Proactive news headlines: Oriole Resources, Faron Pharma, One Media iP Group, IQGeo Group …

Oriole Resources PLC (LON:ORR) has updated investors on the current work programmes on its West African projects during the first quarter of 2021. In Senegal, IAMGOLD has completed its 10,000-metre air core drilling programme at the Senala project as scheduled. As per previous guidance, it is anticipated that these results will be available during the first quarter of this year. The drilling is intended to define the geochemical footprint of the gold mineralisation at the Faré prospect, where historical drilling has returned best results of 20 metres grading 31.13 grammes per tonne gold. In Cameroon, Oriole anticipates first results from its maiden diamond drilling programme at the Bibemi project later this quarter and into the second quarter. The total planned programme now stands at 28 holes for 3,080 metres.

Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (LON:FARN) (First North:FARON) has noted that the US Department of Defense (DoD) is the surprise source of funding for a trial being carried out by researchers from the company, which is developing a drug to treat people hospitalised with coronavirus (COVID-19). The DoD has selected the phase II/III HIBISCUS study in the States to receive US$6.1mln under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act. Faron will be working directly with the 59th Medical Wing of the US Air Force.

One Media iP Group PLC (LON:OMIP), the digital music rights acquirer, has acquired the producer royalties of a selection of tracks by Take That. The rights have been acquired from Ian Levine, a British songwriter, producer and DJ. Take That, possibly the most successful British 'boy band' of all time, had 28 top 40 singles in the UK, 12 of which reached number one. In a separate announcement, the group announced that its non-executive chairman, Claire Blunt, has been appointed as chief advertising officer and chief executive officer international at the Guardian Media Group, which she will fulfil alongside her current role at One Media.

IQGeo Group PLC (LON:IQG) has said it expects to report 'significantly reduced' full-year losses following what it said was 'good growth' in its key metrics and a considerable improvement in its margins. In a trading update for the year ended December 31, 2020, the geospatial software group said revenues are expected to be no less than £9mln, up from £7.8mln in the prior year, while its adjusted (EBITDA) loss is forecast to narrow to £2.5mln from £4.8mln. IQGeo highlighted predicted growth of 30% for its own product revenues, adding that product orders have expanded 42% and that its strategy of converting the business to a recurring revenue model is continuing to show 'positive momentum' with 35% of revenues now recurring compared to 21% in 2019.

Mosman Oil and Gas Limited (LON:MSMN) has completed the sale of a stake in the Welch Project, in Texas, for US$420,000. The company, in a brief statement, noted that the sale was completed with full settlement of the deal consideration in cash. In early January, Mosman announced it had agreed to a new transaction with Steadfast Energy Partners LLC and Silver Dollar Energy Investments to exit Welch.

IronRidge Resources Ltd (LON:IRR) has reported multiple high-grade drill intersections and the confirmation of new gold targets at the Zaranou project in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. The license borders Ghana and is along strike from significant operating gold mines including Chirano, Bibiani and Ahafo. Particularly strong results were returned from the Ehuasso target and new Coffee Bean, Mbasso and Yakassé targets.

Salt Lake Potash Ltd's (ASX:SO4) (LON:SO4) (OTCMKTS:WHELF) (FRA:W1D) Lake Way Project near Wiluna in Western Australia is nearing completion, with the process plant 88% complete and the overall project, including all on-lake infrastructure 81% complete. Process plant commissioning is expected to begin in February, with the introduction of first feed salts to the plant in March. The project's capital budget remains unchanged at A$264 million.

AEX Gold Inc. (LON:AEXG) (CVE:AEX), an independent gold company with a portfolio of gold licences in Greenland, has announced an operational update on the development of the Nalunaq property in South Greenland. The corporation said it remains on target and continues to make significant progress on the development of the Nalunaq Project, with the award of key procurement packages.

Asiamet Resources Limited (LON:ARS) has updated investors on the BKM copper project sale process. The firm said that, since signing the sale and purchase agreement, it has continued to work closely with PT Wasesa Indo Nusa (PT WIN) to progress preparations for the IPO of PT WIN on the Indonesian Stock Exchange in early 2021.

NQ Minerals PLC (AQSE:NQMI)(OTCQB: NQMLF)(OTCQB: NQMIY) has submitted a draft prospectus to the UK Financial Conduct Authority for approval. The company is considering applying for admission of its ordinary shares to the official list of the London Stock Exchange, via a standard listing.

SourceBio International PLC (LON:SBI) has told investors 2020 results will be in line with expectations and said the current year had started strongly with the award of a surge capacity contract for coronavirus (COVID-19) testing worth up to £7.6mln. The group said its revenues for the 12 months ended December 31, 2020, were £50.7mln, up from £21.2mln in 2019, while underlying earnings (EBITDA) were up almost five-fold at £14mln (previously £3mln). It's cash position, meanwhile, was a better-than-expected £8.4mln, while almost £96mln of debt has been wiped out - it was helped in this regard with the proceeds from October's stock market listing.

Remote Monitored Systems PLC (LON:RMS) has issued an update on the production of an antiviral face mask by its subsidiary Pharm2Farm as well as announcing the appointment of a new executive director. The AIM-listed firm said a mask manufacturing machine arrived as expected and has been installed in a cleanroom in Nottingham's BioCity, with work to begin this week to commission the device and commence production. Remote Monitored said the last element prior to full-scale production of its 4-ply mask is its certification to EN14683 standard, for which the product has now passed four of five tests. Meanwhile, the company said it has appointed Alex Vergopoulos as an executive director with an initial responsibility to oversee the production and sales of the viricidal surgical masks.

Union Jack Oil PLC (LON:UJO) has agreed to buy a further 15% stake in the Biscathorpe project in the Humber basin, to increase its holding in the PEDL253 licence to 45%. The transaction is with associate Humber Oil & Gas and the transaction sees Union Jack Oil pay £500,000 in cash, plus £500,000 of contingent consideration payable when planning permission is received for a programme that aims to establish long-term production. 'We are pleased to have taken this opportunity to increase our interest to 45% in Biscathorpe, that Union Jack's technical team believe represents a material and commercially viable hydrocarbon resource that remains un-tested,' said David Bramhill, Union Jack executive chairman in a statement.

Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS), the technical and creative services provider to the video games industry, has appointed Sonia Lashand Sedler as the group's chief operating officer. The groups said she will work closely with fellow board directors, Andrew Day, the chief executive officer, and Jon Hauck, the chief financial officer, taking responsibility for the day to day operational running of the business. Keywords noted that Lashand Sedler has 20 years of experience in scaling up businesses internationally through senior roles, most recently as global head of Managed Services and Banking Strategy at Diebold Nixdorf, a global retail and banking technology and services organisation, where she was responsible for its managed services business.

Westmount Energy Limited (LON:WTE) has agreed to increase its exposure to high impact exploration drilling presently underway offshore Guyana. It is increasing its stake in privately owned JHI Associates which owns a 17.5% interest in the ExxonMobil operated Canje block, where the Bulletwood-1 well is being drilled. Westmount is buying some 287,000 JHI shares for C$718,750. It increases Westmount's stake in JHI to 7.7%, from 7.2% previously.

Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (LON:CMCL) has said its Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe knocked out a record amount of gold in 2020. Production in 2020 of 57,899 ounces was at the top end of the company's guidance range. Around 15,012 ounces of gold were produced in the final quarter of the year. Caledonia said gold production for 2021 is expected to fall between 61,000 and 67,000 ounces.

Europa Metals Ltd (LON:EUZ) has commenced drilling at the Toral lead, zinc and silver project in the region of Castilla y León, north-west Spain. This latest drilling campaign forms part of Europa's pre-feasibility study. The first phase of the drill programme will target areas above the 600-metre level, concentrating on increasing Europa Metals' understanding of the initial four years of potential future production at Toral and building on the results of the preliminary economic study announced in November 2020.

Cornish Lithium said that, as part of the Li4UK project funded by the Faraday Battery Challenge, the group has produced its first lithium carbonate from the Trelavour project in Cornwall, as part of a study into the wider development of a sustainable lithium industry. The project consortium comprises Cornish Lithium, Wardell Armstrong International Limited, and The Natural History Museum. Lithium carbonate was also produced from one other site in Scotland.

Genel Energy PLC (LON:GENL) told investors that gross operated production at its 25%-owned Tawke field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq averaged 110,300 barrels of oil per day (bodp). The production volumes were split evenly between the Tawke and Peshkabir fields, it added. The group highlighted that this is the sixth consecutive year that Tawke has exceeded 100,000 bopd.

Argo Blockchain PLC (LON:ARB) said it has raised £22.4mln through a private placement with certain institutional investors, part of which will be used to expand its cryptocurrency mining capacity. The company said that under the placing it will issue 28mln shares at a purchase price of 80p each, a 25% discount to its closing price last Friday, to certain institutional investors that have already subscribed. Argo said the proceeds will be used for 'working capital and general corporate purposes', including the expansion of its mining capacity in the first and second quarters of 2021 through a hardware purchase from two leading manufacturers.

Iconic Labs PLC (LON:ICON) has issued a response to the content of a press release issued last Friday from OTT Holdings Limited which it said makes various allegations against the company and its board of directors. The AIM-listed firm said it does not accept the allegations and assertions made in the press release, which it 'wholly denied'. Iconic also highlighted several points, saying it has not received a valid requisition notice to convene a general meeting, nor has it called a general meeting of shareholders and no meeting is scheduled to take place.

Arix Bioscience PLC (LON:ARIX), the biotech-focused venture capital group, has said that managing director Jonathan Tobin is leaving the group on March 1, 2021, to pursue another opportunity. Naseem Amin, Arix's executive chairman, thanked Tobin for his contribution to the company's development and said he departs with its very best wishes. 'Our portfolio companies, particularly where he was the investment director, benefited greatly from his counsel and contribution to their progress,' Amin said in a statement. He added that following the success of several portfolio companies in 2020, Arix would be expanding its investment team in both the US and London.

NQ Minerals PLC (AQSE:NQMI) (OTCQB:NQMLF) (OTCQB:NQMIY), the base and precious metals producer from its 100% owned flagship Hellyer and the 100% owner of the Beaconsfield Gold Mine, both in northern Tasmania, Australia, has said it will issue 94,752,062 ordinary shares of 0.1p each. A total of 14,752,062 shares will be issued to two precious metals streaming companies to settle streaming payments due for the Hellyer production for November and December 2020. An additional 80,000,000 shares will be issued to a new trust that has been established to service potential future precious metal streaming obligations from Hellyer's ongoing production that may arise from time-to-time, provide a mechanism to potentially buy out existing royalty and streaming holders by allocating shares, and provide the board of NQ with a pool of shares that may be allocated to individuals in the future to attract the right technical and commercial talent to drive the company forward.

ImmuPharma PLC (LON:IMM), the specialist drug discovery and development company, has announced that Ewa Flynn, the company's financial controller, was appointed as company secretary on January 15, 2021.

Pembridge Resources PLC (LON:PERE) has announced a change to its loan facility, as previously announced on February 14, 2020, whereby its chairman and CEO, Gati Al-Jebouri, committed to providing a facility to the company of up to £2,000,000 through a convertible loan which was referred to as Facility C which incurred interest of 10% per annum and is repayable on December 31, 2022. The company has since drawn down £1,730,000 from Facility C. Also, since commencing Facility C, Al-Jebouri has participated in two separate equity capital raises and contributed £123,792 in May 2020 and £120,000 in January 2021. Following the closing of the recent equity raise, Pembridge said it is now fully funded for the next 2 years, therefore, it has agreed that it no longer needs to draw down any further on Facility C. The company and Al-Jebouri have duly agreed to vary Facility C to a maximum drawdown of £1,730,000 being the current outstanding balance thus no further funds shall be drawn down.

Sunrise Resources PLC (LON:SRES), the AIM-traded company focusing on the development of its CS Pozzolan-Perlite Project in Nevada, USA, announced that it has received notice to exercise warrants over 9,090,909 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each in the company. The exercise price of the warrant shares is 0.11p each and subscription monies of £9,999.99 have been received by the company.

BB Healthcare Trust PLC (LON:BBH) has announced the appointment of Alvarium Securities Limited as its joint corporate broker alongside J.P. Morgan Securities PLC (which conducts its UK investment banking activities as J.P. Morgan Cazenove), with immediate effect.

Primary Health Properties PLC (LON:PHP), one of the UK's leading investors in modern primary healthcare facilities, has said it will announce its preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2020, on Thursday, February 18, 2021. A remote presentation for analysts will be held on the day at 9.30am and will be accessible via live audio webcast and a live conference call facility. Following the presentation, there will be a managed Q&A session. To access the briefing, please log on or dial in shortly before 09.30am via the details below: UK Toll-free: 0800 358 9473; International dial-in numbers: https://event.sharefile.com/d-s7bae1d9235d495a8; Participant PIN code: 59260771#; Webcast: https://webcasting.brrmedia.co.uk/broadcast/5ffed6e536bc5f2c49e14d10. A recording of the webcast will be made available from around 12.00pm on February 18, 2021, on the PHP website: https://www.phpgroup.co.uk/

genedrive PLC (LON:GDR), the near-patient molecular diagnostics company, has announced that it will release its interim results for the six months ended December 31, 2020, on Thursday, March 25, 2021.