: Today's new that its Bonneville well in the North Sea and its Matang-1 well have both intersected hydrocarbons is a welcome boost for the Company and continues its rich vein of form with the drillbit. With Luno II's testing due soon too, it brings a successful close to 1Q'13's drilling programme. We are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 485p Target Price.

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Rialto (RIA LN, MCap: £22.5M, 4.5p) - Out of a Tight Bind: Today's news from the Company is unlikely to make happy reading for investors as it decimates the net impact of the value of the assets to Rialto, and there will be a need for further funding in the future for development. That said, it is hard to see how the Company could have done any better given the position that it was left in. At least this way the Company has the opportunity to trade its way out of trouble, and generate returns for the shareholders, and for this, the interim team deserve credit.
In this news:

• Vitol to acquire, subject to regulatory and joint venture partner approval, a 20% interest in Rialto Energy (Ghana) Limited ("Rialto Ghana") in exchange for providing a facility to cover Rialto's US$7.7M obligations for the drilling of the high-impact Starfish-1 exploration well in the Accra Block, Ghana, due to spud in June 2013
• Vitol to acquire 65% of the shares in Rialto Energy (Côte d'Ivoire) Limited ("Rialto CdI") in exchange for providing US$50M of capital to be invested in a to be agreed Block CI-202 work programme subject to the conditions outlined hereunder; and
• Release of Vantage Sapphire drilling rig which had been due to be on Block CI-202 in May 2013.

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Tullow Oil (TLW LN, MCap: £9496.8M, 1042p) - Priodontes Not so Maximus: News that the Priodontes-1 well failed to intersect hydrocarbons is disappointing, but the data that it provides the Company (and its partners) will help the explorationists sharpen their respective pencils. The drill ship (which sounds like an impressive beast) now moves to the Cebus prospect, which again is potentially Company changing, as it will start to build a potential cluster of discoveries to test, and if successful develop.

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Bushveld Minerals*** (BUY, 28p) (BMN LN, MCap: £44M, 10.6p) has released a scoping study for the initial development stage of its 64% owned Bushveld Iron Ore Project.
In this news:

• Based solely on existing infrastructure
• Low capex and concentrate product route at base case RoM of 5 Mtpa underscores viability of project:
• • Low capex at US$126M
  • NPV of US$140M at 12.5% discount rate
  • 34.2% IRR (real)
  • Payback: 2 years from start of mining
• Titanium and vanadium credits based on current metallurgical test work and extensive field-based research with potential customers
• Operating costs: US$51 / tonne, (US$6 / tonne when adjusted for titanium and vanadium credit)
• Scoping study undertaken on the P-Q Zone only equating to 12% of the total JORC resource (JORC-compliant 718 Mt resource)
• Pre-feasibility study due to commence in May 2013 with completion expected by end Q1 2014
• Substantial upside from ramping up volume, mining MML, downstream beneficiation and reduced transport costs.

FD Comment:
This scoping study is for the initial development phase of the project, which the Company believes is achievable and realistic. The three key criteria in the design were that it should make use of existing infrastructure and not be exposed to 3rd party delays in planned increased infrastructure capacity, have low capex to minimise funding requirements and have a short timeframe to cashflow to further develop the project. We believe this has given a robust project with plenty of upside. As well as increasing production capacity as planned infrastructure upgrades are implemented and downstream beneficiation to a pig iron product, high TiO₂ slag and vanadium slag using locally available coal, we believe substantial improvements to the current base case can be made by optimising the transport costs. The pre-feasibility study is due to start next month and we believe substantial improvements can be made in the base case, especially for transport costs. The scoping study uses logistics costs CIF China of US$75/t which is other 50% of the total operating costs. However, these are significantly higher than benchmark costs and we believe substantial improvements can be made by optimising these.

Connemara Mining Company (CON LN, MCap: £1.6M, 6.1p) has raised £315k through the issue of equity.
In this news:

• Raised £315,000 and settled liabilities of £136,500 through the issue of 9,030,000 ordinary shares at 5p per share
• The net proceeds of the Transaction will fund further work on the Company's portfolio of exploration projects in Ireland and pay on-going corporate costs
• As part of the Transaction the Company's directors Dr John Teeling and Mr James Finn, have each agreed that a proportion of accrued unpaid fees owed to them by Connemara will be settled via the issue.

Eastern Platinum (ELR LN, MCap: £65.4M, 6.9p) has suspended funding for the Crocodile River Mine Development Plan.
In this news:

• Due to the continuing negative outlook in the global economic environment, the sustained weakness in PGM pricing and the current operating environment in South Africa, it has decided to suspend funding for the Crocodile River Mine ("CRM") "Development Plan" previously announced on June 12, 2012
• The Company will continue to reassess the viability of production at CRM and reinitiate funding for production once conditions support such a decision.

FD Comment:
As well as the wider macro situation, rising costs and declining productivity have played a major part in this decision. Costs per ton milled has risen by 82% since the beginning of 2007, while the PGM basket price had fallen by 17% in rand terms over the same period.

Edenville Energy (EDL LN, MCap: £7.8M, 0.18p) has released an operational update on its operations at the Rukwa Coalfield in South West Tanzania.
In this news:

• Commencement of Scoping Study at the Namwele coal deposit
• Revised Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") submitted to Tanzania's National Environment Management Council ("NEMC")
• £106,895 raised under its Equity Financing Facility ("EFF") for working capital purposes.

FD Comment:
The scoping study is due for completion in 3Q'13 and look to produce ~25kt per month of coal initially for the local market. This is expected to tie in with the completion of the EIA.

Ferrex (FRX LN, MCap: £10.4M, 1.4p) has released an update on activities at its planned Mebaga DSO Iron Ore Project in northern Gabon.
In this news:

• Drill contract signed with Geoserve with two in-country rigs to be mobilised on site immediately to test the main 1.8km zone of iron ore mineralisation at the Mebaga deposit to depths of 250m
• Targeting a maiden JORC resource in 2H'13 - initial drilling campaign expected to take two to three months
• Regional magnetic data have been acquired, with processing and interpretation complete
• Magnetic images emphasise that the Mebaga trend incorporates the most extensive outcropping of banded iron formation ('BIF') horizon in northern Gabon outside of the Belinga trend
• Images suggest that approximately 80% of the BIF horizon lies within Ferrex's Mebaga concession.
• Camp now operational, and secured a new local geologist (ex-SAMANCOR) employed as country and project manager
• Excellent infrastructure in place - 30km from a sealed highway, 100km north of the Trans-Gabon railway.

FD Comment:
The Company has a conceptual exploration target of 20Mt at 60% iron ('Fe')), however this is early stage and the additional drilling and the maiden JORC resource expected in 2H'13 will allow us have a better idea of the commerciality of the project.

Gemfields (GEM LN, MCap: £143.8M, 26.6p) has released the results of the Lusaka Rough Emerald and Beryl Auction held between 15 April to 19 April 2013.
In this news:

• A 7% decline in average per carat prices for lower quality auctions reverses historic growth trajectory
• US$2.42 per carat for the lots sold, 7% lower than that achieved at the previous lower quality emerald auction held in June 2012 in Jaipur
• 17.3 million carats offered, with 36% (6.3 million carats) being sold
• Quality-for-quality per carat prices showed mixed performance, with higher qualities clearly favoured
• Twelve auctions held since July 2009 have generated US$175.7M in total revenue.

FD Comment:
The Company said it was generally satisfied with the results of its Lusaka auction, but we view the lower % volumes sold and prices received as disappointing, especially in view of the uncertainty over the Company's on-going ability to freely sell emeralds outside of Zambia.

Paragon Diamonds*** (BUY, 30p) (PRG LN, MCap: £17.8M, 9.1p) has released a scoping study for the Lemphane Diamond project in Lesotho.

In this news:

• Anticipated kimberlite tonnage to be mined of 27Mt to 280m below surface at a 1.3:1 waste:ore ratio
• Based on an-situ revenue of $33/t, the project gives a pre-tax Internal Rate of Return of 22%
• Net Present Value, pre-tax, at a 10% discount rate of US$69.0M
• Based on total capital expenditure of approximately US$123M, including a 20% contingency and a mine life of 10 years.

FD Comment:
There is a fair bit of detail released in the summary of the scoping study. By far the most interesting is the fact that as yet there are no ore reserves. The scoping study is a step in the application for a Mining Lease to enable the processing of 0.1Mt of kimberlite over approximately 6 months. Hopefully this will be achieved quickly to allow the trial mining to follow-on seamlessly from the current bulk sampling. The only other comments we would like to make about the scoping study are that the costs used are within +/-35% and the exchange rate looks very conservative.

Sula Iron & Gold (SULA LN, MCap: £5M, 4.1p) has announced a 2,000m drilling programme to target iron mineralisation in the northern part of the Sula-Kangari Greenstone Belt in Sierra Leone.
In this news:

• 2,000m drilling programme underway focussed on `Area 1' to test the strike continuity, thickness and iron grade of a 3.1km banded iron formation (`BIF')
• Area 1 is coincident with a strong linear magnetic anomaly extending from African Minerals 12.8Bt iron Tonkolili licence area
• Aim to delineate a maiden JORC compliant resource later in 2013.

Circle Oil (BUY, 95p) (COP LN, MCap: £92.9M, 16.5p) - Welcome Addition: Today's news that The Company has appointed Keith Morris to the Board will hopefully introduce a more open communication line with the Company's owners (its shareholders), such that the excellent work that is being conducted operationally can be reflected in its valuation. We believe that this Company is a first step towards redressing one of the obstacles preventing the value of the Company's underlying assets being better reflected in its market valuation. We are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 95p Target Price.

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Petroceltic International (BUY, 15p) (PCI LN, MCap: £276.5M, 6.3p) - An Amuse Bouche: Today's full year result, having only consolidated Melrose from October 2012, offers an insight into the shape of the Company's future operations. Production is currently at ~27mm boepd, which given that the pro forma production at year end was ~28mm boepd, could be something for the bears to latch on to, but in the longer-term we see its Algerian development adding significantly to production. With a solid team in place, the Company is well positioned to gain from its significant development and exploration activity over the next 12 months, which should be able to support the continued progress in Company's share price. We are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 15p Target Price.
In this news:

• Results
• • Consolidation of Melrose results from Oct 10th increased revenues from $0.42mm to $59.4mm (annualised $254mm)
  • Profit from operating activities before exploration costs was $4mm compared with a loss of $6.4mm in 2011
  • Once off merger related costs, exploration write offs and finance expenses resulted in a pre-tax loss of $6.7mm compared with $8.2mm in the previous year.
  • Net debt at yearend of $209mm
• Exploration and Development
• • Reserves of 304MMboe booked at Ain Tsila, a major milestone demonstrating long term value
  • Detailed planning underway for awarding of major Ain Tsila development contracts in 2014
  • Black Sea assets offer strong production and potentially material exploration leads
  • Exploration and development wells planned throughout the year and the Kamchia well currently drilling offshore Bulgaria
  • Two high impact wells in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq commencing this year target prospects in excess of 500mm bbl
  • New acreage awards in Egypt and Italy added to portfolio
• Overview
• • A transformational year combines the long term stability of revenues, the start of an exciting development in Algeria and potentially high impact exploration in the near future.
  • Group funded to progress existing discoveries towards production while maintaining a consistent exploration programme.
  • On schedule for a premium listing on the main market of the London and Irish stock exchanges by late June 2013
  • On a consolidated enlarged group basis, full year pro-forma production rate of 28.4Mboepd.

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Sound Oil (SOU LN, MCap: £22.7M, 7.9p) - Rapagnano Imminent: Today's announcement that the Company is on the cusp of commissioning its Rapagnano facility should be well received, and bears may highlight the fact that the Company had originally expected first gas in January and hence is a failure, we believe that the fact that have got it on line in 1H'13 is a testament to their continued focus, as Italy's licencing and approvals process is a joke. We believe that 2013 will be a year of transition for the Company, that will see its share price ebb and flow, but if management execute even half of their plan, with the expectation that over a 2-year period that it is all met, it will be in a much stronger position that it has been in up to this point.

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Bezant Resources PLC (BZT LN, MCap: £23.4M, 28.3p) announced that the General Meeting convened on 9 April 2013 has subsequently been discovered to be inquorate, due to there being too few shareholders eligible to vote in attendance, and therefore the meeting was void. Accordingly, the Company is today posting a further circular, incorporating formal notice of a new general meeting, to seek the approval of Shareholders for, inter alia, the proposed cancellation of the Company's two classes of deferred shares and part of its share premium account and the proposed return of capital of, in aggregate, approximately £5.2M (8p per ordinary share) to shareholders, other than Gold Fields Netherlands Services B.V. ("Gold Fields").

The new general meeting which is required to be convened is to be held at 10.00a.m. on Tuesday 7 May 2013 at the offices of Joelson Wilson LLP, 30 Portland Place, London WIB 1LZ. Accordingly, the New Circular and formal notice of the New General Meeting is today being posted, together with a form of proxy, to those shareholders who have elected to receive hard copy shareholder communications from the Company and will today also be made available to download from the Company's website.

The background and explanatory information included in the circular to the Company's shareholders dated 18 March 2013 (the "Original Circular") that accompanied the original notice of general meeting (the "Original Notice") is repeated in the New Circular for the benefit of Shareholders who may have acquired their Shares since the date of the Original Circular and Original Notice. In addition, amendments have been made to the text of the Resolutions contained in the Original Notice to simplify and reduce the number of Resolutions and to take account of the transfer by Gold Fields of its Subscription Shares to Vidacos Nominees Limited, to hold in its capacity as nominee, since the date of the Original Circular and Original Notice. The revised Record Date and time for determining entitlements to the Distribution is now currently expected to be 6.00p.m. on 22 May 2013.

The proposals continue to be unanimously recommended by the Board and, subject to receiving the requisite Shareholder and High Court approvals, it is now anticipated that funds will be credited to CREST accounts or cheques dispatched to Shareholders, as appropriate, on or around 30 May 2013.

Unless the context otherwise requires, defined terms used in this announcement shall have the meanings given to them in the New Circular dated 19 April 2013.

Diamond Corp PLC (DCP LN, MCap: £13.4M, 4.9p) announced that it has issued 1,500,000 new ordinary shares of 3p each in the capital of the Company to a financial advisor in respect of a success fee for introducing Laurelton Diamonds Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tiffany & Co. As previously reported, Laurelton has completed a diamond offtake agreement with the Company's 74% owned subsidiary, Lace Diamond Mine.

The new ordinary shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares of the Company.

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for admission of the 1,500,000 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM and AltX and dealings are expected to occur on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 ("Admission").

BowLeven (BUY, 250p) (BLVN LN, MCap: £240.2M, 82p) - All Dressed Up. Now it needs Somewhere to Go: Today's update begins the closing phases of what has been a successful Etinde campaign. The next (and final stage before FID) stage will be an independent third party assessment of the Contingent Resources and, more importantly, commercial terms to sell the production into, which in turn will enable the Contingent Resources to be reclassified as Reserves. While the reserves report on the asset will provide the share price with support, we believe that the catalyst for the shares' rerating will be Ferrostaal's approval of its planned Cameroonian fertiliser plant. On the back of this news, we are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 250p Target Price.
In this news:

• Testing Overview
• • Condensate-rich gas flowed on test from both Middle and Intra Isongo intervals confirming commercial production rates and the significant liquids content of gas
  • Combined maximum flow rates of 60mm scfd and 7,819bcpd (total over 17,800boepd)
• Intra Isongo update
• • Average flow rate of 37mm scfd and 4,664bcpd (total over 10,800boepd) achieved from 29 metres of perforated section out of 70 metres of net pay
  • High quality condensate (approximately 43 degree API) produced on test.

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San Leon Energy* (BUY, 25p) (SLE LN, MCap: £93.8M, 5.4p) - Pushing On: The Company's testing of its Czaslaw discovery is a welcome next step, and a successful test will go some way to derisking the commercial potential of the remainder of its acreage. Irrespective of the outcome, however, this next stage will be very informative and provide the Company with a significant amount of new information regarding the productivity of the horizons and the best way to commercialise the reserves. We are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 25p Target Price.
In this news:

• 25 April 2013 - acid wash and clean out of the well
• 26-30 April 2013 - acid squeeze into the Main Dolomite reservoir; after soaking lift fluids in the well bore using nitrogen, followed by 3 day flow test up to 400 bbls of oil
• 1 May 2013 - shut-in the well for 5 day build-up with downhole gauges
• 6 May 2013 - decision on a long term test and oil production, based upon results of the acid stimulation and test.

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Petroceltic International (BUY, 15p) (PCI LN, MCap: £272.1M, 6.3p) - More to the Hopper: Today's announcement that the Company has added to its exploration portfolio is welcome news, especially the offshore acreage in the prolific Levantine basin at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. While this is a welcome addition, the only reservation we have surrounds the fact that the acreage is in Egypt, which continues to face difficulties in establishing a stable environment. Nevertheless, we are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 15p Target Price.

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African Barrick Gold (HOLD, 350p) (ABG LN, MCap: £698.4M, 170.3p) announced its results for the quarter ended 31^st March 2013. It produced 146,105oz of gold and sold 148,232oz. Cash costs were US$931/oz, which reduces to $893/oz if Tulawaka is excluded. Net earnings were $20.7M giving an operational cashflow of $57.3M.

FD Comment:
Production was a little bit better than our estimate, but cash costs were marginally better than our forecast.

Alexander Mining PLC (AXM LN, MCap: £5.9M, 4p) announced that it has received notification from the United States Patent and Trademark Office that its MetaLeach Limited subsidiary has been granted a Patent for a Method of Ammoniacal Leaching, patent number 8,388,729. The patent has a standard term of twenty years from the effective date of July 11, 2008 (being the date of original filing). The patent is the U.S. National Phase of PCT/AU2008/001027, filed Jul. 11, 2008, which in turn claims priority to Australian application number AU2007903815 filed Jul. 13, 2007 and AU2007906262 filed Nov. 15, 2007.

Mwana Africa PLC (MWA LN, MCap: £43.3M, 3.9p) announced that the first shipment of nickel concentrate from Bindura Nickel Corporation's Trojan Nickel mine in Zimbabwe was dispatched on the 15th of April 2013. The timing of the shipment is in line with previous guidance given by the Company. Following the refurbishment of the surface milling, flotation, tailings and concentrate handling facilities, hot commissioning has been successfully completed and the first shipment of nickel concentrate was trucked from the Trojan mine to Durban. The shipment takes place under the terms of the previously announced offtake agreement between Glencore and BNC whereby Glencore will purchase all of the concentrate produced at the Trojan mine at a price linked to the LME settlement price. The processing plant is now producing concentrate of saleable quantity and quality and the remainder of the commissioning activities during the year will focus on increasing throughput and improving recoveries.

Stratex International PLC (STI LN, MCap: £22.8M, 4.9p) announced that further to the announcement of 21 March 2013, payment has been received following the sale of the Inlice Project in Turkey. These proceeds amount to US$4.5M which reduces to approximately US$3.75M after tax. This takes the current cash position to approximately £17.5M to facilitate the acquisition of advanced projects.

Europa Oil & (EOG LN, MCap: £11.2M, 9.5p) - Improving Fortunes: News that EOG has farmed out an 85% interest to Kosmos and secured ~$200M in potential funding for its South Porcupine Basin ("SPB"), which is offshore Ireland, is a testament to two things: (i) the growing popularity of the SPB as a prospective basin; and (ii) the results of the investment that the Company has made in working up its licences. After what has been a torrid time for EOG shareholders, the incumbent management, who were brought into revive the Company's fortunes, appear to be achieving what they have set out to do. There is a long way to go before the Company recovers the value that has been lost in the past, but this is a solid first step.
In this news:

• Acquire an 85% interest and be appointed as operator of both Licences
• Fully fund the costs of a 3D seismic programme on each Licence
• Pay 85% of costs incurred by Europa to date.

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SOCO (SIA LN, MCap: £1222.8M, 368.5p) - Free! 50% More!: News that the first phase of the capacity test on SOCO's Te Giac Trang ("TGT") FPSO facility suggest that the stream capacity could exceed the nameplate capacity (~50m bpd) by 50%, is a significant step forward, as it will enable the Company to maintain the current oil production rate for longer, which is essential as water cuts start to rise. This is positive news for the Company and continues to cement their position as a maturing oil production company with a sustainable balance between cash generating businesses and cash consuming exploration areas.

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Amerisur Resources (AMER LN, MCap: £518.6M, 50p) - Export Capacity Now Key: Today's news that the Company's export facility at its Platanillo has risen to ~3.5m bpd is a boon, especially as the availability of export capacity is the bottleneck that is preventing the full development of the field. Even without further drilling success, upgrades to the export facilities will drive higher values as it will enable the development of the field to occur at a quicker rate, thereby improving the time value of money associated with its development. While the export facilities are not immediately in the Company's control, it can take some steps to mitigate its impact, and hence we are more optimistic than we would otherwise have been.
In this news:

• Production capability to be increased through agreement with operator of Rio Loro oil export facility to receive a minimum of 3,500BOPD
• Platanillo-10 produced 1,800BOPD of 31.2 API on test from U sands
• Alea-1 ST1 sidetrack progressing well.

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Hochschild Mining (HOLD, 329p) (HOC LN, MCap: £835.1M, 247p) announced its March quarterly production figures. During the quarter attributable production was 4.7M attributable ounces of silver, putting the Company on track to meet its guidance of 20.0M attributable ounces of silver for 2013.

FD Comment:
Production at Pallacata is typically lower in the first quarter of each year due to weather considerations.

Coal of Africa (CZA LN, MCap: £132.4M, 12.6p) has appointed a new Finance Director.
In this news:

• Michael Meeser has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with effect from 1 June 2013
• He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and currently Head of the Project & Infrastructure and Commodity & Resource Finance businesses for Africa at Investec and is a member of the divisions' executive committee.

Afferro Mining (AFF LN, MCap: £66.9M, 63.8p) and International Mining and Infrastructure Corporation (IMIC LN, MCap: £16.2M, 27p) have released an update on their discussions regarding a potential offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Afferro.
In this news:

The offer is subject to a number of pre-conditions including, but not limited to:

• Successful raising of finance for the transaction;
• Completion of documentation required to enact a reverse takeover under the AIM Rules for the London Stock Exchange plc ("RTO"); and negotiation of an arrangement agreement.

Under the IMIC proposal Afferro shareholders would be given three options for receiving consideration in respect of their shares, namely:

• 80p in cash plus a convertible loan note of 20p, making a total of 100p for each Afferro share; or
• 50p in cash plus a convertible loan note of 70p, making a total of 120p for each Afferro share; or
• Shares in IMIC equivalent to a valuation of 140p for each Afferro share

FD Comment:
The cash portion will be limited to US$100M and IMIC intends to provide written undertakings that this is available within 15 days. IMIC has also advised that further fund raising is planned at the time of IMIC's RTO to provide working capital. A cash offer would be good for shareholders, but we should find out over the next couple of weeks whether this is likely.

Weatherly International (WTI LN, MCap: £20.8M, 3.9p) announced its March quarterly production figures. Third quarter production from Central Operations was 67,833 tonnes of ore containing 4,948t of copper concentrate, for copper production of 1,142t of copper metal, a decrease in production over the previous quarter due to a series of one-off events at the underground operations. Accordingly, Weatherly now expects 2013 production of around 5,000t of copper. RK Capital's due diligence at Tschudi has been largely completed, and the Company has been offered a revised term sheet which it has accepted in principle. Loan documentation will be subject to additional review of the Company's operations. The Tschudi front end engineering and design work has largely been completed and major contracts with the four main consultants/contractors are being negotiated. The Tschudi environmental amendments were filed and are progressing through the approval process as anticipated and a detailed operational review was completed at Central Operations leading to a restructuring to bring costs into line with revised production levels. As a result of arbitration proceedings over Tambao being discontinued, Wadi has paid Weatherly US$2M as full reimbursement of expenses incurred on Wadi's behalf.

Petra Diamonds (PDL LN, MCap: £548.8M, 107.7p) announced the recovery of a 25.5 carat blue diamond at the Cullinan mine in South Africa. The stone is considered to be a high quality gem diamond of top colour. Blue diamonds are among the rarest and most highly coveted of all diamonds and the Cullinan mine is the most important source of blues in the world. Since Petra acquired the mine, it has produced a number of blue diamonds, including a 26.6 carat rough stone which yielded a fancy vivid blue and internally flawless 7.0 carat polished stone. This important and rare diamond sold for US$9.49M (or US$1.35M per carat) at a Sotheby's auction in May 2009, being at the time the highest price per carat for any gemstone sold at auction and the highest price for a fancy vivid blue diamond sold at auction. It was subsequently named the 'Star of Josephine' by its new owner.

Ormonde Mining (ORM LN, MCap: £23.9M, 6p)announced its final results for the year ended 31 December 2012. The Barruecopardo Tungsten Project's Definitive Feasibility Study reported in February 2012 demonstrating the Project's technical feasibility and exceptional economics and final permitting documentation for the Barruecopardo Tungsten Project submitted to the Provincial and Regional Governments in late July 2012. The Regional Department of Mines in Salamanca advised that documentation conforms to requirements following review of all information presented and the Formal Public Consultation process was completed in February 2013, with only a single public submission received and fully responded to Discussions and negotiations progressed on capital funding; with banks in relation to debt facilities and with joint venture parties in relation to funding of equity or "non-debt" component. Drilling on gold projects continues to deliver positive results indicating deposit scale potential and emerging opportunities at both Salamanca and Zamora. An agreement was signed with a third party which may lead to a divestment of the La Zarza asset for a cash consideration of Euro 5M, following Antofagasta Minerals SA's decision to withdraw from the option agreement.

San Leon Energy* (BUY, 25p) (SLE LN, MCap: £97.3M, 5.2p) - Back with a Bang: After what been a hiatus following the completion of the Aurelian deal, today's announcement from the Company refocuses investor attention on its asset base. We believe that this next stage will be very informative and provide the Company with a significant amount of new information regarding the productivity of the horizons and the best way to commercialise the reserves. We are taking this opportunity to reiterate our BUY Recommendation and 25p Target Price.
In this news:

• The Company estimates the following timeline:
• • 24 April 2013 - mill out cement and pressure test the well
  • 27 April 2013 - run vertical seismic profile (VSP)
  • 2 May 2013 - upgrade the well head to 15,000 psi
  • 8 May 2013 - perforate the well, perform DFIT and observe formation pressure for 3-4 weeks
  • Early June 2013 - perform two-stage vertical frac.

Access the full story here

Amerisur Resources (AMER LN, MCap: £544.5M, 52.5p) - 2013 a Year of Transition: Today's 2012 results announcement underlines the progress that the Company has made in the year. However, of more importance is the fact that the Company has positioned itself well for its ambitious 2013 drilling programme. While there is a healthy ~$47mm cash balance, the extent to which they are able to execute that programme will depend on focusing on repeating the cash generation performance of 2012, with the added benefits of the work that accretes during the year. Given 2012's performance we believe that the Company is well positioned at the start of 2Q'13 to not only deliver on its plans, but take a significant step towards achieving a sustainable platform.
In this news:

Financial highlights:

• Revenue up 197.3% to US$42.2M (2011: US$14.2M)
• Operating profit up 493.6% to US$19.6M (2011: US$3.3M)
• Profit before tax up 473.8% to US$20.1M (2011: US$3.5M)
• Cash position at year end US$47M (2011: US$17.2M), all 2013 commitments and planned programmes fully funded
• Successful placing in Q4 raising £26.5M, proceeds used to fund bids in ANH licensing round and accelerate additional drilling and well completion work in Platanillo

Operational highlights:

• Met production capacity target of 5,000 BOPD by year end
• Five successful commercial wells in the ongoing Platanillo drilling campaign - 100% success rate
• Award of Put-12 block adjacent to Platanillo in Putumayo
• Completed the acquisition of 2D seismic at Fenix

Post period end highlights:

• Second rig mobilised at Platanillo
• Encouraging drilling results from Platanillo-10 and Platanillo-1 ST1
• Current constrained production capacity is at 7,000 BOPD
• Platanillo 2P reserves more than tripled from 7.7 to 29.9 MMBO. This following just four of the Platanillo wells of the planned initial eight-well programme due to 31 December 2012 cut off
• Fully funded 10-well programme on the Platanillo field planned for 2013
• Short and medium term solutions to improve export capacity.

Access the full story here

Caledonia Mining Corp (CMCL LN, MCap: £36.9M, 80.5p) announced due to technical issues beyond its control relating to electronic settlement of shares on AIM following its consolidation announced on 14 March 2013, Caledonia will be suspended as of 8:00am BST this morning.
In this news:

• The Company's TSX listing and direct trading on the TSX Toronto Stock Exchange is unaffected by this issue.
• There is no change to the financial or operational performance of the business.

FD Comment:
This appears to be a technical issue where the Company's Canadian advisors who failed to communicate the consolidation in a way that DTC in New York was able to understand. According to the Company the DTC did not mobilise its systems so that CREST could be provided with the necessary information, resulting in CREST being unable to settle trades on AIM. This has resulted in today's suspension, which should be resolved before the end of the week. However, given the state of the markets this isn't the worst time for a gold company to be suspended and as it doesn't reflect any underlying issues with the Company the share price should not be impacted.

EMED Mining* (BUY, 21p) (EMED LN, MCap: £122.1M, 10.4p) announced that the Andalucian Government has conducted the public comment period for the proposed recognition of Class B Resources at the Rio Tinto Copper Project. Class B Resources pertain to the potentially recoverable metal content of waste materials resulting from previous operations when over 1.7Mt of copper, 3.4M ounces of gold and 57M ounces of silver were recovered. Of particular interest to the Company is to commence the feasibility for the recovery of silver and gold from a section of the tailings deposit (the "Gossan Dam") in joint venture with Andalucian investment group Rumbo 5.Cero. The public comment period yielded only one negative comment, which raised nothing of a material nature that had not already been taken into account in the Company's plans.

The processing of a section of the tailings dam is important not only for its potential economic value but also because it can play an important role in the environmental management of the tailings deposit and in maximising its holding capacity.

Highland Gold Mining (BUY, 173p) (HGM LN, MCap: £265.1M, 81.5p) announced that conveyance, screening and milling construction works at its new stand-alone processing facility at Belaya Gora have been concluded successfully. The Company has initiated the commissioning of these major plant component installations and will thereafter proceed with the verification of the operational readiness of the full process flow scheme followed by wet testing and first ore feed. Initial gold bullion is expected to be delivered in May. After the Novoshirokinskoye polymetallic mine, Belaya Gora is the Company's second major stand-alone process facility construction.

Rambler Metals (RMM LN, MCap: £38.1M, 26.8p) announced that it has finalized a purchase and sale arrangement with a local exploration company for the exclusive rights to explore and develop a gold/copper property. Under the agreement, Rambler is able to immediately begin exploring and compiling all historic data in the area from the Krissy's Buckle property, located within 40km of Rambler's Nugget Pond multi commodity processing facility. This area contains two mining leases in addition to numerous copper and gold mineralized zones and soil anomalies including the Krissy, SB and Brass Buckle trends and covers 2300 hectares and located approximately 5km to the south of the Ming mine. Rambler is particularly interested in the Krissy trend with 10.51 g/t gold over 1.75 metres, including 0.5 metres grading 31.9 g/t and 2.84% Cu. The 2011 surface diamond drill hole, RSKT-11-04, returned this high grade mineralization within 10 metres of the collar (i.e. near surface) and will be a key target area as Rambler embarks on its exploration programme.

West African Minerals Corporation (WAFM LN, MCap: £99M, 34.4p) announced its latest assay results from South Djadom drilling and extend mineralisation over 6km of inferred strike length. The results from 27 additional scout drill holes at South Djadom have extended the apparent area of hematite and enriched banded iron formation mineralisation over a 6km strike length of the large (25km long) magnetic and gravity anomaly previously reported at South Djadom. 11 of these holes are mineralized with 6 containing significant mineralised intervals. These are in addition to drillhole results reported on March 7, 2013. Based on the widespread nature of the mineralisation encountered to date, WAFM has committed to a preliminary grid drilling programme of approximately 300 holes to infill-drill this mineralized area and establish the continuity of mineralisation in a 3,600m x 1,200m area. WAFM's scout drilling programme continues to test further the strike extent of mineralisation to the southeast along the large gravity and aeromagnetic anomaly at South Djadom. A second reverse circulation (RC) drill rig and two diamond rigs have been mobilized and will be operational by mid-June to assist in the grid drilling, provide better geologic understanding of the mineralisation encountered to date, and extend the scout drilling to additional anomalies.

Falkland Oil & Gas (HOLD, 55p) (FOGL LN, MCap: £84.8M, 26.5p) - Tide Turning?: Today's announcement from the seismic acquisition programme should be the prelude to the next phase of drilling in the South Falkland's Basin ("SFB"). While we have been lukewarm on the prospects for the SFB in the context of the fact that the Falklands Islands Government ("FIG") has imposed a blanket ban on onshore oil and gas development and the SFB is gas prone, more recently we have been hearing more positive noises from the Falklands that a well-managed development could be entertained and that the FIG believes that there is "plenty" of room in remoter locations for a development. We continue to believe that the SFB will require a Snøhvit type of development scenario to make it both practical and economic. Once the go-ahead is given, we would expect the share prices of both Borders and Southern (BOR LN) and Falkland Oil & Gas (FOGL LN) to strengthen appreciably. For now, on FOGL we are reiterating our HOLD Recommendation and 55p Target Price and HOLD Recommendation and 18p on BOR.
In this news:

• 3D seismic survey over the Diomedea Fan completed
• • The data will now be processed by PGS and a fast track product will be available for interpretation in approximately four months
• 3D seismic survey over the Cretaceous Fault Blocks commenced in the South Falklands basin
• • A second 3D seismic survey commenced
  • This survey will cover a minimum area of 1,000km² and will target a number of prospects and leads in FOGL's southern licence area, immediately to the west and north-west of Borders and Southern's Darwin gas-condensate discovery
• Third 3D survey
• • The Joint Venture is also currently reviewing tender offers with respect to a third 3D seismic survey to be acquired in the northern licence area in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Access the full story here

Black Mountain Resources (BMZ LN, MCap: £10.6M, 12.6p) has announced that the development drive to access the high grade silver Bonanza Zone is underway at the New Departure Silver Project located in Montana, US.
In this news:

• Once the Bonanza Zone has been accessed, the Company intends to take production samples from historic workings for assaying and to finalise indicative arrangements with local mills
• Due to the shorter horizontal drive required and the shorter distance to haul ore and for waste disposal, the revised development plan will facilitate access to the Quien Sabe Zone sooner than if the Company was to access it from the Laczay Adit.
• In line with the production at New Departure, the Company is in the final stages of completing debt/offtake financing arrangements.

Caledonia Mining Corporation (CMCL LN, MCap: £39.8M, 92.5p) has announced the retirement of Chris Harvey as an independent director from its board of directors with immediate effect.
In this news:

• Mr Harvey will however continue to act as a Technical Consultant to the Caledonia Board given his extensive knowledge of Caledonia and its operations.

EMED Mining* (BUY, £0.21) (EMED LN, MCap: £123.6M, 10.5p) has released a permitting update.
In this news:

• Andalucian Government is progressing the permits required to commence site works, namely the finalisation of Administrative Standing and of the Environmental Plan
• The Andalucian Department of Industry has cleared the Company's economic, technical and legal capacities and formally written to formally advise that it intends to finalise Administrative Standing (administrative recognition of the Company's Mineral Rights) upon Receipt of a preliminary report from the national civil works technical review agency CEDEX (Centro de Estudios y Experimentacion de Obras Publicas) supporting the proposed conditions to be applied to tailings management, as already factored into the Company's plans; and approval by the Department of Environment of the Environmental Plan ("AAU" or Unified Environmental Authorisation)
• Company maintains target to start works in 3Q'13 and start production in 3Q'14.

Condor Gold (CNR LN, MCap: £49.6M, 131p) has announced the results of a further 36 drill holes for 3,692m of the current phase of resource infill drilling at the La India Vein Set and the initial drill testing of wallrock gold mineralisation on the America Vein Set.
In this news:

• A total of 50 drill holes for 7,089.4m have now been completed on La India open pit resource area aimed at proving 800,000oz gold in the Indicated category
• Drilling results continue to confirm continuity of gold mineralisation and grade of the current geological model
• Near surface bonanza-grade drill intercept from La India of 4.80m at 37.24g/t gold from 14.40m drill depth
• Near surface intercept of 21m at 3.33g/t gold from 4m drill depth improves early mine life open pit economics
• 39 drill holes for 3,567m completed on the America Vein Set to test for remnant wallrock gold and prove a second open pit resource
• Best intercept of 19m at 1.98g/t and 10m at 1.70g/t gold separated by only 6m of low-grade material from only 13m drill depth of at the intersection of the America-Escondido-Constancia veins
• Breccia zone at the intersection of the America-Escondido-Constancia veins demonstrated over a 300m down-dip extent
• Best intercept in wallrock of historic America mine intercepts up to 1.80m at 13.31g/t gold.

Shanta Gold (SHG LN, MCap: £81.4M, 17.6p) has released a Strategic and Operational Update.
In this news:

• 100% consolidation of the Shield Lupa Licences covering over 1,300km² in the Lupa Goldfields and termination of the Great Basin Gold Exploration Joint Venture
• Appointment at the forthcoming AGM in May 2013 of Anthony Durrant as non-executive Chairman, currently Chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee of New York based Arias Resource Capital Management, which manages private equity funds investing in Latin American mining, and formerly Global Head of Metals and Mining at UBS Investment Bank
• Gold production of 11,888oz in Q1 2013 including 5,735oz in March 2013
• On track for 70,000oz production in 2013 at a cash cost of US$800 to US$850 per oz, with targeted reduction to US$675 to US$775 per oz by the end of 2013
• Revised medium term mine plan being finalised forecasting five year total gold production of 430,000oz at an average blended grade of 6.3g/t.

Sierra Rutile (SRX LN, MCap: £313.2M, 61.5p) has signed a 70kt sales contract with a major pigment producer.
In this news:

• The contract, valid until 31 December 2014, consists of seven 10,000 tonne shipments of rutile (one per calendar quarter)
• Successfully secures sales of a substantial portion of Sierra Rutile's production for the remainder of 2013 and into 2014.

Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC LN, MCap: £60.3M, 4.9p) - Outlook Critical: After what has been a difficult period for the Company, these annual results are about the future work programme, and how it will fund it. In this respect, today's announcement is very light, other than to say that it continues to lobby politicians in Nassau. While this is essential, the main focus must be the securing of a farmin partner, or additional funding to be in a position to drill by the time the drill or drop date comes round. We will maintain a watching brief on the Company, as we believe that the share price will come under pressure as investors anticipate a funding round, a fact which is offset to some extent by the prospectivity of its acreage.
In this news:

• Post period end, mandate to undertake exploration drilling has been granted to establish commercial viability ahead of referendum process on the future of oil development
• Significant interest expressed by numerous potential farm-in partners with discussions given further impetus by political clarity on referendum; process is live, active and on-going
• Letter received from Minister of the Environment in September 2012 confirming the good standing of the Company's licences
• Significant progress on 3D seismic PSDM data interpretation enhancing subsurface understanding, increasing confidence on range of prospectivity and overall de-risking of assets; allowed specific mapping of detailed prospects over multiple horizons and reinforced primary target identification
• Initial FastTrack 3D results sufficiently encouraging for BPC to proceed with an initial front end engineering design ("FEED") to construct a well plan for the drilling of a 22,500 feet deep exploration well estimated to take up to 120 days to drill and log at an anticipated cost of $100-120M
• Continuing to progress listing of Bahamian Depository Receipts on Bahamas International Stock Exchange ("BISX") with requisite approvals being sought
• Cash position remains robust at over $21M at 31 December 2012, enhanced by cost-reductions and conservative cash management
• Environmental Impact Assessment released to the public by Bahamas Environmental, Science and Technology (BEST) Commission. Significant advancement made towards an Environmental Management Plan, Oil Spill Contingency Plan and Emergency Response Plan as prerequisites to drilling with Government to produce strengthened and modernised regulations

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Cairn Energy (CNE LN, MCap: £1771.2M, 293.6p) - Road to Foum Draa^#: Today's news from Cairn, that it has secured the use of Transocean's Cajun Express for a period of 12 months with a view to drilling in its Foum Draa interest in Morocco is excellent news for, not just for the Moroccan offshore business, but also San Leon Energy (BUY, 25p) (SLE LN) and Longreach Oil and Gas (LOI CN) and, both of whom are carried for the first part of the exploration programme.

^# Apologies to Bob and Bing for the adaptation of their 1941 classic "Road to Zanzibar."

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Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP LN, MCap: £23.8M, 2.8p) - Upping the Gears: Today's update is solid, and we believe that the Company is making significant strides towards generating sufficient free cash to be able to set it on course, as operator, on an extended basis. The start of this is the fact that the Company is close to completing the fraccing of the Roger Swartz-1 well, and that it plans to drill additional wells in the coming period. We will be continuing to watch the Company's progress, but it would be good to see more of management's outline for the future of the Company.
In this news:

Quarter Highlights

• Interest in 96 producing wells as at end Q1 2013 - current total of 104 producing wells
• Reported initial production rates for 10 wells and elected to participate in an additional 11
• Production equipment on site at Roger Swartz #1, first well drilled by Magnolia as operator to the Mississippi Lime formation, Oklahoma - currently undergoing fracture stimulation
• 985 net mineral acres acquired in the Montana section of the Bakken/Three Forks Spanish formation, bringing total acreage acquired in the district to 7,866
• Appointment of Oliver Rigby as the Company's Chief Financial Officer

Outlook

• Q2 2013 expected to see further significant activity with numerous new wells due to come into production
• Multiple well proposals being received - expected to lead to further participations with leading operators
• Results of fracture stimulation of Magnolia operated Roger Swartz #1
• Plans to drill additional wells in Oklahoma as operator, with 50%+ net revenue interests
• On-going lease acquisition and management activity in line with strategy to grow and diversify portfolio

Post period end:

• Acquisition of 250 net mineral acres in Mississippi Lime
• Farm down of 2% interest in 13 sections of existing leases freeing funds for further investment
• Updated Reserves and Competent Person's Report by Moyes & Co. expected Q2 2013, covering Magnolia's assets as at year end 2012 will include:
• • an estimate on the Company's average production rates
  • an anticipated reserves upgrade due to reclassification of the Company's Three Forks Sanish reserves from "possible" to "proven undeveloped" and newly acquired Mississippi Lime acreage with multiple "proven undeveloped" locations.

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Petroceltic International (BUY, 15p) (PCI LN, MCap: £291.4M, 6.6p) - The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Parts: Today's disclosure that the Company has secured ~$500M is a boon for the Company, and while the loans are not immediately available, this announcement outlining their availability resolves the overhang that Melrose brought into the transaction, that is how it was going to effectively refinance a significant debt piece with the portfolio that it had. Consequently, we believe that the refinancing is an endorsement of the fact that the Melrose cash core allied with the development portfolio in Petroceltic has created a combined vehicle that is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Following this news, we are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 15p Target Price.
In this news:

Financing has two tranches:

• Tranche A is a revolving senior Reserve Based Lending ("RBL") Tranche of up to $375M
• • Based on the value of future cash flows from the Company's producing assets in Bulgaria and Egypt. This Tranche may be drawn in support of the Company's existing business, future exploration and development expenditure within the portfolio of secured assets and potential future acquisitions, subject to technical and syndicate bank approval.
• Tranche B is a Development Financing Tranche of up to $125M
• • Based on the satisfaction of specific and objective milestones related to the development of the Ain Tsila gas condensate field in Algeria. These milestones include the official booking of Proven and Probable reserves (anticipated in 2013), signature of a fully termed Gas Sales Agreement in replacement of the existing binding Heads of Terms and award of the major engineering procurement and construction contracts relating to the development.
• Both Tranches have an initial 5 year term, however are extendable by 2 years, subject to lender consent.

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Premier Oil (BUY, 485p) (PMO LN, MCap: £2077.3M, 392.6p) - A Good Week: Today's announcement that Huntington has come on stream marks what has been a good week for the Company, especially as it follows so closely on the heels of Luno II's discovery. That the shares have declined today would support the adage that it is better to travel than to arrive. Nevertheless, we believe that this underlines the fact that Company has an excellent mix in its portfolio, and supports our BUY Recommendation and 485p Target Price.
In this news:

• Premier is pleased to announce that oil production from the Huntington field in the UK Central North Sea commenced at 20:25 hours on Friday 12 April
• After an initial ramp up period, the field is expected to produce 25-30m boepd (gross).

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President Energy (PPC LN, MCap: £57.8M, 21.5p) - Good Technicals - Shame About the Country: The news that fraccing has started should boost the Company's outlook, as it will almost certainly lead to higher production. This marks the conclusion of what has been a programme of solid technical work; the proof of the quality of that work will of course be in the results, but we are optimistic. That said, for us, the biggest risks are related to the fact that the assets are in Argentina, whose government has chosen to cover its inadequacy with a round of nationalisations, export limits and exchange controls. As such, each barrel generating cash flow in Argentina raises the risk profile, and as such, we would also like to see acceleration in the study and exploration of its Paraguayan assets.

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Silvermere Energy (SLME LN, MCap: £1.7M, 5p) - Progress, but Slow: Today's update underlines the progress that the Company has made, and save for an obstruction in the production string, the results could have been better. We will wait for the cash flow statements before speculating further, but the Company is now at that juxtaposition where it needs the cash from operations to pay for the future wells, before the decline rates fall to a point where remediation and workover is required, or it can only support itself. Still, progress made, and we await the strategy update.
In this news:

• Total production and sales of gas recorded during the month were 883,000 standard cubic feet (scf), and total production of oil was 127 barrels
• Up until the previous update on 5 March 2013 the well continued to experience restricted flow rates due to obstructions in the well-bore
• • Pipeline operating pressure from platform to shore was reduced in an attempt to improve pressure differentials and flow conditions, but this did not resolve the matter
  • Simple work-over commenced and remain on-going
• Silvermere owns a 16.66% working interest in the I-1 well and a 33.33% working interest in future wells on the leases.

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Tullow Oil (TLW LN, MCap: £10531.9M, 1160p) - Eastern Progress Less Stellar: Today's operational update from Tullow is more measured that the usual high octane and fast moving that we are used to from Tullow, but is important to remember that in making the comparison, we are really comparing what has been a stellar performance at the drill bit, to what is arguably more in line with industry norms. While the shares are likely to trade down today, we believe that the Company has a well balanced portfolio we would be happy to increase our exposure to the stock at these levels.
In this news:

• Ethiopia - Sabisa-1 encounters hydrocarbons requiring logging and further evaluation
• • South Omo Block in Southern Ethiopia
  • Drilled to a total depth of 1,810 metres
  • Hydrocarbon indications in sands beneath a thick claystone top seal have been recorded whilst drilling
  • Hole instability issues have required the drilling of a sidetrack to comprehensively log and sample the zones of interest
  • The sidetrack recently commenced and a result is now expected in late May. Tullow (50%) is the operator of this well with Africa Oil (30%) and Marathon Oil (20%) having non-operated interests
• Kenya - first of six Ngamia-1 well tests flows at 281 bopd
• • Block 10BB in Kenya
  • First of six drill stem tests has now been completed
  • Test carried out in the Lower Lokhone formation, with the well flowing 281bpd 30° API oil using a Progressive Cavity Pump
  • The other tests will be carried out in the Auwerwer reservoirs (formerly Upper Lokhone) which produced very well in the recent tests at the Twiga South-1 well
  • The mobilization of the drilling rig from Paipai in Block 10A to the Etuko (previously Kamba) location in Block 10BB in Kenya continues on schedule with drilling expected to commence in the first half of May
  • Tullow operates the Ngamia-1 well and Africa Oil (50%) has a non-operated interest.

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Kefi Minerals (SPECULATIVE BUY) (KEFI LN, MCap (M): £12.95, 3.1p) has released an exploration update on its Jibal Qutman and Selib North Licences in Saudi Arabia

In this news:

• Results from additional trench channel sampling and drilling results from the second drilling programme at the Jibal Qutman Licence and the second phase drilling at the Selib North Licence.
• Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling, targeted to extend the resource at Jibal Qutman, returned encouraging intersections, including: 13m at 4.08g/t Au, 32m at 1.14g/t Au, 8m at 2.71g/t Au, 9m at 1.98g/t Au and 27m at 0.86g/t Au.
• Trench channel sampling results at Jibal Qutman returned impressive intersections, including 95m at 1.69g/t Au, 44m at 1.56g/t Au and 5m at 3.33g/t Au.
• New "shear zone hosted" gold mineralisation discovered in the Western Zone at Jibal Qutman.

FD Comment:
Based on the previous phase 1 drilling, G&M, Kefi's Saudi Arabian partner estimated a non-code >90Koz Au mineralised zone at an average grade of 1.25g/t Au, using a 0.2g/t Au cut-off within the a conceptual 40-60m deep pit shell. G&M believes given the aerial extent of the mapped veins a target in excess of 200koz Au and these results continue to support this with good grades and widths, which continue to increase the known area of mineralisation. In addition to the primary mineralisation hosted in massive quartz veins surrounded by a halo of lower grade quartz stringers, the Company has identified wide zones of low grade (0.5-1.5g/t) gold in a wide shear zone which varies between 10m-50m in thickness. The Company is continuing to drill and even looking to source additional drilling capacity to fast track the project. The results from Selib North which were targeting several IP and SP anomalies identified in December indicated these were graphitic shales and pyrite mineralisation not related to the gold mineralisation event. Drill highlights from Camel North include 8m at 1.4g/t and 5m at 2.5g/t. Work is continuing but the latest results continue to indicate Jibal Qutman has a lot of potential and we expect a maiden resource later this quarter should give us more certainty on the numbers.

Mediterranean Oil & Gas (MOG LN, MCap: £39.8mm, 10p) - Ready? Set? Go!: Today's 1Q'13 update marks the end of a long period of upfront investment by management in the Company's assets, and marks what we believe has been the end of the first phase of the turnaround in the Company precipitated by new management. While there are a few flies in the ointment to be resolved (such as the potential arbitration with Leni Gas & Oil), 2013 should see the Company make significant progress.

In this news:

• Significant progress with preparations for the Company's Q4 2013 drilling programme in Malta.
• • Completed sale of 75% of its shareholding in Phoenicia Energy Company Ltd ("PECL") to Genel Energy plc ("Genel").
  • Service Order signed with AGR Well Management Limited ("AGR") for the provision of drilling engineering and rig procurement support for the drilling of the Hagar Qim 1 well.
  • Operational base in Malta due to open in May 2013.
• Positive ruling on MOG's submission of the Ombrina Mare Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") from the EIA Commission charged by the Ministry of Environment to rule on the oil and gas field development EIA.
• Following the above news on the EIA Commission ruling, MOG has commissioned ERC Equipoise Ltd to complete a Competent Persons Report ("CPR") on the reserves and resources at Ombrina Mare Field.
• Q1 2013 revenue of €3.05 million, an average realized price of €0.31 per scm.
• Q1 2013 net production of 9.9 million scm, representing an average net production of 110,000 scm per day. Well GUE-2ss, which accounts for c.30% of production in the Guendalina Field, shut-in since 5th March 2013 pending operations to determine the cause of the sudden change in operating conditions.
• Canoel International Energy Ltd ("Canoel") announced on 4th April 2013 that the government approval required for their purchase of MOG's non-core assets is progressing well.
• Medoilgas Italia SpA has signed and renewed a gas sales contract with Repower Italia SpA ("Repower") relating to the Company's entire net gas production from the Guendalina gas field for a period of one year until 30th September 2014.

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Andes Energia (AEN LN, MCap: £54.6M, 21.5p) - A Curate's Egg of an Acquisition: Today's acquisition of ~60mm bbl of reserves and resources for ~$1/bbl on the face of it looks like a solid acquisition. There are, however, two distinct factors that to our mind could provide a headwind to the value of this acquisition being fully reflected in the Company's valuation: (i) that the majority of the volumes reside in the Contingent Resources category, implying some measure of uncertainty in the commerciality (although we admit this could just be a case of an offtake contract); and (ii) its in Argentina. While the risks associated with (i) can be overcome with a judicious deal structure, which appears to not have been the case here as the "low" volume scenario has only $66mm of value attached, and we don't know if this includes the acquisition costs or not, the acquisition price appears to have been paid in one lump sum upfront, and principally in debt, which places the risks fairly and squarely at the Company's door, although this is mitigated to some extent by the conversion pricing. For us, the biggest risks are related to (ii), in that this is concentrating the Company's operations in Argentina, whose government has chosen to cover its inadequacy with a round of nationalisations, export limits and exchange controls; the risk profile associated with this acquisition has increased overall risks within the Company. However, the real key lies with management, and this is perhaps the single most significant factor in determining the ultimate extent of value that accretes to the Company from this acquisition, which in turn will take time - let's hope that the country doesn't implode before then. 
In this news:

• 1.2mmbbl of net 2P reserves, 57mmbbl of net contingent resources, 60mmbbl of net recoverable shale oil resources, and 2M of net acreage
• 6.75% working interest in 2 development blocks in Neuquen
• 10% carried interest in 3 exploration blocks and a 5% carried interest in 4 exploration blocks in Mendoza
• 60% working interest in 1 exploration block and a 15% working interest in 2 exploration blocks in Salta.

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Nighthawk Energy (HAWK LN, MCap: £31.1M, 3.6p) - The Bar Gets Higher: Today's latest production update provides clear evidence (if any were needed) that the change in the Company's management has now consistently delivered results. This, along with the disclosure that it has generated free cash flow, has also signalled the end of the first phase of the Company's rehabilitation; management should be rightly applauded for this achievement. However, success breeds expectation, and now that this milestone has been achieved, the Company will not be able to report the same progress in future and still receive the same plaudits. The Company now has to "kick on" if it is to restore anywhere near the value that has been lost, even in the last 3 years.
In this news:

• Average gross oil production in March 2013 of 372 barrels per day ("bbls/day"), a record monthly production level for the projects
• Average gross oil production in Quarter 1 2013 of 313 bbls/day
• Production rate from Steamboat Hansen 8-10 well continues to increase with no water production
• John Craig 6-2 well brought back on-line on 22 March 2013 and currently producing 75-100 bbls/day with minimal water production 
• At current prices and March 2013 production levels, monthly net revenues to Nighthawk of over US$750,000 comfortably exceed monthly expenditures, generating free cash for further investment
• Further increases in production are anticipated from the continuing work-over program and new drilling.

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Leni Gas & Oil (LGO LN, MCap: £14.7M, 0.86p) - Double the Fun!: The Company's disclosure that it has secured a second workover rig to work its Goudron field in Trinidad is welcome news, as it permits the Company to potentially double the rate the progress that it has made to date; it must be remembered that the Company only secured unfettered access to the field in October last year. There are only two concerns that we have: (i) funding - which is not the major issue curiously, although we believe the LGO is underfunded and would benefit immeasurably from the completion of the sale of its Spanish assets, this work will largely pay for itself; and (ii) Understaffed - which for us, the bigger issue, and that given there is a farmout underway in Tanzania, the sale of its Spanish assets is on-going and there is a pending arbitration with Mediterranean Oil & Gas on the horizon, means that the personnel resources are going to be stretched very thin indeed. Consequently, we are concerned that while there is the appetite to push ahead with a doubling of the Goudron programme, that there just isn't the bandwidth to do it within the Company.

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Salamander Energy (SMDR LN, MCap: £539.3M, 211p) - An Exploration Success… Maybe: Today's news that the Company has made an over-pressured discovery at North Kendang-1, which may be a liquids rich gas accumulation, and while testing will need to be conducted to assess its commerciality, this news is a should provide a welcome lift to the Company's share price.

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Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP LN, MCap: £23.6M, 2.7p) - Big Portfolio… But Little Slices: Today's news that the Company has secured further acreage in the Mississippi Lime play in Oklahoma is good news for the Company, but there is a growing feeling that for all its activity, it is not the master of its own destiny, and that the "lots of small holdings" approach is running out of room. We would prefer to see the Company start to consolidate its position and use a more focused portfolio as an engine for growth. It is hard to see how the Company can accelerate its growth from this level by pursuing the same strategy, which then means that it risks being left behind by its US listed peers.
In this news:

• 250 net mineral acres with various working interests acquired in Mississippi Lime formation, Oklahoma
• Acreage provides exposure to 56 new sections/units with 168 potential drilling locations in the Mississippi Lime
• Acquisition increases Magnolia's working/net revenue interest (`WI/NRI') in the Miss Frank 1-6H well to 4.648%/3.672% from 0.686%/0.557%
• Acreage includes five producing wells and four new wells waiting to spud
• Magnolia to farm down to North American Petroleum plc (`NAP') a 2% leasehold interest in 13 of its currently held leases, representing 166.4 net acres
• • Magnolia to maintain up to 22.5% interest in these 13 sections
  • Farm-down frees up funds that can be used to further diversify portfolio.

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Fox-Davies have reviewed their commodity and currency forecasts for 2Q'13.

Access the forecasts here

African Minerals Ltd (AMI LN, MCap: £744.6M, 224.8p) announced its results for the year ended 31 December 2012. During 2012, the wet process plant was commissioned and began production build up in September, supporting production capacity to 20Mt pa at the mine. Production in 2012 was 5.1Mt with 4.3Mt being shipped. All production tonnage to end of 2016 contracted under long term contracts. Production generated net sales proceeds of $286.6M during 2012 (capitalised during pre-production). The Company reported an operating loss of $27.9M, before non-recurring items of$225.6M post tax, a profit before tax of $4.3M (after $288.4M fair value gain on SISG put option and a profit after tax of $32.1M. The outlook for 2013 remains positive with African Minerals on track to demonstrate sustainable production capacity of 20Mtpa during Q2 2013, with C1 cash costs expected to reduce to circa $30/t by year end and 6 Ocean Going Vessels shipped in Feb 2013, equivalent to a rate of 12Mtpa, with C1 cash costs under $45/t and FOB received price of $94/t. It expects to be cashflow positive on a sustainable basis during Q2 2013.

Anglo Asian Mining (AAZ LN, MCap: £36.2M, 32.5p) has released its 1Q'13 production and operations Update for Gedabek Gold/Copper/Silver Mine in Azerbaijan.
In this news:

• Gold production from heap leach processing for 1Q'13 at Gedabek totalled 8,585oz
• 1Q'13 gold sales of 8,725oz of gold at an average of US$1,638 per oz
• Silver dore production from heap leach operations for 1Q'13 totalled 6,655oz
• Agitation leaching plant construction continues on budget and on-time - expected to improve gold recoveries significantly at Gedabek when commissioned in 1H'13
• Gold production target for FY'13 is 60,000oz Au
• Copper, silver and gold production from SART processing operations for 1Q'13 totalled 93 tonnes of copper, 9,875oz of silver and 16oz of gold
• Following the contract signed with Glencore International plc ('Glencore') in 4Q'12, copper sale shipments during 1Q'13 included 510 wet metric tonnes ('WMT') and a trial shipment of 200WMT to Seagate Minerals and metals Inc ('Seagate')
• Net debt, being interest-bearing loans and borrowings less cash and cash equivalents, totals US$37.5M.

FD Comment:
This was a good quarter for the Company as although gold production was down QoQ, this was due to lower grade ore being added to the heap leach whilst the higher grade ore was stockpiled ahead of the new agitation leaching plant being commissioned during the current quarter. The targeted gold production is 60Koz a 20% increase on last year.

Ariana Resources PLC (AAU LN, MCap: £4.8M, 1.3p) announced the completion of an independent JORC compliant mineral resource estimate for its Salinbas and Ardala properties, which is contained within a Joint Venture with Eldorado Gold Corporation in Artvin Province of north-eastern Turkey. The resource estimate stated in this announcement is reported gross with respect to the Joint Venture. Ariana holds 49% of the Joint Venture, such that 49% of the resource is net attributable to Ariana. 180,000oz Au plus 820,000oz Ag Indicated resources identified at Salinbas and 590,000oz Au plus 3.3Moz Ag Inferred resources with an additional 323,000oz Inferred resource identified at Ardala, based on historic data, including additional Cu and Mo. There is potential in the Salinbas and Ardala area to define 1Moz gross (approx. 500,000oz net attributable to Ariana) of gold, though considerable additional drilling will be required to confirm this potential. Following completion of this initial resource estimate, Ariana to transfer management control of the Joint Venture to Eldorado, enabling Ariana to concentrate its attention on bringing its Red Rabbit Gold project in western Turkey into production, targeted for 2014.

Caledonia Mining Corporation (CMCL LN, MCap: £46.5M, 8.6p) has released its 1Q'13 gold production from the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe.
In this news:

• 10,463oz of gold were produced during the Quarter, a 14% increase on gold production in 1Q'12 (9,155oz).

FD Comment:
Despite a slightly shorter working quarter, gold production was ahead of schedule and pro rata ahead of the annual 40Koz target. Although the production figures are subject to minor revisions following the receipt of final assays for the last two deliveries to Rand Refineries, we continue to view the production target as conservative.

Forte Energy (FTE LN, MCap: £8.7M, 0.85p) has announced it is to start a new drilling campaign in Mauritania.
In this news:

• Signed Wallis Drilling Africa Pty Ltd for approximately 5,000m of NQ Aircore Drilling
• Drilling at Hasi Baida approximately 50km north-east of the existing Forte Energy licences and covers over 800km²
• Will include aircore scout drilling which will target blind, near surface metasomatite style uranium mineralisation along interpreted major structural corridors close to the A238 Prospect
• Drilling scheduled to start in Mid-May, following the shipment of the drill rig to Mauritania.

FD Comment:
This drill programme will target eight separate prospects within the Hasi Baida licence, all of which are in superficial calcrete. Forte's goal is identify satellite resources which it will develop around a central processing plant. As Bir En Nar sits on top of the water table, Forte believes that its water needs can be sustainably met locally making it ideal for the location of a central plant.

Ormonde Mining PLC (ORM LN, MCap: £24.9M, 6.3p) announced an update on progress in connection with permitting of its flagship Barruecopardo Tungsten Project in Salamanca, Spain. This follows the submission of the final permitting documentation to the Provincial and Regional Governments at the end of July 2012 by Saloro SLU, Ormonde's wholly-owned subsidiary which is developing Barruecopardo. The permitting process includes review and confirmation by the regional Mines Department in Salamanca that the documentation conforms to requirements, a public consultation and response period, followed by further review at provincial level, leading to a recommendation being made to the regional government for a decision regarding permitting consents. As detailed below, significant progress has now been made in relation to this process.

The main points are:

• Considerable permitting documentation, comprising the Environmental Impact Study, the Exploitation Plan, the Restoration Plan and the Financial Plan have been under review by the Regional Authorities in Salamanca during Q4 2012 and Q1 2013 and the regional Mines Department in Salamanca has now advised that the documentation submitted conforms to their requirements
• A public consultation period was completed in February 2013, with only a single public submission received by Saloro, to which the Company has responded in full. The fact that just one public submission was received at this critically important stage of the permitting process is viewed as highly significant by the Company
• Numerous public and private presentations to various community groups and public bodies have been undertaken by Saloro at local, provincial and regional level to inform on the proposed new mining operation at Barruecopardo. These have been very well received and have helped to establish very strong community and political support for both the Barruecopardo project and Saloro.

Sirius Minerals (SXX LN, MCap: £284.5M, 21.3p) has released the preliminary coring results for SM11B.
In this news:

• Intersection from the deflection SM11B successfully cored through the shelf seam of polyhalite at mine site
• 58m (true thickness) of 88% polyhalite intersected within a total length of 72.4m
• The intersection confirms good correlation between the three intersections from SM11, 11A and 11B
• SM11B will provide additional input into the upgraded resource report to be completed in early May.

FD Comment:
These latest results are consistent with previous holes with the thickest is 22m (true thickness) at 84.7% polyhalite. However the lower part of the seam which was not encountered at SM11 and SM11A, suggests a thickening and enrichment of the seam in a northerly direction. The Company now hopes to upgrade the current inferred resource, which it will do once the chemical analysis of the SM11 core is received at the end of April with the upgraded resource estimate is expected to be completed at the beginning of May. Drilling of the North Shaft Pilot Hole at the Doves Nest site will commence in two weeks and is anticipated to bring the York Potash drilling programme to a close.

Thor Mining PLC (THR LN, MCap: £3.4M, 0.37p) announced the signing of a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in respect of toll treatment of ore from the Spring Hill gold project south of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory. The agreement is between Spring Hill's two co-venturers, Thor Mining PLC and Western Desert Resources Limited (ASX: WDR), and Crocodile Gold Australian Operations Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Toronto-listed Crocodile Cold Corporation (TSX "CRK").

Crocodile Gold operates the Union Reefs gold processing facility, approximately 20km from Spring Hill, and currently has excess processing capacity.

The agreement provides that Thor & WDR, following receipt of all necessary approvals to conduct mining operations at Spring Hill, would haul ore mined from the operation for processing and gold extraction at Crocodile Gold's Union Reefs processing plant, provided:

• The parties can agree acceptable terms, and execute a formal binding agreement setting out the terms upon which the toll treatment may occur
• The Board of Directors of Crocodile Gold approve the toll treatment
• Excess processing capacity remains available at the Unions Reefs processing facility

The parties have agreed to work cooperatively to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome and will at approximately six monthly intervals correspond in reference to progress and issues.

DNO (DNO NO, MCap: NOK10,074M, NOK9.85) - Solid Progress: Today's update from DNO underlines the activity that is being undertaken in its portfolio. While Kurdistan is well followed, the lesser known, but similarly highly prospective areas in the Middle East, have been largely ignored. Today's announcement, however, reminds us all that Yemen, the UAE and Oman are all highly prospective. Today's should certainly support PLUS Market's Frontier Resources (FRGP PZ) and Lime Petroleum, both of whom have significant Omani acreage.

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Fastnet (FAST LN, MCap: £68.8M, 25.1p) - Drilling Programme a Step Closer: The announcement of the latest CPR draws to a close the latest stage of the Company's exploration programme, and brings the drilling programme one step closer. While further work will need to be undertaken, we believe that the Company, along with others in the area such as Petrel (PET.L), Lansdowne (LOGP.L) and Adriatic Oil (ADOP.PZ) is in a prime position to benefit from the current interest in the Irish offshore basins.
In this news:

• 123km² structure updip from oil and gas bearing intervals in the 49/19-1 Shanagarry structure
• Multiple reservoir targets consistent with analogous tested and producing intervals in Barryroe and Kinsale oil and gas fields
• Aggregated un-risked gross P50 Best Case Prospective resources of 1.298 billion barrels of oil in-place and 1.342 TCF of gas in-place
• Geological Chances of Success vary from 12 to 14% for oil reservoirs and 5 to 10% for gas reservoirs.

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GeoPark (GPK LN, MCap: £284.5M, 125p) - All About the Cash: Today's results underline a solid 2012 for the Company, one in which it managed to diversify away from Argentina, increase production significantly and strengthen its balance sheet. While costs appear to have grown significantly, we believe that the Company's focus on its cash returns will continue, which in turn bodes well for the Company's outlook.
In this news:

• Revenues increased 124% to US$250 million in 2012
• Full year production increased 49% averaging 11,276 boepd
• 2P Reserves increased 15% to 56.9 MMboe
• Full year Adjusted EBITDA increased 92% to US$121 million. Net income increased 264% to US$18 million
• Netback per boe produced increased to US$30.8 per boe in 2012, representing an increase of 34.5% from 2011
• Acquisition and consolidation of two Colombian Companies - Winchester Oil and Gas and Hupecol - for a combined consideration of US$105M
• First gas discovery in Tranquilo block (Chile) in 40 years, Palos Quemados (with a production test of 4.6 mmcf/day)
• Operations commenced in Tierra del Fuego, Chile on the Isla Norte, Flamenco and Campanario blocks
• Over US$195M invested in capital expenditures in 2012 with 44 new wells. Total investment of US$300 million including Colombian acquisitions
• US$300M bond issue in February 2013 (144A/RegS): more than 6 times oversubscribed, initial yield of 7 5/8%. Funds will be used for new investments and refinancing.

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Jubilant Energy (BUY, 45p) (JUB LN, MCap: £56.2M, 13.5p) - There is Value in There: Today's well announcement isn't so much of a heralding of a success, but confirmation of their plans - this was an infill well, and so would have been more newsworthy if it had been a failure. However, it is a reminder that there is value within its portfolio, but it is now about valorising it for shareholders. We are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 45p Target Price.

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Jupiter Energy (JPRL LN, MCap: £56.2M, 47.8p) - Fruits in May: Today's update reinforces the progress that the Company has made in 2012 and in t 2013, the fruits of which will be yielded (partially at least) in May with the publication of the CPR. We believe that the Company's understanding of the geology and the reservoir mechanics will enable them to book Reserves, or Contingent Resources at the least, which will be a good outcome considering where they started 2012. All that will be required then is the valorisation of those reserves.
In this news:

• J-58 well is being prepared for a further 90-day test with co-mingled production from the T2A and T2B horizons
• Testing of J-59 well is expected to commence during April
• J-50, J-51, J-52 wells currently producing ~1,100 bopd
• J-53 well remedial cementing has resulted in a marginal improvement in oil cut to 15%. Well will continue to run on ESP and fluid composition monitored
• J-55 well is producing oil with a high water cut of 76%. Well will continue to run on ESP and fluid composition monitored
• New CPR expected to be ready for release in late May 2013
• Positive results from J-59 would mean a further updated CPR would be released in July 2013.

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Oilex (OEX LN, MCap: £14.6M, 4.1p) - Budget Approved How is it Paid For?: Today's news that the work programme for the next 12 months is good news, but the bigger question is now how they are going to pay for all of this activity. Given the change of management, there needs to be a clear redefining of the Company's strategy, what the issues that have been delaying progress have been thus far, and how they are going to mitigate those failures from repeating themselves. Once that is completed, the undoubted fundraising can then take place. Until this happens, we believe that the shares will come under increasing pressure.
In this news:

• Work programme and budget for activities to end March 2014 approved by the Regulatory Authorities in India
• Programme includes one firm horizontal well and four wells in a contingent drilling campaign
• Formal tendering of drilling rig and other long lead equipment commencing
• Three well work-overs have been completed using a rig assigned from GSPC.

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Ophir Energy (OPHR LN, MCap: £2649.3M, 450.5p) - Stars Aligning: Today's update is a reminder of three things, (i) the excitement that is starting to build in Tanzania's emergence as a global energy player, if any was needed at all; (ii) the extent of Ophir's portfolio; and (iii) how far it has come in such a relatively short period of time. While the scale of the projects that Ophir is embarking on over the next 5 years will undoubtedly mean that there will be at least one fundraising, the scope for value creation above and beyond that is significant, nor could you rule out a bid for the Company, in whole, or in part.
In this news:

• Ophir management increases estimate of Jodari field recoverable resources by 700 BCF to 4.1 TCF
• Mzia-2 DST scheduled to complete late April 2013
• Ngisi-1 (Block 4) next well in sequence targeting 1.3 TCF gas in-place and appraising Chewa discovery
• • Exploring the potential for a 4.1 TCF mean recoverable resource hub to underpin a single LNG train
• Ghana: Stena DrillMAX, Dual Derrick Drillship secured for Starfish-1 well.

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RusPetro (RPO LN, MCap: £104.2M, 31.3p) - A Step in the Right Direction… Sort Of: While today's RNS announcement's Headlines reads "Board Directors Reduce Remuneration," the devil is in the detail; they don't at all, the remuneration levels stay the same, they have just swapped the cash element for shares. Not a reduction by our definition. When we read the headline we believed that management were taking the appropriate step in accepting their role in what was an unmitigated series of self-inflicted failures, principally surrounding their adequate plans for operations in Russia. With the Sberbank on the Balance sheet, with a loan maturing in May 2015, management is running out of time to establish sufficient track record on the field to get a swap out, or earn sufficient excess cash to repay the loan from internal resources. What is needed now is a debrief on why management and operations failed, what they are going to do to mitigate the last year from happening again and how they are going to trade their way out of the current situation.

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SacOil (SAC LN, MCap: £276.5M, 1.9p) - Decks Cleared. Now What is the Strategy?: Today's operational update and news that the debt holders have converted to equity strengthens the balance sheet and should alleviate some of the pressure that has undermined the share price over the last year. While the Company is exposed to a number of quality assets, there remains a fundamental deficit of oil and gas professionals in the Company's management team, and today's appointment of investment professionals, while strengthening the Company's market skills, does nothing to advance this Company towards unlocking the value in the assets. What is required now is a clear strategy of how the Company intends to move forwards.
In this news:

• Malawi, Block 1: Planning of environmental and social impact assessment
• Democratic Republic of the Congo ("DRC"), Block III: 2D seismic data planning and acquisition
• Nigeria, OPL 233: Approval of 2013 Work Program and Budget; re-interpretation of seismic and well data
• Nigeria, OPL 281: Expected release of PSC and re-interpretation of seismic and well data.

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Amur Minerals (AMC LN, MCap: £19.6M, 7.1p) has released an update on the status of its Kun-Manie nickel-copper sulphide project.
In this news:

• Russian government has approved a draft law exempting greenfield projects from the profit tax for a period of five years, and reducing it to 10% for the following five years
• Draft law will go to the State Duma for final revision and approval in the near future
• The pre-feasibility study completed by SRK Consulting in 2007 projected that the Company could incur approximately $114M in profits tax over the 10 year life of the operation. This was based on the 24% profit tax rate defined in 2007
• Duma approval of the newly drafted legislation could result in a reduction in the projected tax payments in the amount of $95M to $100M over the course of the 10 year tax holiday
• The improved Net Present Value of the project due to the proposed tax holiday is an increase from the originally estimated $81M to $143M using a discount rate of 10%. The Internal Rate of Return could also increase from 15.8% to 20.3%
• The Company conducting a re-evaluation of cost increases and technological improvements that impact the 2007 pre-feasibility pro forma cash flow model and which will be released when completed.

FD Comment:
We expect that with 5 years of cost inflation the benefits will be lessened to the US$62M increase to the 2007 NPV, but there is no doubt that once in production this will be a significant benefit to the Company.

Centamin Egypt (SELL, 41p) (CEY LN, MCap: £504.4M, 45.8p) announced its preliminary production results from its Sukari Gold Mine in Egypt for the quarter ended 31 March 2013. Total gold production for the quarter was a record 87,016oz, a 77% increase on the corresponding quarter in 2012 and a 2% increase on Q4 2012. Formal guidance for the current year, provided on 14 March 2013, is 320,000oz gold at a cash operating cost of US$70/oz.
Open pit total material movement of 10,550Kt increased 56% and ore production of 2,133Kt was up 11% on Q4 2012. The underground mine delivered 119Kt, up 6% on Q4 2012. The run of mine ore stockpile balance increased by 38Kt to 759Kt at the end of the period.
Quarterly throughput at the Sukari process plant was a record 1,402Kt, a 37% increase on the prior year period and a 12% increase on Q4 2012; exceeding the nameplate annualised rate of 5Mt. This performance was driven by continued high levels of productivity coupled with a reduced impact from stoppages compared with the previous quarter.

FD Comment:
This is an excellent start to the year. In our modelling we had production skewed towards the second half as the plant ramped up and more high grade underground ore was milled. If production keeps going at this rate, guidance will be blown away and production will be much closer to the 367Koz of gold production in the original 5 year plan.

Ferrexpo (FXPO LN, MCap: £912.9M, 155.1p) has released its 1Q'13 production figures.
In this news:

• Total pellet production was 2,551Kt up 0.7% QoQ, with a marked switch to higher grade 65% Fe pellets (+7.8%) at the expense of the 62% pellets (-3.6%)
• Whilst overall production from Ferrexpo Poltava Mining (FPM) was fell down -8.8% the ramp up at Ferrexpo Yeristovo Mining (FYM) continued up 204.3% after entering production last quarter.

FD Comment:
Ferrexpo is continuing to ramp up production with FPM now in production in the face of softening prices. Although pre-tax profits fell sharply last year, the improved infrastructure and new production means that the Company will continue to be competitive.

Kenmare Resources PLC (KMR LN, MCap: £713.5M, 28.2p) announced the following update of production during the first quarter of 2013: Production of Heavy Mineral Concentrate was 189,800 tonnes (2012 Q4: 157,000t), up 20.9%. This was processed into 137,500t (2012 Q4: 123,600t) of ilmenite, up 11.2%, and 10,400t (2012 Q4: 10,700t) of zircon, down 2.9%, including 4,700t of a secondary zircon product (2012 Q4: 4,500t), up 4.0%. Production for March increased from previous months as the dredge pond comes towards the end of its transition from the low lying Namalope Flats zone onto a raised dunal plateau where it will mine for the coming years. 48,500t of ilmenite were shipped during the first quarter of 2013 (2012 Q4: 201,400t). This lower level of shipment was due to both low levels of stocks at year end and subdued market demand. Shipments have picked up in the second quarter, with six scheduled for April and five for May. Construction activity relating to the development of expanded facilities at Moma is nearing a close, with handover of Wet Concentrator Plant B and the new dredge from the contractor expected in the coming weeks. The operations team for the new facilities has been participating in staged commissioning of these plants for the last month. Handover will allow final commissioning, enabling the processing of first ore and the start of production ramp-up. The markets for titanium feedstocks and zircon remain subdued, but signs of improvement in volume demand in both markets are becoming evident, as demonstrated by increased shipping activity.

Orosur Mining (OMI LN, MCap: £26.2M, 33.5p) has released an update its exploration activities in Chile.
In this news:

Anillo

• Successful completion of CSAMT (Controlled Source Audio-frequency Magneto Telluric) survey, to pinpoint the location of sub-vertical silica-bearing structures which may host economic gold-silver mineralization
• The Company will commence drill testing the highest priority targets in May, 2013.

Pantanillo

• New geological mapping and sampling has confirmed the evidence of a high sulfidation gold system under a steam heated zone at Quebrada Pantanillo
• Additional activities over the last 6 months have been focused on the evaluation of new, potentially higher grade, exploration targets that lie outside of the existing mineral resource. This potential high sulfidation gold system is located approximately 4km East-Southeast of Pantanillo Norte where the Company has defined a maiden National Instrument 43-101 measured and indicated mineral resource of 47Mt at 0.69 grams of gold per tonne for 1.05Moz of gold
• The Company is currently evaluating next summer campaign including geophysics and drilling at the new areas starting in November 2013.

FD Comment:
Orosur continues to remain focussed on sorting out production at San Gregorio where according to the Company's announcement last week further operational issues continue to emerge. As a result exploration outside Uruguay will remain restricted. However, it is encouraging that drilling will start at Anillo next month and the Company remains keen to demonstrate commerciality at both Anillo and Pantanillo.

Argos Resources (ARG LN, MCap: £36.4M, 16.8p) - Countdown Starts: Argos has secured an extension to the second phase of its exploration licence, by a further 12 months to 25th November 2016. This has provided some much needed breathing space to the Company, allowing it to potentially leverage off of the synergies that may be offered by Premier Oil and Rockhopper's development drilling campaign, which should be underway by then, if a 2017 start-up is still mooted, and allow the Company to either secure funding, if it is going it alone, or seek a farmin partner; either way the Company will require funding in the next 12 months, which may offset the positive effect that today's news has on the share price.

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Gulfsands (HOLD, 150p) (GPX LN, MCap: 97.9M, 80p) - The Race is On: Today's results from Gulfsands are not so much about the top line, which has been decimated by the exclusion of its Syrian operations, but about the cash balances and the outlook. Management must be credited with not waiting for fortune to turn in the Company's favour as it has sought investments elsewhere to offset the impact of its exposure to Syria. with ~$90M in the bank and an ambitious investment programme, the longer-term outlook (ex Syria) hinges on the ability of the Company to achieve sustainable cash flows from its new operations before the cash balance is consumed. This notwithstanding, the Company can do more to help itself by cutting the cash portion of the salary bill, replacing it with a non-cash share element; in these situations cash is king, and management must lead the way. Given the acute nature of the timing, we are raising our risking on the stock, and as a result, reducing our Target Price to 150p, but reiterating our HOLD Recommendation, as the valuation impinges on the final outcome of its Syrian operations.
In this news:

• Execution of agreement to acquire Cabre Maroc Limited in December 2012 providing good oil and gas exploration opportunities
• Award of two operated exploration licences in Colombia post year end in Putumayo and Llanos basins
• Increased participation in Chorbane and Kerkouane permits in Tunisia
• Operatorship of Chorbane Permit secured
• Tested Sidi Dhaher well, onshore Tunisia
• Free cash balances at year-end of $91.0M (2011: $124.2M).

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JKX (JKX LN, MCap: £131.1M, 73.8p) - Production Isn't the Only Thing to Look At: Today's annual results do not read well for JKX, production is down, operating profit is down and from our perspective, the cash flow is down too; the only bright spots have been the increase in reserves and the strengthening prices. For a Company this size, we are becoming increasingly concerned that the SG&A line in the accounts is becoming bloated, and this, coupled with the fact that there is less than 1 month of revenues in cash, makes the Company vulnerable. There has been one difficult period for the Company to weather in the last few years and the concern is that should there be any headwinds in the immediate future, that JKX may well find itself in a position where it endures a disproportionate amount of pain as a result. Still, the Company is exiting a period of investment and production should start to strengthen, which should reflect in the cash flow, but the Company also needs to focus on cost containment and sweating the assets while there is still the opportunity to rebuild its financial position.
In this news:

Key Financials

• Group revenue $202.9M (2011: $236.9M)
• Group production 8,281 boepd (2011: 9,045 boepd)
• Gas realisations in Ukraine $12.1/Mcf (2011:$9.6/Mcf)
• Cash flow from operations $109.3m (2011: $124.2M)
• Operating profit (before exceptional charges) $51.6M (2011: $82.0M)
• Non-cash exceptional charges of $45.8M (2011: nil)
• Capital expenditure $67.3M (2011: $162.0M)

Operational Highlights 

• Commercial gas sales and ramp-up of production from Koshekhablskoye field in Russia
• Upward revision of 2P reserves to 93.8 MMboe, a reserves replacement ratio of 208%
• Award of Rudenkovskoye multi-stage frac contract, execution Q2 2013
• Frac preparation work nearing completion at well R-103 in Rudenkovskoye, Ukraine
• Approval of the Elizavetovskoye field development plan in Ukraine
• Successful exploration drilling at Zaplavskoye exploration licence in Ukraine encountering highly productive reservoirs

Outlook

• Solid financial platform following repayment of short term debt and completion of a $40M 5-year convertible bond
• Fully-funded development programmes in both Ukraine and Russia
• Focus in Russia now on expansion of plant capacity to 60 MMcfd at minimum capital cost
• Strong gas realisations in Ukraine expected to be maintained through 2013
• Continued focus on growth opportunities in the gas markets in Ukraine and Russia.

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Tullow Oil (TLW LN, MCap: £10813.3M, 1195p) - Housekeeping: Today's announcement that Tullow is selling its interests in Bangladesh for ~$42M doesn't really warrant much interest in the context of its wider portfolio, but what is does do is underline the fact that the Company has reached the point where it has critical mass, and can now start to highgrade the portfolio. We would expect Pakistan to be the next to go so that its focus falls on the North Sea, Latin America and principally Africa.

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Alexander Mining PLC (AXM LN, MCap: £6.7M, 4.1p) announced that its MetaLeach Limited ("MetaLeach") subsidiary has received notification that its Mexico patent application for a Method for Extracting Zinc from Aqueous Ammoniacal Solutions has been granted. The patent, number 303330, has a standard term of twenty years from the effective date of 22 December 2009 (being the date of original filing of the PCT Application from which the Mexico patent is derived). The patent application describes a method for extracting zinc from an aqueous ammoniacal zinc solution containing impurities, the method comprising the steps of:

(i) contacting the aqueous ammoniacal zinc solution containing impurities with an organic phase comprising an ammonium salt of an organic extractant dissolved in a hydrophobic diluent, allowing transfer of the zinc to the organic phase and transfer of ammonium to the aqueous phase, thereby providing a zinc-enriched, ammonium-depleted organic phase and an ammonium-enriched, zinc-depleted aqueous phase containing impurities;

(ii) separating the zinc-enriched, ammonium-depleted organic phase from the ammonium-enriched, zinc-depleted aqueous phase containing impurities;

(iii) contacting the zinc-enriched, ammonium-depleted organic phase with an aqueous solution containing positively charged species, allowing transfer of the zinc from the organic phase and transfer of positively charged species from the aqueous phase, thereby providing an aqueous zinc solution and an organic phase containing a zinc-depleted organic extractant; and

(iv) recovering the zinc from the aqueous zinc solution.

Gemfields PLC (GEM LN, MCap: £160.6M, 29.8p) announced that a Zambian Government press release on April 5^th 2013 seemingly restrains emerald sales from its 75% owned Kagen emerald mine, the world's largest, outside of Zambia. The Kagem mine generated revenues of $160M in 2012 from 11 auctions.

Hummingbird Resources PLC (HUM LN, MCap: £25.4M, 47.5p) announced the results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment on its Dugbe 1 Project in Liberia, West Africa. The PEA was conducted by Wardell Armstrong International a leading independent mining consultancy, with input from a number of other internationally recognised firms. The project is forecast to give a post-tax NPV of $337M at a 10% discount rate for a 5Mt PA owner-operated mine giving an IRR of 43% (assuming a US$1,500/oz gold price) with a capital cost of to build a 3.5Mtpa tank leach operation of US$212M with a payback period of 3 years. Over a 20 year mine life it is forecast to generate free cash flow of $954M with an average annual gold production of 125Koz. The project has a low strip ratio of 3:1 at Tuzon and potential recovery of up to 90% with significant potential for further optimisation.

Ironveld (IRON LN, MCap: £12.1M, 4.3p) has released a resource update following drilling on the farms Harriets Wish, Aurora and Cracouw (collectively known as the "HACRA properties").
In this news:

• Mineral Resource reported in accordance with the JORC Code announced for the Farms Harriets Wish, Aurora and Cracouw
• Increase in Indicated Mineral Resource to 13.6mt of Iron in situ
• Total Project Mineral Resource increased to 32.2mt of Iron in situ
• Sufficient recoverable Iron in situ to produce one million tons per annum of pig iron for 25 years.

FD Comment:
These results are similar to those received from the Farm Altona. The drilling on the Main Magnetite Layer made 34 vertical and a single inclined intersection. The total resource is now 80.01Mt with 54.8% Fe₂O₃, 10.7% TiO₂, 0.85% V₂O₅ and 16.5% SiO₂.

Landore Resources (LND LN, MCap: £13.4M, 3.9p) has released a drilling update on its Scorpion Zone Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-PGEs project on the Junior Lake Property, Ontario, Canada.
In this news:

• Drilling on the exploration target immediately west of the B4-7 deposit within the Scorpion Zone successfully intersected massive sulphide mineralisation, with drill-hole 0413-470 reporting 5m at 0.87% Ni, 0.53% Cu, 0.08% Co, and 531ppb Pd
• Alpha Zone mineralisation has also been intersected in the Exploration Target, with drill hole 0413-470 reporting 3m at 0.73% Ni, 0.15% Cu, 0.04% Co, 3,283ppb Pd, and 240ppb Pt
• Landore has initiated Pre-Feasibility Studies on the combined B4-7 Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-PGEs deposit and VW Nickel Deposit.

FD Comment:
The latest drilling has intersected good grades which confirm the continuation of the B4-7 massive sulphide mineralisation.
The 2012 drilling programme which led to the recent resource upgrade to 2,695kt at 1.24% Nickel equivalent (NiEq) for 33,248 tonnes of contained metal also identified an exploration target of a potential 1.5-2mt. This latest drilling has indicated the mineralisation is there and the grade appear similar to previous results although it's too early to determine the actual size of the additional resource. In addition the PFS has now started including metallurgical and geotechnical works with the independent engineers currently being selected. A drill programme for metallurgical, geotechnical and infra-structure condemnation is also currently being prepared to be carried out during 2Q/3Q'13.

Metals Exploration PLC (MTL LN, MCap: £48.5M, 5.9p) announced an operations update on matters relating to its Runruno gold-molybdenum project and exploration activities in the Philippines. Commitments have been received to raise approximately US$57.7M via a share placing, subject to shareholder approval, to fund the development of the Runruno gold project. Shareholders are to be offered the opportunity to participate via an Open Offer which could raise an additional Euro4.5M. Metals Exploration is in discussions with potential lenders other than Solomon Capital Limited to secure approximately US$70M in debt funding to allow the full construction of Runruno and the acquisition of the mining fleet for post construction operations - the debt facility is expected to be agreed by the end of 2013. There is a 78.9% upgrade in the Inferred JORC Resource for the Malilibeg South area to 340,000oz of gold at 1.4 g/t Au. The Runruno JORC 2012 compliant resource base increased now contains 1.73Moz of gold at 1.63g/t Au (combined Runruno Main and Malilibeg South resources), up from 1.58Moz of gold contained at 1.69 g/t Au. The bulk of early construction work now complete and within budget - outstanding work expected to be concluded by the end of Q2. Permanent power will be supplied to site from the national grid; stage 1 an overhead power line from Maddiangat to Runruno (22km) to supply construction power is 60% complete. The majority of the mining fleet purchased and is currently at port in Manila. Metals Exploration to design and construct the processing plant using specialist contractors and sub-contractors after negotiations with Leighton Contractors (Asia) Limited to enter into an EC&P contract were terminated.

Ortac Resources Ltd. (OTC LN, MCap: £17.8M, 7p) announced the results of the Pre-Feasibility Study on its Šturec gold and silver deposit, located in Central Slovakia ('Šturec' or 'the Project'). This announcement focuses on the gold and silver production potential for the Šturec deposit - which is one of the components in the concept of a combined precious metals centre, geothermal heating and integrated tourism project ('the Combined Project') to be unveiled later this month. There is a maiden ore reserve of 13.97Mt at 1.90g/t gold equivalent containing 873,000 oz Au Eq reported in accordance with the JORC Code. This represents the portion of the 1.3Moz Au Eq Mineral Resource, as reported in April 2012 that has transferred through to the Proven and Probable Ore Reserve categories. The Šturec project base case demonstrates good economic viability:

• Has a Net Present Value  at an 8% discount rate (pre tax) of US$195M (post tax US$145M) and an Internal Rate of Return of 30% (at US$1,343/oz Au Eq net price) confirms potential robust value creation for the shareholders and the local region
• Cash operating costs are US$555 per oz Au Eq (excluding royalties, local synergetic projects and partnerships); with a projected project life of 11 years with average annual production of 71,000 oz Au Eq
• Pre-production Capital Expenditure is forecast to be US$124M (including 15% contingency on processing and infrastructure items); with a life of project revenue of circa US$1,046M (€817M); and approximately US$150M (€117M) payable to Slovak Authorities over project life US$98M (€77M) of taxes and US$52M (€41M) of royalties).

Patagonia Gold (PGD LN, MCap: £111.1M, 13p) has appointed Manuel de Prado and Glenn Featherby as Non-Executive Directors of the Company with immediate effect.

Randgold (RRS LN, MCap: £4.9M, 5340p) and Goldstone Resources (GRL LN, MCap: £5.9M, 1.8p) have announced a Joint Venture Agreement over the Sangola gold project in Senegal.
In this news:

• Joint venture with Randgold for the exploration and potential development of a mine at Sangola
• Randgold to fund all costs up to and including the completion of a pre-feasibility study indicating that the mining of at least 1Moz of gold is feasible
• Joint venture to be owned 51% by Randgold and 49% by GoldStone with GoldStone having the election to contribute towards a feasibility study or dilute to 35%.

FD Comment:
This is great news for Goldstone which has been making great progress over the past 18 months on various projects including Sangola, which is 30km SW of Randgold's 3Moz Massawa deposit. Randgold are committed to a minimum of 10,000m of RC drilling pa up until the PFS is completed. If the project is not economic or Randgold give 90 day's notice the JV will cease, however the agreement materially de-risks the project for Goldstone which has no on-going capital commitment until the project is shown to be commercial.

Borders & Southern (HOLD, 18p) (BOR LN, MCap: £82.3M, 17p) - Outlook Buoyant, Just Distant: Today's results are not about the numbers, save for the all-important cash balance, but more about the outlook. Once there were overruns and the accumulation because a gas liquids discovery, we believe that the development costs and time horizon extended appreciably. While we believe that there will need to be at least one more significant raise in the next 12 - 24 months to fund a future programme. this, we feel, will be best achieved following by the Falkland Island Government's (FIG's) announcement that it will allow limited onshore development, which will mean that the entire South Falklands Basin will be able to start the development countdown; this will also benefit the North Falklands Basin as it will permit developments such as Johnson to be developed too. In short, we believe that the Company has all the right ingredients to make a significant return for its shareholders, but it requires a little help from the FIG. we are reiterating our HOLD Recommendation and 18p Target Price.
In this news:

• Safely executed a two well drilling programme in the Falkland Islands
• Reported a gas condensate discovery with the Company's first exploration well - current estimated most likely recoverable resource: 200 million barrels
• Completed post-well sub-surface, engineering and commercial evaluations
• Reduced risk profile of the prospect inventory
• Entered second exploration phase of the licences
• Post year-end activities - completed 3D seismic acquisition and commenced farm-out process
• Cash balance as at 31 December 2012: $56 million.

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Faroe Petroleum (FPM LN, MCap: £293.1M, 134p) - Darwin is Evolution: Today's news that the Darwin well is dry will undoubtedly be a disappointment, and this news will be seen to compound what will have already been a measure of disappointment following the drilling of North Uist. Like North Uist, Darwin is an exploration well in a frontier location, and hence it will allow the explorationists to sharpen their pencil further as the data will be integrated into the existing seismic and help refine the understanding of the geology. While the shares may trade down on today's news, we believe that this is an opportunity to increase exposure to the Company, as we believe that the balance in the rest of the portfolio will allow the Company to shrug off any eventual disappointment quickly, and with further drilling to come, we believe that the outlook remains buoyant.

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Premier Oil (BUY, 485p) (PMO LN, MCap: £1919.6M, 375.1p) - Spring in Norway: Today's announcement that Luno II is a discovery is welcome news for the Company, as this well forms part of PMO's 2013 growth strategy. With PMO holding 30% and the prospect a mean size of 120mm bbl, its impact could be significant. While this is certainly good news, testing will have to be completed and the results assessed. Following this news, however, we are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 485p Target Price.
In this news:

• Luno II prospect in PL has resulted in a potentially significant oil discovery
• • PMO has 30%
  • Will now be tested to obtain flow rate information
• The well is on the south western flank of the Utsira High approximately 15km south of the Edvard Grieg field.
• The well encountered a significant gross reservoir section of close to 200m
• • Net oil column in excess of 40m
  • The oil water contact was encountered at approximately 1,950m below mean sea level
  • Initial indications suggest the petroleum system in Luno II is different to that of the nearby Edvard Grieg and Johan Sverdrup fields
  • A comprehensive coring and logging programme has been performed and the discovery will now be drill stem tested.

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Trinity Exploration (TRIN LN, MCap: £112.6M, 118.7p) - Solid Start to 2013: Today's trading update has started 2013 in a positive manner for the Company. Given that the Company has just exited an RTO and funding, this is the kind of news that will have investors feeling more comfortable about their investment - which in turn should be reflected in the share's movement. Additionally, it also points towards the potential within Trinidad, which should also bode well for the likes of Range Resources and Lengi Gas and Oil. This however, is a double edged sword, as it also starts to build a peer base, which will start to allow for direct comparisons.
In this news:

• Current net production of 3,911 bopd (4,579 bopd gross)
• Four onshore wells drilled and completed with average initial production rates of 150 bopd per well (versus budget of 50 bopd)
• Deployment of Trinity's operational management team at Galeota and implementation of new procedures complete; shut-in wells at Trintes coming back online at expected rates
• Rig Sharing Agreement executed with three other operators for the Rowan Gorilla III jack-up rig. Trinity is taking the first rig slot and will drill its first exploration well on the Galeota licence in Q3 2013.

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Xcite Energy (XEL LN, MCap: £318.1M, 117.8p) - Proof of The Pudding is in the Eating: Today's upgrade in reserves underlines the work that the Company has done on the reservoir and just desserts for the hard work and faith that the founders put in to the asset. We continue to believe that the asset is a solid prospect and the near-term outlook is very bright indeed. What we continue have a lack of is clarity on the longer-term commerciality of the project, which to us, still hasn't been resolved. We hate being a fly in the ointment, but we want to hear more about what the technical team has done, or is doing, to ensure that all that can be done to understand the escalation of costs that will occur (on a per barrel of oil produced basis), and that the Company has mitigation strategies in place to offset / handle these issues; we don't doubt that the questions we are asking have been asked and answered internally. Still, there is also a belief that this may be somebody else's problem, as we feel certain that the management/shareholders would accept an offer for the Company if the price was right.
In this news:

• Mean PIIP for the Bentley field of 909mm bbl, increased from 550mm bbl as previously reported in February 2012
• 1P, 2P and 3P oil reserves for the Bentley field of 198mm bbl, 250mm bbl and 312mm bbl, respectively, based on an initial 35 year production period
• Projected P50 peak production rate of approximately 45,000 stb/d in the first phase development, increasing to approximately 57,000 stb/d in the second phase development
• NPV10 (after tax) value of oil reserves for the Bentley field of approximately $1.5 billion, $2.2 billion and $2.8 billion on a 1P, 2P and 3P basis, respectively
• An additional 46mm bbl of P50 Contingent Resources assigned to the Bentley field for recoverable volumes beyond the initial 35 years production period
• Aggregate, unrisked mean Prospective Resources assigned of approximately 96mm bbl, relating to prospects adjacent to the Bentley field and prospects as awarded in the recent UK Offshore 27th Licence Round.

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Arian Silver Corp. (AGQ LN, MCap: £32.7M, 10.8p) announced the Company has drawn down £262,000 of its £5M Standby Equity Distribution Agreement with YA Global Master SPV Ltd, as announced by the Company on 27 September 2012.

Under the terms of the SEDA, the Company has allotted, conditional on admission, 2,493,212 Common Shares of no par value to YA at a price of £0.105085 per share. This price is calculated under the terms of the SEDA. The proceeds will contribute to working capital and other costs in the short-term, facilitating the acquisition of the El Bote mill, as announced on 15 March 2013.

Mwana Africa (MWA LN, MCap: £51.7M, 4.6p) has released an update on the February's Leach Tank failure at Freda Rebecca.
In this news:

• During March a total of 50kt of ore was milled at a grade of 2.5g/t achieving a recovery of 80.2%
• Normal production throughput has been recommenced as from the 1st of April using tanks 1, 4 and 5 as leach tanks (rather than tanks 1, 2 and 3) with 8 absorption tanks, to ensure that minimum leach times required for full throughput are maintained
• Plan to run full production whilst bringing tanks 1-3 as leach tanks with 10 absorption tanks over the next few months
• The planned rehabilitation of tanks 2 and 3 has commenced. Repairs to tank 2 have progressed well and will be completed during April. On completion of the repairs to tank 2, the system configuration will be changed so that tanks 1, 2 and 4 will be used as leach tanks. Construction work to replace tank 3 has commenced and an external contractor is on site to complete removal of damaged tank infrastructure and commence the build
• Environmental Management Authority ("EMA") has acknowledged the mine's compliance with EMA's clean up requirements. Freda, in conjunction with EMA, has since continued to monitor the discharge levels in the drainage canal and these have returned to acceptable levels
• The Mines Inspectorate has completed its preliminary investigation report providing recommendations for the required structural tank repairs. Freda has in addition reviewed its internal standards for pressure and storage vessels. As part of that review ultrasonic thickness tests and integrity tests have been carried out on 9 out of the 13 tanks to date. In addition a structural audit has been conducted across the complete plant.

FD Comment:
It is very good news that the environmental impact has been minimal. In terms of production the Company's guidance remains unchanged at 63Koz having been downgraded from 70Koz as the impact of the incident was calculated. However, production appears to be back on track and although we expected recoveries to be lower due to the switch of the adsorption tank to replace the damage leach tank, it is back to the level achieved in the Dec'Q. With the plant now back at full production since the 1st April, we may see this fall by up to 5% until the new tanks are in place.

ECR Minerals PLC (ECR LN, MCap: £1.5M, 0.15p) announced the issue and allotment of 14,644,351 ordinary shares of 0.1p at 0.1434p per share in connection with an advance of £21,000 under the Company's Standby Equity Distribution Agreement with YA Global Master SPV Lt. The proceeds of the Advance will augment the Company's working capital.

Pursuant to this announcement application has been made for 14,644,351 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. Dealings are expected to commence on 10 April 2013. Following admission, the Company's issued ordinary share capital will consist of 1,110,623,551 Ordinary Shares. The new Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the Ordinary Shares of the Company currently traded on AIM.

Sierra Rutile Ltd. (SRX LN, MCap: £285.2M, 57p) announced an operational update for the first quarter of 2013. Rutile production of 25,087t, a 21% increase on Q1 2012 production; and ilmenite production was 5,567t, a 12% increase on Q1 2012 production. The Lanti Dry Mining project was officially opened by The Sierra Leone Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources in January 2013 and continues to ramp-up production in-line with budget. The feasibility study and front-end engineering and design study for the Gangama Dry Mining project continue to progress on schedule with completion of the study expected in Q2 2013. To-date, the study has shown capital costs to be in line with pre-feasibility study estimates, demonstrating the accuracy of the PFS estimates and the significant know-how gained in the successful implementation of the Lanti Dry Mining project. Furthermore, though twice the throughput of the Lanti Dry Mining project, it is anticipated that the Gangama Dry Mining project can be implemented in a similar 12-month timeframe to the Lanti Dry Mining project. The speed of construction of the Gangama Dry Mining project gives SRL significant flexibility to time or potentially stage the project to meet optimum market demand for our high-value natural rutile product. Any delay in advancing the project after the feasibility study is complete is likely to result in additional cash flows being available to pay dividends.

Prices for Q1 sales remained at Q4 2012 levels. These prices, however, remain at very high levels when compared to historical prices for all SRL's products. Furthermore, SRL has noted the recent news of increases to pigment prices from a number of SRL's customers and, combined with increased inbound enquiries for its rutile product, SRL continues to believe that there will be a strengthening of the market during 2013.

URU Metals (URU LN, MCap: £2.9M, 2.5p) has disposed of its legacy holding in UrAmerica and appoints auditors.
In this news:

• Disposed of entire holding (7.36%) of private company UrAmerica for £200,000 to Huntress (CI) Nominees Limited
• Funds to be used on drilling programme at Nueltin, Canada
• Also appointed Price Waterhouse Coopers as the Auditor of the Company.

FD Comment:
With the historical links between the two companies gone, there was no point URU Metals retaining its holding in UrAmerica, a private uranium exploration company in Argentina and more recently Paraguay.

Providence Resources / Lansdowne Oil & Gas (PRV LN/LOGP LN, MCap: £400.6M/£64.8M, 635p/47.3p) - FID?: Today's Barryroe update from Providence should now be the data package that the engineers need before finalising the Barryroe development options, which in turn will lead to a final investment decision. What will then be required is development finding, which will necessitate both debt and equity. These are exciting times for not only Providence and Lansdowne, but the wider Irish offshore industry, as we believe that 2013 will see the start of a significant amount of activity in all of its basins.
In this news:

• Basal Wealden oil reservoir resource audit complete
• • Competent Person's Report resource audit by Netherland Sewell
• Total gross audited on-block Barryroe 2C recoverable resources of 346mm boe.

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Faroe Petroleum (FRP LN, MCap: £299.5M, 141p) - North Uist Commercial?: Today's news that the North Uist well isn't the gusher that everybody hopes for when thinking of exploration drilling success. However, the well hasn't been declared a failure yet either; we believe that only those wells that find a commercial accumulation can be deemed a success. Nevertheless, that this well is currently still under review is promising, and the fact that this is a frontier area must also be borne in mind, as regardless of whether North Uist is a success or not, it will allow the explorationists to sharpen their pencil further as the data will be integrated into the existing seismic and help refine the understanding of the geology. While the shares may trade down on today's news, we believe that this is an opportunity to increase exposure to the Company, as we believe that the balance in the rest of the portfolio will allow the Company to shrug off any eventual disappointment quickly, and with further drilling to come, we believe that the outlook remains buoyant.

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African Eagle Resources PLC (AFE LN, MCap: £9M, 1.3p) announced the discovery of nickel sulphide and platinum group elements (PGEs) in the strata below Dutwa including a shallow mineralised zone immediately below the known laterite deposits at Wamangola. The following data has been compiled after a re-investigation of existing drill intersections from the Company's Dutwa Project in Tanzania. The nickel grades were around 0.5% nickel and were over widths of up to 12m, with several holes finishing in mineralisation. Several holes also reported PGM's of up to 3g/t. During the resource drilling programme, conducted between 2008 and 2012, at the Dutwa nickel laterite orebodies, it was Company procedure for all the drill holes to extend through the laterite horizon and ensure delineation and to terminate in the underlying bedrock. A review of these bedrock intersections has revealed a number of holes with elevated nickel and PGE values which appeared to be inconsistent with the known laterite mineralisation. A recent re-examination of the samples indicated the presence of sulphide mineralisation. Selected samples had previously been sent to Rhodes University in South Africa for petrographic and microprobe analysis which confirmed the presence of cobalt rich and cobalt poor pentlandite, i.e. nickel sulphide.

Bassari Resources Limited (BSR AU, MCap: A$12.6M, A$0.03) announced a capital raising of $2.47M (before costs), comprising a $1.97M placement under the Company's 15% placement capacity, to place 85.8M new fully paid ordinary shares at $0.023 per share to institutional and sophisticated investors and a $0.5M placement, subject to shareholder approval, to Mr Alex Mackenzie (to be appointed to the Board), associates and related parties.

The proceeds from the capital raising will be used to clear trade creditors and provide working capital while the Company undertakes a strategic review which will consider corporate and operational strategies with a view to maximising value for all shareholders.

Caza Oil & Gas (CAZA LN, MCap: £13.7M, 8.9p) - 2013 makes a Promising Start: Today's update continues to outline the progress that the Company is making. 2012 was essentially a year of consolidation, preparing for what is hoped to be growth in 2013. The start, thus far, appears to be delivering on the promise, and while the proof of that activity will be in the production numbers, you can't do that without drilling. We will be keeping an eye on the Company's progress as 2013 progresses.

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Petroceltic International (BUY, 15p) (PCI LN, MCap: £296.2M, 6.8p) - Italy is Just Difficult: Today's update from the Company while upbeat, details the difficulty of doing business in Italy. While the fiscal terms and prevalence of infrastructure make lower the bar for commerciality, Italian bureaucracy is still the single largest obstacle to growth in hydrocarbon production; we are not carrying any value for the Italian acreages at present, due to this issue. We believe that the Company's portfolio, and future growth potential, lies outside of Europe and as such, we see no impact on our valuation as a result of this news. We are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 15p Target Price.

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Aureus Mining Inc (AUE LN, MCap: £85.8M, 38.8p) announced that the Liberian Environmental Protection Agency has approved the Relocation Action Plan and the Community Development Plan for the relocation of the Larjor and Kinjor villages in respect of the development of the Company's New Liberty Gold Project in the Republic of Liberia. The granting of these approvals is the culmination of an extensive consultation process with Interested and Affected Parties, the community and the relevant Governmental departments of Liberia which commenced in December 2010. The RAP and the CDP have been completed in accordance with Liberian legislation and International Finance Corporation and World Health Organisation principles and standards. The granting of these approvals means that Aureus can proceed with the village relocation at New Liberty.

Baobab Resources (BAO LN, MCap: £63M, 21.1p) has released a resource upgrade at its 85% owned Tete, pig iron and ferro-vanadium project.
In this news:

• International independent consultants Coffey Mining Limited have finalised a JORC resource estimate for the Tenge/Ruoni prospect based on the completed results of the 2012 infill drilling programme
• The Tete Project's global resource base now reports 727Mt ('inferred' and 'indicated'), 553Mt of which is defined underlying the 2.5km² footprint of the Tenge/Ruoni prospect
• 217Mt has been upgraded to an 'indicated' category at Tenge/Ruoni, representing an encouraging conversion ratio from Inferred to Indicated of 73% at Tenge and 88% at Ruoni North from the original March 2012 inferred resource estimates
• The Definitive Feasibility Study ('DFS') drilling programme commenced at Tenge on 2 February 2013. The objective of the programme is to elevate resources that lie within the Stage 1 pit shell to a 'measured' category, as well as collect representative material for the next round of metallurgical test work
• Following the successful completion of a 1Mtpa Pre-Feasibility Study ('PFS') which delivered a pre-tax NPV10 of US$1.3B Baobab is now assessing a range of strategic corporate opportunities. To aid in the evaluation and implementation of the options, the Company is enlisting the services of a corporate advisor. The selection process is nearing completion and the successful candidate will be announced shortly.

FD Comment:
The new resource is now 726.9Mt Indicated and Inferred at 33.8% Fe, 0.4% V2O5, 12.5% TiO2 and the Company is able to demonstrate a significant resource and conversion factor as it upgrades the resource. However, the focus is now on how the Company plans to bring the project into production. The positive PFS required an upfront capex of US$1,143M and this will be why the Company is looking to appoint a strategic advisor. This process won't be quick and in the meantime the Company is progressing the DFS drilling programme.

Beowulf Mining PLC (BEM LN, MCap: £25.3M, 12p) announced the completion of an upgraded independent JORC Code compliant resource estimate for the Kallak North deposit, together with an operational update for the Company's wholly owned Kallak iron ore project. An updated independent JORC Code compliant resource estimate has been completed by GeoVista AB for the Kallak North deposit comprising 88.8Mt of Indicated Resources grading at 27.7% iron (Fe) and 55.3Mt of Inferred Resources grading at 28.2% Fe. The resource was geologically interpreted and modelled with the assistance of consultants from MICON International Co. Limited and AB Scandinavian GeoPool Limited, and reported by GeoVista AB at a 20% Fe cut-off down to a vertical depth of 200m to 350m. The estimate is principally based on a database of the results for 51 diamond drill holes, comprising 10,800m of drilling on the Kallak North deposit.

Obtala Resources (OBT LN, MCap: £19.7M, 7.8p) has announced the disposal of part of its shareholding in Bushveld Minerals Limited*** (BMN LN, MCap: £33.4M, 11.8p).
In this news:

• Endulwini Mining Corporation (Pty) Limited, a private unrelated entity will acquire 100,000,000 Ordinary Shares in Bushveld from the Company at a share price of 13p for a total cash consideration of £13M
• Completion is expected within 45 days and is conditional upon shareholder approval by the Company's shareholders and the Purchaser receiving exchange control approval and final approval from its funding partner
• On completion of this transaction, the Company will retain 30,524,000 ordinary shares, representing 10.75% of the issued share capital of Bushveld
• The proceeds will be escrowed with part of the funds used to grow and develop the agriculture projects in East Africa which is the main strategy of Obtala.

FD Comment:
This is good news for both Obtala and Bushveld. Obtala was trading at a discount to its NAV with its holdings viewed as illiquid due to its size. This partial sale will see an influx of £13M into the £20M Mcap company relieving any financing concerns as its develops its agribusiness. Prior to the sale, Obtala held 46% of Bushveld.

Leni Gas & Oil (LGO LN, MCap: £17.7M, 0.9p) - Inching Forwards: Today's Trinidadian update from the Company highlights the progress that the Company is making in the Goudron field against a backdrop of what can only be described as difficult circumstances. The measured progress thus far is a reflection of the fact that the Company is short of funding, and ideally needs the proceeds from the sale of the Spanish assets to push Goudron redevelopment forward at a pace that achieves critical mass. Still, management must be applauded for achieving what it has done given the limited resources available to it.

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Green Dragon Gas (GDG LN, MCap: £262.2M, 192p) - Time for Development: Today's reserves update underlines the prospectivity of the Company's assets, but what is really required from here on in is production and valorisation of the reserves in the ground. We have been here before, however, and this company has always been one of potential not quite fulfilled. However, with China's industrial demand for gas beginning to accelerate, the Company is in the best position to benefit from the growing demand. CBM production is not a simple straightforward production profile due to the combination of absorption and adsorption mechanisms for trapping the gas in and on the coal. Still, there has been enough time studying these effects now, and it should be well understood. The Company hasn't met its production outlook, which is only partly in response to the difficult production characteristics of CBM. It is now time for management to devote all their time and efforts into sweating the assets. We will keep a watching brief on the Company's progress over the year and monitor the Company's performance.
In this news:

• Total Original Gas In Place of 25.2 Tcf on six blocks
• Net 1P reserves increase 37% to 59 Bcf (2011: 43 Bcf) - 1P NPV 10 increase to US$ 324mn (2011: US$ 263mn)
• Net 2P reserves increase 2% to 313 Bcf (2011: 307 Bcf) - 2P NPV 10 increase to US$ 1.82bn (2011: US$ 1.80bn)
• Net 3P reserves decrease 0.2% to 2,508 Bcf (2011: 2,513 Bcf) - 3P NPV 10 increase to US$12.68bn (2011: US$ 12.61bn).

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Roxi Petroleum (RXP LN, MCap: £23.6M, 4p) - Step Up - Take a Swing…: Today's announcement disclosing the spudding of BNG's well 143, an exploration well, highlights the next stage in the Company's development. The Company has had success at the drill bit, and there is no small amount of excitement building with the start of this programme. The combination of the Company's size and prospects it is targeting means that each has the potential to move the needle. We will maintain a watching brief.

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African Eagle Resources PLC (AFE LN, MCap: £8.9M, 1.3p) announced a corporate and project update as a result of the Company's current Strategic Partner search for the development of the Dutwa Nickel Laterite Project in Northern Tanzania. Following a strategic review undertaken with the assistance of its financial adviser, Cutfield Freeman and Co Ltd., the Company has determined that the priority for the advancement of the Dutwa Project is the search for a strategic partner. This has significantly advanced following a series of recent meetings held with interested parties in Asia and elsewhere, and a number of confidentiality agreements have been signed and a data room established. The interested parties are now working through the available documentation. The Dutwa Nickel Laterite Project is an attractive project due to its favourable mineralogy which allows nickel extraction using straightforward atmospheric tank leaching instead of the complex high pressure acid leaching as required for most nickel laterite projects. Whilst the Strategic Partner search is ongoing, the Board of Directors has determined it is important to effectively manage its resources and revise the near term focus of its development activities.  These changes will result in a reduction in the costs of its operations and optimise financial resources in the near term.

Ariana Resources PLC (AAU LN, MCap: £4.9M, 1.3p) announced that the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Gold Project in Western Turkey has successfully passed the public and ministerial consultation process as part of its Environmental Impact Assessment submission to the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning. The meeting was attended by approximately 100 people from surrounding villages with no opposition to the proposed development of the mine at Kiziltepe. The site selected for the mine and process plant considered suitable by the Provincial Directorate in subsequent communication with Turkish authorities. Here is now a clear path to production for 2014 now in place with one remaining milestone: EIA positive certification, expected in Q3 2013.

EMED Mining Public Ltd* (BUY, 21p) (EMED LN, MCap: £115.5M, 10.4p) announced an update as regards to the announcement by authorities in Cyprus of a proposed restructuring of its banks. In essence, the impact on the Company is to reduce the previously estimated potential cost from circa EUR270,000 to circa EUR110,000.

Highland Gold Mining Ltd (BUY, 181p) (HGM LN, MCap: £278.9M, 85.8p) announced the acquisition of 100% of CJSC Bazovye Metally which holds the mining and exploration rights to the Kekura gold deposit and surrounding licence area, for a consideration of US$212M. An additional US$11M will be paid in H2 2013 to a contractor upon the successful launch of the pilot plant which is currently being completed. The consideration will be in cash and will be funded via a new debt facility of US$250M with Gazprombank, which facility will also allow for additional group operational working capital. The acquisition has received approval to proceed from the Russian anti-monopoly authorities. The Kekura deposit is located in the Chukotka region, approximately 120km due south of Bilibino and 250km east of the Company's Klen development project. Chukotka is one of the fastest growing, investment friendly gold producing regions in Russia with significant exploratory potential.

Based on historical exploration activity, a JORC compliant resource audit by Micon International in 2012 estimated the Kekura deposit resources at approximately 2.89Moz (Indicated & Inferred) at an average ore grade of 8.69g/t. Preliminary studies confirm that the asset can be mined by open pit method, while production will employ conventional gravity and CIL processing technology. Initial testwork indicates favourable ore metallurgy and yielded high metal recoveries by gravitational concentration alone. Kekura is at an advanced stage of development and hosts construction camp facilities for employees and contractors with an independent diesel power supply and ancillary systems already installed. A 150,000 tonnes per annum pilot plant is currently under construction with commissioning expected during H2 2013. The pilot plant is expected to operate through to the end of construction and commissioning of the envisaged main processing facility. This is expected to be fully operational by 2017 with anticipated production ranging from 180,000 - 220,000 oz of gold per annum via 800,000 - 1,000,000 tonnes of ore being processed each year over a minimum ten year production life.

Manas Resources (MSR AU, MCap: A$25.1M, A$0.11) announced that it has finalised plans for a two tranche capital raising of A$5.1M through the issue of 51M shares at 10c each to accelerate permitting and development activities at its 100% owned Shambesai gold project in the Kyrgyz Republic. Upon completion of the capital raising, Manas Resources will have over $9M in cash, allowing it to accelerate pre-development activities at the highgrade, high-margin Shambesai Gold Project, including completion of the ESIA for permitting purposes, construction of the mine camp, commencement of road works and completion of geotechnical and plant site sterilisation drilling. The capital raising will also facilitate negotiations for Shambesai project debt financing. An estimated 10,000m drilling program will commence shortly at Shambesai and Obdilla with the aim to increase resources at both projects.

Minera IRL (BUY, 53p) (MIRL LN, MCap: £57.3M, 38.8p) announced ore grade gold intersections from underground exploration drilling at its Ollachea Project, Peru. All three completed diamond drill holes exploring the eastern strike extent of the Minapampa Zone intersected potentially ore grade gold mineralization. DDH13-T01 intersected 20 meters grading 4.48g/t gold, DDH13-T03 intersected 11m grading 5.47g/t gold and DDH13-T04 intersected 9m grading 5.45 g/t gold. The eastern-most intersection (DDH13-T03) is located approximately 320m east of the eastern limits of the Minapampa resource upon which the successful 2012 Feasibility Study was based, thereby confirming significant strike extent which still remains open ended to the east.

FD Comment:
These are very positive results for Minera, both in the grades and the widths of the intersections. We expect this eventually to lead to increases in the resources at Ollachea, given the increase in strike length, and the fact that the ore body remains open to the east and down dip.

Orosur Mining (OMI LN, MCap: £29.3M, 35.5p) has announced a strategy update and the appointment of an Interim Managing Director.
In this news:

• In October 2012, the Board set out three targets to drive value creation for shareholders:
• • To maximise free cash flow from the San Gregorio mine in the three years to 31 May 2016
  • To find additional gold resources in Uruguay to supplement and potentially extend the mine life at San Gregorio
  • To demonstrate the commercial potential of Anillo and Pantanillo in Chile
• In the next two weeks Company will release an update on the progress at both Anillo and Pantanillo
• Created an exploration team dedicated to expanding Orosur's gold resources in Uruguay with a US$1-2M budget over the next 15 months
• Production at San Gregorio for the year to 31st May 2013 remains on schedule, but operational issues continue to emerge at the mine
• As results Company to focus on cash generation from the mine at San Gregorio rather than on ounces of production
• Ignacio Salazar has taken over as Interim Managing Director of the Company with Juan Lacerda (GM San Gregorio Mine) and Walter Muehlebach (GM Exploration) reporting to him. Ignacio will report to the Chairman until the Company appoints a new Chief Executive Officer
• Former CEO to receive usual benefits up to 31 May 2013, on which date he will receive a lump sum of $200,000 a further $70,582 for unused holiday entitlement, and up to $50,000 for the costs of relocating his family back to Australia.

FD Comment:
Orosur are restructuring its business and focussed on short term cost cutting whilst it irons out the operational issues at San Gregorio. Hopefully the update on Anillo and Pantanillo will give us a bit more visibility over the medium term.

Polo Resources (POL LN, MCap: £69.4M, 25.8p) has announced that Ian Stalker has resigned from the Board with immediate effect in order to focus more attention on his other business interests.

Bowleven (BUY, 250p) (BLVN LN, MCap: £282.2M, 97.5p) - Positive Update: Today's news that the DST has confirmed the initial projections for the Middle Isongo will provide further comfort to the fertiliser plant's development team. That the liquids reserves continue to increase is also significant, as it will help with the overall commerciality. While this is all good news, and should be reflected in today's share price, we believe that the key to unlocking the valuation potential of the Company's Cameroonian assets will lie in the approval of the fertiliser plant, which we believe will be positive, given the significant regional need for fertiliser products. We are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 250p Target Price.
In this news:

• Condensate-rich gas flowed on test confirming significant liquids content of gas
• Maximum flow rate of 23mm scfpd and 3,155 bcpd (total over 7,000 boepd) delivered on test demonstrating productivity at commercial rates from Middle Isongo
• High quality condensate (43 degree API) produced on test.

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Heritage Oil (BUY, 340p) (HOIL LN, MCap: £465.4M, 179p) - Kurdistan Mark II?: Heritage has entered a new region, and while it is not as risky or as undeveloped as a number of other regions it has operated in, the fact that Papua New Guinea ("PNG") isn't in vogue at the moment makes its entry very timely indeed. Discoveries have already been made, which lowers the risks considerably. We are not assigning any value to this investment currently, but believe that it will ultimately add to our existing 340p valuation, or our BUY Recommendation.
In this news:

• Two licences, Petroleum Prospecting Licence No:319 ("PPL 319") and Petroleum Retention Licence No:13 ("PRL 13"), have gross areas of approximately 2,025 and 160 square kilometres respectively
• Heritage will earn an 80% working interest in each licence and be appointed operator
• The licences are located in a known hydrocarbon bearing region that includes the multi-TCF Triceratops and Elk/Antelope discoveries
• Seismic was recently acquired on PPL 319
• The work programme will be expanded with further seismic acquisition and drilling
• Heritage management believe there is additional exploration potential within both of the licences.

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Max Petroleum (BUY, 10p) (MXP LN, MCap: £80.5M, 4.4p) - Inching Forwards: While today's announcement regarding the successful completion of a development well on Zhana Makat isn't the slam-dunk that would be delivered if it was the same news from an exploration well, it is nonetheless welcome. As we have highlighted previously, we believe that the Company, with this management team, is in a good position to trade out of its existing position, and valorise its asset base. We are taking this opportunity to reiterate our BUY Recommendation and 10p Target Price.

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Petrel Resources (PET LN, MCap: £11.5M, 17.4p) - Exploration Progress: Petrel's announcement that it has completed the initial work on the prospective licences is promising, and highlights the growing interest in the Porcupine Basin. With Exxon expected to announce drilling in the region imminently, we believe that this will be the starting gun for investors to start looking at the prospectivity a lot more closely. With a number of operating interests in a variety of prospective locations (Ghana, Iraq & elsewhere is Ireland) we have put Petrel on our watch list.
In this news:

• Completed the initial work on its two highly prospective Licencing Options (1,400km²) in the Porcupine Basin, offshore west Ireland
• Now moving forward in talks with prospective partners
• The following work has been completed:
• • The interpretation of 3D seismic data in the south-east part of Quad 35
  • Acoustic inversion of selected lines to assist in the assessment of the targeted reservoir sections
  • Detailed internal seismic mapping of two mounded Lower Cretaceous fan features in the Option 11/4 area
  • Detailed seismic mapping of the Eocene delta in Quad 35 (Option 11/4)
  • Mapping of Lower Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary prospects within Quad 45 (Option 11/6)
  • Progressed the seismic/sequence stratigraphic and provenance studies to characterise the depositional facies of the Lower Tertiary and Lower Cretaceous successions in the option blocks.

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Volga Gas (VGAS LN, MCap: £70.5M, 89p) - Next Phase Essential: Today's results announcement from the Company highlights progress in the year, and with its upgrade programme well underway, the question now turns to the next stages of development, and how to fund it. We believe that now the obligation phase of the exploration licences has been largely completed, that the focus will increasingly be on development. In this instance, the cash requirements will be dictated by the pace as which the management team will drive development at. We believe that there is sufficient strength in the operational performance and using pre-existing resources to continue at the current pace for 2013, but thereafter, the pace of development will be driven by the additional resources available for the prior investment, and the availability of further resources. We believe that the ramp-up in production will be quick during 2013, and the Company will be well placed to leverage off of the debt and equity markets as the year progresses.
In this news:

Financial Highlights:

• Revenues of US$28.3million (2011 US$28.6million)
• EBITDA of US$8.0million (2011 US$8.9million)
• Net operating cash flow of US$5.4million (2011: US$5.7million)
• US$7.0 million in cash at 31 December 2012 (US$10.1million at 31 December 2011)
• • No exposure to Cypriot banks as all cash balances are held in bank accounts in the UK and Russia
• Bank debt of US$ 8.0million at 31 December 2012 (31 December 2011: loans payable to Trans Nafta of US$4.2million)

Production & Development

• Group average production of 1,995 barrels of oil equivalent per day (2011: 2,147 boepd)
• During January and February 2013 production averaged 2,679boepd, with the Dobrinskoye gas plant operating at near full capacity

Reserve Report

• Independent evaluation of reserves completed by Miller & Lents in 2012.
• Proven and Probable reserves of 44 million barrels of oil equivalent as at 1 August 2012 with a NPV, based on a 10% p.a. discount rate, of US$ 301 million (see note 1 in full story)

Current Trading and Outlook

• During January and February 2013 production has averaged 2,679 boepd.
• Oil and condensate selling prices net at the wellhead have remained firm at over US$50 per barrel and an 11.6% increase in our contract gas price to the equivalent of US$2.62 per mcf net of VAT came into effect on 1 January 2013
• Plan to complete the gas plant upgrade and achieve full capacity of 35mmcf/d during 2013
• Plan to implement water separation at Uzenskoye at a cost of less than US$1.0million
• Sobolevskaya #11 well to add a new production stream during 2013.

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Alexander Mining PLC (AXM LN, MCap: £6.26M, 4.125p) announced that it has raised £751,000 (before expenses and commission) through the issue of 18,775,000 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each at a price of 4p per share to institutional and other investors, and to certain directors and officers of the Company. The proceeds of the Placing will be used to fund working capital.

Altona Energy PLC (ANR LN, MCap: £7.73M, 1.35p) announced its results for the six month period ended 31 December 2012. The financial loss of the Group for the six months ended 31 December 2012 was £885,000 (2011: £795,000). Cash and cash equivalents for the Group at 31 December 2012 totalled £213,000 (2011: £467,000). Since the period end the Company has raised gross proceeds of £1.35million to fund working capital by way of an equity placing. 2013 is set to be a watershed year for Altona Energy. We expect to receive written approval for our Project Dragon Mining Licence application by 30 June this year and I look forward to being able to further update shareholders in the near future on progress in this regard and in respect of the BFS on Arckaringa.

Antofagasta plc (ANTO LN, MCap: £10,105M, 1004p) announced the decision to resume development of the Antucoya copper project. The decision to resume development of the project has been made by Antucoya's shareholder council, which functions as the board of Antucoya and comprises representatives from both Antofagasta and Marubeni Corporation. Antucoya is owned 70% by Antofagasta and 30% by Marubeni. This decision follows completion of the full review of the project announced on 21 December 2012, which has included renegotiation of principal construction contracts for the project, additional detailed engineering, and an updated resource model following further drilling of the deposit. The review has provided greater certainty and control over development costs and other relevant parameters for the project as well as strengthening the mine plan.

Total development costs for the project are expected to be US$1.9B, of which US$0.5B had been incurred when development was suspended at the end of 2012. It is anticipated that the remaining development costs, of which Antofagasta's share is 70%, could subsequently be partly funded by project finance at the asset level. Operations are expected to commence during 2015, with average annual copper cathode production of approximately 85,000 tonnes in the first 10 years of the mine life.

Caledonia Mining Corporation (CMCL LN, 8.125p)has released its 4Q'12 operational and FY'12 annual results

In this news:

• Annual gold production at its 41% owned Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe was 45,465oz, a 27% increase on FY'11 and a record high over the year ended December 31, 2011 (35,826oz).
• 4Q'12 gold production of 11,821oz, a 12% increase on 4Q'11 of 10,533oz.
• Decrease of Direct Opcosts reduced to US$571/oz down 1.7% and all-inclusive costs by 15.2% to US$759/oz. Reduction driven by higher production and corresponding lower average fixed costs per ounce.
• Gold sales for the Year were 45,181oz at an average price of US$1,666/oz, compared to 35,504oz at an average price of US$1,577/oz in 2011.
• Gold sales during Q4 were 10,337oz at an average price of US$1,703/oz, compared to 12,918oz at an average price of US$1,664/oz in the preceding quarter and 9,329oz at an average price of US$1,712/oz. in the comparable quarter.
• Gross profit for the Year increased 41% to $40,915,000 (2011: $29,115,000).
• Gross profit (i.e. after depreciation and amortization but before administrative expenses) for Q4 was $9,250,000 compared to $12,602,000 in the preceding quarter and $9,012,000 in the comparable quarter.
• Net profit after tax for Q4 was $3,590,000 compared to a loss of $7,240,000 in the preceding quarter and a profit of $1,369,000 in the comparable quarter.
• Net profit for 2012 attributable to Caledonia's shareholders of $8,720,000 (1.72 cents per share) was after a non-cash, non-recurring accounting charge of $14,161,000 arising from the successful implementation of Indigenisation at the Blanket Mine.
• Adjusted basic earnings per share for 2012 attributable to Caledonia's shareholders (after excluding the effect of the non-cash, non-recurring Indigenisation charge and unrealised foreign exchange profits) was 4.12 cents per share - a 31% increase on 2011.
• Cash flow from operations in 2012 before capital investment was $29,721,000 (2011: $17,428,000).
• At December 31, 2012, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $27,942,000 compared to $24,615,000 at September 30, 2012, and $9,686,000 at December 31, 2011.
• Caledonia will receive the $30.09 million proceeds of the sale to indigenous Zimbabweans as the facilitation loans are progressively repaid. The outstanding facilitation loans carry interest at LIBOR plus 10%.

FD Comment: Caledonia has had an outstanding year and we already knew this was going to be a good set of results after the record gold production figures were released in January and the fall in cash costs was a function of the ramp up in production leveraging Blankets high fixed cost base. The focus is now on the expansion plans and in a strategy update in January the company announced that gold production could increase by 90% to 76Koz by FY'16 from 40Koz in FY'13. Blanket's metallurgical plant has considerable surplus capacity and by spending US$37m from internal cash flows between FY'13-FY'17 Caledonia plans to upgrade the existing crushing and milling circuits. This will allow development of existing resources above and below the current lowest mining level (750m) from 1Q'14. In addition and not included in these forecasts the company plans to start production from the first three of the Blanket's portfolio of 18 satellite properties in 4Q'13. However, as these do not currently have a resource, production forecasts have not been given. Caledonia had a very strong cash position of $27.9m before the initial dividend was paid, none of which is expected to go towards capex in Zimbabwe.

Firestone Diamonds PLC (FDI LN, MCap: £17.77M, 3.25p) announced announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2012. The company reported increased consolidated revenue of £5.1M, resulting is a £3.4M reduction in the loss attributable to Firestone shareholders of £4.4M. This result was achieved following the sale of 79,071carats (H1 2012: 42,803 carats) at an average price of US$102/carat (H1 2012: US$59/carat) from the Liqhobong Mine in Lesotho. The pilot plant produced 72,833 carats (H1 2012: 69,319 carats) at a grade of 24.8 carats per hundred tons ("cpht") (H1 2012: 33.5 cpht). 294,106 tons were treated in H1 2013 (H1 2012: 206,889 tons) and further plant modifications are being made to reduce breakage of the larger stones.

Fox Marble*** (BUY, 48p) (FOX LN, MCap: £20.51M, 18.75p)has released its Preliminary results for the year to the end of December

In this news

Year to 31 December 2012:

• IPO on London Stock Exchange's AIM market completed in August 2012 raising gross proceeds £9.65m
• Operating loss for the year to 31 December 2012 of €1.23m (317 day period to 31 December 2011: €1.16m)
• Net cash position at 31 December 2012 of €7.14m (As at 31 December 2011: €0.69m)
• Net loss of €7.44m including a one off non-cash accounting charge of €6.04m relating to the conversion of pre-IPO loan notes (317 day period to 31 December 2011: €1.27m)
• Detailed quarry development plans completed
• Quarry machinery sourced and delivered to site
• First quarry opened in Cervenilla in Rahovec in November 2012 and blocks extracted and sent to Italy for processing

Post year end:

• Agreement signed to exploit new quarry site at Drini
• Two further quarry sites opened at Verrezat in February 2013 and Peja in March 2013
• First cut and polished samples from Cervenilla produced and tested
• Processing plant progressing - the site has been sourced and permits and consents are being finalised

FD Comment: This was a transformational year for the company as it seeks to establish Kosovo as a major marble centre. The losses were in line with our expectations as it acquired the necessary equipment and brought its first quarries into operation. After the uncertainty over the annulment and then reinstatement of four of its five licenses, the Company now has three quarries operational. The company had expected to start sales in 1Q'13, but due to the weather in Kosovo this isn't now likely until 2Q'13. The processing plant which will allow the company is cut its own slab is progressing with the site sourced and agreed with the local Municipality with the requisite permits and consents currently being acquired as is expected to be fully operational until the end of the year, rather than 3Q'13.

Hummingbird Resources PLC (HUM LN, MCap: £26.62M, 51p) announced initial results from the first 6 holes in the 2013 infill drill campaign. These holes represent 1,678 metres of drilling of 8,463 metres drilled to date in 2013. The drill programme is focused on upgrading the Company's NI 43-101 compliant Tuzon Inferred resource to a Measured and Indicated resource ahead of a Pre-Feasibility Study on Hummingbird Resource's flagship Dugbe 1 project, which incorporates both the Dugbe F and Tuzon deposits. The initial results detailed below suggest that there is significant potential for higher-grade starter pits to be incorporated into the mine plan. The drill results released contained excellent widths of gold grading around 2g/t.

Lemur Resources (BUY, $A0.12)(LMR AU, MCap: A$12.5M, 0.65c)has released its final batch of laboratory results and issued a revised resource statement for its Imaloto Coal project in Madagascar.

In this news:

• The JORC compliant Imaloto Coal Resource Statement contains 135.7 million Gross Tonnes in Situ ("GTIS") of which 68% is now Measured and 91% is now Measured and Indicated;
• Coal contained in the Main Seam, which now totals 63.4 million GTIS, is expected to generate a primary product when washed yielding approximately 67% export grade thermal coal;
• The Main Seam secondary product wwwill be suitable as feedstock for a domestic coal fired power station; and
• Therefore, assuming a single stage processing, the overall theoretical yield is 100% for the entire Main Seam.

FD Comment: These are the results of the final 64 core samples taken as part of the Infill Drilling Programme and marks the end of the Phase III exploration programme. As this was an infill programme we were not expecting an increase in total tonnage, but the high conversion factor with the total resource only reducing from 147.5Mt to 135.7mt , but 91% of the resource now being in the Measured and Indicated categories gives us confidence in the continuity and robust nature of the coal seams. The Main seam will be the main economic horizon and 93.4% of that is now in M&I categories. This has all been incorporated into mine scoping study, which the company has seen a draft version of and expects to release to market, we expect along with the infrastructure and port studies soon.

Mariana Resources* (BUY, 22p)(MARL LN, MCap: £5.19M, 2.25p)has released its FY'12 Results to the end of December

In this news:

• Cash and equivalents of £1.18M
• 51% option over the untested Condor de Oro porphyry gold-copper property in northern Peru. Drilling anticipated by mid 2013, subject to permiting
• A strategic review of Las Calandrias and Sierra Blanca in Argentina is currently underway with the consideration for possible joint ventures
• Strategic cost cutting took place during the year including delisting from TSX

FD Comment: It's been a difficult year for exploration companies and it's been no different for Mariana, which despite some encouraging drill results has been hampered by sentiment towards Argentina. The option over Condor de Oro looks very promising and it should be possible soon after the first holes are drilled to quickly determine whether this will be transformative for the company.

Minera IRL Ltd (BUY, 78p) (MIRL LN, MCap: £60.76M, 39p) announced an after tax profit for 2012 of $3.3M, from revenues of $46.0M.Net profit year on year was down 66%, due to failing grades resulting in gold production failing 19% to 27,462oz.

FD Comment: The Corihuarmi mine has performed well, and exceeded its forecast life. Investors should not focus on this result but look forward to the next generation of mines under development, Olachea and Don Nicolas.

Petropavlovsk PLC (POG LN, MCap: £413.29M, 229p) announced its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2012. The group produced revenues of $1.37B on the sale of 703,200oz of gold. EBITDA was $487.7M. The net result for the year was a loss of $243.9M following an impairment charge of $336.4M reflecting the write down of IRC to fair value. Cash costs of production for 2012 were $875/oz for hard rock operations and $1,314/oz for alluvials.

Polyus Gold International Ltd (PGIL LN, MCap: £6,580, 217p) announced its audited financial results for the year 2012. Total revenue up by 19% to USD 2.9B, reflecting increased sales volumes and higher gold prices (2011: USD 2.4B); with total cash costs per ounce sold of US$ 694 (2011: US$ 645), a substantial reduction in cost inflation compared to previous years. This resulted in an adjusted EBITDA of USD 1.4B, a 22% increase on 2011, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 49%, up from 47% in 2011. Profit for the year up by 71% to US$ 981M (2011: US$ 573M).

Red Rock Resources PLC (RRR LN, MCap: £10.04M, 0.85p) announced its unaudited half-yearly reults for the six months ended 31 December 2012. The company reported a loss of $13.185M, mainly due to an impairment charge of $11.13M on assets available for sale. This was due to the decline in the value of the Jupiter holding. The current market value of Jupiter Mines Ltd on the Australian Stock Exchange is some AUD200M, with AUD75M of net cash held, so that a negligible value appears to be attributed to its half share in one of the world's major open pit manganese mines which has now been successfully brought into production. It is to be hoped that in the coming period Jupiter will do a better job of getting its message across.

Serabi Gold* (SPEC BUY, 8p)(SRB LN, MCap: £32.06M, 8.5p)has released its Audited Results for the year ended 31 December 2012

Corporate Highlights

On 17 January 2013 the Company completed the placement of 270m new ordinary shares to raise in aggregate UK£16.2m to finance the development and start-up of underground mining operations at its Palito Mine. The placement of new shares was underwritten by Fratelli Investments Limited, one of the Company's major shareholders.

• NCL Ingenieria y Construccion SA ("NCL") completed an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "PEA") into the viability of re-establishing mining operations at the Palito Mine in June 2012. The results were reported on 13 June 2012 and the completed NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report was filed on 29 June 2012.
• Highlights of the PEA were as follows
• • After-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 68% at a realised gold price of US$1,400 per ounce;
  • Project payback within two years of first gold production;
  • Net after-tax cash flow generated over project life of US$72.2m at a realised gold price of US$1,400 per ounce;
  • After-tax net present value ("NPV") of US$38.2m; based on a 10% discount rate and a realised gold price of US$1,400 per ounce;
  • Average Life of Mine ("LOM") cash operating costs of US$739 per ounce (gold equivalent) including royalties and refining costs;
  • Average annual free cash flow (after tax and sustaining capital expenditure) of US$11.0m;
  • Average gold grade of 8.98 g/t gold producing a total gold equivalent of 201,300 ounces;
  • Average annual production of 24,400 gold equivalent ounces over the initial 8 year period with a range of between 19,000 to 30,000 ounces gold equivalent per annum; and
  • Initial capital expenditures of US$17.8m prior to production start-up.
• The Operational Environmental Licence for the Palito Mine was renewed by Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente ("SEMA"), the state Environmental Agency for the State of Para on 27 April 2012.
• The Company completed a placing of 27,300,000 units on 24 January 2012 raising gross proceeds of UK£2.73m. Each of the 27,300,000 units were comprised of one ordinary share and one-sixth of one ordinary share purchase warrant of the Company, with each whole warrant being exercisable to acquire one ordinary share at an exercise price of UK£0.15 until 23 January 2014.

Post year end highlights

• De-watering of the mine was completed in January 2013;
• A new mine management and technical team commenced in mid-January 2013;
• The first items of mining equipment arrived at site on 15 February 2013;
• Initial contract mining personnel arrived at site on 15 February 2013;
• Remediation of the crushing and flotation sections of the process plant commenced early in 2013; and
• The contract for the detailed engineering design on the milling circuit and cyanidation plant has been awarded and work commenced.

FD Comment: The £16.2m financing was obviously the key point last year and has allowed the company to start re-opening the Palito gold mine in Brazil. Since then progress has been good, with the de-watering completed ahead of schedule and the Company aims to stockpile ore during the development stage ahead of the plant commissioning during 4Q'13. We expect gold production will reach 24.7Koz in FY'14.

SolGold plc (SOLG LN, MCap: £7.42M, 1.625p) announced its unaudited results for the six months ended 31 December 2012. It reported a loss after tax of $1.36M. During the reporting period SolGold and Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. announced the execution of a definitive option agreement finalizing the terms of an option/joint venture arrangement for Cornerstone's 100% owned 5,000 hectare Cascabel gold-copper-silver property in northern Ecuador and replacing the Letter of Intent announced on April 10, 2012.

Uranium Resources PLC (URA LN, MCap: £15.28M, 2.175p) announced its results for the six month period ended 31 December 2012. The company reported a loss after tax of US$0.467M. Development of a maiden resource figure is under way at the flagship Mtonya project in Tanzania. Mtonya is expected to host uranium mineralisation amenable to in-situ recovery, the most cost-effective and environmentally acceptable method of uranium extraction. The Mtonya discovery signals the new and exciting potential for other Uranium Resources holdings in Tanzanian sedimentary basins.

Aminex (BUY, 8p) (AEX LN, MCap: £38.68, 4.675p) - Uneasy 2012, 2013 Will Be Better: The 2012 completes what has been a difficult and testing year for the Company, which has been characterised by limited success and the loss of its management team, despite the successes it has enjoyed at the drill bit. The fact that the farmin partners have not yet been secured is a clear demonstration of the issues that Companies are facing in trying to get discoveries commercialised in frontier regions. While we believe that the Company will progress in 2013, it will be at a rate significantly behind our original expectations, hence we are adjusting the timing of the devlopement of the Ruvuma and Nyuni assets. As a result, we are reducing our Target Price to 8p, but reiterating our BUY Recommendation.

In this news:

• Ntorya-1 well discovered 180 bcf gas together with condensate in the Ruvuma PSA, Tanzania, extending the play fairway from deep water to the onshore.
• 11.4 TCF (1.9 billion BOE) of discovered and undiscovered mean Gas Initially In Place (GIIP) attributed to Ruvuma and Nyuni Area PSAs by independent technical evaluation
• Gross revenues of $4.9 million (2011: $9.3 million) and net loss of $5.3 million (2011: $0.9 million)
• $8 million loan facility completed in January 2013
• Continuing implementation of a strategy to dispose of non-core assets and to farm-out an interest in Ruvuma PSA with discussions on-going

Access the full story here.

Caza Oil & Gas (CAZA LN, MCap: £16.68mm, 10.25p) - Ingredients? Check. Now Time for the Pudding: The Company is starting to grow, and while the revenues and production numbers are important, their only real value at these levels is psychological. What are the more important figures in today's announcement is the cash at hand (~$7mm) and available resources (suggests ~$20mm). The reserves are now in place, the team has the technical expertise, all that is needed is the delivery. Consequently, the next 6 months will be telling, as they will point towards how the Company will progress. It will be interesting to watch.

In this news:

• Annual revenues increased 22% to US$4.97 million ("MM") for the year 2012, (US$4.09MM: 2011) and quarterly revenues for the three month period ended December 31, 2012 increased 31% to US$1.58MM (US$1.21MM for the comparable three month period ended December 31, 2011);
• Average production volumes for the twelve month period ended December 31, 2012, increased 19% to 285 barrels of oil equivalent ("boe") per day ("boe/d") (240 boe/d: 2011);
• As estimated by the independent report completed by NSAI (as defined below under Reserve Data) dated as of December 31, 2012 (all reserve figures are net to Caza):
• • Proven (1P) reserves at December 31, 2012 increased by 3.1% to 2.42 MM boe (2.35mm boe in 2011);
  • Proven plus Probable (2P) reserves decreased by 11.1% to 10.8mm boe (12.1mm boe in 2011); and
  • Proven plus Probable plus Possible (3P) reserves to the Company increased by 23.3% to 27.4mm boe (22.3mm boe in 2011);

Access the full story here.

New World Oil and Gas (NEW LN, MCap: £10.38mm, 2.24p) - Next Stage Funded: Today's announcement detailing the raise of ~$8mm provides some relief to the pressure on the shares as it clears one of the outstanding issues hanging over the Company, that of its ability to complete the next stage of its programme. With that now gone, investors can look forward to three potential value generating events, one in Belize and the other two in Denmark - a welcome position for the Company to be in.

In this news:

• The net proceeds of the Placing will be applied to test and appraise the Rio Bravo #1 well which the Company is currently drilling in Belize subject to a successful well logging programme.
• • The Rio Bravo #1 well commenced drilling operations on 1 March 2013, and to date all operations are on schedule and under budget.
  • A total depth of 8,800ft, targeting the Upper Jurassic Margaret Creek Formation is expected to be reached by late April 2013.
  • Drilling results will be released once the total depth has been reached.
• In the event that the Rio Bravo #1 well is not tested and appraised the funds will be used for
• • (1) the drilling of two wells targeting the Harboe and Jelling prospects at the Company's Danica Jutland Project in Denmark ("Danica Jutland" or the "Project") located in the highly prospective Jutland on-shore area in South West Denmark,
  • (2) seismic interpretation and Competent Person's Report costs at the Project, and
  • (3) for additional general working capital purposes.

Access the full story here.

Parkmead (PMG LN, MCap: £119.75mm, 13.5p) - Dana MKII: Today's results are encouraging, as it clearly details progress over the course of the year. With an increasingly full hopper of projects at varying stages of the development cycle, we believe that the Company is on an upward trajectory. The only cloud in what is an upbeat set of results is the cash position versus 2013's activity, which will necessitate the need for further funding, which will provide a drag on the progress of the share price.

In this news:

• Acquisition of DEO Petroleum plc completed in August 2012, providing Parkmead with the operatorship and a 52% working interest in the large Perth oil field area in the UK's Central North Sea
• First production achieved in September 2012, following the completion of the acquisition of a portfolio of Netherlands onshore assets from Dyas B.V. providing cash flow to the Group
• Successful first UKCS appraisal well, at the Platypus gas field, in August 2012
• Major award of new licences in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) 27th Round in October 2012, all with Parkmead approved as operator. Overall, Parkmead gained stakes in 25 blocks across three core areas
• Revenue increased 48% to £1.97 million (H1 2011: £1.33 million)
• Total assets grew 199% to £40.0 million at 31 December 2012 (£13.4 million at end 2011)
• Net assets rose by 247% to £22.0 million at 31 December 2012 (£6.3 million at end 2011)
• Successful equity placing and debt for equity conversion, completed in January 2013, providing finance for growth of £19.925 million

Access the full story here.

Tower Resources (BUY, 5p) (TRP LN, MCap: £26.38mm, 1.625p) - Ready to Go: The outlook, cash position and financing are the three most important takeaways from today's results, and on all counts, it leaves the Company well positioned for 2013 and in to 2014. Given the fact that the drilling is expected in Q2/Q3'14, there is a possibility that there is a quiet period for the majority of 2013, which could see the shares drift. However, as 2014 approaches, we expect the news flow to increase, and the share price to respond positively. Consequently, we would suggest that weakness from these levels provide an opportunity to invest in the Company in the lead-up to its 2014 drilling programme. Following these Results, we are reiterating our BUY Recommendation and 5p Target Price.

In this news:

• Increased our share of the highly prospective Namibian Licence 0010 from 15% to 30%, increasing our net risked recoverable resources to 540 million barrels of oil equivalent ("mmboe") at an immediate cash cost of $5.3 million
• Supported the successful farm-out of 44% of the Namibian Licence 0010 to Repsol, a successful and experienced international explorer and which has become the Licence operator
• Secured the Namibian government's agreement to these changes and a one year extension of the licence
• Commenced planning for the Welwitschia-1 well to be drilled in early-mid 2014
• Entered into a £20 million Equity Finance Facility with Darwin Strategic Limited and an £8 million SEDA through Yorkville.
• Recruited Graeme Thomson as CEO and Philip Swatman as Senior Non-Executive Director
• Recently strengthened the experienced management team, with Nigel Quinton now working as Vice President New Ventures and Andrew Matharu having joined as Vice President Corporate Affairs

Access the full story here.

In Brief:

In this news:

• Enegi Oil (ENEG LN, MCap: £12.75mm, 10.125p) - Time to Deliver: Management has expanded the portfolio significantly, and has completed the first stage of what will be required to build a successful portfolio. What is now required is the Company to focus on the delivery of its projects.
  Full story here
• Sound Oil (SOU LN, MCap: £20.49mm, 6.875p) - Inching Forward: Sound has disclosed that the appraisal well on the Nervesa concession will start imminently, starting what should be an active period for 2013.
  Full story here
• Trap Oil (TRAP LN, MCap: £32.19mm, 14p) - Now the Hard Yards: Trap's IPO was to some extent the easy first step, the next step, getting funding for the next stage of development, is the harder next step. Still, the Company is well positioned to benefit from any resulting uptick in market sentiment, which is fully covered by farmouts.