Mountain Lake Resources shareholders "overwhelmingly" approve Marathon Gold deal

Mountain Lake Resources (CVE:MOA) announced late Friday that its shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approve its acquisition by Marathon Gold Corp (TSE:MOZ), a $15.1 million deal announced in May that will see the consolidation of ownership for the Valentine Lake project in Newfoundland.

The acquisition will consolidate the respective 50 per cent interests in the Valentine Lake project, resulting in Marathon becoming the 100 per cent owner.

At today's special meeting, Mountain Lake's common shareholders voted 99.9 per cent in favour of the transaction. 

The transaction will also see Mountain Lake's remaining projects transferred to Mountain Lake Minerals Inc., a newly incorporated exploration company.

Under the terms of the deal, Mountain Lake shareholders will receive 0.40 of a Marathon common share and 0.40 of a common share of the new entity for each Mountain Lake common share held.

Mountain Lake's shareholders also voted 78.3 per cent in favour of the Spinco 10 per cent rolling stock option plan.

The company said that Marathon has also advised Mountain Lake that Marathon's shareholders voted 99.9 per cent in favour of the share issuance for the arrangement.

Mountain Lake will apply for a final order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia for approval in early July. Assuming approval, the company expects to close the deal Monday July 9.

The company intends to request a trading halt of its common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange three trading days in advance of the effective date.  As a result, Tuesday, July 3, 2012 will be the last trading day of Mountain Lake's common shares on the exchange.

Great Panther Silver elects new board members, adopts shareholder rights plan

Great Panther Silver (TSE:GPR)(AMEX:GPL) reported late Thursday the election of new board nominees John Jennings and Dick Whittington as directors of the company, and the approval of a new shareholder rights plan at the miner's annual general meeting.
Jennings has almost three decades of experience in the Canadian and international financial services industry, having held positions at firms including BMO Nesbitt Burns, Lehman Brothers International, RBS Financial, HSBC Group and CIBC.
In his time as a mining analyst and senior investment banker, he executed many M&A deals, and raised debt and equity capital for public, private and sovereign clients.
He recently joined Korn/Ferry International, an executive search and talent management firm.
Great Panther's other board nominee Whittington is a mining engineer with over 35 years of experience in Canada, Australia, Panama, Mexico and Papua New Guinea.
He most recently was president, CEO and a director of PNG GOLD, an advanced stage gold exploration company located in Papua New Guinea.
Prior to this, he was president, CEO and a director of Farallon Mining, where he brought Farallon's G-9 polymetalic zinc mine in Guerrero State, Mexico into production in less than four years.
Whittington led the company from exploration to commercial production, before aiding in the friendly takeover of Farallon by Nyrstar N.V., a Belgium zinc mining and smelting company, for $409 million in January 2011.
Great Panther also announced Thursday that its shareholders approved the adoption of a new rights plan in an effort to protect stockholders in the event of a hostile takeover attempt.
The company said it is not aware of any pending or threatened take-over bids.
The shareholder rights plan will provide the board with sufficient time to assess any take-over bid or other control transaction, and will help explore alternative options for maximizing shareholder value.
The rights will become exercisable only when a person or party purchases or announces its intention to acquire 20 per cent or more of the outstanding common shares of the company without complying with the "permitted bid" provisions of the plan.
A permitted bid is a bid made to all shareholders on identical terms that is open for at least 60 days. If a non-permitted acquisition occurs, each right will allow each holder of common shares to purchase additional common shares of the company at a 50 per cent discount to the market price at the time.
The shareholder rights plan becomes effective today, and will continue until the annual meeting of shareholders in 2016.
Great Panther is a primary silver mining and exploration company focused on its two wholly-owned operating mines in Mexico, Guanajuato and Topia.
The company also owns a development stage property, San Ignacio, which is approximately 20 kilometres by road from its Guanajuato processing plant, and an exploration stage property, Santa Rosa, which is located 15 kilometres northeast of Guanajuato.
The company said in May that its first quarter results met company expectations. President and CEO Robert Archer said the results were in line with forecasts given lower production and the lower metal price environment, as well as record quarterly output a year ago.
The company expects a range of 2.5 to 2.75 million silver equivalent ounces of production this year, compared to 2.2 million ounces in 2011. Total cash costs are expected in the range of $9.50 to $10.50 an ounce, from $10.84 in 2011.
For the first quarter, the company posted a profit of $4.68 million, or 3 cents per diluted share, versus a profit of $7.01 million, or 5 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago period.
Revenue totalled $13.63 million, down from $15.46 million a year earlier. Total cash cost per silver ounce was $9.05, down from $10.33 in the first quarter of 2011.
Great Panther also said in May that it is pursuing acquisition opportunities in Mexico and Peru to add to its portfolio of properties.
Shares of Great Panther increased 3.59 per cent to $1.73 Friday afternoon.

WesternZagros Resources shares up almost 10% on operational update, Kurdamir-2 reaches total depth

WesternZagros Resources (CVE:WZR) shares hiked almost 10 per cent Friday, as the company revealed its Kurdamir-2 well in Iraq continues to show oil at total depth, and said that its Sarqala-1 well should be operational in two weeks.

The company’s shares were trading at 91 cents as at 1:10 pm EDT.

WesternZagros noted that it and the operator at Kurdamir-2, Talisman Energy (TSE:TLM), have informed the Kurdistan Regional Government that the well has reached final total depth of approximately 4,000 metres within the Cretaceous-age Shiranish reservoir.

The companies are currently in discussions regarding extended well testing options following the completion of the Kurdamir-2 initial testing program. In addition, the parties are discussing the timing and location of the next appraisal well, Kurdamir-3.

In an operational update, the company said its Kurdamir-2 well penetrated 510 metres of naturally-fractured marlstones and limestones in the Cretaceous Shiranish reservoir.

Oil shows with associated elevated mud gas readings were recorded over the entire Shiranish section, said the oil and gas company, adding that wireline logging operations have commenced and upon conclusion, the wellbore will be cased with a 7" diameter production liner prior to the commencement of testing.

WesternZagros said it anticipates reporting test results of the Shiranish testing program throughout July and August.
Cased hole testing programs are also being discussed with Talisman for the previously cased Eocene and Oligocene reservoirs.

At the company’s Sarqala-1 well in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, remediation work is continuing.

WesternZagros noted that the cause of the malfunction of the subsurface valve has been diagnosed and the necessary equipment and services have been procured to complete the remediation. The company anticipates that it could take up to two weeks in order to return the well to its former status.

In other news, WesternZagros’s operations achieved 2 million man hours without a lost time incident on June 3.

WesternZagros is an international natural resources company engaged in acquiring properties and exploring for, developing and producing crude oil and natural gas in Iraq.

Earlier this month, the company announced it had more than doubled its mean prospective resources in a revised assessment of the Eocene reservoir at the Kurdamir-2 exploration well.

The revised mean prospective resource is now 278 million barrels of oil (MMbbl) as of June 1, 2012, compared to the 124 MMbbl reported previously, said the company.

The Eocene reservoir is the second of the three targeted reservoirs in the Kurdamir-2 well, which is currently being drilled.

In April, WesternZagros increased its mean prospective resources in the Oligocene reservoir at its Kurdamir-2 well by around 400 percent following the discovery of a giant oil field. As a result of the find, the company said that its estimate of unrisked prospective resources increased to 147 million barrels of recoverable oil (corresponding to 464 million barrels of mean estimated gross discovered oil initially in place) for the Oligocene reservoir in the Kurdamir block.

Under the Kurdamir production sharing contract (PSC), the Kurdamir-2 well, which was spudded last October, was required to be drilled by the end of June this year, after which a testing program of indicated pay intervals of the Cretaceous reservoir will follow.

The Kurdamir-2 well is located approximately two kilometres northeast of the Kurdamir-1 discovery well and is targeting the Oligocene, Eocene and Cretaceous reservoirs on the flank of the structure where the combined potential oil interval is likely at maximum thickness.
WesternZagros and Talisman each have a 40 per cent working interest in the Kurdamir Block, with the Kurdistan regional government holding the remaining 20 per cent.

Meanwhile, earlier this month the company also reported that after eight months on extended well test, the Jeribe and Upper Dhiban formations in Sarqala-1 produced roughly one million barrels of light oil.

WesternZagros said it is in discussions with the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan regional government with respect to a declaration of commerciality, and the submission of a development plan for Sarqala.
Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, the company holds two production sharing contracts with the Kurdistan Regional
Government in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The Singing Machine Company swings to full-year profit as karaoke popularity resurges

The Singing Machine Company (OTCBB: SMDM) Friday released its full year fiscal results, noting a $1.1 million improvement in net earnings as a result of new retail accounts and a popularity spike in karaoke machines.
Shares of the karaoke machine maker were up 1.12 per cent on the back of the news, trading at nine cents.
For the 12-month period that ended March 31, the company - whose karaoke machines, accessories, karaoke music downloads, and musical instruments are sold under the brands of Singing Machine, SMDigital and Sound X, reported a 26 per cent rise in net sales to around $25.9 million.
Net income swung to $463,000, an increase of over $1 million, compared to a net loss of approximately $599,000 in the last fiscal year.
The Singing Machine said the significant improvement in net sales over last year is directly attributed to new retail accounts and the overall resurgence of karaoke popularity.
"I'm thrilled with the positive turnaround the company was able to achieve this fiscal year," said CEO Gary Atkinson.
"Our management team did an impressive job growing sales and holding gross margin, while maintaining our overhead.
"I believe the company is well positioned for the coming year with our experienced management team, seasoned manufacturing relationships in China, and recent success coming off a strong holiday season at retail."
Gross margin dipped just slightly to 21.8 per cent compared to 22.1 per cent in the prior year. The company noted that general and administrative expenses held steady at approximately $2.5 million.
VP of global sales and marketing, Bernardo Melo, said the company is hopeful that its turnaround success will continue with the support of its new and existing retail partners.
"We continue to look for more top line revenue growth without compromising gross margin, said Melo, adding, "we continue to develop and diversify our karaoke assortment to appeal to a wide base of consumers."
The Singing Machine is broadening its entry-level assortment, adding to its Pedestal line of karaoke machines, and developing more iOS-compatible hardware to support the popularity of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices, the company said.
The first to provide karaoke systems for home entertainment in the US, The Singing Machine sells its products in both North America and Europe.
The company, which emerged from bankruptcy in 1998 and underwent a restructuring in 2004, has come a long way.
In 2009, it launched its online karaoke music download business through a partnership with content provider Stingray Digital, and became the first karaoke company to provide legal karaoke downloads, with a selection of more than 8,000 titles.
The business is 51 percent owned by a large manufacturing company in China, named Starlight, who acquired the stake in 2007.
The company's products are now featured across 1,800 stores across the US, with plans to expand its presence abroad.
In March, the company appeared on ABC’s daytime entertainment talk show The View. The karaoke machine maker’s 4TV device was featured in a Dr. Gadget segment, which highlighted five of the coolest new gadgets on the market.
Dr. Gadget, a radio and TV personality, showcased the product during a one minute clip and described it as the “new wave and new evolution of karaoke.”
The Singing Machine 4TV is the industry's first home karaoke machine to support digital karaoke downloads in MP3+G format. The 4TV product also offers a USB microphone and remote-control as well as an interactive user interface.
The machine is also compatible with traditional CD+G discs, and allows users to download songs to a jump-drive.

Globex Mining says drilling to start at Turner Falls shortly

Globex Mining Enterprises (TSE:GMX)(OTCQX:GLBXF) said Friday that drilling is scheduled to start within the next week on eight priority targets at its Turner Falls rare earths property in Quebec.

The miner said that extensive surface sampling, geological mapping and geophysical surveys have outlined a number of areas of mineralization, with high, heavy and light rare earth values.

The Quebec-based company completed a mapping, geophysics, and limited stripping and sampling program on the property in the summer and fall seasons last year.

The program, which was intended to sample a historical rare earth showing indicated from government geological files, involved the testing of 331 rock samples and 139 boulder samples.
The highest grade returned from a single sample found 9.29 per cent total rare earth oxide (TREO).
Meanwhile, another single sample returned 1.32 per cent heavy rare earth oxide (HREO). HREOs are rarer and more valuable than light REOs.
The Turner Falls property consists of 16 contiguous claims totaling 942-hectares and rests mainly in the Villedieu Township, Quebec.

Frontier Rare Earths reports rare earth grades as high as 19.5% from Zandkopsdrift - UPDATE

*updated with share price added
Frontier Rare Earths' (TSE:FRO) shares rallied over five per cent Friday, after the company reported that final assay results from its 2011 drilling program at its Zandkopsdrift rare earth project in South Africa have yielded total rare earth oxide (TREO) grades as high as 19.5 per cent.
Shares were trading at 50 cents as at about 12 pm EDT.
Grades in excess of 10 per cent and as high as 19.5 per cent TREO were identified in many holes, supporting the “significant economic potential” of Zandkopsdrift, as outlined in the company’s preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released earlier this year.
Results were received from 5,563 metres of diamond core drilling and 8,632 metres of reverse circulation percussion drilling, which were completed in the second half of 2011.
Frontier said the results have confirmed the presence of "extensive high grade rare earth mineralization and continuity of mineralization" from surface to an average depth of about 80 metres.
"We are very encouraged by the results of the latest resource drilling, which confirms Zandkopsdrift as one of the largest international resource code-compliant high grade rare earth deposits in the world," said CEO James Kenny.
"With 97 per cent of our rare earth mineralization contained in monazite, for which commercially proven metallurgical extraction processes exist, and with our prefeasibility study on schedule for completion in [the fourth quarter] Q4 2012, we remain confident of achieving our objective of being the next major producer of rare earths outside China after Molycorp (NYSE:MCP),  and Lynas (ASX:LYC) by end 2015."
Frontier’s latest drill results include grades ranging from 5.4 to 10.1 per cent TREO over depths of 10 to 31 metres. Among the highlights was 6.9 per cent TREO over 11 metres, including the highest grade interval of 19.5 per cent TREO at a minimum interval length of one metre.

Other notable results included 10.1 per cent TREO over 10 metres, including the highest grade interval of 17.8 per cent TREO at a minimum interval length of one metre; 8.1 per cent TREO over 12 metres, the including highest grade interval of 18.6 per cent TREO at a minimum interval length of one metre; and 6.2 per cent TREO over 19 metres, including the highest grade interval of 18.6 per cent TREO at a minimum interval length of one metre.

In addition, the company noted that drilling identified "numerous continuously well mineralized intervals" from surface, including grades of 3.5 to 4.6 per cent TREO from surface to depths ranging from 51 to 81 metres.
Frontier said that the new assay results will be included into an updated mineral resource estimate for Zandkopsdrift, the results of which will be incorporated into the prefeasibility study currently under way and on schedule for completion in the fourth quarter.
The company said it expects that the updated mineral resource estimate will result in the majority of the mineral resources at Zandkopsdrift being upgraded to the measured and indicated categories.
Frontier Rare Earths is a mineral exploration and development company exclusively focused on the development of rare earths projects in Africa.
Its flagship asset is the Zandkopsdrift rare earth project, which is located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and is one of the largest undeveloped rare earth deposits worldwide.
Frontier has a direct 74 per cent interest and a current 95 per cent economic interest in Zandkopsdrift.
The company’s February 2012 PEA reported that Zandkopsdrift is estimated to contain roughly 950,000 tonnes of TREO applying a one per cent TREO cut-off, and gave a whopping net present value of $3.65 billion, after tax and royalties, at an 11 per cent discount rate.
Internal rate of return for the project was seen at 52.5 per cent, after tax and royalties, with a two year payback from start of production.
Average production was pegged at 20,000 tonnes of separated rare earth oxides per annum over a 20-year mine life with production due to start in the second half of 2015.
Zandkopsdrift's "key to success" is mineralogy - as the property contains conventional rare earth minerals, with 97 per cent being monazite, for which commercial extraction processes already exist.

International Tower Hill shares rise as it appoints interim CEO

International Tower Hill Mines (TSE:ITH)(NYSE:THM) saw its shares rise Friday morning after announcing that Jeffrey A. Pontius will assume the role of interim chief executive officer until a new candidate is selected by the company’s board of directors.
The company said a number of "highly qualified" candidates have been shortlisted, and anticipates the appointment of a new CEO within the next couple of months, after the resignation of president and chief executive James Komadina in May.
Pontius is currently a director of the mining company, and was the founder and former CEO of International Tower Hill Mines from August 2006 to May 2011.
As interim CEO, Pontius will direct the company through the final stages of optimization at the Livengood project, and will oversee corporate development activities.
International Tower Hill Mines controls a 100 per cent interest in the Livengood gold project located north of Fairbanks, Alaska, that has a resource size of 16.5 million ounces in the measured and indicated categories plus 4.1 million ounces in the inferred category.
Earlier this month, the company provided an update regarding the optimization review of its Livengood project announced in May.
The company said it decided that the "most efficient and cost-effective" path to permitting the project is to incorporate results from current engineering and metallurgical test work directly into a definitive feasibility study - which the company expects to complete in the first half of next year.
The gold miner also implemented a cost reduction program, and is assessing "financial de-risking options", it said, including possible joint venture opportunities, for the development of the Livengood property. As a result, the company decided to postpone much of its district-wide exploration drilling program started in May, and cut a portion of its condemnation drill program.
The mineral explorer said it will focus on completing all the necessary field work and drilling to support the feasibility study as well as the environmental work needed to keep the permitting schedule on track. It also said it believes it has enough funds to complete the revised 2012 work program.
Last week, International Tower Hill said it identified five key target areas at Livengood as part of the project review. It said a geologic review of exploration results from 2009 to 2011 in the Livengood district was undertaken to identify the area's potential for mineral resource expansion of the existing deposit, as well as for new discoveries.
The company highlighted the areas with the most potential to provide “substantial resource growth” over time, which would be the focus of future drill programs.
Shares increased 8.42 per cent to $2.96 Friday morning.

Frontier Rare Earths reports rare earth grades as high as 19.5% from Zandkopsdrift

Frontier Rare Earths (TSE:FRO) said Friday that final assay results from its 2011 drilling program at its Zandkopsdrift rare earth project in South Africa have yielded total rare earth oxide (TREO) grades as high as 19.5 per cent.
Grades in excess of 10 per cent and as high as 19.5 per cent TREO were identified in many holes, supporting the “significant economic potential” of Zandkopsdrift, as outlined in the company’s preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released earlier this year.
Results were received from 5,563 metres of diamond core drilling and 8,632 metres of reverse circulation percussion drilling, which were completed in the second half of 2011.
Frontier said the results have confirmed the presence of "extensive high grade rare earth mineralization and continuity of mineralization" from surface to an average depth of about 80 metres.
"We are very encouraged by the results of the latest resource drilling, which confirms Zandkopsdrift as one of the largest international resource code-compliant high grade rare earth deposits in the world," said CEO James Kenny.
"With 97 per cent of our rare earth mineralization contained in monazite, for which commercially proven metallurgical extraction processes exist, and with our prefeasibility study on schedule for completion in [the fourth quarter] Q4 2012, we remain confident of achieving our objective of being the next major producer of rare earths outside China after Molycorp (NYSE:MCP),  and Lynas (ASX:LYC) by end 2015."
Frontier’s latest drill results include grades ranging from 5.4 to 10.1 per cent TREO over depths of 10 to 31 metres. Among the highlights was 6.9 per cent TREO over 11 metres, including the highest grade interval of 19.5 per cent TREO at a minimum interval length of one metre.

Other notable results included 10.1 per cent TREO over 10 metres, including the highest grade interval of 17.8 per cent TREO at a minimum interval length of one metre; 8.1 per cent TREO over 12 metres, the including highest grade interval of 18.6 per cent TREO at a minimum interval length of one metre; and 6.2 per cent TREO over 19 metres, including the highest grade interval of 18.6 per cent TREO at a minimum interval length of one metre.

In addition, the company noted that drilling identified "numerous continuously well mineralized intervals" from surface, including grades of 3.5 to 4.6 per cent TREO from surface to depths ranging from 51 to 81 metres.
Frontier said that the new assay results will be included into an updated mineral resource estimate for Zandkopsdrift, the results of which will be incorporated into the prefeasibility study currently under way and on schedule for completion in the fourth quarter.
The company said it expects that the updated mineral resource estimate will result in the majority of the mineral resources at Zandkopsdrift being upgraded to the measured and indicated categories.
Frontier Rare Earths is a mineral exploration and development company exclusively focused on the development of rare earths projects in Africa.
Its flagship asset is the Zandkopsdrift rare earth project, which is located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and is one of the largest undeveloped rare earth deposits worldwide.
Frontier has a direct 74 per cent interest and a current 95 per cent economic interest in Zandkopsdrift.
The company’s February 2012 PEA reported that Zandkopsdrift is estimated to contain roughly 950,000 tonnes of TREO applying a one per cent TREO cut-off, and gave a whopping net present value of $3.65 billion, after tax and royalties, at an 11 per cent discount rate.
Internal rate of return for the project was seen at 52.5 per cent, after tax and royalties, with a two year payback from start of production.
Average production was pegged at 20,000 tonnes of separated rare earth oxides per annum over a 20-year mine life with production due to start in the second half of 2015.
Zandkopsdrift's "key to success" is mineralogy - as the property contains conventional rare earth minerals, with 97 per cent being monazite, for which commercial extraction processes already exist.

Tethys Petroleum inks deal for $16.5 mln loan facility

Tethys Petroleum (TSE:TPL) (LON:TPL) said Friday that its Kazakh subsidiary has reached an agreement on a USD$16.5 million loan facility, to be used for future funding requirements.
The oil and gas exploration and production company said the facility will be provided by an undisclosed Kazakh bank to the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tethys Aral Gas, and is available to fund capital expenditures in Kazakhstan.
The facility, which can be drawn down at any time, has a term of up to four years depending on the company’s requirements and bears a 14 per cent interest rate per year on sums drawn down.
It will be secured against field facilities in Kazakhstan, the company said. So far, USD$3.5 million of this facility has been drawn down.
"This facility provides flexibility to meet the company's possible funding requirements should the company wish to make use of it and I believe it is prudent financial management at this time," said the company’s CFO, Bernard Murphy.
Tethys is focused in Central Asia in areas with substantial oil and gas potential, and is currently operating projects in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
In May, the company was awarded a new oil field in Uzbekistan, from which it says there is good potential to increase production.
The Chegara field currently has limited production from three wells and lies 14 kilometres south-west of the firm's existing North Urtabulak asset.
It has been the subject of minimal drilling and Tethys believes with more work, the firm can increase production "substantially".
The deal for Chegara is for a 25 year production enhancement contract.
Tethys also announced in May it had signed a memorandum of understanding with NHC Uzbekneftegaz concerning a potential exploration agreement for a block in the North Usyturt basin in Uzbekistan.
With regards to its Kazakhstan assets, the company recently revealed it had increased the resource estimate for these assets to 1.17 billion barrels of oil.
The upgrade was a result of additional 2D and 3D seismic acquisition and interpretation as well as drilling data, which also increased the chance of success in the area.
Tethys reported in May that its revenues jumped 45 per cent to US$6.49 million in the first quarter compared with the same period of 2011, as production increased to 5,117 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from 4,531 boepd.
Average output from the company’s Doris field in Kazakhstan was 1,038 bopd - up from 337 bopd a year earlier.
Shares of Tethys closed Thursday at 56 cents in Toronto.

Batero Gold appoints two to advisory board, Hutton resigns from board of directors

Canada-based Batero Gold (CVE:BAT) announced Friday the appointment of Juan David Uribe and James Hutton to the company’s advisory board, and the resignation of Hutton from its board of directors.
The news comes two days after the company appointed former Newmont Mining executive Leonard Harris to its board of directors.
Uribe was born and raised in Colombia, and is a lawyer with more than 30 years experience in the natural resource and finance sectors of Colombia.
Hutton has business experience in financings in the Canadian mining and energy sectors. He resigned from the company’s board of directors in order to pursue other opportunities, Batero said.
"I would like to welcome both Mr. Uribe and Mr. Hutton to our Advisory Board,” said Batero’s president and CEO, Brandon Rook.
"Mr. Uribe, an original shareholder and strong long-term supporter of the company, will take on a more active role and provide to the company extensive Colombian legal and business acumen."
"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Hutton for his significant contributions to the company as a member of the Board of Directors over the last two years and look forward to continue working with him on the Advisory Board."
The purpose of the advisory board is to provide the company’s management with additional strategic advice as it focuses on developing the most efficient and cost-effective leach processing circuit for the Cumbre gold deposit, one of three deposits at its wholly owned Batero-Quinchia gold project in Colombia.
Uribe is a Colombian attorney and partner of a law firm that specializes in the mining sector. His roles include negotiating contracts and commercial transactions to support client's operations in Colombia, acting as legal counsel in mining law matters, and supporting foreign investment issues for clients.
Batero reported at the end of April that it had closed an oversubscribed special warrant financing co-led by Raymond James and Cormark Securities.
It also completed a non-brokered special warrant financing on the same terms as the brokered financing.
Batero, therefore, issued a total of 9.7 million special warrants at a price of 65 Canadian cents each, for total proceeds of $6.3 million.
The company said the new funds will be used to advance its Quinchia project, within a planned preliminary economic assessment, including additional drilling and metallurgical work, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Batero Gold’s Quinchia gold project is located within the Middle Cauca Belt in Colombia.
The project is host to 3.5 million ounces of gold in the indicated resource category (248.5 million tonnes averaging 0.44 g/t gold) and 2.6 million ounce of gold in the inferred mineral resource category (242.4 million tonnes averaging 0.33 g/t gold).
Batero's $8 million, 12-month work program for the project in 2012 includes 15,000 metres of drilling, and an updated resource estimate within a PEA for the La Cumbre area of the property.

Avrupa Minerals awarded Slivovo exploration license in Kosovo

Avrupa Minerals (CVE:AVU) said late Thursday that the mining bureau of Kosovo has awarded it with the Slivovo exploration license, which covers what the company calls "an attractive massive sulfide target" that its geologists discovered last year.

The 15 square kilometre license is located in the Trepca Mineral Belt of the Vardar Zone, a long-term producing district of silver and base metals.

"The acquisition of the Slivovo license resulted from our regional prospecting program in Europe," said president and CEO Paul Kuhn.

"The exploration program in Kosovo is part of Avrupa's plan to acquire prospective targets at low cost, complete early stage exploration work to validate the geological targets, and then option the projects to qualified partners for further work and potential discoveries."           

Avrupa said its geological team also completed first-pass sampling, prospecting, and reconnaissance-style geological mapping on the Koritnik license in southern Kosovo.

Initial sample results indicated the possibility for precious metal mineralization related to parallel northeast-trending structures cutting intrusive rocks of the Sharr-Dragash complex, the company said.

Further sample results are expected in the next few weeks.

Avrupa said it continues to entertain joint venture options for the Kosovo exploration program, with at least four base metal targets drill ready on three separate licenses.
               
The three other licenses cover attractive early-stage base and precious metal possibilities, the company noted.

Earlier this month, Avrupa said that it has started first-pass reconnaissance and generative work on the Oelsnitz project, located in the historic Erzgebirge mining district in eastern Germany.

The district has hosted nearly 900 years of exploration and mining for silver, base metals, tin, tungsten, iron, fluorite and uranium.

Avrupa is a junior explorer using a prospect generator model, for mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.
              
The company has a portfolio of exploration projects including copper and zinc in southern Portugal, tungsten and gold in northern Portugal, and silver lead, zinc and copper and gold in Kosovo.

It now holds 15 exploration licenses in three European countries, including eight in Portugal covering 2,532 square kilometres, six in Kosovo covering 198 square kilometres, and one in Germany covering 307 square kilometres.

The company operates two joint ventures in Portugal. 

Focus Graphite starts 2012 drilling at Lac Knife, to upgrade resources

Focus Graphite (CVE:FMS)(OTCQX:FCSMF) said Friday that it has started its 2012 infill and exploration drilling program at the Lac Knife grapite project in Quebec.

Around 5,000 metres of infill drilling is planned, with the aim of upgrading the miner's existing inferred resource to the indicated category.

The results will be used to revise and upgrade the company's NI 43-101 compliant 4.9 million tons at 15.8% Cgr (Carbon as graphite) indicated resource, and 3.0 million tons at 15.6% Cgr inferred resource published last December.                

An additional 2,500 metre exploration drill program will be done to test a number of targets outside the existing resource on the Lac Knife property.
               
This program will test "high priority" surface graphite prospects, the company said, that were identified from historic information and geophysical anomalies in the southern lateral extension of the deposit.
               
"Based on the historic, early exploration information we inherited from Lac Knife's previous owners, there are clear indications our property may hold substantially larger volumes of graphite than our deposit holds," said president and CEO Gary Economo.
               
"Lac Knife deposit remains open in all directions and at depth and we anticipate that our drilling will permit us to upwardly revise our resource estimate at the end of the program."
               
Focus Metals is an emerging mid-tier junior graphite company and is the 100 percent-owner of the highest-grade technology graphite resource in the world, also known as Lac Knife in Fermont, Quebec.

With a grade of 16%, Economo says it will be able to produce large and medium flake, battery-grade graphite at the lowest cost in the world, at just $350 per tonne.

In May, Focus inked a licensing agreement with Hyrdo-Quebec's technology research institute, IREQ, allowing the junior explorer to develop a graphite purification facility and anode production facility for lithium-ion batteries.
The new, Focus-owned facility will transform first-production graphite sourced from the company's Lac Knife deposit in Quebec to battery-grade material.
The junior graphite explorer also earlier this month signed a letter of intent  to earn up to a 60 per cent interest in Lara Exploration’s (CVE:LRA) Canindé graphite project in Brazil, in a deal worth $7 million.
The Canindé graphite project is located in Ceará State in northeast Brazil and comprises 15,615 hectares of exploration licenses.

NanoViricides raises $5 mln in shelf offering, has more than 2 years of cash in hand

NanoViricides (OTCBB:NNVC) said Friday that it has raised $5.0 million drawing down on its previously announced registered shelf offering.
The offering, which became effective on April 29, continues to remain effective, the company said.
The new funds gives NanoViricidies more than two years of current operating expenses as cash in hand, allowing the company the ability to settle certain testing costs for its anti-influenza drug candidate and to support the costs of additional equipment needed for the production of future clinical batches of its drug candidates.
NanoViricides is a company that holds more than one promising clinical development programs under its belt, with its most advanced - FluCide - set for an investigational new drug (IND) application.
The drug development company makes anti-viral therapies using nanomaterials for a number of viral diseases including seasonal influenza, HIV/AIDS, oral and genital herpes, and the Dengue virus, among many others.
Currently, NanoViricides has five drug development programs within its pipeline, including FluCide, a drug that works against all forms of influenza such as seasonal and epidemic flus, and HIVCide, a drug that works against the HIV/AIDS virus, which the company says could become a "functional cure" for the disease.
FluCide, which has the most clinical data of all of the company's potential drugs and is therefore being advanced through the FDA process first, works on the same principles as the rest of NanoViricides' platform.
The financing announced today was received from a single investor, Seaside 88 LP, a Florida-based limited partnership that has invested around $20 million in NanoViricides so far.
Yesterday, the company received $2.5 million on closing, and has entered into a securities purchase agreement with Seaside for up to 5,000 shares of its newly created Series C Preferred stock, at a price of $1,000 per share.
A certain number of the preferred C shares will convert to common stock automatically every 14 days. The amount of common stock issued at each conversion will be equal to 15 per cent of the average volume of common stock traded in the previous two weeks, plus common stock resulting from conversion of accrued dividend, the company said.
"Conversion based on trading volume provides a substantial amount of stability to the trading market," said CEO and CFO, Dr. Eugene Seymour, adding, "it takes away the adverse price impact that could happen when a fixed dollar amount is converted every two weeks, which was the case with our Series B Preferred Stock."
The first conversion of Series C Preferred shares to common stock took place on Thursday, with additional conversions to follow every two weeks.
"We are pleased that Seaside has agreed to finance the company on terms that are substantially more favorable to the interests of our shareholders than in the past,” said president Anil R. Diwan.
"This financing is very important for the company as we advance our influenza drug candidate towards IND stage and future human clinical trials. It will also help us to continue to move forward with all of the drug programs in our broad pipeline."
In early April, the company said that the U.S. health regulator gave a "good roadmap"  toward an investigational new drug (IND) application for FluCide at a pre-IND meeting.
The company said it received comments and exchanged a list of questions with the FDA prior to the meeting, and believes the health regulator has given the company a good roadmap for advancing the drug toward an investigational new drug application.
So far, FluCide has been tested in thousands of animals, without having a failure. Results have showed effectiveness in inhibiting the cycle of infection, and the spread of the virus, as well as long-lasting effects after drug use was stopped.
The clinical drug candidate is anticipated to be effective against the majority of strains and types of influenzas like swine flu, seasonal flu such as H1N1, H3N2, highly pathogenic types such as H7N and H9N, as well as the highly lethal bird flu, or H5N1.
The drug company is currently working on the studies needed for an IND submission for FluCide. It also noted that it is working on enabling current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) capabilities for its drug candidates, for future human clinical trials.
Midtown Partners acted as the placement agent for this transaction and received a cash placement fee of six per cent, the company said.

Rubicon Minerals’ Phoenix gold deposit poised to be next major Red Lake project

Rubicon Minerals Corp. (TSE:RMX) (NYSE:RBY) recently touted its Phoenix gold deposit in Red Lake, Ontario as “one of the most unique opportunities out there”.

The deposit, located on a high grade gold camp near the mining friendly community of Red Lake, already boasts an indicated resource of 1.02 million tonnes, grading 14.5 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for a total of 477,000 ounces of gold, and an inferred resource of 4.23 million tonnes, grading 17.0 g/t gold for a total of 2.31 million ounces of gold.

In an annual general meeting on Wednesday with its shareholders, Rubicon gave an update on the year ahead for the Phoenix project, under the leadership of its new president and COO Michael Lalonde, who will assume the role of CEO after a six month transition period.

Current CEO David Adamson started the meeting by providing an update on the Phoenix gold project, saying he is “very excited about where this project is going.”

“It’s taken a huge amount of effort from a huge team here and we’re very happy to have Michael Lalonde on board for the next stage.

“In a nutshell, we believe this [the Phoenix gold project] is one of the most unique opportunities out there.”

The project’s location, access to infrastructure and economics make it quite low risk.

“The project is well advanced, and we’re in a fantastic jurisdiction,” Adamson said of the gold-rich, historic mining community of Red Lake. “Red Lake is a great place for geology, exploration and development.”

The Phoenix project has a $214 million capex, is fully permitted and funded and has produced a “positive preliminary economic assessment” (PEA) that allowed the company to go to market in earlier this year with bought deal equity financing of 49,000,000 common shares of the company at a price of C$4.10 per share.

Rubicon closed the financing at the end of February, raising C$200.9 million.

Adamson said that with Ontario being the “lowest tax jurisdiction in Canada”, the Phoenix project will be sheltered from taxes for its first two to three years of production because of $400 million in accumulated tax pools and losses.
Because of this, shareholders can reap the benefits of money generated flowing back into the project for capital expenses.

For the company, the tax break means that Rubicon may be able to spend the capital to explore the so far under-explored 100 square miles that it controls in Red Lake – aside from the Phoenix deposit.

“We feel that one of the reasons we’ve outperformed our peers in the last three, six and 12 months is because we have these unique advantages,” said Adamson.

New president and COO Lalonde also addressed shareholders, pointing out his over 25 years of experience in gold mining - 15 of them in narrow vein gold deposits.

“What I see is a really good story and soon we’ll make it a great story,” he said.

Lalonde spoke to the geology of the project and said that of the two second generation folds in the camp, one lines up directly through the Phoenix project.

“For the last year, we have been doing additional drilling [in the areas near the indicated resource] and we feel we’ve done sufficient drilling that we believe we can upgrade a large amount of this material into the indicated status,” said Lalonde.

“The focus of drilling for the next year will be on expansion drilling, rather than infill drilling.”

The company plans to do 16,000 metres of expansion drilling between now and September.

“Results will be reviewed at the end of the program and at the same time we’ll be doing some optimization studies,” Lalonde said at the meeting. “We feel that there is a lot of room to optimize the project.”

Rubicon’s intention in the next six months is to deepen the Phoenix shaft to the 610 metre level, expected to be complete by the end of the year. Once the shaft is down, the company will resume infill drilling.

Another area of focus will be mill construction at the site.

“Without the mill, we can’t process this material into gold bars,” he stressed.

The mill foundation is underway, the shell has been ordered and the building will be erected by January.

Last month, Rubicon released an update on exploration activities at its F2 Gold system, part of the Phoenix gold project.

The company is carrying out a 12-month, $82.8 million program designed to optimize certain aspects of its preliminary economic assessment, accelerate site infrastructure and expand on current engineering studies.

“Over the next three months, we will concentrate on introducing lower cost mining methods to drop the operating cost,” said Lalonde.

“We will modify the infrastructure for improved flexibility and productivity with the objective of these studies being to improve the [project’s] net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR).”

At a five per cent discount rate, the 100 per cent-owned F2 gold system - part of the Phoenix gold project – has a net present value (NPV) of $433 million with gold prices at $1,100 an ounce.

At current prices of about $1,500 an ounce, the project has an NPV of about $933 million.

The Phoenix project is expected to produce 180,000 ounces of gold per year for the 12 years of mine life, with grades of roughly 14 grams per tonne (g/t) and a forecasted 92.5 per cent recovery.
Lalonde said Rubicon is looking to begin “producing gold bars” in early 2014 under the existing PEA.
Rubicon controls over 100 square miles of prime exploration ground in the prolific Red Lake gold district, which hosts Goldcorp's (TSE:G) high-grade Red Lake Mine.

Western Potash, Karnalyte shares dive on Potash Corp. industry comments

Potash Corp. (TSE:POT)(NYSE:POT) CEO Bill Doyle said he did not expect any new mines to start production in the next five years, hurting the shares of two junior potash companies.

Shares of Western Potash Corp. (TSE:WPX) plunged nearly 23 per cent and Karnalyte Resources (TSE:KRN) lost 26 per cent of value in Toronto.

As at 12.40pm EDT, Western Potash shares were down 22 cents at 19 cents while Karnalyte stock lost $1.03 to reach $5.75.

In a webcast on Wednesday, Potash Corp.'s Doyle said he did not expect any new potash mines to start by 2017.

Both Western Potash and Karnalyte are seeking investors to build potash mines in the resource-rich Canadian province of Saskatchewan, which is also home to Potash Corp., the world's biggest producer of the crop nutrients.

One analyst said that Doyle's comments may have hurt the junior companies' shares, but they are similar to statements he has made previously, suggesting there may be other factors in the share price drop.

Along with junior miners who are in the planning stages, BHP Billiton (LON:BHP) and K+S AG have started work on potash mines in Saskatchewan.

Rodinia Lithium raises $4.5 mln from potash stream financing

Rodinia Lithium (CVE:RM)(OTCQX:RDNAF) Thursday closed its previously-announced potash stream financing with gross proceeds of $4.5 million.

Shares in the company were up 3.13 per cent to 16.5 cents as at 12:35 pm EDT.

Earlier this month, Rodinia announced its plans to boost the size of its potash stream financing to 4.5 million subscription receipts at $1.00 each, on a non-brokered private placement basis. The prior proposed financing was for 3.0 million subscription receipts, for proceeds of $3.0 million.

Each subscription receipt is exchangeable into a unit consisting of one non-voting potash stream preferred share and one half of a common share purchase warrant.

Each whole warrant will allow the holder to acquire one common share of the company at a price of 45 cents for a period of 18 months following the closing date of the offering.

Holders of the potash stream preferred shares will be entitled to receive a cumulative, preferential cash dividend linked to the potash price and the revenue generated by the company from its Salar de Diablillos project, located in Salta Province, Argentina.

"This financing enables the company to continue development of its flagship Diablillos lithium-potash deposit and sets us on our path to completion of a feasibility study and what we believe will be the eventual production of lithium and potassium products from the salar," Rodinia Lithium's president and CEO William Randall said.

Randall added that the closing of the financing is a "significant corporate achievement" in light of the current challenges in the capital markets.

"Based on the pricing of the preferred shares, the implied valuation for our potash stream is $20 million, which exceeds Rodinia's current market capitalization and places no value on our significant lithium production potential," said Randall.

"Our challenge moving forward is to continue to advance this asset to production while correcting the company's underlying valuation."

Rodinia's deal will avoid share dilution with the company monetizing the by-product potash that is being extracted from its lithium assets.

Initially, each potash stream preferred share will provide for an annual cumulative preferential cash dividend at a floating per share rate over the issue price of nine per cent, plus a potash price adjustment, payable annually on the last day of January following the relevant completed fiscal year.

Thereafter, the dividend rate will be reset so that holders will be entitled to receive quarterly dividends in an amount equal to the total amount of net potash revenue generated from the project for that quarter divided by 20 million - the maximum number of preferred shares that will be authorized in the capital of the company.

Net potash revenue will be calculated based on the quantity of potash sold and the potash sales price realized, less a potash production cost of $185.00 per tonne of potash sold.

Closing of the offering will be subject to obtaining the required TSX Venture Exchange approval.
Rodinia Lithium is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company with a primary focus on lithium exploration and development in North and South America. The company is also exploring the commercialization of a significant potash co-product that is expected to be recoverable through the lithium harvesting process.
Rodinia's Salar de Diablillos lithium-brine project contains a recoverable resource of 2.82 million tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent and 11.27 million tonnes potassium chloride equivalent.

In May, the company said it had successfully harvested sylvinite at its Diablillos project. Sylvinite, a potash and sodium chloride, was harvested during operation of its pilot engineering program being conducted on site.

The company also holds 100 per cent mineral rights to approximately 70,000 acres in Nevada's lithium-rich Clayton Valley in Esmeralda County.

The Clayton Valley project is located in the only known lithium-brine bearing salt lake in North America, and looks to represent the only new source for domestic lithium carbonate supply.

Rathdowney Resources says additional holes to be included in Olza resource estimate

Rathdowney Resources (CVE:RTH) updated investors Thursday on drilling results from its Olza zinc project northwest of Krakow in southern Poland, saying additional holes have been drilled that will be included in the resource estimate.
The zinc and lead explorer stressed that the compilation of results and resource modelling is progressing according to plan.
But a number of the additional holes to be included in the resource report are currently awaiting final quality control approval and are expected to be released shortly. Rathdowney's initial goal was to release its first resource estimate for the project by mid-year, but it will now wait to allow the inclusion of the additional holes.
The Olza project is a Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) zinc-lead prospect in Poland's historic Silesian mining district, an area with extensive mining infrastructure including power and rail. The project is also near a state-owned zinc smelter complex that is expected to have additional smelting capacity when the Pomorzany mine closes in the next three to five years.
"Rathdowney's 2012 drill program commenced in January with up to six drills operating and has rapidly advanced our geological understanding of the Silesian MVT zinc-lead system," said the company's president and CEO, John Barry.
"We are pleased to report that our results continue to correlate strongly with previous drilling undertaken in the region, and will facilitate our goal of converting historical resource estimates into a 43-101 compliant resource in the near-term."
In Poland, the company's properties lie in the Upper Silesian Mining District, a region of MVT zinc-lead deposits, which has supported a sequence of long-life zinc mines in the post WW II era and where it has been granted two prospecting concessions and applied for a third, encompassing an area of 150 square kilometres.
Located along strike from the operating Pomorzany-Olkusz mine, Rathdowney's concessions were explored by the Polish State Geological Institute, with a large historical drilling database of more than 1,000 holes.
The historical resource on all the properties is rather large at over 100 million tonnes, with a smaller but higher grade recent historical estimate from 2008 on Zawiercie, part of the Olza project, estimated to have 17 million tonnes in the C1+C2 category, grading 5.8% zinc and 2.32% lead.
Rathdowney said its drill hole pattern is designed to optimize the testing and verification of the historical resource estimates, with "significant mineralization" encountered so far.
Indeed, results have shown the continuity of mineralization within zones along several kilometres of strike length, the company said.
Highlights of recent drilling include 2.30 metres of 19.66% zinc in hole OLZ-078, and 17.72% zinc over 3.25 metres in hole OLZ-102. In addition, hole OLZ-096 returned 5.05% zinc over 14.7 metres.
The company has completed more than 200 drill holes as part of a multi-million dollar resource delineation program at Olza, with drilling continuing to build confidence in the reported grade and continuity of the historic mineralization.
The Upper Silesian district has an estimated endowment of some 40 million tonnes of zinc and lead, Rathdowney noted.
The junior explorer stands to benefit from the recent buzz on zinc.  Demand for the metal continues to grow globally while major zinc producers are set to be taken offline over the medium term, resulting in looming deficits in concentrate supply from the world's mines.
Because of this, some of the world's largest zinc producers are already starting to acquire smaller suppliers in order to secure zinc concentrate.
Rathdowney also holds concessions in Ireland, where its technical team continues to integrate the geological data from the company's 2011 drill program with historical information as a way to define further targets for drill testing.
Initial exploration was heavily weighted toward soil geochemistry and drill testing with single drill-holes of isolated metal anomalies, but the focus has now moved toward the structural setting and the localizing of economic zinc deposits.
"Exploration and discovery is a critical element of Rathdowney's value creation strategy," said Barry.
"Our geological team has conducted a detailed geological compilation and structural analysis using regional datasets in three priority areas of our land holdings in Ireland. We are now convinced that cluster drilling is key to effectively testing permissive structural settings to maximize the chances of discovery."

Black Iron hits 119 metres grading 32.8% iron at Shymanivske

Toronto-based iron ore explorer Black Iron (TSE:BKI) unveiled late Wednesday additional results from its diamond drill program at the company's Shymanivske project in the Ukraine.

The company said it continues to be "encouraged" from the results of the definition and exploration program, intersecting thick iron bands in each hole, with grades of over 30% iron.

Of note from the three additional holes unveiled today, hole BISH-24 returned 119 metres grading 32.8% iron, and 77 metres grading 33.2% iron.

The three drill holes were part of a 12,000 metre definition and exploration drill program conducted by the company between July and December last year.

Blakc Iron said the campaign is expected to result in a portion of the resources previously classified as inferred to move into the measured and indicated category in the next NI 43-101 compliant resource report.
               
Ukraine-based Mekhanobrchermet (Research Institute of Mineral Processing in Ferrous Metals) completed the independent metallurgical test work on the recovered drill core from the program.

As announced previously, the company noted again Wednesday that still no drilling is underway at Shymanivske until it obtains additional permits required to drill.

However, it also noted that additional drilling is not required to complete the feasibility study, which would be conducted in the future to potentially boost the in pit resource estimate.

Black Iron is an iron ore exploration and development company advancing its 100 percent-owned Shymanivske project located in Kryviy Rih, Ukraine.

Last week, the company released results from the project, including hole BISH-17, which returned 65.0 metres grading 33.8% iron and 11 metres grading 31.4% iron.

The project contains a NI 43-101 compliant resource with 373 million tonnes measured and indicated mineral resources grading 31.3% iron and 480 million tonnes of inferred mineral resources grading 30.2% iron.

The company believes that existing infrastructure, including access to power, rail and port facilities, will allow for a quick development timeline to production.

Black Iron also holds an exploration permit for the adjacent Zelenivske project which it intends to further explore to determine its potential.

Batero Gold appoints former Newmont exec Len Harris to its board of directors

Canada-based Batero Gold (CVE:BAT) announced after the bell Wednesday the appointment of Leonard Harris to the company’s board of directors.
Harris is a metallurgist, with over six decades of experience in the mining sector, such as building and operating mines in South America and across the globe.
He joins Batero as the company evaluates its leach processing operation at its Batero-Quinchia gold project in Colombia.
The company said Harris will provide valuable technical, environmental and community input as Batero focuses on the leach processing circuit at the La Cumbre gold deposit.
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Len," said the company’s president and CEO, Brandon Rook.
"In addition to his vast technical expertise, he provides an enormous wealth of knowledge in community and government relations in South America."
Harris held many senior positions at Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) over the span of 20 years.
He was the first general manager at Newmont’s Yanacocha heap leach mine in Peru, currently the largest gold mine in South America.
Harris then became president and general manager at Newmont Peru, and was vice president and general manager at Newmont Latin America.
Prior to his time at Newmont, he spent over 15 years at Cerro de Pasco Corp’s smelting, refining and ore processing operation in Peru.
He is a currently a consultant and director for exploration and development companies.
The company reported at the end of April that it had closed an oversubscribed special warrant financing co-led by Raymond James and Cormark Securities.
It also completed a non-brokered special warrant financing on the same terms as the brokered financing.
Batero, therefore, issued a total of 9.7 million special warrants at a price of 65 Canadian cents each, for total proceeds of $6.3 million.
The company said the new funds will be used to advance its Quinchia project in Colombia, within a planned preliminary economic assessment, including additional drilling and metallurgical work, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Batero Gold’s Quinchia gold project is located within the Middle Cauca Belt in Colombia.
The project is host to 3.5 million ounces of gold in the indicated resource category (248.5 million tonnes averaging 0.44 g/t gold) and 2.6 million ounce of gold in the inferred mineral resource category (242.4 million tonnes averaging 0.33 g/t gold).
Batero's $8 million, 12-month work program for the project in 2012 includes 15,000 metres of drilling, and an updated resource estimate within a PEA for the La Cumbre area of the property.

Gold Resource Corp says total dividends declared since July 2010 surpass IPO price

Gold Resource Corp (AMEX:GORO) declared Thursday what it called a "milestone" monthly dividend for June of 6 cents per common share.

The June dividend, which will be payable on July 23 to shareholders of record as of July 10, brings the total dividends declared since the company's start of commercial production in July 2010 to $1.01 per share.

This exceeds Gold Resource's IPO price of $1.00 per share, when the Mexico-focused gold producer went public in September 2006.

“As a shareholder focused precious metal producer, we are pleased to now have declared dividends exceeding our Initial Public Offering price,” said president Jason Reid.

"Those original shareholders still holding Gold Resource Corporation stock will have recouped their  original investment after the July 23rd pay date, underscoring the company’s ability to be both a growth equity and income equity."

In April, the company started to offer shareholders the option to convert their monthly cash dividends into physical gold and/or silver.

Gold Resource in May announced record results for its first quarter that it said set a "strong base" for the company, with gold equivalent production quadrupling year-over-year and mine gross profit more than tripling.

For the three months to March 31, the US-based gold producer recorded net income of $16.1 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, versus a profit of $2.03 million, or 4 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.

Gross profit from the company's El Aguila mine in Oaxaca, Mexico, which started commercial production in July 2010, totalled $33.7 million, up 281 per cent from $8.84 million in the first quarter of 2011.

CEO Bill Reid said on a conference call at the time that the significance of the mine gross profit is that the company can decide where that money is allocated, like with dividends for example. The company's aim was for a third of the mine gross profit to be distributed through dividends by the end of 2012.

The company paid $7.9 million to shareholders in dividends for the quarter, or 15 cents per share, and converted $2.9 million of its treasury into physical gold and silver.

The gold producer said gold equivalent production hit a record 30,528 ounces in the first quarter, representing an increase of 308 per cent. It milled 75,078 tonnes during the first quarter, at a grade of 4.27 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold and 483 g/t silver, with average recoveries of 89 per cent for gold and 94 per cent for silver.

Net sales of metals concentrate amounted to $40.62 million, up from $11.28 million a year earlier.

The company stood by its 2012 production goal, targeting a range of 120,000 to 140,000 precious metal gold equivalent ounces.

The miner has a 100 per cent interest in six potential high-grade gold and silver properties in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca.

Westridge plans next phase drilling at Charay project

Westridge Resources (CVE:WST), a mineral explorer, said it plans to drill a near surface high-grade gold oxide zone at its Charay project in Sinaloa State, Mexico.

The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company also said on Wednesday that it is working toward near term development and production.

Westridge’s next phase drill and sampling on the Charay project aims to define a compliant NI 43 101 resource in the high grade El Padre vein system in the not too distant future.

"Gold mineralization at Charay is high grade, oxide and close to the surface," Westridge chief executive Peter Schulhof said.

"Our hope is that the results from this planned program will allow us to work towards our objective of small scale production at Charay in the near future.

"We also look forward to continue to explore and define the full potential of this exciting and largely unexplored gold system," he added.

The next round of drilling will focus on infill drilling to provide sufficient information to support NI 43-101 compliant resources on the El Padre vein and adjoining veins.

Additional drilling will address surface concentrations of veins, identified by surface sampling and trenching, that may present targets for possible open pit oxide resources.

Late last month, the mineral explorer announced the cumulative strike length of all mineralized vein structures at Charay reached 4,000 metres versus the 250 metres when the project was acquired.

The company said through on-going interpretation of drilling, geological mapping, trenching and sampling results it was able to raise the strike length of the project as it continues to identify new epithermal veins.

Implant Sciences featured on front cover of Government Security News

Implant Sciences Corp. (PINK:IMSC) made front page in the June issue of Government Security News as an emerging global player in the explosives detection market, the company said Wednesday.
The Wilmington, Massachusetts-based company supplies security systems and sensors to the homeland security and defence markets.
The print edition of Government Security News has a circulation of 35,000, and more than 80,000 page views per month online.
The audience comprises of federal, state and local officials, as well as contractors and suppliers who are involved in homeland security.
In the latest issue, the article chronicles Implant’s evolution into a homeland security focused company led by an "impressive roster of top tier executives."
Implant’s chief executive Glenn Bolduc also told the paper that the company is contemplating changing its corporate name to reflect its current focus.
Established in 1984, Implant’s founders conceived of a method to implant radioactive seeds in humans to treat breast and prostate cancer –  the origin of its name.
Additionally, the feature reports on the shift in security threats away from bombs that can be detected by x-ray equipment, to bombs that are not as easily detected by modern x-ray equipment.
Implant's narcotics and explosives detection systems are used by private companies as well as government agencies to screen baggage, cargo, vehicles and people.
Its QS-H150 is a handheld device capable of detecting and identifying trace amounts of a number of military, commercial and homemade explosives.
The company's other main product, the Quantum Sniffer QS-B220, is a trace detector that uses ion mobility spectrometry to identify a number of military, commercial and homemade explosives and narcotic substances. It was introduced in May, 2011.
The latest article on Implant is not the first written by Government Security News. It has also covered Implant’s hiring of key management positions.
Earlier this week, Implant appointed former senior level U.S. Department of State Security exec, Robert J. Franks, as an advisor to the company.
The announcement came a week after the company appointed Todd Swearingen as general manager for the Americas, and just days after Mo McGowan was retained as a company advisor.
Franks is a security expert who has held senior posts within the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and private industry.
The article in Government Security News can be read at http://www.implantsciences.com/pdf/IMSC-GSN-June2012.pdf

Soligenix teams up with Infectious Disease Research Institute to develop biodefense vaccines

Soligenix (OTCBB:SNGX) said Wednesday that it has inked a collaboration agreement with the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) of Seattle, Washington, to develop biodefense vaccines.

The deal will see the two companies partner to develop vaccines using IDRI's synthetic adjuvants, together with Soligenix's proprietary subunit proteins and thermostabilization platform known as ThermoVax.

The company's technology allows vaccines that usually need to be refrigerated to maintain their efficacy at higher temperatures.

In April, Soligenix said that its RiVax vaccine, when combined with its ThermoVax technology, retained its potency and effectiveness when stored at 40 degrees Celsius for longer than three months.

The synthetic adjuvants provided by IDRI are immunologically active compounds that are added to vaccines to aid in inducing enhanced protective immune responses.

Soligenix said that the combination of the adjuvants with ThermoVax can result in vaccines with "robust characteristics for long-term stability and rapid onset of protective immunity."

These are both desired features for vaccines that would be stockpiled for emergency use.

The first part of the collaboration will see the partners assess the combination of one of IDRI's adjuvant compounds that has been shown to enhance immune responses to the anthrax toxin, with Soligenix's subunit protein anthrax vaccine candidate VeloThrax.

VeloThrax is Soligenix's hyperimmunogenic derivative of anthrax rPA, or recombinant protective antigen, a candidate vaccine designed to protect against anthrax disease.

The second objective of the collaboration will be to assess the combination of another IDRI adjuvant with formulations of Soligenix's RiVax vaccine, under development for protection against the ricin toxin.

The aim for both vaccines is to achieve stable products, the parties said, that will promote the rapid onset of protective immunity to minimize the number of vaccinations required.

"We believe that with the addition of IDRI's potent adjuvants to our hyperimmunogenic anthrax and ricin toxin vaccines, we will have the potential to develop highly competitive biodefense vaccines that can address the exact needs of the US government with regard to rapid onset immunity with just one or two doses," said president and CEO of Soligenix, Dr. Christopher J. Schaber.

"As with any biodefense program, our goal is to have VeloThrax and RiVax stockpiled by the US government in its strategic national stockpile."

The initial work under the agreement is to be carried out under Soligenix's existing $9.4 million National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) grant, supporting the development of advanced heat stable vaccines against anthrax and ricin toxins.

"IDRI is enthusiastic about working with Soligenix to support their efforts in developing their anthrax and ricin vaccine candidates, and are highly confident that IDRI's adjuvant technology can help build effective vaccines," said IDRI's vice president of adjuvant technology, Darrick Carter PhD.

"These new candidate vaccines could be the critical solution in providing protection to people in the event there is a bioterror threat from the release of anthrax or ricin toxins."

In addition to biodefense application, Soligenix noted that a recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services showed the need for thermostable vaccines to eliminate the need for cold chain manufacturing and storage.

Excursions from cold chain temperatures lead to the inactivation of vaccines, thereby putting recipients of vaccines at risk.

IDRI and Soligenix are together pursuing additional government development funding to further support this work, they said.

IDRI is a Seattle-based not-for-profit organization focused on the research and development of products to prevent, detect, and treat infectious diseases of poverty.

Soligenix is a biopharmaceutical company developing products to treat life-threatening side effects of cancer treatments and gastrointestinal diseases, as well as vaccines for certain bioterrorism agents. Its lead product, orBec, is a corticosteroid that has been initially developed for the treatment of acute gastrointestinal Graft-versus-Host disease, a complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Rare Element Resources starts 2012 drilling and exploration at Bear Lodge

Rare Element Resources (NYSE:REE) (TSE:RES) said late Tuesday that it has started its 2012 drilling and exploration program at its Bear Lodge rare earth element project in Wyoming.

Three core drill rigs and one reverse circulation drill rig are currently at the site, with the aim of expanding and upgrading the current reserve and resource base at the Bull Hill deposit with infill and step-out drilling.

Infill and step-out drilling will also be taking place at the growing Whitetail Ridge deposit, designed to expand the current resource and upgrade a portion of the resource to the measured and indicated categories, the company said. The Whitetail Ridge deposit is enriched in the more valuable heavy rare earth elements (HREE) relative to the Bull Hill deposit.

Rare Element will also be embarking on exploration drilling this year to establish inferred resources at the Carbon and East Taylor target areas, both of which show "significant HREE-enrichment", the company said, as reported in May. 

In addition, condemnation drilling will be done on the Physical Upgrade plant site, and on state section 16, the proposed stockpile and waste facility site.

In total, around 15,000 metres of drilling are budgeted for the year's program, which aside from drilling, will also include geological mapping, soil and rock chip surveys, and bulk sampling for metallurigcal testing.

Indeed, the company said metallurgical test-work of bulk sample material from the Whitetail Ridge, Carbon and East Taylor areas is currently underway in Vail, Arizona.

The test-work is focused on determining the best process to recover the rare earth elements from these ores, which are significantly enriched in heavy rare earths compared to the Bull Hill deposit material.

Based on the metallurgical results, the company will make a decision in the fourth quarter as to whether to integrate the development of one or more of these heavy rare earths deposits into the definitive feasibility study and permitting timeline for the project.

Including significant zones of heavy rare earths in the study would provide "substantial upside" to the project, Rare Element said, as well as bring additional shareholder value. The goal is to ramp-up to production sometime in 2016.

"We believe that by expanding our drilling program into the Whitetail Ridge, Carbon and East Taylor deposit areas, we will provide additional benefits for Rare Element to increase its heavy rare earth element profile," said president and CEO, Randall Scott.

"We are dedicated to the advancement of the Bear Lodge project and maximizing the value for shareholders."

Rare earth elements are key components of green energy technologies and other high-tech applications such as hybrid automobiles, plug-in electric automobiles, advanced wind turbines, computer hard drives, metal alloys in steel, additives in ceramics and glass, and many others.

China currently produces more than 96 per cent of the 124,000 tonnes of rare-earths consumed worldwide annually, with the country continually reducing its exports of rare earths each year.

In April, the company unveiled a revised preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for Bear Lodge, giving a net present value of $1.27 billion, at a 10 per cent discount rate after state taxes but before federal income taxes, and an internal rate of return of 47.8 per cent with two-year payback of initial capital.

The PFS outlined initial capital costs of $334 million, with life-of-mine capital estimated at $404 million.

The company said that it sees average annual operating costs of $61.8 million and operating costs of $194 per tonne mined and $2.94 per kilogram of bulk mixed rare earth carbonate concentrate.

Less than a month later, Rare Element released an updated NI 43-101-compliant mineral resource estimate for the three deposits located in the Bull Hill area of the Bear Lodge project.

The company registered a 10 per cent increase in measured and indicated resources and a 61 per cent increase in oxide and oxide-carbonate inferred mineral resources.

Rare Element's updated resource estimate for its Bull Hill deposit consists of 7.5 million tons (6.8 million metric tonnes) grading 3.79% Rare Earth Oxides (REO) in the measured and indicated categories, using a 1.5% REO cutoff grade.

The inferred oxide and oxide carbonate stands at 25.7 million tons (23.3 million metric tonnes) at a grade of 2.86% REO.

Eagle Star acquires Bomfim project in Brazil

Eagle Star Minerals Corp (CVE:EGE) said Tuesday it has inked a deal to acquire the Bomfim agro-mineral project in Brazil, which is located 20 kilometres away from MBAC Fertilizers' (TSE:MBC) Itafos Arraias property.

Bomfim is located in the southern most part of the Tocantins state, along the same phosphate mineralized trend in which MbAC holds the Itafos mine.

The region is considered to be the new phosphate belt of Brazil and has seen action with majors such as MBAC, Vale, Votorantim and Bungee.

Eagle Star said all exploration permits, for 30,922 hectares across 4 claims, as well as licenses, are already in place. An aggressive exploration program has been outlined with the aim to define an NI 43-101 measured and indicated resource as soon as possible.

Eagle Star said the project shares "much of the same" technical characteristics and economics that can be found in the proven geological model of Itafos.

What's more, early mapping and sampling as part of Eagle Star's due diligence have shown a "very strong case" for the extension of the Itafos mineralization to pass directly through the Bomfim claims.

Bomfim also sets nearby the agricultural centres of West Bahia and NE Goias States as well as existing local infrastructure.

Eagle Star said it will explore the possibility of moving directly into small scale production of the high grade crushed phosphorite, as a natural fertilizer, to assist with the funding of initial operations.
"We believe that with this acquisition we have propelled the company to the next level in terms of its development," said Eagle Star's newly appointed COO, Dr.  Jose Eloi Guimaraes Campos.
"The resemblance of this property's technical characteristics to that of MbAC's Itafos is quite remarkable and as such present an attractive investment opportunity in terms of its risk/reward profile.

"For any mining company, especially a junior one like ourselves, a proven geological, exploration and economic model provide a clear competitive advantage and a great starting point when it comes to developing an opportunity such as this one."      
Under the terms of the deal announced today, the company will form a partnership with Quantum Mineracao, in which Eagle Star will own a 75 per cent equity interest.

The partnership will own 100 per cent of Bomfim, with Eagle Star having the right to acquire a full 100 per cent stake of Bomfim by making staged cash and share payments.

The initial cash payment, upon which Eagle Star will earn 75 per cent of the project, will consist of 50,000 Brazilian Reals to Quantum within 10 business days from TSX Venture Exchange approval.

To gain the full 100 per cent, Eagle Star must also make two cash payments at the end of the first and second phases of exploration, respectively, as well as a cash or share payment once an NI 43-101 proven resource report is completed.

The main mineralization at Bomfim hosts outcropping phosphorite lenses, from where Eagle Star has sample results of up to 28% P2O5.               

The exploration program at the site is planned to extend over a 16 month period, with scout drilling of 2,600 metres kicking-off as early as October.
The target areas delineated by the initial scout drilling program will then be further detailed by regular spaced drilling totaling 27,000 metres at an average depth of 40 metres, the company said, to assist geological modeling and an NI 43-101 resource calculation.
Eagle Star has been bulking up its position in Brazil ever since announcing a strategic switch in focus to phosphate exploration in February. Phosphates are a key ingredient for inorganic fertilizer.
Last week, the company said it increased its land package in the Canabrava block at its Ruth project in Brazil by 17,509 hectares - 11 claims - in light of its most recent discovery. Earlier this month, Eagle Star found a mineralized phosphate package of at least 7 metres in thickness at Canabrava which was still open at depth and contained grades of up to 12 per cent phosphate.
The Canabrava block at Ruth now covers 40,678 hectares across 23 claims.
The company also said in June that it identified an area within its Samba project in Brazil that combines high grade phosphate with rare earth element mineralization. The 109,285-hectare Samba property, which consists of 60 mineral claims, is located near the cities of Valenca and Sao Jose do Peixe in Brazil, and near Eagle Star's Ruth phosphate project.

Implant Sciences appoints Robert J. Franks as advisor

Implant Sciences Corp (PINK:IMSC) said Monday it has appointed former senior level U.S. Department of State Security exec, Robert J. Franks, as an advisor to the company.
The announcement comes a week after the company appointed Todd Swearingen as general manager for the Americas, and just days after Mo McGowan was retained as a company advisor.
Franks is a security expert who has held senior posts within the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and private industry.
"Robert has a keen understanding of the clear benefits our Quantum Sniffers(TM) offer in multi-layered security environments for both government and corporate security environments," said the company’s president and CEO, Glenn D. Bolduc.
"His long-standing relationships with senior staff in federal law enforcement and security personnel at organizations, including the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security's Critical Infrastructure, will open doors for the company."
Franks has 26 years of experience at the U.S. State Department, where he served as an assistant director of the Diplomatic Security Service.
While at the Diplomatic Security Service, he also served as director of international operations, where he was in charge of overseas security and law enforcement for all State Department missions abroad.
He most recently was employed as an account executive with EOD Technology, where he was responsible for overseeing the U.S. Department of State's security support account, a 5-year, multi-billion dollar security services contract, and managed more than 700 security specialists assigned to U.S. Embassies.
Before this, Franks was principal security advisor to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
Implant Sciences is a manufacturer of sophisticated sensors and systems for security, safety, and defense markets. The company's explosives and narcotics trace detection systems are used by private companies as well as government agencies to screen baggage, cargo, vehicles and people.