Companies: CMR    GLA    HAWK    HTG    KDR    MCR    TZG   

The UraMin deal has cast a glow over 11.6 per cent holder Galahad Gold, a former slow-burner backed by RAB Capital and veteran wheeler-dealer Jim Slater, which has risen to 15p from GCI’s February recommendation at 10.63p. The company intends to distribute a slug of cash to shareholders and move into soft commodities after investment gains of £141 million on the UraMin sale and stakes in Northern Dynasty Minerals and International Molybdenum.

More modestly, Richard Conroy’s Finnish venture Karelian Diamonds is understood to be mooting a £1 million to £1.5 million funding with warrants. At 8.75p, the shares have recovered from January’s 3.4p lows and have speculative possibilities.

Hiving off hopefuls

Patrick Harford, boss of Western Australian prospector Mercator Gold, with a new gold reserve estimate of 432,000 oz and a declared aim of taking that to one million oz, is considering a separate float for its copper and uranium interests. Citing ‘fabulous copper anomalies’ and uranium showings, he envisages pre-float seed funding before a full public offering, which could add speculative spice to volatile Mercator at 79p.

Fellow AIM counter Cambridge Mineral Resources is considering floating off its European interests, including uranium prospects in Bulgaria. This follows a feasibility study suggesting its Quintana gold prospect in Colombia could yield profits of £2.8 million a year for nearly six years, which has boosted the depressed shares 22 per cent to 4.13p since GCI’s March mention and could take them further.

Cambridge’s former boss, David Bramhill, has so far done well with his latest venture, US-focused oil and gas play Nighthawk Energy, which has nearly doubled to 49p as it amasses acreage in Utah and Colorado. But he says he is angered by speculation about a possible 2008 flotation for Osceola, a private concern for which he has raised £2.5 million at 4p for possible coal bed methane projects in Pennsylvania.

Hunting for growth

Expansion continues at Hunting, the fully listed oil and gas services group whose shares have risen nearly sevenfold to 731p since GCI’s recommendation in 2004. Chief executive Dennis Proctor speaks enthusiastically about prospects as the worldwide resources industry continues its search for new supplies and is forced to tackle ageing infrastructure.

Hunting, which doubled pre-tax profits to £81 million last year, recently increased its truck transporting capacity by buying Boychuk Energy for £6.3 million to handle buoyant project activity in Canada. The company sees strong demand across the board, although a weak dollar does not help profits.

Hunting shares peaked at 840p in May and investors showing hefty gains should consider partial profit-taking. But it is worth hanging on to a chunk for potential future growth.

Transformation at Tanzania

Tanzania Gold is renaming itself Bezant Resources and raising £5 million at 75p after agreeing to acquire the Mankyan copper and gold project in the Philippines, which chief executive and ex-stockbroker Clive Sinclair-Poulton claims is worth a potential £4 billion. Mankyan is a high-volume, low-grade project which the company says could contain at least 1.9 billion lbs of copper and 2.9 million oz of gold.

Tanzania/Bezant, which hopes to establish a resource next year at its original Mkurumu project in Tanzania, has £5 million left from its float placing, of which £2 million is earmarked for its current drilling programme. At 96p, the shares could repay a punt.