Companies: AIMR    AXM    CPNR    KMR    MNT    TLW    TNZ   

Silver has been testing 23-year highs at around $11 an ounce. Nickel prospects in Madagascar have helped Jubilee Platinum, tipped at 26p by Growth Company Investor in January 2005, hit 102.25p following a joint venture deal with the much larger Impala Platinum. Partial profit-taking might be prudent, though there should be more to play for here.

The same applies to niche gem player Tanzanite One, up from our September mention at 97.5p to 227p, after trebling annual profits to £7.7 million. Zinc strength could help Aim Resources at 5p. Potential floats –  such as a possible industrial minerals play from broker Seymour Pierce and even including colourful John Teeling’s Connemara Mining zinc and gold spec – are still under active discussion, with cash calls from quoted companies far outweighing new issues.  

Bouncing with Czechs

While continued asset growth underpins oil and gas groups Tullow Oil at 344p and Centurion Energy at 697p, Czech-focused Carpathian Resources hopes to attract AIM punters with a group of projects. These include: Janovice, with a potential four billion cubic feet of gas in place; Morava, with maybe seven million barrels of oil or 560 billion cubic feet of gas; Mosnov, a big past producer; and Roznov, where 2007 drilling could confirm estimated potential of 200 billion cubic feet.

With some production and cash flow already and drilling this year  after recent technical delays, Eddie Smith, director and key shareholder, says Aussie-listed Carpathian, now 4.13p on AIM, might seek £2 million to £3 million from investors. But these are seen as low-cost projects, with potential for big and quick paybacks, and should add some speculative spice to the shares.       

Latino lures

Among plentiful South American projects, Matt Sutcliffe’s AIM vehicle Alexander Mining, probing prospects in Argentina and Peru, reports encouraging progress from its Leon copper and silver project in Argentina, from Juyjuy, also in Argentina and Peru’s Molinetes gold project. At 24.5p, the shares could repay a punt.

John Horsburgh, ex-Rio Tinto and the founder of Australia’s Cullen Resources, and successful veteran John Sutcliffe (no relation) have been preparing a sub-£10 million AIM float for interesting Down Under-based Mariana Resources. It boasts gold, silver and copper-gold projects in Ecuador, Argentina and Chile.

Geologist, mining entrepreneur and Minmet director David Hall is seeking at least £2.5 million at 25p to 35p for Horizonte Minerals, to which he has sold two of Minmet’s former projects. Horizonte holds Tangara in north-east Brazil, where local miners have found high-grade gold veins of 24 grammes a tonne, the nearby Falcao and El Aguila in Peru’s mineral-rich Cerro de Pasco district, where earlier sampling showed silver grades of up to 50 oz a tonne.

After the float, Minmet and Brazilian group MVR will each have 15 per cent. Following a £100,000 private funding at 10p, broker Hichens Harrison is handling the float, which might repay a bold flutter.

Titanium cheer for Kenmare

Kenmare Resources has boosted potential resources 40 per cent at its Moma titanium mineral sands project in Mozambique. Exploration drilling results suggest a 101 million tonne inferred resource of ilmenite, a key source of titanium oxide pigment for the making of paint, paper, plastic and other materials.

Hinting that Moma could become one of the world’s largest sources of titanium oxide, the company says it also hosts an estimated three million or more tonnes of zircon, used in ceramics and refractors for steelmaking. Kenmare shares have doubled to 48p since Growth Company Investor recommended them a year ago and could
go further.