First Quantum’s Frontier mine in Fungurume, in southern Democratic Republic of Congo.KATRINA MANSON/Reuters
Inside the Market's roundup of some of the Canadian small caps making news and on the move today. This post will be updated throughout the morning
S&P Dow Jones Canadian Index Services announced late Friday that DHX Media Ltd., EnerCare Inc., Great Canadian Gaming Corp., PrairieSky Royalty Ltd., Sierra Wireless Inc. and Western Forest Products Inc. will be added to the S&P/TSX composite index as of the close at the end of this week. Argonaut Gold Inc., BlackPearl Resources Inc., Horizon North Logistics Inc., Ithaca Energy Inc., Savanna Energy Services Corp., TransGlobe Energy Corp., and Westport Innovations Inc. will be deleted.
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Western Energy Services Corp. said it is allocating $64-million towards capital expenditures in 2015. Through the first three quarters of 2014, the oilfield service company's capital spending had already totalled $77.5-million. The firm also announced plans to buy back up to 5.55-million in common stock during the 12 months ending Dec. 16, 2015, equal to roughly 10 per cent of its public float. Management indicated this capital budget "provides a prudent use of cash resources and ensures that it continues to maintain its balance sheet flexibility allowing for the execution on strategic opportunities as they arise, or alternatively adjust downward if necessary should there be a prolonged downturn in oilfield service activity." TD Securities analyst Scott Treadwell approves of the move. "Like many others in the oilfield service space, Western has reduced its capital budget for 2015 to help maintain its balance sheet," he said. "We view the postponement of one of its previously announced AC triple rigs as a positive due to the uncertainty and turbulence in current market conditions."
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Canaccord Genuity Corp. CEO Paul Reynolds, in a note to employees today, said the company hasn't been targeted for any wrongdoing in conjunction with regulators probing trading activity surrounding Amaya's takeover of the PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker franchises, the Globe and Mail's Streetwise blog is reporting. Canaccord advised on the takeover, and its stock fell 16 per cent late last week following news of the investigation.
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First Quantum Minerals Ltd. said a "structural failure" has occurred to the atmospheric leach tank at its Ravensthorpe nickel operation in Western Australia, and the plant has been shut down indefinitely.
"The tank, situated after the autoclaves in the circuit, contained acid-leaching nickel in slurry. The spill, resulting from the failure, has been contained within the plant's protective bunded area. All personnel have been accounted for and no injuries have been reported," the company said.
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Midas Gold Corp. said the results of an independent preliminary feasibility study and technical report on its Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho showed that redevelopment of the project has the potential to clean up an existing brownfields site and create one of the largest gold producers in the United States.
"Midas Gold intends to actively engage with interested parties to evaluate potential options identified in the PFS for development of a large scale, long life mining operation integrated with restoration of this extensively impacted brownfield site."
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Anaconda Mining Inc. said it sold 11 per cent less gold in its fiscal second quarter, compared to a year earlier.
"Lower sales volume was due to an expected decline in grade in the first half of fiscal 2015 and the timing of sales shipments. The company has had an effective short-term hedging strategy, particularly in the second quarter where it realized a gold sales price that was $28 above the London PM average market price of $1,370," Anaconda said in a statement.
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Caspian Energy Inc. has received shareholder approval for the previously announced acquisition of Aral Petroleum Capital LLP. Caspian will acquire all of the remaining interests in Aral Petroleum Capital LLP it does not already own for $47,114,778 (U.S.).
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Morien Resources Corp. has entered into an agreement with Kameron Collieries ULC to exchange its 25 per cent working interest in the Cape Breton-based Donkin Coal Project in Cape Breton for $5.5-million in cash and a production royalty on sales from the Donkin Project.
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Webtech Wireless Inc. said it was awarded a $2.1-million contract extension with the City of Mississauga for fleet management.
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People Corporation said it earned $1.54-million in fiscal 2014, the twelve months ending August 31, 2014, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $7.54-million, an increase of 73.6 per cent relative to fiscal 2013. Revenues were up nearly 30 per cent year-over-year. Over a third of this revenue growth was organic. The remainder is attributable to acquisitions, in particular that of Hamilton + Partners, which closed in the fourth quarter of 2013. "During the year, we continued to enhance our value proposition to our various stakeholder groups, with ongoing development of our Shared Services and Shared Support divisions, which are an important component for our organic growth. The three acquisitions we completed during the year illustrate the flexibility in our transaction-based growth model - including as it relates to size, transaction structure, and strategic rationale," said chairman and chief executive officer Laurie Goldberg.
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Spectral Diagnostics Inc. said it plans to buy back up to 3.59-million shares of common stock, approximately 2 per cent of its issued and outstanding shares, during the twelve months ending December 16, 2015.
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Nevsun Resources Ltd. said the power supply at the processing plant at its Bisha mine in Eritrea has been restored. The company said the outage will not impact its 2014 financial results.
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Trinidad Drilling Ltd. said it has amended its credit facilities with the Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo Bank. The amount of the company's U.S. revolving credit facility increases from $100-million to $200-million, equal to the amount of its Canadian facility. Both mature on December 12, 2018. "Our credit facility remains undrawn currently; however the increased capacity and altered currency split aligns with Trinidad's long term strategy to grow its business when commodity prices improve," said chief executive officer Lyle Whitmarsh.
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Dream Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust said it plans to buy back up to 5.69-million shares of common stock, representing 10 per cent of its public float, during the twelve months ending December 16, 2015.
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Sandstorm Gold Ltd. said it plans to buy back 5.88-million common shares, equal to 5 per cent of its issued and outstanding shares, during the twelve-month period ending December 16, 2015.
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WiLAN said that one of its subsidiaries acquired patents pertaining to power inverter technology, which is used to power a variety of electronic devices. This purchase boosts the number of portfolios the company has available for licensing to 43.