Take Consolidated Africa Mining (CAMP), the recent result of the reverse takeover by PLUS shell Energy Capital of explorer Sicamines. CAMP originally listed on OFEX in 2000 under the guise of ASAP International Group. 2004 saw ASAP ditch its operating subsidiaries, evolving into Energy Capital, a shell on a mission to acquire a suitable business capable of delivering shareholder value.

CAMP chief executive Anthony Butler was sure the Sicamines management team fitted the bill and last October he managed to raise £2.5 million in a private placing to buy the explorer in a £3 million cash and shares transaction. Trading in the newly named CAMP was restored in February this year.

No controversy from CAMP

Sicamines was founded in 2005 by a team headed by Jeremy Hawke, an old hand in mining projects in Cameroon, and has secured exploration permits from the Cameroon Energy, Mines & Technology Ministry to look for industrial, low risk, mineral deposits such as tungsten. Hawke concedes it is early days for extraction, yet insists CAMP is sitting on two potential world class deposits previously only open to French operations.

‘We’re an empowered mining company, with the government taking a back seat, just ensuring we're complying with the regulations, environmental and fiscal’, explains Hawke. ‘The country has all sorts of minerals and we focus on the industrial side, rather than gold or diamonds, which are always controversial’.

At 5p, CAMP is capitalised at £19 million, and Hawke's plan is to pull in funds through a further private placing in 12-15 months or look to move up to AIM. 'In our re-listing document, we said we could go to AIM in two years. That's the direction we're going, but we can't categorically say that’s what we're going to do’, he caveats.

Hawke hopes to see positive exploration results this year - these will be essential if further funding rounds are to prove successful. Mining exploration projects in Africa are highly speculative fare, but CAMP looks a less risky investment play than most of the region's diamond and gold ventures.

Uranium – the next big thing

While the nuclear power debate rages, mining entrepreneurs have been stealing a march with recent PLUS listings in the uranium mining exploration sector including Yellow Cat Uranium and Great Western Mining Corporation.

Canadian outfit Yellow Cat listed in February and holds leases on four properties in Utah and Colorado in the US – exploration is planned to start in the summer. Following an initial burst of trading on its debut, Yellow Cat's shares have seen little activity, though the price has edged up from 2.25p to 3p, valuing the business at an improved £13.3 million.

Dublin-based Great Western, exploring for gold, silver and uranium in the aptly-named Mineral County in Nevada, US, owns 11 gold and silver lode claims and ten uranium lode claims in the area. Formed in 2006 after a year of research and study of historical geological records in Nevada, the company's potential has not been overlooked by analysts and investors, with the shares having sparked up from October's 5.5p start price to 10p, valuing the venture at £2.5 million.

‘Nuclear power is in vogue’, says Brewin Dolphin’s Jamie Cumming, ‘and you need to buy [shares in] them when no one wants to know. You have to spot the next event rather than the one that's arrived. Everyone is aware there is going to be a lot more nuclear power; look at China, for example.’