Castle intersects gold zone in Ghana

Castle Minerals has returned an intercept of 20m at 1.79g/t gold from 44m including 6m at 5.02g/t gold and 15m at 1.30g/t gold from 10m, on drilling a geochemical anomaly at the Julie West prospect in Ghana.

• Sep 30, 2010

Brief: Castle Minerals

Corporate news snapshot for Castle Minerals

• Jan 19, 2010

Brief: Castle Minerals

Corporate news snapshot for Castle Minerals

• Dec 10, 2009

Hot prices for metals minnows

OM Holdings (OMH) The share price chart of the metals trading minnow bears no trace of the hefty bouts of risk aversion that have rocked so many of its peers in the small cap space. Shares have been in a strong uptrend for the better part of a year now, rallying a massive 900 per cent last year from 18.2¢ to $1.85 and have continued to go from strength to strength in 2008. The company ranks as the best performing member of the Small Ords Index, with the share price nearly doubling from $1.85 at the start of the year to the current record $3.70 a share level. The company's chief business is sourcing and distributing manganese ore, which is an essential alloy in steel making. The group mines and markets ore from its Bootu Creek manganese mine in the Northern Territory that produces 550,00 tonnes of manganese ore a year. OM Holdings also operates a wholly owned smelter at Qinzhou in south-west China and, through distribution channels in Singapore, has become a significant supplier of manganese into the Chinese steel market. This month saw the company propose a 2-for-1 share split to boost liquidity in the retail segment. It also hopes to broaden its investment appeal with a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Given OM sells manganese, chrome and other minerals to China, the increased exposure to China from the proposed Hong Kong listing makes sense. However, closer to home the company is also developing a healthy institutional following. Contango MicroCap fund holds OM Holdings as one of its Top 20 shareholdings, with a 2.5 per cent weighting. Castle Minerals (CDT) Investors in the Ghana-focused gold miner were shaken from their slumber on Friday when the normally illiquid shares soared as much as 16.7 per cent to 28¢ before closing at 26¢. The miner announced the first drill hole sunk at its Akoko North mine in Ghana showed significant gold mineralisation close to the surface. Subsequently five further drill holes were made, all of which returned gold mineralisation. Despite today's rally, shares are still trading within just 3¢ of where they debuted on initial listing in early 2006. Share price strength today was all the more impressive set against the gold price which has foundered in recent sessions as the US dollar has gained strength. Gold fell below $US850 an ounce overnight for the first time since January 2. Equigold (EQI) With a production report that beat expectations and a consistent track record of delivering to targets, Macquarie Research ranks the African-focused gold play as a highly prospective "outperform". This week Lihir posted the scheme document for its $1 billion merger with Equigold and Lihir's management is confident the deal will be approved at a shareholder meeting on May 30. The broker recommends the stock on the basis the deal proceeds on the currently recommended terms and, while it hasn't ruled out a counter bid entirely, it believes the size of the Bonikro project may not be sufficient to warrant the attention of the gold majors. If Lihir's offer is passed, Equigold ceases trading on 4 June. Equigold shares fell 5¢ on Friday to $3.98 while Lihir Gold shed 3.3 per cent to $2.98 a share, reflecting overnight losses in spot gold prices. In the meantime, Macquarie Research believes Equigold's West African goldfields are emerging as a highly prospective mining district, with a geology similar to the West Australian goldfields around Kalgoorlie, but far less explored.

• May 2, 2008
• Emily Parkinson

• Market Wrap

Mining minnows list at premium

A gold price at a 25-year high has enabled mining minnow International Goldfields, which contains the gold assets of Cape Lambert Iron Ore, to make a strong start as a listed company.

• May 3, 2006
• Richard Hemming