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Even a few of our detractors have now come around
Finding junior mining companies that have the potential to go on to develop a large resource through to actual production, or an asset sale, is never easy and the reality is that most of these companies fail to ever achieve much other than burning through large amounts of cash over a period of years.
Asiamet Resources (ARS) is a great example of what happens to a share that the market has totally lost confidence in and how a major, company-making piece of news is likely to be needed in order to bring about any sort of change in sentiment.
I’ve previously written here about the attempts by some to manipulate the share price of Oilex (OEX), and particularly with regards to an upcoming placing, but that will come to an end now that the company has released the actual details.
Serinus Energy (SENX) shares have performed pretty badly, considering that oil and gas is currently in a bull market, but I believe that the next set of operational and financial results could be a turning point for investors.
A couple of weeks back I wrote a piece here about how I was excited about the prospects of a small AIM oil company, Afentra (AET), where I hold a stake myself and which had just announced that it had potentially secured a stake in two blocks, subject to final due diligence. The company has now announced that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with the vendor, Sonangol, and has released a lot more information on the finer details of the proposed transaction – including the fact that it is expected to be funded from existing cash balances plus debt, and with no equity dilution to existing holders in order to complete the deal.
EnQuest (ENQ) has just released its results for 2021 and the market didn’t seem to like them, judging by the reaction of the share price, which I find surprising as I think they actually made pretty good reading.
Capital Metals (CMET) has been covered in the past on ShareProphets, both positively and negatively, and, on behalf of a reader, Tom Winnifrith asked me to take a look and give my latest thoughts on this Sri Lankan focussed miner. You see, we do read your emails.
Capricorn Energy (CNE) has seen its share price weaken since it announced a tender offer as opposed to a special dividend, which many investors had been expecting, but remains one to hold.
Pantheon Resources (PANR) has a market cap of close to £1 billion but isn’t yet producing oil, which begs the question as to whether or not it is worth the current valuation and how much risk is attached to buying it at this level.
Standard-listed Panther Metals (PALM) had a wild ride last week. Given that it is a Gold explorer and the yellow metal had a wild ride too, that is not a surprise. But Panther’s share price movement was the exact opposite of what was going on in the world’s yellow backstop currency.
Advance Energy (ADV) is proving to be probably my worst tip ever, given that I only covered it yesterday and the share price is currently down around 80% following an update on drilling which appears to be bad news, and I can only apologise to anyone who bought based on my piece yesterday. At least it has given my pea brained critics on twitter a day of onanismic delight.
Advance Energy (ADV) is a company which I covered last summer and suggested that although it has a very chequered history, new assets and a completely different management team made it well worth a speculative buy with a drill to come.
A real buzz seems to have returned to the oil and gas sector in recent times and with commodity prices at their strongest for several years, and that even seems to be trickling down to the lower end of the market and the explorers now with some shares on a real rip.
Pharos Energy (PHAR) has been a terrible investment for anyone who has held longer term – including myself – and even more so from the days when it was called Soco International (SIA), but I still believe that it can turn things around.
These days there seem to be very few AIM oil or gas companies drilling wells targeting significant resources, and even fewer where the outcome is a success.
These days I’m generally not a fan of tiny natural resources companies and tend to avoid them as they rarely attract the positive sentiment and momentum that we have seen in the past, and most will never even come close to actually extracting anything from the ground.
AIM-listed Gold and Silver producer in Turkey, Ariana Resources (AAU) has announced that exploration at the Salinbas project and at the forthcoming second Gold mine at Tavsan has kicked off in a mid-winter programme which will inevitably present some challenges for the three-way joint venture in which Ariana holds 23.5% alongside Ozaltin and Proccea.
Asiamet Resources (ARS) has been a very frustrating share to hold and in the past I have been less than impressed with the management, especially when it comes to the Aeturnum debacle at the start of this year.
Standard-listed Panther Metals (PALM) has announced the commencement of drilling at its Wishbone prospect at the Obonga project in Ontario, Canada. This follows on from the commencement of drilling at Dotted Lake last month.
Touchstone Exploration (TXP) is a company that I’ve covered here several times before and which I believe has a lot of potential, and the latest drill results certainly seem to support that still being the case.
As with most junior miners, this one told us little of note in its interims today. But yesterday, Standard-Listed Panther Metals (PALM) announced the commencement of drilling at its Dotted Lake property in Ontario, Canada. The campaign with the drill-bit is to be short, with just a single hole planned, but the plan is for a 400m hole to be drilled directly below a historical trench previously excavated in 2010 which threw up some promising samples. Of course, at this stage it is a jam-tomorrow prospect but the drill bit might just prove it is a little more than that and we should find out fairly soon.
Like many oil and gas companies at the lower end of the market, San Leon Energy (SLE) has had its fair share of ups and downs over the years, but in recent times has been heading in the right direction as it builds its business producing oil in Nigeria.
Kosmos Energy (KOS) has to be one of the most under-rated oil companies listed in the UK, but I think that people that overlook it in favour of some of the more popular producers are wrong to do so.
Cairn Energy (CNE) is a company that I have followed for many years, almost for as long as its ongoing saga relating to compensation from the Indian government, but it is starting to look more likely that will actually finally be settled.
I3 Energy (I3E) has been a great example of why past failure doesn’t necessarily point to a continuation of that in the future – in the same way that past success doesn’t mean that a company or management team will manage the same again.
When I covered Longboat Energy (LBE) last July there was much derision on social media and bulletin boards over my opinion that the company was well overvalued at the share price at that time, but it has just announced that it is raising funds at discount of around 40% to that level in order to complete an acquisition.
AIM-listed Gold-producer in Turkey Ariana Resources (AAU) has updated the market this morning with another round of drilling results, this time from the Banu area of the Kiziltepe mine which lies to the south-west of Arzu South.
I’m always happy to take a look at companies at the request of ShareProphets readers, one of whom recently contacted us asking if we would have a look at Helium One Global (HE1).
With the price of the yellow metal showing an improvement, having risen by the best part of $150 per oz since the March double bottom to reach $1831 at Friday’s close, the renewed enthusiasm has been reflected generally in gold stocks. And that includes AIM-listed Ariana Resources (AAU) which is now riding high at 5.2p. But my target is 7.5p.
Around six weeks ago I covered the IPO of a small mining company called Caerus Mineral Resources (CMRS) and noted that it looked interesting for anyone who liked these small, speculative type of plays.
We seem to have been waiting for an eternity for the long-promised special dividend from AIM-listed Ariana Resources (AAU). At first there was due diligence, then Covid and now we are waiting for Ariana’s application to the Court to restructure its capital so as to allow the special dividend to go ahead….which has also been slowed by Covid. The company updated today:
Standard-Listed Panther Metals (PALM) has announced some details of a plan to list its Australian assets on the Australian Stock Exchange in a deal which will, it is hoped, see AU$5 million raised to fund drilling of the prospects and which, if successful, could lead to a major re-rating. But there is more to this deal than meets the eye.
Touchstone Exploration (TXP) has fallen out of favour with investors in recent days following testing news at one of its wells which the market took badly and caused the share price to drop by more than 30%.
Mining companies often operate in parts of the world that you definitely wouldn’t consider to be safe or politically stable, but despite that many of them operate fairly smoothly and rarely have major issues when it comes to their mines.
I am quietly warming to (sub-) Standard-listed Panther Metals (PALM), chaired by Kerim Sener of AIM-listed gold producer Ariana Resources (AAU). Both are involved in gold, both are being run very conservatively and, of course, Kerim Sener is involved with both. When I first wrote about this company back in August, I had two main concerns: it is Standard Listed, and Peterhouse was the Broker. Despite those concerns, I picked up a few at 9.6p earlier in the year – a case of following the man (Kerim Sener) – but there may be some good news…..
Whenever a smaller oil company is drilling a well these days you pretty much have to expect the share price to get hammered unless they announce a substantial find that exceeded market expectations, and that is exactly what hammered to Union Jack Oil (UJO) this week.
I offered my view 10 days ago on AIM-listed Gold producer in Turkey Ariana Resources (AAU) as the shares drifted in the wake of the correction in Gold and gold stocks, and anticipated news on its proposed corporate action saw another delay. The stock was then 5.2p and I reckoned it was a buy once again, at up to 5.5p.
If there was an award for the worst performing oil and gas share listed on AIM over the past decade there wouldn’t be a lack of contenders, but Nostra Terra (NTOG) would definitely be in the running!
It has been some time since there has been a really big exploration drill for an AIM listed company, but that is exactly what should be coming soon for Bahamas Petroleum (BPC).
The AIM market is full of companies which have never managed to achieve anything of note despite operating for years, and often it isn’t that hard to spot when they are going to raise more funds imminently.
Just because a company has traded at much higher share price levels it doesn’t mean that it will do so again, and that is particularly true of oil companies at the moment.
There is a lot of focus on oil companies of all sizes at the moment, with many investors speculating on their future recovery now that commodity prices have improved, but I would probably be more focussed on those which largely produce gas.
My views on Block Energy (BLOE) haven’t exactly been popular over the past year as it was a favourite with private investors, but unfortunately so far everything has played out as I feared that it would do.
Looking at the chart for Pharos Energy (PHAR) I wouldn’t blame you for coming to the conclusion that it is best avoided as it has been on a steady downwards trajectory for several years and with little sign of any relief.
Making a profit on small oil and gas exploration and appraisal companies largely comes down to timing your buys and sells correctly, rather than just holding onto your shares through the ups and downs. With many of these companies the actual risk of holding for a drill often isn’t worth it, especially with exploration plays, but good money can still be made in the lead up to drilling activity, and by leaving some profit to run in the case of some of the safer appraisals. Buying when there is a general lack of interest and no immediate operational activity, and then being patient, is often the best way to get in at a good price – even if not necessarily the lowest price, as that generally comes down to a large slice of luck...
A ShareProphets reader has requested that I take a look at Aminex (AEX), which is a bit of a blast from the past, as I can remember a time, quite a few years back, when this Tanzanian focussed company was popular with private investors and was going to be the next big thing in oil and gas.
These days on the markets there seems to be a willingness by some private investors to just believe any story that is being spun, rather than making any attempt to actually check the facts themselves.
I3 Energy (I3E) is a company which I had high hopes for and have continued to keep the faith with despite being far from happy with the way that the board of directors has handled things during the current drilling campaign. Having screwed up the first Liberator pilot well, which was supposed to have determined the location for a first production well next year on its North Sea licence, and then operationally redeemed itself to some extent by striking oil during an appraisal of its nearby Serenity licence area, and proving that to be an extension of the adjacent Tain field, all eyes have been on the second Liberator pilot drill...
A tiny AIM mining company called Great Western Mining (GWMO) suddenly seems to be getting a bit of attention on social media, and as is so often the case with this type of company this just so happens to coincide with a placing.
It has been fascinating watching Sound Energy (SOU) play out over the past few years, but probably less so if you’ve actually been invested in it!
My views on Block Energy (BLOE) in recent months haven’t exactly been popular amongst shareholders, but unfortunately much of what I feared in relation its operations is now playing out and I feel that investors have been deceived by the company. I have been utterly vindicated. It will get worse for thise who ignore my latest warning.
Cabot Energy (CAB) suddenly seems to have become very popular for such a small AIM oil company, and given the recent news on a forthcoming discounted fundraise, I’m surprised that people are paying a huge premium to that.
The share price of Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) almost doubled following an announcement of progress on its ambitions to drill an exploration well next year, but is such a big rise really justified? Today there is a further ramptastic "technical update", world class prospect, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Questions have to be asked when a company produces a headline rate from a well test; the CEO goes on an interview road trips talking about how much free cash flow will be generated; £12 million is raised via an equity issue – and then subsequently initial production rates are just a third of what investors were expecting!
There is often an argument for letting your winners continue to run, but in the case of many natural resource stocks listed on AIM you are often better off taking a healthy profit whilst it is on offer.
TomCo Energy (TOM) seems to have become very popular all of a sudden with the share price almost doubling in the last few days.
As is so often the case with oil and gas drills amongst the smaller companies, private investors built expectations around West Newton up to such a level that the actual results were never likely to live up to that.
When is a net profit not really a profit? When it is being announced by Prospex Oil and Gas (PXOG) would appear to be one answer to that question!
I3 Energy (I3E) has had a bit of a bumpy ride of late, largely thanks to some untrue rumours which were being spread by certain individuals on social media, but the uncertainty has now been resolved following the latest news from the company...
AIM-listed Turkish gold-play Ariana Resources (AAU) has updated the market on its Salinbas exploration target and forestry permits this morning. Coinciding with a bit of a China-USA spat spike in the price of the yellow stuff, Ariana’s shares have reacted positively and I suspect there is still more short term upside as we await the full production numbers from Q1 which are due any day.
Smaller North Sea oil and gas companies seem to be out of favour, as investors go chasing big profits in riskier, less proven parts of the world, but more often than not the outcome tends to be heavy losses on these types of outfits.
Coro Energy (CORO) was my pick this year during the Dragon’s Den session I was involved in at the UK Investor Show, and I also hold a small position here myself from around the current share price. Like many smaller companies in the oil and gas sector, it is an investment that I class as being speculative, hence not risking huge amounts of money in it at this stage – but there is also a lot of potential upside...
If there were any prizes for being the worst performing company at the lower end of the market, then Canadian Overseas Petroleum (COPL) would definitely be up there as one of the contenders.
SDX Energy (SDX) seems to be one of those AIM natural resources companies that has largely been forgotten about by private investors, but it has an awful lot going on over the coming 12 months, and beyond, and if even some of what it has scheduled goes to plan, then I would expect the shares to trade a lot higher...
For junior resource companies which aren’t actually producing anything yet, larger movements in the share price are usually dictated by newsflow relating to the operational side of things, rather than by fluctuations in commodity prices. Jersey Oil and Gas (JOG) has gone through a period where not a lot has been happening drilling-wise, and as a result it has seen its share price bouncing around within a fairly tight range for this sort of stock...
Anglo African Oil and Gas (AAOG) has been hugely popular with private investors over the past few months and has seen big fluctuations in its share price as various pieces of news landed during its recent drill – including a placing to raise more money which Tom Winnifrith exclusively revealed here before it took place.
Too many mug punters who gamble on oil and gas explorers seem to think that with modern technology, blah, blah, blah drilling is a slam dunk certainty or at the very least, highly likely to succeed. They blather on about 70 or 80% COS statistics without a clue. If you look at AIM RNS’s the reality is that, across the board, the vast majority of wells drilled are not commercial. And that brings us to today’s disaster from Echo Energy (ECHO).
These days I tend to avoid oil companies at the bottom end of the AIM market as usually the risks aren’t worth the rewards, and the majority of them do nothing but fleece investors over a number of years without ever achieving anything of note.
Asiamet Resources (ARS) is one that I have been wrong about in the past, as I wasn’t expecting the share price to drop as low as it has done, but that has been part of a more general trend amongst the AIM resource stocks that aren’t currently generating any revenue.
I can’t see Europa Metals (EUZ) shareholders being particularly pleased with the latest news from the company, and even less so with the 22% odd drop that it caused in the share price yesterday. This small AIM company is one that I haven’t exactly been a fan of in the past in its previous incarnation as Ferrum Crescent, and as is often the way with these companies that change name, and even management, not a lot tends to change with regards to performance...
Sound energy (SOU) is a company that I’ve been negative on in the past, and justifiably so considering its recent fall from grace as one of the most popular shares amongst private investors.
The markets are starting to show signs of weakness and although we are yet to see any major downwards correction, it is starting to look more likely that we will get one.
In Africa things always tend to take far longer than people expect, and even more so when it comes to anything in the natural resources sector. Interest in, and the share price of, Tlou Energy (TLOU) seems to have waned and I think that has largely been as a result of some having far too optimistic timescales with regards to the company’s coal bed methane project at Lesedi, in Botswana.
When Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) announced a confidentiality exclusivity agreement back in May I expressed scepticism as to whether that would actually result in any sort of farm-out deal ultimately being concluded.
I’ve been bearish on Canadian Overseas Petroleum (COPL) for some time now, and recent developments have done nothing to make me change my stance on the company, particularly with regard to its operations in Nigeria.
The only real surprise with the RNS that was issued by Nu-Oil (NUOG) this morning was that investors were actually surprised that there had been further delays to the farm-out process and completion of the work at its well in Newfoundland!
Over the years the one area of growth where Range Resources (RRL) has really excelled has been the number of shares in issue, with 8.5 billion of them now trading following the latest placing. The oil and gas company, which has interests in Trinidad and Indonesia, announced last week that it has completed yet another placing, and this time it raised £1 million at a share price of 0.11p.
I recommended AIM-listed Bowleven (BLVN) as a buy at around 31p in the 2017 ShareProphets Christmas tipfest. I suggested taking a little cash off the table at 37p and did so myself (getting 37.56p) with a strong hold stance on the rest. Yesterday the shares had a good go at breaking the 40p mark.
Oil exploration is very different to the boom we had back in 2010 in terms of the share price movements that we see for companies that are engaged in drilling.
Regal Petroleum (RPT) has seen a huge increase in its share price during the past year, and I know that always makes some investors wary, but a lot has changed during that time, both for the company itself and the area in which it operates.
At times in the lower end of the natural resources sector it seems as though the worse the company is, the more money private investors are prepared to put into it.
Often when a smaller AIM company operating in the natural resources sector announces a placing it ends up being bad news for those currently invested, but there are also cases where the money is being sought in order to accelerate operations. Of course, the company still ultimately needs to deliver and for the work that the money is being raised for to be successful, but I would certainly rather see this than a company that is sitting around doing nothing and burning through cash whilst its directors pocket a nice salary.
AIM-listed Bowleven (BLVN) has announced the arrival of the Topaz driller rig in Cameroon waters. The rig is contracted for 150 days to perform the two-well appraisal drilling campaign on the Etinde asset, with first spud due by the end of this month.
There is no denying that the news released by Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) last week was positive, but in no way does it justify the £30 million increase in market cap that has occurred since then.
Given the rise in oil price that we’ve seen over the past week or so, and the highest levels that it has been at in quite some time, I’m a little surprised to see Savannah Petroleum (SAVP) still languishing at around the 12-month low. With a market cap of nearly £230 million it isn’t as likely to see such large movements as you get on the AIM micro caps, but it is still small enough that I would expect the higher commodity price to have had some impact, given that it produces significant amounts of oil already.
Amerisur Resources (AMER) has certainly failed to live up to the expectations of its investors and the share price has been in a downward spiral for several years now.
Generally, I’m wary of the reasons for companies which are already listed on other exchanges deciding that they want to be dual-listed on the AIM market. This is especially the case when it comes to ASX companies operating in the natural resources sector, as in general the track record for those hasn’t been great, with often very little of substance being achieved despite large sums being raised on AIM. There are exceptions though...
It can be difficult just buying and holding a share at times, especially when nothing is really happening with the share price and many of its peers are seeing large rises.
Spotting a placing coming on the smaller shares isn’t always that hard, and is usually a combination of the company getting to a point in time where typical cash burn suggests that funds will be low, and perhaps even more importantly, taking note of those who suddenly seem very keen on that particular company!
The only real surprise when it comes to persistent AIM failure Arian Silver (AGQ) is that some people thought that things were actually going to turn out differently this time around!
Any new IPO in the natural resources sector tends to grab my attention, and whilst there are plenty of them where I wouldn’t even consider investing my money, occasionally one comes along which looks to have a bit more potential. That would appear to be the case with Curzon Energy (CZN).
The lower end of the AIM market can be surprisingly predictable at times, especially when it comes to raising funds, so it often amazes me how many private investors get caught out when such news comes. That would certainly seem to have been the case with the recent fundraising activity at Ferrum Crescent (FCR) and the events leading up to that, even if many on the bulletin boards were in denial of what was coming.
Sometimes geographical location can be enough to put off investors, but in a lot of cases that is unjustified and means that companies operating in these areas can represent good value for money.
Copper prices have remained volatile but continue to push higher, and if this continues it will be a very bullish signal for both producers and those looking to bring new projects online.
Hello Share Squawkers. As the share price is taking a breather - well, a bit of a relapse to be honest - I thought I should revisit a big hope of mine, Sula Iron & Gold (SULA).
The mere mention of lithium seems to be enough to send the share price soaring on many small AIM companies, until reality hits home and the almost inevitable pullback starts.
