RNS Hotlist: Alien, Artemis, Brandshield, Caracal, Dekel, Diurnal, 88 Energy, Feedback, Hemogenyx, Live, Nanosynth, PetroTal, Sovereign, TomCo

A company which some in the market are suggesting could be bigger than Greatland Gold (GGP), Artemis Resources (ARV), said that exploration drilling has commenced at the Chapman Discovery, part of the Greater Carlow Project and that re-start of drilling at Paterson Central is expected in early March should favourable climatic conditions continue. The company said the discovery at Chapman of high-grade copper, gold and silver mineralisation in late 2021 was a huge but welcome surprise. Located ~1km South of the Carlow deposit, Chapman was only tested with two holes over a discrete geophysical anomaly in 2021. It added that with such “fantastic, wildcat" drill results its exploration team are “delighted” to now get back out to drill at Chapman following the ~6,000m RC drilling programme at the Crosscut Zone.

Fresh from its recent fundraise, BrandShield Systems (BRSD), a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions, announced that it has secured a new business mandate to support one of the world's largest international consumer electronics brands. The new contract will see the company provide its solutions to detect and prevent online fraud.

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals (HEMO), the biopharmaceutical group where there has thus far been a pesky seller around, announced a further step in the development of its CDX programme.   Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals and Selexis SA, a JSR Life Sciences company, have signed a service agreement to develop the cell line for the Company's CDX bispecific antibody for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Under the agreement, Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals will leverage Selexis' proprietary SUREtechnology Platform™, a suite of cell line development tools and technologies that significantly reduces the time, effort, and costs associated with developing high-performance mammalian cell lines.

Live Company Group (LVCG) announced that in line with the strategy of cash preservation and cost savings it will issue 6,223,859 shares in settlement of outstanding Director's fees.   Senior Director Ranjit Marugasan will receive 5,047,620 shares at 3.5p, Bryan Lawrie will receive 747,667 shares at 3.5p and Stephen Birrell will receive 428,572 shares at 3.5p price. Nice work if you can get it.

Dekel Agri-Vision (DKL), the West African agriculture company, provided a January production update for its Ayenouan palm oil project in Côte d'Ivoire, and an update on the timing of the ramp-up of production of its large-scale cashew processing plant at Tiebissou, Côte d'Ivoire. The company said record CPO prices and strong production in January are expected to deliver record revenues for January.  Whilst early indications in February are it may break the 5-month trend of like for like monthly production growth, the efforts it has put into increasing its extraction rate in Q4 2021 appear to be paying dividends, and the CPO price outlook continues to remain strong.

Diurnal Group (DNL), the specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that the first patient has been dosed in its Phase 2 European clinical trial of modified-release hydrocortisone (DNL-0200 - previously referred to as Chronocort®) for a line extension in adrenal insufficiency (AI). AI represents a significant market opportunity for the company of approximately $1.9bn across Europe and the UK.

PetroTal Corp. (PTAL) announced that its well 10H, which commenced production on January 30, 2022, has set a new internal daily production record with an average standalone 10 day production level of 10,050 bopd. The company said it has set additional production records with 10H's early production rates. From  a technical standpoint the company is looking forward to what this could mean for the future performance of PetroTal's drilling inventory and to deliver a strong start to 2022 for shareholders. It would appear that the company is sitting on a gusher.

The company famous for face masks, Nanosynth (NNN) announced that an agreement has been reached for Volz to convert their production line to provide the capability for nanosynth's alphaviron layer to be included across Volz's product range. NNN said this is extremely beneficial to the JV company, Virosynth Limited, as Volz are not only a HVAC material provider but also an HVAC filter provider. This means that by Volz converting their production line to incorporate the Company's technology as standard, Virosynth will end up with its first client, with leading edge advantage in the marketplace and a great reference point for others to see and follow due to the benefits Virosynth can deliver for the HVAC market and the reputation Volz holds in the market.

TomCo Energy (TOM), the US operating oil development group, provided an update on certain recent developments in connection with the company's plans for a potential commercial scale project on the mining properties comprising the Tar Sands Holdings II LLC site located in the Uinta Basin, Utah, United States.  As previously announced, TomCo's wholly owned subsidiary, Greenfield Energy LLC, owns a 10% Membership Interest in TSHII with an exclusive option, at its sole discretion, to acquire the remaining 90% of the Membership Interests for additional cash consideration up to 31 December 2022. Shares of TomCo recently bear trapped traders below the 0.5p level.

Beefing up the personnel looks to be the way forward for Caracal Gold (GCAT), the gold producer with operations in East Africa. It announced a major new addition to the Company's Board of Directors, with the appointment of Ms Rachel Johnston as a Non-Executive Director, effective 1 March 2022. GCAT said Ms Johnston brings to the Board a wealth of experience, having worked in various roles across Africa's mining sector over a ten-year period.

Jobs for the boys and girls are also evident at Sovereign Metals (SVML), as Nigel Jones has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Company. From 2019 to 2021, Jones was Managing Director of Rio Tinto Group's (Rio Tinto) Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, west Africa. In this role, he was accountable for all aspects of the project's development, including its complex environmental, social and governance strategy.

Under the radar Jadestone Energy (JDE), an independent oil and gas production company, provided its guidance outlook for 2022. The company said its strong balance sheet and unhedged exposure to rising oil prices will comfortably underpin its activity levels in 2022, which incorporates two infill wells at Stag and initial development activity at the Akatara gas project in Indonesia. It expects production to increase 36% in 2022 at the midpoint of the 15,500-18,500 boe/d guidance range, which excludes any contribution from Maari. 

Any RNS with the word spud provides encouragement. 88 Energy (88E) confirmed that the Permit to Drill has been approved by the Bureau of Land Management for the Merlin-2 appraisal well, located in Project Peregrine in the NPR-A region of the North Slope of Alaska. The company said that following a period of review it is pleased to have the PTD in hand, and the mobilisation of the Arctic Fox rig commencing to the drilling location ahead of spud in early March 2022. It looks forward with “excitement” to the drilling of the highly anticipated Merlin-2 appraisal well.

Alien Metals (UFO), a minerals exploration and development company, updated the market on its high-grade silver and copper-gold projects in Zacatecas, Mexico. The company said all the statutory and local permits are now in place for its three Mexico projects. Subsequently, UFO is “very excited” to commence the drilling programmes as soon as possible.

Feedback (FDBK), the specialist clinical communication company, announced its unaudited results for the six months to 30 November 2021. The company said in 2021 it achieved sales of its clinical communication platform Bleepa in both the NHS and veterinary sectors.  It said building on this it has evolved its product while maintaining its sales focus into individual NHS Trusts and expanding its focus to capture benefits of asynchronous communication to regional care delivery.