Voir Longreach Oil and Gas au forum proactive à travers le Canada qui viennent de la campagne de forage d'impact élevé

Sans doute le meilleur moment pour regarder de plus près à une petite société pétrolière et de gaz juste avant qu'ils lancer une campagne de forage à fort impact, et c'est exactement ce que nous offrons aux investisseurs dans la deuxième semaine de Mars, avec une série d'investisseur One2One Créer un forum à travers le Canada.

Nous offrons aux investisseurs une occasion rare d'entendre Andrew Benitz, chef de la direction de l'huile de Longreach Oil & Gas (TSX-V:LOI), qui est encaissé après avoir terminé une fusion avec son compatriote APIC Petroleum junior et simultané 30 millions de dollars de placement privé, à la fin de l'année 2012 .

Les investisseurs proactive forum One2One engageons à fournir un accès direct aux patrons de certaines entreprises de la nation de croissance les plus dynamiques.

En effet, cette fois ne fait pas exception, avec de l'huile et Longreach ensemble Gaz de prendre le podium à une série d'événements à Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto et Montréal, de Mars 11 à 14.

En six ans, proactive a organisé plus de 300 événements et présenté aux investisseurs de certains de marché de la Bourse de stock le plus performant sociétés cotées.

Le Forum des investisseurs One2One prochaine aura lieu au Metropolitan Hôtel Vancouver - 645, rue Howe - Salle de Vancouver, le 11 Mars.

Cela promet d'être une affaire intéressante, avec cette opportunité d'investissement convaincante à portée de main pour les participants.

Longreach fera un pas de 20 minutes suivie d'une inquisition à 10 minutes en une pièce remplie d'investisseurs potentiels.

Une fois que la société a présenté, canapés gratuits et des boissons sont disponibles pendant 90 minutes au cours d'une réunion en petits groupes, où les participants peuvent se mêler aux autres invités, ou poser d'autres questions aux présentateurs.

Longreach apparaîtra à Vancouver le 11 Mars, qui sera suivie d'une présentation le 12 Mars à Calgary, Toronto Mars 13e et 14e Mars Montréal. Pour plus de détails sur les heures des événements et des lieux, et pour vous inscrire, s'il vous plaît cliquez ici.

Nous nous réjouissons de vous y rencontrer! (Voir biog mini Longreach ci-dessous)

Grâce à la fusion avec l'APIC, Longreach également gagné vétéran de l'industrie Dennis Sharp en tant que président. Sharp a une solide expérience de la construction de sociétés d'énergie juniors, plus récemment UTS Energy, qui a été vendue à Total pour 1,5 milliard de dollars en 2010.

Soutenue par plusieurs grands fonds, y compris Dundee, Blakeney, Sprott Asset Management et West Face Capital, Longreach prévoit de forer deux puits à fort impact à terre au Maroc, où il a récemment terminé sismique 2D pour aiguiser les cibles.

La compagnie a déclaré que le programme 2D, conçu pour évaluer les cibles de forage possibles, telles que la Koba et les perspectives Kamar, a été achevée dans les délais et le budget prévus.

Selon les termes de la licence, Longreach a été nécessaire pour acquérir des données sismiques sur une superficie d'au moins 500 kilomètres (km), il a effectivement saisi 520 km de données sismiques de haute qualité dans plus de 47 lignes du portefeuille de prospects.

La société est bien financée, avec 30 millions de dollars en frais recueilli des fonds.

SilverCrest Mines Santa Elena drill results "bode well" for upcoming resource and reserve estimate

Stonecap Securities analyst Christos Doulis kept his outperform rating and $3.90 price target on SilverCrest Mines (CVE:SVL) Wednesday, a day after the silver producer released drill results from its Santa Elena mine in Mexico - which the analyst says bode well for the upcoming updated resource and reserve estimates. 

The headline hole, SE-13-119, intersected 25.8 metres grading 1.24 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 187.6 g/t silver, including 1.9 metres of 2.34 g/t gold and 1,281.9 g/t silver. 

The company said Tuesday 111 holes of a planned 114 holes were completed to expand the resource and upgrade resources to reserves at Santa Elena. 

It also said that five holes intercepted the recently discovered El Cholugo zone - which lies below the Main Mineralized Zone currently being mined - including hole GT-12-09, which returned 7.3 metres grading 2.73 g/t gold and 357.9 g/t silver. 

Another sub-parallel mineralized zone was also discovered below the El Cholugo zone, with the company naming it the El Cholugo Dos zone. 

Three drills continue to turn on site, with a resource and reserve update expected in the first quarter, to be followed by a prefeasibility study for the mine's expansion plan. 

A three year expansion plan is underway to double metals production at the mine. 

"The additional drill results bode well for the updated resource and reserve estimates for Santa Elena and we continue to maintain that at current share prices, investors are getting the Santa Elena mine for a good price and are paying nothing for SilverCrest’s La Joya project," concludes Doulis. 

Indeed, SilverCrest is also advancing the definition of its large polymetallic deposit at its La Joya property in Mexico, where it late last month doubled the ounces in the resource. 

The company produced 2.37 millon ounces of silver equivalent last year, and it is said to be on track to become a 5.0 millon plus producer within the next two years, with additional upside from the rapidly expanding La Joya project. 

Shares of the silver miner closed at $2.50 on Tuesday - far below Stonecap's $3.90 target price, suggesting there is plenty of room for upside. 

Simba Energy finds more signs of oil in Guinea

Africa explorer Simba Energy (CVE:SMB) today said it has found more signs of oil in Guinea.

Through field work on Blocks 1 and 2 in Guinea’s Bove basin the exploration team identified three significant oil seeps.

“Further to our site visit last summer that identified and confirmed a number of known seep areas within Block 2, these three additional seep areas, from Paleozoic rocks, are impressive and clearly the best seeps seen to date.

“They certainly increase the prospectivity of both the blocks with the presence of higher C hydrocarbons. A number of samples have been sent to the lab for analysis.” Simba’s chief technical officer James Dick said.

Simba told investors that as a result of these finds it will now focus its initial exploration efforts in Guinea on Block 1 and the northern part of Block 2.

And it is now planning a programme of geochemical sampling, in which it will take 2,000 samples over 1,000 kilometres.

Oil seeps can be interpreted as surface indicators that a petroleum system may exist further beneath the ground. Locating areas where oil saturates the ground can help explorers narrow in on areas for further exploration and can potentially de-risk future work programmes. 

Simba holds a 60 percent operating interest in the production sharing contract in the production sharing contracts (PSC) for Blocks 1 and 2 in the Bove Basin.

Gold Resource Corp declares February dividend as production on the rise

Gold Resource Corp (NYSE MKT: GORO) has declared its monthly dividend of six cents per share for February, payable on March 25 to shareholders of record as of March 11. 

The low-cost gold and silver producer, with operations in Oaxaca, Mexico, offers shareholders the option to convert their monthly cash dividends into physical gold or silver. 

Earlier this month, Gold Resource Corp saw its shares rise after it said it boosted its board of directors to six members, with the addition of Dr. Gary Huber. 

Dr. Huber brings more than 35 years of diversified natural resource experience to the board, having been the president and CEO of Neutron Energy, a private uranium development company, and a founder and CFO of Canyon Resources Corp. 

His experience in the mining business includes operations management, business development, merger and acquisitions, financings, strategic planning, and minerals marketing, whichGold Resource Corp says brings "additional depth" to its board. 

In January, the gold producer posted its preliminary production results for last year, achieving record full year output for 2012. 

For 2012, it produced 90,432 ounces of gold equivalent, up 37% from 2011. The latest figure included 23,783 ounces in the fourth quarter, up from 22,336 ounces in the third quarter.

Looking ahead, the company set its production range for 2013 between 80,000 and 100,000 ounces of gold equivalent, which at the high end would be an increase of around 11% over 2012 figures. 

Also in January, the company revealed high gold and silver grades at its Las Margaritas property in Mexico, saying the results confirmed mineralization at depth and bolstered the company's confidence in the mineralized trend. 

Gold Resource Corp added the property to its portfolio as it consolidated land along the structural corridor in this region. As with all six of its Oaxaca, Mexico properties, the company is targeting additional deposit discoveries at Las Margaritas where high-grade ore could be trucked to its strategically located mill at its El Aguila project.

Global Minerals Slovakia project has limited downside risk, says SmallCaps.us

Canadian mineral explorer Global Minerals (CVE:CTG) Tuesday landed an initial buy rating and a 55 cent target price from SmallCaps.us, which focuses on companies with a market cap below $100 million. 

The 55 cent target price, the report notes, is 123% higher than Monday's 30-day average stock price. 

Global Minerals is looking to advance the undeveloped Strieborná vein in Slovakia. It is in an old mine, adjacent to the previously mined Maria Vein. 

The high-grade silver-copper vein type deposit is located in an historic mining district near the town of Roznava in eastern Slovakia. The former Mária mine site, which sits on land owned by Global Minerals, provides space for infrastructure and facilities that are necessary for ore processing and tailings disposal. Underground access is also available through the workings of the past producing Maria mine.

Because of the extensive existing infrastructure, the company expects the project could move into production in relatively short order and at a low cost. 

"Strieborná has excellent infrastructure, including sufficient electrical power, railway access, paved highways and a work force experienced with underground operations," the research report says. 

An April 2008 NI 43-101 technical report on Strieborná included 1.9 million tonnes in the measured and indicated category grading 231.7 g/t silver, 1.1% copper, and 0.7% antimony and 1.5 million tonnes in the inferred category grading 180.0 g/t silver, 0.9% copper and 0.7% antimony.

The company believes the Strieborná vein has enough resources for 8 to 10 plus years of mining, and it considers this little explored region to have "excellent prospect potential". 

A current drill program aims to both expand and upgrade the current resource from the inferred 

category to the measured and indicated categories. It also plans to define the upper limits of the deposit as well as the grade and continuity of the silver resource. 

These drill results, ongoing engineering studies, along with the results of metallurgical testing, process flow-sheet design and concentrate marketing, will be included in a preliminary economic study - anticipated in the second half of this year. 

"Due to a fund having to liquidate its position, Global’s stock significantly declined the past couple of weeks giving investors an excellent opportunity to get in at these low levels. 

"We like the Strieborná project, as it’s already well advanced with limited downside risk. Underground drilling is ongoing, metallurgical studies are advancing and a new resource estimate and Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) are on the way," concludes the report. 

The ultimate goal is for the company to enter production in late 2014 or early 2015, with Global Minerals now holding around $7 million in cash - enough to take it to the PEA stage. 

Shares of Global were flat on Tuesday, trading at 19 cents on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Stonecap analyst says Copperwood permits “clear the path” for Orvana Minerals to create value

Stonecap Securities analyst Christos Doulis reiterated his “outperform” rating and $2.10 price target for Orvana Minerals (TSE:ORV) Tuesday, a day after the company received the final permits required for its proposed Copperwood copper project.

Toronto-based Orvana on Monday announced that it has been granted its key Wetlands permit for the Copperwood project it is developing in Michigan, U.S., moving one step closer to advancing the copper property into production. 

Over the last year, the gold and copper producer has been applying for permits that will allow for mining this copper deposit. 

The company reported in a statement on Monday that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality granted the Wetlands Part 303 and the Inlands Lakes and Streams Part 301 permits for the proposed Copperwood copper mine. 

“We believe that having all the major permits in hand significantly de-risks the project and was a critical component for Orvana to be able to successfully monetize or find a partner for Copperwood,” Doulis noted in a Morning Research report.

“With an estimated pre-production capex of $213 million, Orvana does not currently have the financial resources to build the project on its own.”

Stonecap noted that it estimates that the project has an after-tax, net present value of about $148 million and makes up 38 per cent of the firm’s operating net asset value for Orvana.

“We re-iterate our belief that while short-term working capital issues are still a concern, Orvana’s operating assets are now performing well, and this, coupled with the de-risking of Copperwood, leads us to believe that the current share price is an attractive entry point,” said Doulis.

“We believe a deal involving Copperwood could add substantial value for Orvana’s shareholders.”

Earlier this month, Stonecap changed its copper price forecast to $3.50 per pound for this year from $3.25 previously, while it now foresees a price of $3.50 for 2014, compared to $3.00 per pound originally. 

This compares with consensus estimates for copper prices of $3.68 a pound in 2013 and $3.50 a pound in 2014, according to Bloomberg. 

Doulis said at the time that that the copper forecast is largely in line with consensus and raised his rating and target price for Orvana, noting that the company “benefits significantly” from the increase in the firm’s copper price forecasts.

The $2.10 target price was raised sharply from $1.50 previously, based on what Stonecap believes to be “an executed turnaround” at both the company's flagship El Valle-Boinas/Carles (EVBC) gold-copper mine in northern Spain and Don Mario Mine in Bolivia, processing its copper-gold-silver Upper Mineralized Zone (UMZ) deposit.

Snipp bolsters platform with new shortcode to support new programs and clients

Mobile marketing services firm Snipp Interactive (CVE:SPN) says it has launched a new shortcode to further boost its "Mobilize Me" suite in response to growing demand for a number of programs in its toolbox. 

Snipp's "Mobilize Me" platform includes three mobile specific solutions - response, infrastructure and validation - which collectively allow brands to interact with their customers through mobile across the entire purchase lifecycle.

SnippCheck, Snipp's mobile receipt processing solution, allows users to submit receipt images for validation through multimedia messaging, or MMS.

Snapp, the company's image recognition solution, allows interactive mobile campaigns by allowing users to send in photos of particular images and receive pre-defined responses. 

Similarly, its Face-In-The-Hole service is an interactive application that distorts and superimposes faces into photos that customers can receive via MMS. 

The additional shortcode is designed to provide Snipp with flexibility in supporting client campaigns. The 811811 shortcode is provisioned for SMS and MMS across all four major carriers - AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile - and a number of other carriers as well, the company said.

"Our platform and technology has been growing at an incredible rate. We are excited to add this shortcode to our Mobilize Me platform to better support existing and new programs/clients as we continue to deploy innovative and exciting mobile solutions," said CEO and co-founder Atul Sabharwal. 

The company noted that mobile messaging still remains the dominant method of mobile interactivity, with the technology being supported by more than 99% of all phones as well as on every carrier. 

Snipp provides print publishers, advertising agencies and corporate/consumer brands with a full suite of mobile marketing services in North America. 

Headquartered in Washington, D.C. and established in 2007, the company has provided its services to several Fortune 500 companies and other major brands, advertising agencies and publishers, including Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Time Inc, Ford (NYSE:F), Nike (NYSE:NKE), Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) and Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB).

Last week, the mobile marketing services firm said that for the second year in a row, it powered ESPN and Taco Bell's mobile code campaign for the Bowl Championship Series college football games.

The campaign generated over 225,000 scans since its launch on December 20, a “record performance” for a non-sweepstakes based campaign, the company said.

NanoViricides starts renovation for pilot production and lab facility, shares rise

NanoViricides (OTC:NNVC) on Tuesday saw its share price spike over 28 per cent as it announced that the renovation of the facility for its new clinical-scale cGMP production plant has begun.

The company said it has reached “a new milestone” with the start-up of the renovation of its cGMP (current good manufacturing practice) facility, which is being designed to produce sufficient quantities of the drugs needed for human clinical trials that will test various nanoviricide drug candidates as they advance into the clinical pipeline.

In other news, it said that on Monday an unusual pattern in the trading of its stock was brought to its attention by concerned shareholders. 

“This highly unusual pattern involved selling of very large amounts of the company’s common stock shares in a short time prior to the close of trading, leading to a large drop in the share price,” it stated in a release Tuesday. 

“The company does not have any knowledge of who the sellers were.”

Shares of the company were up nine cents this morning, trading at 41 cents as at about 10:25 a.m. EDT.

NanoViricides stressed that it is unaware of any fundamental basis for the “unusual trading pattern” or the associated share price drop. 

“The company has no knowledge of any business related events or of any fundamental changes in its business, programs or technology developments, that would constitute an adverse business event,” it noted, adding that all of it programs are on track, and that it has sufficient cash in hand to carry out its current plans.

Last week, NanoViricides reported that with the $6 million it recently raised, and its cash position at the end of its latest quarter, it has about $20 million in hand and said it has developed a strategy to minimize its capital costs in the construction of the production facility.

With its current cash position, the company believes that it can support operations for at least two years, perform the necessary new drug application (IND)-enabling studies for its anti-flu drug candidates and begin human clinical studies “in a reasonable timeframe”.

NanoViricides' injectable anti-flu drug, NV-INF-1, is intended for use in hospitalized patients with the flu. The company said it believes it will be useable in immuno-compromised populations, and may receive an orphan drug classification for this indication. 

According to the drug maker, its oral anti-influenza drug candidate, NV-INF-2, may be the first ever nanomedicine drug of any kind that is active when administered orally. This drug is being developed for out-patient influenza cases, and may also be useful for the protection of health care workers.

Both drugs in its FluCide program have shown “very high effectiveness” in preclinical animal studies, NanoViricides noted, routinely showing substantial superiority to Tamiflu, the current standard of care. 

The FluCide drugs are intended for use against most types of flu viruses, including H1N1 or the “swine flu”, H3N2, novel strain, and bird flu. 

The drugs are based on NanoViricides' biomimetic technology, which mimicks the natural sialic acid receptors for the influenza virus on the surface of a nanoviricide polymeric micelle. The company noted that all flu viruses bind to the sialic acid receptors, even if they rapidly mutate. 

Including the FluCide program, the company said it currently has six commercially important drug candidates in its pipeline that together address a market size greater than $40 billion. Those include drugs for use against HIV, viral eye diseases, Herpes, and Dengue viruses.

SilverCrest Mines adds news discoveries ahead of reserve estimate at Santa Elena

SilverCrest Mines (CVE:SVL)(NYSE MKT:SVLC) says it has reported yet another discovery at its Santa Elena mine in Mexico and more high grade drilling results, sending shares higher Tuesday.

Shares of the silver producer rose 2 cents to $2.52 this morning in Toronto. 

The news today follows the discovery last month of a high grade gold and silver zone that lies below the Main Mineralized Zone currently being mined. 

So far, 111 holes of a planned 114 holes have been completed to recategorize indicated and inferred resources to probable reserves, and expand current underground resources at the mine. 

The company said Tuesday the program continues to be "extremely successful" and several of the most recent holes have found additional bonanza grade intercepts, with now two new zones - El Cholugo and El Cholugo Dos - that lie below the Main Mineralized Zone. 

The results from the campaign will be included in a revised resource and reserve estimate - expected this quarter - which will be used in an upcoming pre-feasibility study for the Santa Elena expansion project.

"This delineation drill program has been immensely successful," said president J. Scott Drever. 

Indeed, the company has drilled the known portion of the deposit at 35 to 40 metre centres, the Main Mineralized Zone has been extended by around 300 metres beyond its current resource boundary and it has identified two new sub-parallel zones, El Cholugo and El Cholugo Dos.

"We are eagerly awaiting the results of the revised underground resource and reserve estimations that are intended to extend the mine life well beyond the existing 6.5 year life of the current open pit heap leach."

A three year expansion plan is underway to double metals production at the mine. 

In the reported series of drilling Tuesday, core holes SE-13-117, SE-13-119 and GT-12-09 intercepted further bonanza grades of silver, of greater than 1,000 grams per tonne (g/t), ranging from 1.0 metre at 1.50 g/t gold and 1,320 g/t silver to 1.9 metres at 2.34 g/t gold and 1,281.9 g/t silver. 

Grades ranged from 0.3 g/t gold to 27.2 g/t gold and 54.7 g/t to 1,320 g/t silver, while mineralized intervals came in between 1.7 to 25.8 metres. 

The company said the El Cholugo Zone continues to expand with five new drill hole intercepts, with dimensions now around 200 metres long by 100 metres high and open to the west and to depth.

A new parallel mineralized zone, EL Cholugo Dos, was also intercepted below the El Cholugo discovery in three different holes. Dimensions of this new discovery are still not known, with further drilling expected to test this mineralization. 

Around 39,000 metres have been drilled so far in the program, with results for the next series of holes to be released once compilation is complete. 

Three drills are now on site, and more expansion drilling will continue this year. 

SilverCrest is also advancing the definition of its large polymetallic deposit at its La Joya property in Mexico, where it late last month doubled the ounces in the resource. 

The company produced 2.37 millon ounces of silver equivalent last year, and Cormark Securities said in a recent research note that it is on track to become a 5.0 millon plus producer within the next two years, with additional upside from the "rapidly expanding" La Joya project.

Soligenix reports full year results, "excited" for opportunities in 2013

Soligenix's (OTCQB: SNGX) stock was flat Tuesday after the company announced its full year results for 2012, which was largely spent advancing its programs and expanding its drug pipeline. 

For the year that ended December 31, 2012, net loss was $4.2 million, or 37 cents per share, compared to $2.4 million, or 22 cents per share, in the year-ago period, with the increase due mainly to a receipt of $5.0 million from Sigma-Tau in 2011 for the rights to orBec in Europe. 

This was partially offset by lower research and development expenses related to the company's discontinued phase 3 trial of orBec for Graft-versus-Host disease, for which Soligenixsuffered in 2011 due to the study's failure. 

Revenues for the latest year were $3.1 million, down from $7.6 million in the previous year, also a result of the $5.0 million payment from Sigma Tau in 2011.

The New Jersey-based company focuses on drugs for cancer-supportive care, gastrointestinal disease, and biodefense, and has seen its stock more than quadruple in the last six months as investors become more bullish on its developing assets. 

Its lead compound, SGX942, is projected to enter phase 2 for oral mucositis in head and neck cancer in the second half of this year, with results anticipated in the second half of 2014. Mucositis is the clinical term for damage done to the mucosa by anti-cancer therapies like radiation and chemotherapy.

Soligenix's SGX942 is a key investment catalyst for the company, with a product launch anticipated in early 2017.  In phase 1 trials, it was shown to reduce the severity and duration of oral mucositis and induce anti-inflammatory activity. 

The drug maker is also developing SGX203, an oral BDP for pediatric Crohn’s disease. The phase 1/2 trial of SGX203 should begin in the first half of this year. 

Beyond these two drugs, the company expects to receive additional government grants to pursue other indications of oral BDP and several biodefense therapeutics and vaccines. 

Oral BDP is a topically active corticosteroid that has a local effect on inflamed tissue and is the active ingredient in four of its different product candidates. 

Specifically, it is also being used for the development of OrbeShield for the treatment of gastrointestinal acute radiation syndrome (GI ARS), which occurs after toxic radiation exposure and involves several organ systems, notably the bone marrow, the gastrointestinal tract and later, the lungs.

In January, the company received an invitation from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to submit a contract proposal for the development of OrbeShield, which was submitted in February. 

The submission supports a potential multi-year, multi-million dollar contract to develop OrbeShield for the treatment of GI ARS. 

"Throughout the year, we continued to make progress in advancing a number of our programs utilizing oral BDP, in both our BioTherapeutics and Vaccine/BioDefense business segments, as well as expanding our pipeline with acquired technology," said president and CEO, Christopher Schaber. 

"In December 2012, we were successful in regaining North American and European commercial rights to oral BDP from Sigma-Tau and we expanded our pipeline with the acquisition of a novel innate defense regulator technology known as SGX94. 

"We believe SGX94 is highly synergistic with our existing development pipeline in cancer supportive care and biodefense, and we anticipate the potential for a number of grant funding opportunities for SGX94 across both business segments." 

Schaber said he is also pleased with the momentum the company has built entering 2013, and is "excited" about the opportunities he sees in both of Soligenix's business units. 

At the end of 2012, the company's cash position was $3.4 million, with working capital of $2.7 million. 

Rock Tech Lithium secures $600,000 loan for working capital needs

Rock Tech Lithium (CVE:RCK) has inked a C$600,000 loan agreement with BTI International, a private firm specializing in providing venture finance to small cap companies. 

The new funds will be used for working capital and to deal with "short term" obligations, the lithium and graphite explorer said. 

The loan is secured over all of the company's present and after-acquired personal property, and will bear interest at a rate of 10% per year. 

The principal amount of the loan, along with accrued interest, will mature on February 25, 2014.

The loan and the interest can be converted into an option to acquire shares of Rock Tech at a price of 10 cents each. 

"The conversion price negotiated is a strong signal regarding our opinion of the current market valuation of the company," said the company's interim CEO and VP of exploration, Afzaal Pirzada.  

The Canadian junior has lately been unveiling a series of high grade graphite drilling results from its Lochaber property in Quebec. 

Just yesterday, shares of the company moved higher after it unveiled 108.36 metres of graphitic carbon (Cg) at various depths, with grades ranging from 1.60% to 12.78% Cg in hole PB-12-16, including 67.95 metres at 2.18% Cg, 13.08 metres at 2.84% Cg, 23.72 metres at 2.78% Cg and 3.61 metres at 1.60% Cg. 

The 4,600 metre program, which was announced back in December, included both step out and in fill drilling on electromagnetic conductors "A" and "C", which were identified on the Plumbago area of the property in geophysical surveys last September. 

Rock Tech says that its geophysical surveys and drill programs have focused exclusively on the Plumbago area of the property, which includes only four of the 32 claims subject to the property option agreement.  

The company is planning on a maiden NI 43-101 resource estimate for the property, which will be based solely on this area.  

But further upside potential exists, as surface samples taken from the Kelly, McLaren and Burke areas of the property returned graphite results up to 22%, the junior explorer said. 

The Canadian junior is looking to benefit from the development of two metals critical for industrial production, as the company is also reviewing proposals from geological and engineering companies regarding its planned preliminary economic assessment (PEA) report at its Georgia Lake lithium project in Ontario.

Mkango Resources placing can take Songwe rare earth project to next level

Mkango Resources’ (CVE:MKA) anticipated C$2mln placing will allow the company to take the Songwe project in Malawi to the next level, said chief executive Will Dawes.

The Canada-listed firm launched the funding yesterday with its major shareholder Leo Mining and Exploration (Leominex) taking the lead, committing the first C$750,000, and it is now seeking further investments from new and existing investors.

"In the current funding market we believe this is a significant step forward for the company," Dawes told Proactive Investors. 

Mkango filed a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate in November with a substantial resource in the indicated category. 

Many of the ‘scoping’ elements of the project are now well advanced, Dawes added, and he is targeting completion of a pre-feasibility study (PFS) before the end of this year. 

Importantly, because of the success of the initial phase of work he said Mkango is now able to realise meaningful cost savings as it pursues the PFS, because no further drilling is needed at this time. 

“Drilling is expensive and time consuming, but we’ve already completed sufficient drilling to support a PFS. Now we can focus on metallurgy and the economics of the project." 

“Our indicated resources would be sufficient to support an operation for at least 20 years mining and processing around 500,000 tonnes per year."

Dawes adds this is the first time Mkango has come back to the market for more money since its inception and initial fund raise in 2011. 

Major shareholder Leominex, which is associated with management of Mkango and a major US hedge fund, is subscribing for 4.285mln new units, comprising one share and a half warrant, priced at C$0.175 each. 

Each whole warrant will convert to new shares at a price of C$0.35 within the first year following the placing. 

A further 7.144 mln units will be offered to investors on the same terms. 

As well as spending money on Songwe's pre-feasibility programmes, Mkango also intends to fund further exploration across its prospective acreage, which has potential for rare earths, uranium and zircon. 

“Malawi has significant potential for ion adsorption clay hosted rare earth deposits, which are the current focus for regional exploration.”

Energizer Resources sees further positive economics ahead at Molo after "conservative" preliminary study

***Updated with the latest share price data as of 9:50am ET***

Energizer Resources (TSE:EGZ)(OTCBB:ENZR)(FRANKFURT:YE5) has released the highly anticipated results of its preliminary economic study on its Molo graphite deposit in Madagascar, showing a post-tax IRR of 41%, with the company saying the results are still conservative. 

The news follows Energizer's unveiling late last year of an NI 43-101 resource estimate for its giant Molo graphite deposit, part of its aptly-named Green Giant project. 

Shares of the graphite explorer popped almost 10% in early deals to 23 cents in Toronto on Tuesday. 

"This PEA provides the necessary information to the market for quantified evaluation of the Molo deposit," said president and COO Craig Scherba.           

"Preliminary test work conducted by South Africa's national mineral research organization, Mintek, demonstrated that we were able upgrade our concentrates to purities between 98% and 98.6% graphitic carbon. 

"We are now moving forward with additional metallurgical testing as part of a full feasibility study which will look to enhance beneficiation to obtain battery grade material with target purity levels of >99%."

This work, he said, along with the optimization of flake size distribution through pilot plant test work, should "positively" affect the blended graphite sale price and flake size distribution. 

"As such, we believe this PEA to be conservative." 

The economics of the report, done by DRA Mineral Projects of South Africa, showed a post-tax net present value of $341.8 million on a 10% discounted basis, with a 41% internal rate of return (IRR) and a payback period of three years. 

Pre tax, the net present value was calculated at $421.5 million, with an IRR of 48%. 

Capital costs were pegged at about $162 million, while mining costs were seen at $4.76 per tonne mined, with processing costs of $22.29 per tonne and transportation expenses of $105.00 per tonne concentrate. 

The graphite sale price was estimated at $1,564 per tonne, using 24-month average graphite prices provided by Industrial Minerals along with the flake size distribution derived from metallurigical work, with average annual production seen at 84,000 tonnes over a mine life of 20 years. 

According to the preliminary report, the average specification of the graphite to be produced is 92% carbon (C), with average mill recovery estimated at 89%. The company said Tuesday, however, that it was also able to extract +50 mesh flake graphite through crushing alone - a unique aspect of the project - and will therefore do additional metallurgical test work before including this in an economic analysis, hence the "conservative" initial results. 

Flake graphite - the most actively pursued type and associated with next-generation technologies - is made up of layers of graphene, which is the minerals' base structural element. 

Graphite is a mineral form of the element Carbon (C), and forms in veins inside metamorphic rocks as a soft black material. It has many applications today, ranging from refractories, brake linings and steel-making uses, to lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells. Demand for the industrial mineral is projected to grow as lithium-ion battery adoption continues.

Indeed, companies like Energizer are taking advantage of what is perceived as a huge potential for graphite demand. The company has certainly wasted no time in developing what it calls a “world class” graphite resource, having first identified graphite as a potential mineral of interest on the Green Giant property in December 2011. 

Indicated resources at the Molo deposit total 83.99 million tonnes, grading 6.36% C, above a 2% C cut-off grade, with inferred resources totalling 40.32 million tonnes grading 6.3% C. 

The deposit is located in the Tulear region of southern Madagascar, 145 km southeast of the city of Toliara. The company says it is in a sparsely populated, dry savannah grassland area, which has easy access through a network of secondary roads that lead to both the regional capital and port city of Toliara, and to the port of Soalara. 

The conventional open pit project is expected to mine 1.17 million tonnes per year of ore, at an average head grade of 8.5%, with a stripping ratio of 1.65 due to "minimal overburden pre-stripping requirements", the company said, as mineralization is exposed at surface. 

Energizer also noted Tuesday that based on the latest available updates on the Sakoa Coal Field projects in the area, which are anticipated to be in production by 2017, further development of infrastructure is necessary - significantly reducing operating costs for the potential Molo mine. 

The Molo project is part of the joint venture property with Malagasy Minerals, with Energizer owning a 75% interest as operator of the asset. 

Rubicon Minerals shares rise ahead of expected updated resource for Phoenix

Rubicon Minerals (TSE:RMX) (NYSE MKT:RBY) jumped Monday as investors looked ahead to the company's planned updated mineral resource estimate for its Phoenix gold project - due out at the end of the quarter. 

Shares shot up 24 cents this afternoon, to close at $2.39 in Toronto. 

Late last month, the company said that based on achieving its “scheduled milestones” and the continued progress of construction at Phoenix, its timeline for potential production would be the second half of 2014.

The company also said the updated mineral resource estimate due out shortly would include data from over 100,000 metres of core drilling since late 2011.

Currently, the F2 gold deposit at Phoenix, located in Red Lake, Ontario, 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 grams for a total of 2.31 million ounces of the precious metal.

In an update of construction efforts at the Phoenix project in January, the company said it continued to make “good progress” with the sinking of the shaft. Ground conditions also improved, it noted, with “better development rates” expected going forward. 

It is expected that mill construction will be completed in the second quarter of 2014.

The company continues to carry out a program designed to optimize certain aspects of its preliminary economic assessment (PEA), released in the summer of 2011, and potentially improve the efficiency and productivity of the Phoenix project.

Under the current PEA, the 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.

Rubicon is working to optimize several key areas of the PEA, including mining methods, equipment, throughput, and shaft depth, as well as building an exploration platform to follow up on higher grade intercepts and potentially increase the mineral resource at depth.

The optimization studies are scheduled to wrap up in the second quarter of this year. 

Rubicon cautioned, however, that the implementation of the new methods would likely increase the initial capital cost of developing Phoenix, compared to the $214 million outlined in the initial economics report. 

As such, it plans to evaluate financing alternatives once the studies are done to address any potential boost in capex.

As of the end of last year, the company had about $171 million in cash and equivalents, and investments, and $157 million in working capital. 

In addition to the Phoenix project, Rubicon controls over 100 square miles of exploration ground in the prolific Red Lake gold district, which hosts Goldcorp's (TSE:G) Red Lake mine.

See Longreach Oil and Gas at Proactive forums across Canada ahead of high impact drilling campaign

Arguably the best time to take a closer look at a junior oil and gas company is just before they kick off a high impact drilling campaign, and that is exactly what we are offering investors in the second week of March, with a series of One2One investor forums across Canada.

We are offering investors a rare opportunity to hear from Andrew Benitz, CEO of Longreach Oil and Gas (TSX-V:LOI), which is cashed after completing a merger with fellow junior APIC Petroleum and concurrent $30 million private placement at the end of 2012. 

The Proactive Investors One2One forums promise to provide direct access to the bosses of some of the nation’s most dynamic growth companies. 

Indeed, this time is no different, with Longreach Oil and Gasset to take the podium at a series of events in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal, from March 11 to 14. 

In six years, Proactive has organized more than 300 events and introduced investors to some of the stock market’s best-performing stock market listed companies.

The next One2One Investor Forum will be held at Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver - 645 Howe Street - Vancouver Room, on March 11. 

It promises to be an interesting affair, with this compelling investment opportunity on hand for attendees.  

Longreach will make a 20 minute pitch followed by a 10 minute inquisition by a roomful of potential investors.

Once the company has presented, complimentary canapés and beverages are available for 90 minutes during a break-out session, where attendees can mingle with other guests, or ask more questions to the presenters.

Longreach will appear in Vancouver on March 11th, which will be followed by a presentation on March 12 in Calgary, March 13th in Toronto and March 14th in Montreal. For more details on the event times and locations, and to register, please click here. 

We look forward to seeing you there! (See mini biog on Longreach below)

Through the merger with APIC, Longreach also gained industry veteran Dennis Sharp as Chairman. Sharp has a strong track record of building junior energy companies, most recently UTS Energy, which was sold to Total for $1.5 billion in 2010.

Backed by several big funds, including Dundee, Blakeney, Sprott Asset Management, and West Face Capital, Longreach is planning to drill two high impact onshore wells in Morocco, where it recently completed 2D seismic to sharpen up the targets.

The company said the 2D program, designed to assess possible drill targets such as the Koba and Kamar prospects, was completed on time and on budget.

Under the terms of the licence, Longreach was required to acquire seismic data over an area of at least 500 kilometres (km); it has actually grabbed 520 km of high quality seismic data in 47 lines over the portfolio of prospects.

The company is well financed, with US$30 million in freshly garnered funds.