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Metal Exploration shares fall as its Runruno gold mine experiences challenges

Last updated: 10:15 05 Jul 2018 EDT, First published: 04:08 05 Jul 2018 EDT

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Shares in Metal Exploration PLC (LON:MTL) dropped 8% to 2.88p after it announced that the Runruno gold mining operation is experiencing challenges with its Biox circuit.

The AIM-listed firm said following an extended period of power "brown outs" and distribution disruptions during the unusually long hot and dry period, the Biox circuit has passivated and throughput is now minimal.

The natural resources exploration and development company said the circuit achieved 100% of design throughput early in the second quarter of 2018.

Elsewhere shares in Siclair Pharma PLC (LON:SPH) surged 25% to 23.00p  after revealing it has received a bid approach from a Chinese company, extending earlier gains made after an upbeat trading statement. Around 2pm, the AIM-listed firm's stock was up nearly 35% at 24.7p.

In a brief statement, Sinclair confirmed that it has received an approach from China Grand Enterprises, Inc. and its affiliate company Huadong Medicine Co., Ltd which may or may not result in an offer for the group.

And shares in Alba Mineral Resources PLC (LON:ALBA) rose 6.9% to 0.38p the company said exploration activities at Thule Black Sands and Inglefield Land projects in north-west Greenland are scheduled to commence this month.

At Thule Black Sands, around 1,000 metres of drilling and sampling is planned.

 It is anticipated that all samples will be split on site with the samples for assay being sent to independent laboratories for determination of heavy mineral content. Coarse reject material from the sampling will be stored off-site for future test-work.

1.00pm: Elecosoft shares rise as it acquires Shire Systems for £6.3mln

Shares in Elecosoft PLC (LON:ELCO) rose 9.9% to 83.00p as it announced the acquisition of Shire System Limited, a UK provider of computerised maintenance management software, from Shiresoft Ltd, for £6.3mln in cash.

The AIM-listed construction software company said the acquisition is a significant advancement in its successful strategy of investing in synergistic software products and technologies to strengthen its construction software portfolio.

Elecosoft added that the acquisition will extend its software portfolio beyond early-stage project planning, design and construction applications, to asset maintenance management applications for plant and equipment and building life cycle management.

Elsewhere shares in Utilitywise plc (LON:UTW) jumped 5.9% to 32.20p after it issued a strategy update targeting an aggressive expansion of its market share.

The AIM-listed business utilities consultant said it would aim to increase its share of the small and medium businesses (SME) market to 7% from 2% by the end of its 2021 financial year as well as increasing SME customer numbers to 130,000 from 30,000 and taking a 5% share of the UK & Ireland corporate controls market.

And Electrocomponents PLC (LON:ECM) shares rose 1.37% to 738.00p after electronics distributor said it continued double-digit revenue growth and improved profitability.

In a trading update, the FTSE 250-listed firm said for the first quarter ended 30 June 2018, like-for-like revenue growth "remained strong at 10%".

The company said all five regions continued to see good growth, with Americas region growing the fastest, driven by market share gains in a strong underlying market.

10.50am: Boxhill Technologies shares fall as it experiences ‘substantial decline’ in payment processing revenues

Boxhill Technologies PLC (LON:BOX) shares plummeted 45% to 0.04p as the group announced it has experienced a substantial decline in certain payment processing revenues during May and June.

In its trading update, the AIM-listed lottery administration and payment processing products company said the decline was due to a requirement by particular banks to change the nature of transactions they are willing to deal with following regulatory changes.

Boxhill said it is now progressing a number of actions to address the issues, both structurally and in terms of business mix.

Elsewhere, shares in Sophos Group PLC (LON:SOPH) fell 18.6% to 500.50p after the cybersecurity specialist reported sub-par billings growth.

The group reported lower-than-expected year-on-year (YOY) billings growth for the three months to the end of June – the first quarter of Sophos's financial year.

The group said the drab growth was primarily down to its Enduser security business, which at the same period a year earlier had enjoyed a sparkling performance, thanks to high-profile ransomware attacks such as the WannaCry virus.

And Purplebricks Group PLC (LON:PURP) shares slid 2.7% to 309.80p after  it reported a wider pre-tax loss in its full-year results despite strong revenue growth in its UK and Australia markets and a doubling of group revenue.

The AIM-listed online estate agent reported a pre-tax loss on ordinary activities of £26.1mln, wider from the £6.05mln last year, while group revenues climbed to £93.6mln from £46.7mln in 2017

Regionally, the firm saw adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) in the UK increase to £8.1mln from £1.7mln in 2017 as revenues climbed to £78.1mln from 43.2mln, while in Australia, the group’s adjusted underlying loss widened to £11.8mln from £6.1mln despite revenues jumping to £13.5mln from £3.5mln in 2017.

9.15am: Toople shares rise on two new contract wins

Shares in Toople PLC (LON:TOOP) jumped 11.1% to 0.75p in early morning trading after the company announced that it has signed two new contracts, with both deals expected to be material in terms of monthly revenue growth.

The provider of bespoke telecom services to UK SMEs said the first contract win was with a leading energy business to supply 'dual fuel' to small businesses. Toople said it will provide its triple play services to the energy company’s clients.

Toople also said it has signed a contract with a technology services company. The tech company has added complete telecommunications solutions to their product offering, which will all be delivered byToople.

Elsewhere, Hurricane Energy PLC (LON:HUR) shares added 7.7% to 51.6p, boosted by chatter in the Daily Mail’s market report suggesting the North Sea explorer could be a takeover target for oil giant BP PLC (LON:BP.).

The newspaper noted the talk came after BP’s move announced yesterday to increase its exposure in the North Sea after agreeing to swap its stake in the Alaskan Kuparuk oilfields for US competitor ConocoPhillips’ share of the Clair oilfield.

It pointed out that Hurricane also owns several oil assets off the Shetland Islands, which may be of value to BP. The Daily Mail also said it has learned that just last year, Norwegian oil firm Statoil - now called Equinor - was in talks with Hurricane with a view to acquiring the UK-listed business.

And shares in Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) rose 6.7% to 4.00p as the miner announced it has completed 50% of the 2018 planned programme at the Kun-Manie project and is “extremely pleased” with the results.

The AIM-listed miner said this year's field programme is focused on the completion of specific tasks related to advancing the development of the project into one of the world's largest nickel producers. 

The company said at the end of June 2018, a total of 66 holes (10,809.3 metres) have been completed since initiation of the planned 20,300 metre drill programme on 6 May 2018.

Other Proactive news headlines:

Bacanora Lithium Ltd (LON:BCN) has agreed a US$150mln loan for the construction of the first phase of the mine at Sonora in Mexico. RK Mine Finance is putting up the money, which will cover a sizeable chunk of the cost of an initial 17,500tpa lithium carbonate operation.

SDX Energy Inc (LON:SDX, CVE:SDX) has now spudded the SD-3X well at the South Disouq project in Egypt. It is the second of two planned appraisal wells for South Disouq, both of which are precursors to production.

Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE) has signed an agreement to supply its Guardian fatigue and distraction prevention technology to a fleet of US trucks.

Exploration activities at Alba Mineral Resources PLC's (LON:ALBA) Thule Black Sands and Inglefield Land Projects in north-west Greenland are scheduled to commence this month.

Erris Resources PLC (LON:ERIS) has revealed positive results from exploration drilling at the Abbeytown metals deposit in County Sligo, Ireland. Specifically, one hole encountered high grade zinc, lead and silver mineralisation.

Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS) has launched an investment arm, known as Keywords Ventures (KWV), to support “innovative technologies and services” that benefit its clients. The group also announced that it was making its first investment through KWV with £300,000 for a 45% stake in pre-revenue company AppSecTest Ltd.

Forestry management and agriculture group Obtala Limited (LON:OBT) produced a record amount of sawn timber in the last three months. Output from its Gabon sawmill was 3,800 cubic metres with June’s average 30% higher than the first three months of the year.

Lansdowne Oil & Gas PLC (LON:LOGP) has announced the appointment of Brandon Hill Capital Limited as its joint broker with immediate effect. The group noted that Brandon Hill has specialised in advising natural resources companies for over 15 years and has been a long-term supporter of the company.

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