Comstock
Vast Exploration Inc. plunged 60 per cent and hit a new year low of 4 cents with 2.5 million shares traded on the TSXV after announcing that the company has concluded operations at the Qara Dagh 01 exploration well. It said the well has been drilled to a total depth of 4,196 meters, the maximum depth possible with current drilling equipment, ending in the basal section of the Upper Cretaceous Shiranish Formation. Open hole image logs have positioned the well on the North East structural flank of the Qara Dagh anticline, approximately 400 metres east of the anticlinal core. It added: "Oil shows have been encountered over a gross column of roughly 955 meters and open hole drill stem tests were conducted in the Shiranish Formation with cased hole tests completed in the overlying Upper Cretaceous Tanjero Formation. All zones after acid stimulation successfully tested light sweet gravity oil (ranging from 43 to 46API @ 60 degrees F) but at non-commercial flow rates. Reservoir permeability and encountering low fracture densities are the principal causes for poor flow rates. "
Anvil Mining Ltd. shares were up by about a third and hit their highest levels in around three years with more than 11 million shares traded after last night receiving an $8 a share buyout offer from China's Minmetals Resources Ltd., ending several weeks of speculation about a possible takeover of the copper mining company. The Anvil board and senior management as well as Trafigura Beheer B.V., its largest individual shareholder, already have all signed off on the $1.33-billion deal, representing a 30 per cent premium over Anvil's volume-weighted average price this month. ( Read more from the Globe's Brenda Bouw)
Major Drilling Group International Inc. briefly dipped below the $10 mark after announcing it has completed its acquisition of Rouyn Noranda, Quebec-based Bradley Group Ltd. This increases Major's rig count to more than 600 rigs, a 21 per cent increase over its current 577 rigs now in operation. A portion of the $80-million purchase price was financed using the net proceeds of a $70-million sale of subscription receipts that closed Wednesday. Major Drilling also said it has closed on $100-million of new and extended credit facilities with its existing lenders.
Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust was down 2 per cent in early trade after completing an offering of 3.51 million units priced at $12.85 each, generating $75-million in gross proceeds. Proceeds are intended to repay floating rate debt as well as general REIT purposes, including future acquisitions. Crombie earlier this week added seven former Zellers leases to its portfolio with Target selecting four of those locations for new stores as the retailer expands in Canada.
CanAm Coal Corp. fell as much as 6 per cent early Friday as it announced a net loss for the three months ended July 31 of $1.3-million compared to a net profit of $6,389 in the previous corresponding period. The company said with its primary focus on growing coal production and resources, the main activities of the CanAm team in the second quarter were devoted to successfully completing and integrating the 50 per cent acquisition of Birmingham Coal & Coke, which operates three mines and a brokerage business in Alabama with coal sales of approximately 40,000 to 50,000 tons per month. "Our second quarter includes, for the first time, the full contribution of our share of their production and results", said Jos De Smedt, CFO of CanAm. "All of our key metrics; production, revenue and EBITDA from mining operations saw a minimum five-fold increase as compared to prior year's second quarter. We delivered $7.5 million of revenue, $1.9 million of EBITDA from mining and generated $2.6 million of cash flow from operations during the quarter. Our cash position significantly improved with cash on hand of $5.7 million, including $1.6 million of restricted cash, at July 31, 2011."
FDG Mining Inc. jumped as much as 13 per cent early Friday after announcing encouraging results in the initial assays from soil samples collected on the company's Topacio property in Nicaragua. In addition, the company's regional exploration has identified a number of veins in two new areas on the concession as well as extensive zones underlain by silicified breccia.
Vitality Products Inc , which closed Thursday at a year low 4.5 cents, today reported a net loss for the three months ended July 31, 2011 of $54,081 or 1 cent per share, compared to a net loss of $58,888 loss in the year-ago period. It cited reduced cash flows used in its operating activities for the improved bottom line. The maker of nutritional supplements, personal care products and organic foods did not report revenues.
Ventek Systems Inc. reported a $1.4-million net loss in its fiscal third quarter, up from a $122,000 loss last year. Revenues also slipped to $28.4-million, down from $31.5-million in sales during the period ending July 31, 2010, with declinces in prepaid telecommunication services as well as lower software license and service revenues. Ventek executives said they were confident the company's investment and expansion into Brazil will eventually create value and act as a platform to expand into other Latin American markets, adding they were actively seeking distribution partners in new countries.
Deq Systems Corp. , a provider of table game bonusing, jackpot and loyalty solutions that has been trading near a year low 20 cents, announced Friday that its G3 table game progressive jackpot system has been approved by the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Gambling Control.
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