Bullabulling Gold (LON:BGL), Richland Resources (LON:RLD) and Baobab Resources (LON:BAO) were the top risers in London at the start of the week.
The first shot up 28% as investors cheered the news its Bullabulling Gold project looks robust at current gold prices.
It is now a case of all systems go on the pre-feasibility study for Bullabulling Gold (LON:BGL) as the preliminary production schedule for the project at Coolgardie in Western Australia points to the recovery of 1.95mln ounces of gold.
Tanzanite producer Richland rose 23.5% after it said it is considering re-opening its graphite mine in Tanzania to take advantage of the recent surge in the price.
Graphite has risen in price to over US$2,500 from US$480-US$550 per tonne when the Merelani graphite mine closed in 1998.
The mine is on the same site as Richland’s tanzanite operation and chief executive Bernard Olivier said that producing graphite may be a low cost source of revenue and cash flow.
Meanwhile, Baobab climbed 22% higher after a major upgrade to resources at the site of its pig iron project at Tete in Mozambique.
The new JORC-compliant estimate for Tete is 665 million tonnes (Mt), up 38% on the previous resource estimate and of which 490Mt is defined at the main Tenge/Ruoni Flats deposits.
Ben James, Baobab's managing director, said the increase in the resource at Ruoni Flats means that it is now able realistically to consider significantly larger production options.
African Eagle Resources (LON:AFE) joined the trio by flying up 6% after it completed the disposal of its Zambian copper assets to Elephant Copper.
A binding agreement was signed for the Zambian assets in July. These include wholly owned Katanga Resources and its 49.9% interest in Kujima Mining and Exploration. The book value was £4.2 million at the end of 2011.
On a busy day for junior miners and energy firms, West African gold company Amara Mining (LON:AMA) revealed what it calls ‘significant’ results from the Yaoure project in Cote d'Ivoire.
Amara says the results have, so far, confirmed the potential for a large moderate grade sulphide deposit. This mineralisation lies beneath the previously mined oxide resources.
It was a case of ‘it’s better to travel than to arrive’ for Tangiers Petroleum (LON:TPET).
The company’s shares lost 17.5% to 24.75p even though it unveiled two separate farm-out deals for its assets offshore Morocco and Australia.
Together the farm-out deals are worth about £48mln to the explorer.
Portuguese major Galp Energia is taking a 50% stake in the Tarfaya acreage, off the Moroccan coast, in a US$41mln (£25.6mln) deal – which includes a payment of up to US$7.5mln of Tangiers’ past costs.
The rest of the US$33.5mln will be spent on exploration, with Galp covering the costs of the commitment work programme for Tarfaya.
Tangiers will retain a 25% stake in Tarfaya, and it will be carried for its share of exploration costs over the two year exploration period.