Fission Energy’s exploration results “spectacular”, says Dundee Capital Markets

Fission Energy’s (CVE:FIX) (OTCQX:FSSIF)  prospecting results yesterday have got investors talking. The company’s 50/50 joint venture with ESO Uranium Corp (CVE:ESO), known as Patterson Lake South, a property on the southern boundary of the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan,  found an additional 20 radioactive boulder and hot spots, for a total of 74.
Dundee Capital Markets re-iterated its buy rating for junior uranium explorer Fission today, as the news was viewed as “very positive”, increasing the likelihood of another basement-hosted uranium discovery in the Athabasca Basin.
Fission’s latest exploration success is not at the J-Zone on its Waterbury joint venture near Hathor Exploration’s (TSE:HAT) prolific Roughrider deposit in the eastern Athabasca, but rather, it is close to AREVA’s Cluff Lake Mine, which has previously produced 60 million pounds of uranium, and also relatively nearby the 88 million pound uranium Shea Creek Deposit owned by UEX Corp (TSE:UEX).
"While only surface mapping, radon surveying, soil sampling and boulder prospecting took place this summer, results are spectacular," Dundee noted in its latest research report.
"Radioactive boulders were found on the first day of follow up of airborne radiometric anomalies flown in 2009."
Following this year's now completed boulder sampling program, a total of 74 boulders outline a distinct 4 kilometre long, 900 metre wide, north-south trending boulder train. Moreover, 57% of these produce “off-scale" radioactive readings as measured by hand held gamma ray scintillometers.
According to the companies, the boulder train appears to be pointing back at a series of east-northeast trending geophysical conductors – a possible new uranium discovery.
Fission suggests that the northern end of the boulder train might lie close to the source of the high grade boulders, but more ground work is required to fully target the source area.
"The size of this mineralized boulder field is very encouraging, if not impressive. The boulder train that led to the discovery of Cluff Lake was estimated at about 2km long, or half the size of this Patterson Lake South boulder trend," Dundee added.
Indeed, the Cluff Lake boulder train turned into the discovery of a 60 million pound series of orebodies for AREVA.
In addition, Fission said that basement mineralization is apparent at the site, eliminating many of the technical challenges found at some Athabasca deposits.
What started out as a small, $60,000 exploration program at the property, may turn into something of a larger nature due to the recent successes. The joint venture is considering spending $200,000 on detailed ground geophysics in the fall, followed by a drilling campaign in the winter.
Both Fission and ESO have enlisted the help of structural experts to help pinpoint targets, and the encouraging results from the boulder prospecting program have led the partners to stake an additional four more claims around the potential discovery, bringing total claims in the area to 12, or 25,450 hectares.

NanoViricides to use consulting firm to prepare for new drug applications

NanoViricides (OTCBB:NNVC) said Tuesday it has enlisted the services of Biologics Consulting Group, for the preparation and submission of investigational new drug applications to the FDA, sending the company's shares up more than 13%.
The company develops nanoviricide drug candidates using nanomaterials for the treatment of a wide variety of viral diseases. The drugs are designed to attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them.
Currently, it is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal flu, HIV, oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others.
The company's FluCide drug candidate has previously tested positively in pre-clinical animal studies to combat against flu, and NanoViricides said it is on track with the development of the product.
To facilitate the FDA review and approval process for FluCide, Biologics will advise the company on its application, and provide  assistance in the design and implementation of additional pre-clinical development activities that are necessary for the investigational new drug application.
NanoViricides has also made certain leasing arrangements for standard approved manufacturing facilities in its efforts to produce certain quantities of its drug candidates under "current good manufacturing practices" (cGMP), as necessary for the application.
Biologics is an international consulting firm whose consultants provide national and international regulatory and product development assistance for drugs, biological, and device products.
Shares of NanoViricides rose 12.6% on Tuesday to trade at $1.43 as of 1:45pm EDT.

Natural Resources presents at Western water rights conference

Natural Resources USA Corp (OTC:NTRC) said Monday that last month, the company presented on a panel of experts at a “Western Water Rights” conference,  hosted by Philadelphia-based investment bank Boenning & Scattergood.

The conference, which involved a number of public and private companies that own and market water rights, served as an introduction to the water rights sector and explored the various ways in which companies are approaching investment into the area.

CEO and Chairman of Natural Resources, Bill Gunn, said educating the public as to the rising water scarcity is "an essential step in sustaining the communities in which we live".

The company, through its subsidiary Natural Soda Holdings, has been mining sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, for the last 20 years in northwest Colorado, and is North America's second largest producer.

In June of last year, the company completed a restructuring, acquiring all the outstanding stock that it did not already own (82%) in Natural Soda.

In addition to the sodium leases it acquired in Colorado as part of the deal, Natural Resources also took hold of water rights located in the Piceance Creek Basin that entitles it to a maximum of 108,812 acre feet of water per year.

“The Western United States has been faced with a looming water crisis for a number of years now.

”We must continue to discuss this topic to understand the value of nature’s most precious commodity to pursue appropriate strategies for development and investment in water rights,” said Gunn.

Gunn formed part of the panel of speakers at the conference, and also presented on the topic of Desert Rivers.

“Among the Desert Rivers in the world that reach the sea, the Colorado River is one of the most significant and currently over 30 million people rely on this river as their source of water.

“The Murray Darling System in Australia previously exceeded its demand capacity, which is a case study the Western United states needs to be aware of and react appropriately,” concluded Gunn.

Other conference speakers included Aqua Capital Management, Northwest Pipe, Pure Cycle Corporation, Two Rivers Water Company and WestWater Research.

Li3 extends period to negotiate formal partnership with South Korea's POSCO

Lithium explorer Li3 Energy (OTCBB:LIEG) said Tuesday that it has agreed to extend the expiration date for negotiating a formal agreement with South Korea-based industrial company POSCO (NYSE: PKX).
The memorandum of understanding document for the strategic partnership was set to expire June 30, but has now been extended until August 31st. POSCO, with operations in energy, chemicals and materials, is one of the largest steel manufacturers in the world, with $56 billion in annual revenues.
The South Korean company invests in several resource development projects globally, especially with regards to lithium projects.
Indeed, the agreement between Li3 and POSCO was to jointly explore and evaluate the development of Li3's Maricunga lithium project in Chile, including the establishment of a commercial plant.
This is because one of the primary uses for lithium is in the production of batteries for hybrid and electic vehicles. As demand for these cars increase, so will the world's requirements for lithium, resulting in many battery and automakers in Korea and Japan partnering with lithium exploration companies to ensure a steady supply.
"After concluding a week in Korea with POSCO's senior management team, advisors and legal counsel, I am extremely pleased that both companies have expressed a desire to continue working towards a mutually beneficial transaction," said Li3 CEO, Luis Saenz.
"Our objective is to align the companies in a manner that provides Li3 with capital, while minimizing dilution and still providing POSCO with a range of possible involvements including both financial and technological exchanges.
"Li3 is very proud to be considered as a potential strategic partner in lithium and other minerals and we look forward to exploring financial, technical and commercial opportunities with a global strategic partner of this magnitude".
Li3 has a controlling interest in the Maricunga property, which has been independently ranked as one of the top eleven lithium projects in the world, with the potential to become the largest lithium-based salar in brine-bearing deposits.
A report by SignumBOX concluded securing a multi-national strategic off-take partner was one of the missing elements that could elevate the project even further, said the company.
Li3, which looks for lithium properties in Peru, Argentina and Chile, has begun the initial $3.8 million development work program on the project, placing Maricunga into feasibility stage. A preliminary economic assessment report is anticipated by the end of the fourth quarter.
Maricunga covers an area of approximately 1,438 hectares, comprising six concessions, and is located in the northeast section of the Salar de Maricunga in Region III of Atacama.

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics: one of the most promising cancer immunotherapy plays

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics (OTC:IMUC) is a small oncology company focused on the development of active immunotherapies, or cancer vaccines. Its lead candidate, ICT-107 has recently generated unprecedented activity in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a highly aggressive brain cancer. This unique therapy has now moved into a large randomized Phase II trial.

Similar to Dendreon’s (NASDAQ:DNDN) Provenge, ICT-107 is an individualized therapy with each treatment tailored specifically to each patient. Dendritic cells are removed from patients, expanded, and then loaded with tumor-associated antigens and re-injected into the patients. The dentritic cells, once back in the patient, triggers a potent T-cell response against cancer cells exhibiting these antigens.

ImmunoCellular’s technology builds on this basic concept. Rather than simply targeting a single tumor-specific antigen, it pursues multiple different antigens found on cancer stem cells (CSCs). Cancer stem cells are thought to be the originators of common tumor cells, difficult to kill, they lead to cancer’s re-growth after chemotherapy. It is believed that destroying the CSCs will allow for longer survival without relapse.

ICT-107 is designed to target the antigens HER-2, TRP-2, gp100, MAGE1, IL-13Rα2, and AIM-2. The initial indication is GBM, however, melanoma, breast, and ovarian cancer stem cells also express many of these antigens, increasing the potential of ICT-107 considerably.

The data presented over this past weekend at ASCO has validated this set of targets. Analysis of patient tumors revealed a statistically significant correlation between an increase in progression free survival (PFS) and expression levels of the antigens MAGE1, gp100, AIM2, and HER2. The study also showed patients who demonstrated an immunological response to vaccination with ICT-107 had longer PFS compared to non-responders. Responders also exhibited a trend toward longer overall survival.

The company has recently presented updated results of its Phase I trial of ICT-107 in GBM that was initiated in May 2007. Median two-year survival of 80.2% looked amazing compared to historical 26.5% for standard of care. Median progression free survival of 16.9 months also looked good compared to historical 6.9 months on standard of care. 11 of the 16 patients continue to survive, 6 with no tumor re-growth. Three of these patients have been disease free for almost four years. Median overall survival has not been reached. No serious adverse events have been reported and minor side effects have been limited to fatigue, skin rash and pruritis.

These results also compare well against new treatments. Avastin plus SOC increased median two-year OS to 45% while the experimental candidate CDX-110 from Celldex (NASDAQ:CLDX) improved it to 50%.

The Phase I trial is indeed small, but the high level of activity combined with correlating biomarkers gives confidence in the results. The Phase II trial will enroll about 102 newly diagnosed GBM patients at 15 centers in the U.S. and Canada. It will be double-blinded, placebo-controlled, with a 2:1 randomization to ICT-107 vs. placebo. The trial began enrolling in January and is expected to complete enrollment in 12 months with an interim analysis after about 17 months, based on an estimated 50% events of death.

There is good reason to believe the Phase II will succeed based on the outstanding Phase I results. It is the degree with which it succeeds that remains to be seen. With a larger number of patients and multiple clinical sites, it is highly likely that future results will not be as spectacular as the original; but they don’t need to be. Median OS currently stands at over 30 months, more than double historical standard of care data of 14.6 months. It also beats recent results of a 125 patient trial of Avastin in newly diagnosed patients with glioblastoma that yielded median OS of 21.3 months. If ICT-107 can perform as well as Avastin, it would already be a winner due to its much milder side effects compared to Avastin’s potential for serious toxicities.

An additional part of the Phase II plan is to add a treatment boost every three to six months to extend its benefit. Over the course of four years, 16 doses would be required. ImmunoCellular is able to do this because their drug manufacturing process creates 20 doses at a time. The treatment can be kept under cryopreservation until administered to patients. With this process, the company does not need to create a new batch for each dose.

It is also worth noting that length on therapy is a major revenue driver for oncology drugs. This is one reason why drugs such as Revlimid and Gleevec do so well; the drugs are highly efficacious and patients are on drug for prolonged periods. ICT-107 has that potential. With a demonstrated median OS of greater than 30 months, each patient can potentially be on drug for more than two years.

In other news, ImmunoCellular just announced that it has formed a joint venture with BioWa, a subsidiary of major Japanese pharmaceutical company, Kyowa Hakko Kirin (TYO:4151). Each company will contribute antibody technology to form a new company called Caerus Discovery, of which ImmunoCellular will receive a 19% stake. The transaction effectively monetizes ImmunoCellular’s non-core antibody technology, allowing the company to stay focused on its cancer vaccine. Importantly, BioWa will fund all development costs of Caerus.

The future looks good for ImmunoCellular Therapeutics. Interim data is not far off, expected in the second half of 2012. The results should solidify its position as one of the most promising cancer immunotherapy plays and significantly de-risk the asset. The company currently trades at about $2.00 with a market cap of under $60 million. On June 1, Zacks Investment Research placed an Outperform rating on the stock with a $7 price target.

Xtra-Gold Resources drills high grade gold at Kibi project

Xtra-Gold Resources (TSE:XTG) (TSX:XTG-S) (OTCBB:XTGR) reported Tuesday further significant drill results from the Big Bend Gold Zone on the company's Kibi project in Ghana, West Africa.
The company said that results from six new diamond core holes, which covered 1,308 metres, continue to confirm the "down-plunge continuity" of mineralization, and show the presence of higher grade gold within the Big Bend system.
Highlights from the holes reported today include 52 metres grading 2.42 g/t gold in hole KBDD11113, including 27 metres at 3.58 g/t gold and 6.09 g/t gold over 12 metres.
In addition, hole KBDD11110 intersected 50 metres of 1.64 g/t gold from 158 metres down hole, including 24 metres at 2.45 g/t gold; and hole KBDD11114 returned 50 metres at 1.31 g/t gold from surface, including 20 metres at 2.21 g/t gold.
The latest drill results are part of a 20,000 metre exploration program initiated in mid January, designed to define the Big Bend Gold Zone, as well as test other prominent gold systems on Zone 2 of the company's Kibi project.
To date, significant gold mineralization has been traced over a 300 metre strike length, and roughly 360 metres down plunge from surface along the Big Bend gold zone.
Xtra-Gold has completed 34 holes totaling 8,550 metres thus far in its current 20,000 metre program.
The company's shares rose more than 3.5% on the results, to trade at $2.02 as of 10:34am EST in the US.

Li3 reports positive NI 43-101 compliant findings from technical report on Marincunga

Li3 Energy (OTCBB:LIEG) announced Tuesday the findings of an NI 43-101 compliant technical report on its Maricunga lithium brine property in northern Chile, independently ranked as one of the top ten lithium projects in the world.
The report, conducted by Hains Technology Associates, concludes that Maricunga can be considered a "property of merit", as it holds sufficient exploration potential to warrant further cost to advance the project to pre-feasibility stage.
Indeed, the property, in which Li3 has a controlling interest, has the potential to be a source of lithium, potassium and boron. The company recently signed a deal with one of the world's largest steel manufacturers, South Korea-based POSCO (NYSE:PKX), to jointly explore and evaluate the development of the Maricunga project, including the establishment of a commercial plant.
This is because one of the primary uses for lithium is in the production of batteries for hybrid and electic vehicles. As demand for these cars increase, so will the world's requirements for lithium, resulting in many battery and automakers in Korea and Japan partnering with lithium exploration companies to ensure a steady supply.
Maricunga covers an area of approximately 1,438 hectares, comprising six concessions, and is located in the northeast section of the Salar de Maricunga in Region III of Atacama.
According to the NI 43-101 compliant report, exploration work at Maricunga has indicated that the brines are enriched in lithium and potassium, from which lithium can be recovered at a good rate.
The company also noted the relatively high boron concentration in the brine, which should permit high extraction rates for the recovery of boric acid, a valuable co-product.
Historical work over Maricunga has calculated a non compliant mineral resource of 224,300 tonnes of lithium and 3.27 million tonnes of potash. The recent report estimates that it is possible to develop an NI 43-101 compliant resource similar to the historical one.
Initial drilling at the property estimated assay values of 1.1g/L lithium, 7.93 g/L potassium, 1.81 q/L boron and 6.6 g/L magnesium.
In addition, production from the property is expected to be lower cost than other Chilean salars, as sulphate in the brine is unusually low, reducing the need for additional reagents for sulphate removal. Electrical and road infrastructure is also in place to support preliminary development.
"The findings of the NI 43 -101 and other preliminary data support our opinion of the strength of this strategic asset," said COO Tom Currin.
Other data compiled from earlier findings is expected to be further validated with the completion of a preliminary economic assessment report for Maricunga, which Li3 is anticipating by the end of the 4th quarter.
"Armed with this data, Li3 looks forward to the future and unlocking the full potential of Maricunga, commercializing the asset and creating value for all of our stakeholders and strategic partners," added CEO Luis Saenz.
Li3, which looks for lithium properties in Peru, Argentina and Chile, has begun the initial $3.8 million development work program on the project.