Texas-based ION Geophysical has quietly mapped a large portion of the bottom of the Beaufort Sea in a quest to find oil- and gas-bearing geological features.Kevin Simpson/ION Geophysical
Inside the Market's roundup of some of the Canadian small caps making news and on the move today. This post will be updated through the morning.
Lundin Petroleum AB said its unit Lundin Norway AS has completed drilling of exploration well 7220/11-1 on the Alta prospect in the Barents Sea and has encountered both oil and gas. The well is located 20 km northeast of the Gohta discovery (well 7120/1-3), some 160 km from the Norwegian coastline. The shares of the Swedish explorer rose as much as 8.4 percent, the most since Oct. 21, 2011, and traded 5.1 percent higher at 106.6 kronor in Stockholm.
Alta could revive the industry's optimism about the Barents Sea, which has been checked after Norway's state-controlled Statoil ASA earlier this year again delayed its Johan Castberg development following a disappointing exploration campaign that was meant to boost oil volumes and make the project more profitable. Lundin has been contacted by Statoil to discuss linking Gohta, which holds as much as 140 million barrels of oil, to Castberg to reduce the cost of both developments, the Swedish company said in August.
Alta could be the largest oil discovery in the Norwegian Barents Sea since Statoil ASA's Skrugard and Havis twin discoveries in 2011 and 2012, which hold 200 million barrels to 300 million barrels of crude each and together make up the Castberg project. Alta could even eclipse those finds, should the resources prove to match the upper end of the estimate range.
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Summit Industrial Income REIT said it has acquired a fully-occupied light industrial property in Cambridge, Ont., for approximately $7-million. The acquisition will be satisfied in cash from the REIT's credit facility.
The REIT also announced that it would be selling an 8,000 square foot non-core property located in Red Deer, Alberta for a sale price of $710,000.
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RB Energy Inc. said that, in light of its current financial situation and to facilitate an orderly restructuring of its business and operations, its board has approved a filing on Tuesday for an initial order to commence proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act from the Quebec Superior Court. The terms and conditions of the restructuring have not yet been determined.
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Morneau Shepell Inc. said it has completed a strategic review of its clinic-based occupational health business and decided to exit the business. "As a result, the company closed certain locations and sold the rest of the business and health clinic locations in Canada to Horizon Occupational Health Solutions Inc., a newly formed portfolio company of Persistence Capital Partners. The Montreal clinic recently acquired as part of the Groupe AST acquisition will continue to be operated by Morneau Shepell as it is a key part of the workers' compensation business in the region."
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Reservoir Capital Corp. signed a letter of intent with Inergia S.p.A. to initiate due diligence on its Brodarevo hydroelectric project in southern Serbia. "Under the terms of the agreement, Inergia will carry out due diligence, after which it may elect to acquire all or part of the project and complete construction, in which case the parties shall negotiate in good faith the terms of a definitive agreement."
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Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. said it continued to advance the ramp-up of the Mt. Milligan Mine in the third quarter, with increases in both gold and copper production. Still, "throughput was affected by downtime to make various adjustments to the grinding and flotation circuits, as well as fixing some minor mechanical and electrical issues," the company said. It also completed mining Phase 7 molybdenum ore at the Thompson Creek Mine and expects to continue the processing of stockpiled ore into December of this year.
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Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc. said its APL-130277 oral formulation for Parkinson's disease was recognized as one of the top 10 neurology projects to watch by a joint selection committee including Dr. Harry Tracy, a noted authority on pharmacological interventions for diseases of the brain.
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AuRico Gold Inc. reported its ninth consecutive quarter of record company-wide gold production, driven by record production from its cornerstone Young-Davidson mine. Desjardins Capital Markets analyst Michael Parkin described AuRico's results as "slightly positive" and reiterates his "buy" rating and $5.25 (Canadian) price target.
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Asante Gold Corp. has entered into a binding term sheet with Goknet Mining Company Ltd. to form a joint venture to further develop their Kubi Gold Project in Ghana.
The project is near AngloGold Ashanti's 60 million ounce Obuasi Gold Mine, one of the World's greatest orebodies and a major mining centre for more than 110 years.
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Xmet Inc. has announced that it has staked and acquired a 100 per cent interest in 10 claim units on the northern boundary of the Blackflake West property. These claims appear to host a northern extension of Blackflake West's 'All Channel' Electromagnetic graphite target.