Resources round-up: Berkeley Mining, Victoria Oil and Gas, EMED Mining

9th Jul 2012 09:15

Berkeley Mining Resources dropped 8% after it failed to complete due diligence on two copper tailing clusters at Chingola in Zambia. The company recently signed an agreement on one site in the area and investors had hoped a deal on the other two would be forthcoming. Berkeley said it continued to negotiate with the directors of the parties concerned.AIM-quoted Victoria Oil & Gas announced continuous production operations had started at its 95% owned and operated Logbaba gas and condensate project in Cameroon. The company's first three customers had taken delivery of gas in sufficient volume to allow the production facilities to operate 24 hours a day, it said.EMED Mining, the Europe-based minerals development and exploration company, rose 11% after it announced a $10m deal to buy land next to the Rio Tinto Copper Mine in Andalucia. EMED said the land was required to restart production at the mine and satisfied almost all of the project's needs for tailings deposition from proposed operations. The firm intends to enter into a 50/50 joint venture with the seller Rumbo to test and potentially exploit some tailings and waste dumps. Jubilee Platinum has announced a farm-in deal with Indian Pacific Resources (IPR) for its Ambodilafa tenement area in Madagascar. Under the deal IPR will receive up to a 90% interest in all commodities it finds except platinum group metals, metals traded on the London Metals Exchange and chrome. Jubilee said the arrangement would give it participation rights in a potentially large non-core iron ore opportunity with minimum initial funding.Beacon Hill Resources said it had appointed Nathan Culkin as General Manager of Coal Processing and Quality at its Minas Moatize mine in Mozambique. Culkin will be responsible for the day to day operations and development of the mine processing and coal quality functions at the mine and at the group's coal loading facility at the port of Beira. Andes Energia said it was on track to complete the demerger of its electricity business into a new entity, Andina. All shareholders and warrantholders resolutions had been passed and a court hearing to confirm the reduction of capital is to be held on 11 July, the firm said. The is the last step required to complete the demerger.Pathfinder Minerals jumped 13% on Monday after it came a step closer to winning a dispute over mining licences in Mozambique. The fight is over how shares in Companhia Mineira de Naburi were acquired by the company's wholly owned subsidiary IM Minerals. The UK High Court has now said it will hear the case and indicated its findings will be enforceable in Mozambique.Shares in Aurum Mining rose almost 5% after the firm announced it had received approval to exercise an option to acquire five tungsten permits in Salamanca Province. The cost of acquiring the permits will be €140,000, which the company will fund out of its existing cash pile. Aurum is currently incorporating a Spanish subsidiary to hold the permits and as soon as the entity is incorporated it said it would proceed with the formal acquisition process.MM