Strategic Minerals SML.L Major RNS Commencement of Full Production

Strategic Minerals - Full -scale Production Commences



For immediate release: 22 November 2012

Strategic Minerals Plc
("Strategic Minerals", "Strategic" or the "Company")

Company Commences Full-scale Production
First Export Market Shipment from its New Mexican Tailings Project

Strategic Minerals Plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), the magnetite iron ore producer and exploration company is delighted to announce that it has commenced full-scale production with the completion of its first export market shipment from its magnetite tailings deposit at the Cobre Mine in New Mexico. The FOB sale from the port of Guaymas in Mexico of over 47,000 dry metric tonnes ("DMT") was made to Glencore AG, a subsidiary of Glencore International PLC (LSE:GLEN). The Company is now well positioned to achieve shipments in the export market of approximately 50,000 DMT per month.

James Fyfe, Executive Chairman of Strategic Minerals, said:
"We are delighted to announce completion of our first export market shipment to one of the world's leading commodity suppliers. It is a hugely important milestone for the Company. This achievement marks the end of the development stage and the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a very exciting future for Strategic. It demonstrates not only the strength of our business model and our ability to acquire projects that can deliver shareholder value quickly, but also the ability of our management to execute on those projects."

Paul Harrison, CEO of the Company, commented:

"We are excited that this important development has now been completed. Achieving in-production status for a junior mining company incorporated only two years ago and listed on the AIM Market less than eighteen months ago is a true testament to our commitment to achieving our stated goals in early course for our shareholders. Supplying our high quality magnetite ore to commercial customers through the export market will enable us to ramp up our revenues significantly. To date we have only been able to truck haul a limited amount of product from the mine site."

The Company announced in June 2012 that it had completed the rehabilitation and upgrade of the rail link to the Cobre Mine in New Mexico to enable rail shipments of its magnetite iron ore to begin. In August it announced the successful completion of a test shipment by rail to the port of Guaymas in Mexico and in September the Company announced its state of readiness to commence exports shortly. Such export sales have now commenced with this first shipment. The Company continues to service the USA domestic market at increasing levels through truck sales at mine gate.

Brazilian Gold Corp BGC.TSXV Edging Further Closer to Production with Flagship Sao Jorge

Brazilian Gold Announces Filing of Updated Technical Report on Mineral Resources of the São Jorge Gold Project

Release No. 18/12


Vancouver, BC, October 29, 2012

Brazilian Gold Corporation (TSXV: BGC) is pleased to announce that it has received from Coffey Mining the National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report dated October 29, 2012 entitled "São Jorge Gold Project, Pará State, Brazil, Independent Technical Report on Mineral Resources" and it has been filed on Sedar (www.sedar.com) and is also available on the Company's website (www.braziliangold.ca). Details of the São Jorge resource estimate were announced in a News Release on September 19, 2012 (News Release 16/12).

Brazilian Gold owns a portfolio of road accessible, grass-roots to advance stage (São Jorge) gold projects in the Tapajós region of northern Brazil.

In 2012, Brazilian Gold is focused on expanding their resource base and completing engineering studies on our São Jorge project.

BGC's share price has suffered market drag-down where the TSX Venture exchange has born the brunt of a significant sell off

Unfortunately BGC shares have been dragged down and I consider them to have been significantly oversold by the market.

Atlantic Coal ATC.L Remain on Track for Expansion

Atlantic Coal reveals extension to option of further assets in Pennsylvania

Atlantic Coal (LON:ATC) now has until the end of March next year to exercise an option on a second anthracite coal property in Pennsylvania.

The original deal, announced in February this year, had a deadline of October 31, but this option has now been extended until March 31 next year, it said.

The cash consideration to extend the option is US$75,000 which is non-refundable and payable immediately but will be applied in part satisfaction of the US$35 million cash consideration payable to exercise the option, it said.

Atlantic coal has carried out significant due diligence on the anthracite mining assets in question, including preparing a competent person's report, which it says is in "advanced draft form".

In February, the company said that because of the size of the potential deal it would amount to a reverse takeover and would require shareholder approval.

Steve Best, Atlantic’s managing director, has said that the firm's strategy was to expand in Pennsylvania and to build the company into a major US anthracite producer.

Blogged from proactive Investors

Vatukoula Gold VGM.LN Further Boosted by Continued Chinese Investor Confidence

Vatukoula Announce New Subscription Agreement signed with Zhongrun for £6.6 million


Vatukoula Gold Mines plc is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new subscription agreement with Zhongrun International Mining Co. Ltd. ("Zhongrun") whereby Zhongrun has subscribed for 20,000,000 new ordinary shares in the Company (the "Subscription Shares") at a price of £0.33 per share, to raise £6.6 million (the "Subscription Agreement").

The Subscription Shares will represent approximately 17.01% of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company. Zhongrun currently holds 9,000,000 shares in the Company and on completion of the Subscription Agreement Zhongrun will hold 29,000,000 shares representing approximately 24% of the enlarged issued share capital of the Company. All relevant regulatory approvals have been granted and as such we envisage that the Subscription Agreement will complete by the middle November.

The subscription agreement with Zhongrun replaces the subscription agreement with Shengen Xintai International Mine Industry Group Co. Ltd. ("Xintai") as announced on 29 August 2012 and as extended on 3 October 2012. It has become apparent to the Board of Vatukoula that Xintai cannot complete the agreed subscription in the time frames previously announced and Company will be pursuing its legal rights against Xintai for its failure to meet the terms of its signed subscription agreement.

In conjunction with the Subscription Agreement, the Company has agreed that Zhongrun will be entitled to propose four nominees for election as Directors at the next Annual General Meeting, subject to the approval by the Nominating Committee and election by shareholders.

Zhongrun International Mining Co., Ltd. Is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zhongrun Resources Investment Corp. ("Shandong Zhongrun") a public company based in Jinan City, the Peoples Republic of China. Shandong Zhongrun is listed on the main board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and is engaged in mineral resources exploration and development and equity investment in companies with precious and non-ferrous metals projects. In April 2012 Zhongrun subscribed for 9,000,000 shares and invested £5.4 million in the Company. Shandong Zhongrun operates out of Tower 17, Zhongrun Century Plaza, No. 13777 Jingshi Road East, Jinan City, Shandong Province, P.R. China, 250014.

Dave Paxton, CEO of VGM commented:

"The Board is disappointed that Xintai failed to complete its subscription agreement but is very pleased to welcome the investment of Zhongrun in VGM and looks forward to continuing its valuable strategic relationship with Zhongrun to assist in the development of the Vatukoula Gold Mine"

Solo Oil Shares Soar on Equity Line Facility Withdrawal

Solo Terminates Equity Line Facility.

Solo today announces that it has mutually agreed to terminate the three year £10 million Equity Line Facility with Dutchess Opportunity Cayman Fund Ltd ("Dutchess") as the Company now believes that this type of facility no longer fits with the Company's forward funding plans.

The Company has worked effectively with Dutchess over the past year with this facility and it achieved the objectives of funding its obligations to drill, complete and test the exciting Ntorya 1 gas and condensate discovery in Tanzania. Solo no longer sees it necessary to utilise this facility going forward and has terminated the Dutchess facility at no cost to either party.

Solo has announced that it has entered into a Vendor Collaboration Agreement with Aminex plc ("Aminex"), which has engaged FirstEnergy Capital LLP ("FirstEnergy") to manage the farm-out of up to 50% of the two companies' respective working interests in the Ruvuma PSA in Tanzania.

The Ruvuma PSA covers 6,079 square kilometres on the Tanzanian border with Mozambique and is located within the wider Ruvuma Basin where over 100 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas has been discovered in recent years. Earlier this year gas was discovered by Solo and Aminex at the Ntorya-1 well in the Ruvuma PSA. Ntorya-1 was tested at over 20 million cubic feet per day of gas and 139 barrels of condensate (53 degree API) on a 1" choke.

As recently announced, an independent technical evaluation of the Ruvuma PSA has been prepared by ISIS Petroleum Consultants ("ISIS") which attributed a total mean unrisked gas-initially-in-place (GIIP) for identified leads, prospects and discoveries of 5.75 tcf within the PSA.

The Ntorya discovery has significant potential for commercial development and is estimated by ISIS to contain 1.2 tcf of discovered and undiscovered mean GIIP. It is anticipated that gas from Ntorya and the Ruvuma PSA generally will be commercialised via the planned 36" diameter pipeline which will run through the PSA area to Dar es Salaam, which is the largest gas market in Tanzania.

FirstEnergy is a leading international energy-focused investment bank, providing full-service energy expertise including a dedicated technical advisory group to oil and gas property acquisitions and divestitures, based in London.

Participants in the Ruvuma PSA are; Ndovu Resources Ltd (Aminex) 75% (operator) and Solo Oil Plc 25%. It is envisaged that additional 2D seismic will be acquired starting in 2012 and that two further exploratory wells will be drilled in the second half of 2013.

David Lenigas, Solo Executive Chairman, commented; "Solo's management has utilised this Dutchess facility extensively over the past year to fund the Ntorya 1 discovery in Tanzania and complete the well for testing. We are confident of finding a funding partner for the Ruvuma PSA and our need for funding of this type is deemed no longer necessary.

Competent Person's Statement:

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Neil Ritson, Chief Executive Officer and Director for Solo Oil Plc who has over 35 years of relevant experience in the oil industry. Mr. Ritson is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, an Active Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

NOTE: The terms "Discovered" and "Undiscovered" Gas Initially-in-Place are used in accordance with the SPE Petroleum Resources Management System classification of 2007.

Brazilian Gold BGC.TSXV, Undersold and Overlooked

Brazilian Gold BGC.TSXV is one of Brazil's leading junior gold mine development companies, with not only NI 43-101 classified resources but with a PEA on its flagship São Jorge gold deposit located in the Tapajós Mineral Province of northern Brazil.
Brazilian Gold, under the leadership of the highly experienced gold mining veteran Ian Stalker, is certain to advance into some form of production phase over the next 12 months. 

Over the last 18 months the TSX market has significantly oversold exploration stage miners and unfortunately Brazilian Gold has been caught up in that wave. I strongly advise investors and readers of my blog to take a closer look at BGC, WHY?
well at .20 Canadian cents, this stock should be considered a real bargain, with a massive upside.

So in 18 months I will report back and I am certain my prediction for a sharp rise in the stock of BGC will be vindicated

Check them out.............PS the Brokers are all tipping a buy, not just me

Regards
Andre 

Vatukoula Gold Mines VGM.LN Boosted Further by Chinese Investor Confidence and Growing Signs of a Reversal of Fortunes Happening Underground

3rd October 2012

The ratification by Chinese group Xintai, of their investment in Vatukoula Gold Mines, VGM.LN provides a further boost to the company at a moment when both market and operational conditions for VGM are starting to look good. 

With analysts remaining bullish on gold and no sign that the price is set to slip and with VGM now solving what has been an age old problem, under-capitalisation, the company is now well positioned to see through its operational transition. 

It is this transition into a focus on foot-wall mining underground, a more efficient way of liberating Vatukoula's high grade gold from its ore body in what is a shift in emphasis from the less efficient strike drive mining method, the traditional way Vatukoula has been mined down the years. 

Whilst strike drive mining at Vatukoula is good for volume and underground development, it does come at a cost and that is the mine to waste ratio is often high.

The move into mining through the foot-wall method is set to see Vatukoula mine a greater percentage of ore and less waste, putting higher grades through the mill. 

The Chinese clearly have confidence in what the VGM mine management are doing and rightly so. If VGM comes out of this transition process the other side, the company will be in a great shape and the Chinese investors both Xintai and Zhongrun will have got themselves a really good stake in not just Vatukoula but also within Fiji itself where  there is a raft of other mineral extraction opportunities, least of which is still Vatukoula that have a huge under-expored land package themselves!!!!!

In addition, should VGM set off on a deal with Fiji Sugar to build a biomass electricity generating facility, then this would be a really good value catalyst for Vatukoula, in a move that would significantly reduce power consumption costs and likely to mean a net reduction in cash costs per ounce by as much as $200

Below is the latest RNS release where I would like to draw your attention to the statement by the Xintai CEO Mr Wang,

Vatukoula Gold Mines Plc. (AIM: VGM), the AIM listed gold producer and explorer, provides an update to the announcement made on 29 August 2012 in relation to a binding placing agreement with Shengen Xintai International Mine Industry Group Co. Ltd. ("Xintai").

Under the agreement the placing is to be completed in two tranches via the issue of a £3,195,900 convertible loan ("Loan Note") and the issue of 13,812,374 new ordinary shares in the Company at a price of 51.65 pence per share ("Placing") to raise £7,134,091. The Loan Note will automatically convert to 6,187,626 ordinary shares upon closing of the Placing, such that Xintai will invest a total of £10.3 million to acquire a total of 20 million new ordinary shares

The Placing is conditional on the approval of the state authorities in China. As a result of longer than expected timeframes in obtaining the regulatory and administrative approvals Xintai have requested an extension to the date of completion of the Placing and the Loan Note. The long-stop date of the original agreement was the 3^rd October 2012. Therefore given the above Vatukoula has granted a non-exclusive extension to the Loan Note until the end of October 2012 and the Placing until the end of November 2012.

Mr Dingli Wang, CEO of Xintai commented;

"Xintai remains committed to the placing and we continue to believe that Vatukoula represents an excellent investment opportunity. We have spent considerable time at the operations in Fiji and remain confident that the right strategy and management team are in place and are capable of delivering on their stated goals."

Atlantic Coal ATC.LN Massive Increase in Production Performance as Railroad Re-Alignment Serves as Major Value Catalyst

Atlantic Coal plc ("Atlantic" or the "Company")

Increased Production From Stockton Coal Mine

Atlantic Coal plc, the AIM-listed anthracite coal mining company operating in Pennsylvania, USA, is delighted to announce a positive production update for the three months ended 30 September 2012, from its Stockton mine ("Stockton") located near Hazleton, PA.

Key production fundamentals:

·    Excellent 130% increase in clean coal production year on year to achieve record production of 44,633 tons (Q3 2011: 19,424)

·    38% increase in clean coal sold year on year to 33,336 tons (Q3 2011: 24,111)

·    Run-of-mine ("ROM") coal washed more than doubled year on year to 107, 625 tons (Q3 2011: 50,816 tons)

·    935,767 bank cubic yards ("BCY") of overburden removed (Q3 2011: 833,055 BCY)

·    Significant improvement in strip ratio of overburden to clean coal to 21.0 (Q3 2011: 42.9) - photographs of the exposed Mammoth Seam are available in the gallery section of the Company's website: www. atlanticcoal.com/Gallery/

·    Robust levels of stock pile inventory, run-of-mine (42,416 tons) and clean coal (23,435 tons) targeted for sale during the lucrative winter home heating season

·    Average sales price realised was US$148.49 excluding by product # 5 (Q3 2011: US$146.98) - continued strong national demand for high quality anthracite but slight quarter on quarter price drop experienced due to cyclical slower summer period

Atlantic Managing Director Steve Best said, "This is an exciting time for Atlantic as production at Stockton continues to build upon the record figures reported in Q2 2012.  Stockton's production profile has been transformed since the successful completion of the railroad diversion in April 2012, as evidenced by the 130% increase in production and the 38% increase in sales of clean coal year on year.

"These results strengthen our position in the region, and with options currently held over a number of larger anthracite sites, further details of which were contained in our recent interim statement, and each with the potential to enlarge our portfolio substantially, we look forward to the coming months with optimism. We will update shareholders on the status of these transactions at the appropriate time.

"In addition, Atlantic has completed reclamation work on nearly 1,000 acres of the former Gowen Mine.  This is further good news for the Company, producing environmental improvements and representing the completion of a major programme of expenditure."

Q3 2012 Production Summary:

Run-of-mine washed (tons)	Overburden Removed (bank cubic yards)	Clean Coal Production (tons)	Average Price per ton (US$)
107,625	935,767	44,633	148.49 excluding by product #5

Daniel Stewart Securities in Profit and Growing

 Daniel Stewart Securities remained profitable in the year to the end of March despite the economic environment showing little improvement.

The investment bank saw revenues increase to £8.8m from £8.4m but after-tax profits fell to £0.5m - down from £1.0m a year ago.

The group says liquidity remains strong and it had cash at its year-end of £1.1m.

And it said that assets under management within its retail and wealth management division doubled to in excess of £250m (up from £125m).

Group chief executive Peter Shea said: "We are very pleased to have returned a profit during these most difficult times. 

"We have been focussed on the delivery of a quality service to our clients throughout and this has provided us with a positive result.

"Daniel Stewart is in good shape despite the prevailing economic malaise. 

"We have adapted and changed our business, adding new distribution channels, developing overseas partners and establishing our own presence in Asia. 

"We have launched innovative products and maintained our position as a leading adviser to UK small and mid cap corporates and investors.

"Additionally we have made significant developments in our wealth management business and have seen a dramatic rise in our assets under management, as well as improving volumes across our entire retail market product range.

"The economic environment has shown little improvement as far as small and mid caps are concerned and business generation remains challenging. 

"However, we expect that in the near term at least, much of ourcorporate work will be generated from overseas, providing us with a decent pipeline of opportunities."

Atlantic Coal Edge Closer to Significant Portfolio Expansion with Lease Extension Awarded on Pott & Bannon Anthracite Mine

Atlantic Coal plc 

Extension of option over Pott & Bannon anthracite mining property

Atlantic Coal plc, the AIM listed open cast coal production and processing company with activities in Pennsylvania, USA, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an extension of its lease option agreement ("the Lease Option") with Reading Anthracite Company ("RAC"), an established operator in Pennsylvania's anthracite coal industry, over the fully permitted 410 acre Pott & Bannon anthracite mining property in New Castle Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  Further details of the Lease Option are contained in the announcement made by the Company on 3 January 2012.

The extension has been agreed without Atlantic Coal being required to make any further payments to RAC.  Atlantic Coal now has until 27 March 2013 in order to exercise the Lease Option. The US$250,000.00 escrow payment made by Atlantic Coal to RAC in January 2012 remains held in an escrow account and is repayable to Atlantic Coal in the event that it does not wish to exercise the Lease Option.

Atlantic Managing Director Steve Best said, "I am pleased that we have been able to agree an extension to the option over the Pott & Bannon mine. This extended period will enable us to complete our due diligence to a high standard and importantly we are making good progress in that regard."

Brazilian Gold Massive 43% Increase in Indicated Resources at the Flagship São Jorge Gold Deposit , Northern Brazil

Brazilian Gold

Massive 43% Increase in Indicated Resources at the Flagship São Jorge Gold Deposit , Northern Brazil

Brazilian Gold is pleased to report the updated NI43-101 compliant mineral resource for the São Jorge gold deposit that includes 14,230,000 t grading 1.18 g/t gold (541,000 oz) in the indicated category and 27,810,000 t grading 0.68 g/t gold (611,000 oz) in the inferred category at a 0.3 g/t cut-off. The estimate incorporates an additional 14,393 m (38 holes) of diamond drilling completed by Brazilian Gold in 2011 as compared to the previous estimate that was based on 22,762 m (110 holes) of diamond drilling  completed by the previous operators.
BGC now has a total Indicated Resource of 541,000 Ounces Grading 1.2 g/t Gold and Inferred Resource of 1,497,000 Ounces Grading 0.8 g/t gold at a 0.3 g/t cut-off on Three Projects in Brazil

Highlights

- Indicated ounces have increased by 43% (partly reflecting an 18% increase in indicated grade)  when compared to the previous resource estimate in the 2011 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) by Coffey both of which were reported at a 0.3 g/t gold cut-off.
- At a 0.5 g/t gold cut-off grade, the indicated gold grade increases to 1.40 g/t gold (Table 1) with a total of 465,000 contained ounces.

- Inferred ounces have increased 9.5% (partly reflecting a 35% increase in tonnage) when compared to the 2011 PEA.

- Selective mining of internal waste in the deposit and diverting this tonnage to a surface stockpile may result in an increase in the head grade delivered to the process plant.

- Potential robust operating margin suggested by the insitu metal value of US$67/tonne (indicated resource grade of 1.18 g/t and gold price of $1,765/oz) and the 2011 PEA operating cost of US$16.36/tonne; (note mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability).

- An untested 1.5 km long resistivity +/- chargeability anomaly southeast of the São Jorge deposit is similar to the geophysical signature over the deposit suggesting potential to find additional zon es of gold mineralization to the southeast; potential to find new gold deposits on the largely unexplored São Jorge property is considered excellent.

  To view IP map, please visit the following link:
  http://www.braziliangold.ca/email/20120919-1/Sao-Jorge-IP-Interpretation.jpg

- Strong mineral inventory growth on our three most advance stage projects—São Jorge, Surubim (Jau) and Boa Vista (VG1);

Please find attached full story of this news release.

Brazilian Gold Corporation
595 Howe Street, Suite 308
Vancouver, BC V6C 2T5
Tel: 604 602-8188
www.braziliangold.ca
TSX.V Symbol: BGC

Alex Stewart International’s Awarded LPPM Affiliate status

 PRESS RELEASE 

12th SEPTEMBER 2012 

Alex Stewart International is delighted to announce that the LPPM Management Committee have approved Alex Stewart International’s LPPM Affiliate status, which is effective from 10th September, 2012. 

Mr. Alex Stewart, Chairman and CEO of the ASIC Group said, “I am delighted that we are now affiliated with the well respected and connected LPPM”. Mr. Andy Smith, Precious Metals Group Business Executive for ASIC commented, “We pleased to be able to provide all LPPM members with a world class service for both inspections and analysis.” 

For further information about Alex Stewart’s inspection and analysis services to the precious metal industry please contact andy.smith@alexstewartinternational .com 

Vatukoula Gold Mines VGM.LN Strategic Investment by Xintai Re-Affirms Confidence in Vatukoula's Long Term Prospects

29th August 2012 Vatukoula Gold Mines plc. ("Vatukoula" or "the Company") Strategic Investor Xintai commits to invest £10.3 million in an equity financing at a substantial premium to the market Vatukoula Gold Mines Plc. (AIM:VGM), the AIM listed gold producer and explorer, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Shengen Xintai International Mine Industry Group Co. Ltd. ("Xintai") where Xintai has agreed to invest £10.3 million for the issue of 20 million new ordinary shares, at a premium of approximately 60% over the share price as at 28 August 2012. The financing will be completed in two tranches via the issue of a £3,195,900 convertible loan ("Loan Note") and the issue of 13,812,374 new ordinary shares in the Company at a price of 51.65 pence per share ("Placing") to raise £7,134,091. The Loan Note will automatically convert to 6,187,626 ordinary shares upon closing of the Placing, such that Xintai will invest a total of £10.3 million to acquire a total of 20 million new ordinary shares. The Loan Note, which bears a coupon of 5% per annum and has a term of one year, is expected to be completed on or around August 31, 2012. The Placing is anticipated to be completed within three days of receipt of Chinese Foreign Exchange State Approval for the transfer of funds, which is expected to occur in late September. The net placing proceeds will be added to working capital and used towards a number of key strategic objectives including the Vatukoula mine's ongoing development and capital investment programme. This programme will allow the mine to increase production to a sustainable and profitable level. On the basis that the Placing is approved and the Loan is converted Xintai will hold 20,000,000 shares or 17.01% of the enlarged share capital of the Company. Xintai's involvement with the Company is expected to bring new expansion opportunities at the Vatukoula property and will mean the Board will be able to consider a wider range of growth opportunities than those that were previously available to it. China Gold Science and Technology Ltd ("CGST") will act as Xintai's cooperative partner, bringing significant environmental, technical and economic resources to the project. In addition the Company has been informed that Xintai are currently negotiating the purchase of further shares in the Company from existing shareholders ("Additional Shares"). If these negotiations are successful it is anticipated Xintai's holding would increase to up to 29.9% of the enlarged share capital of the Company. On completion of the Placing and the acquisition of the Additional Shares the Board of Directors of VGM has agreed that Xintai will be invited to nominate two directors to the Vatukoula Board of Directors. Mr Dingli Wang, CEO of Xintai commented; "I believe that Vatukoula represents an excellent investment opportunity because of the potential that the mine in Fiji represents and its strong board and management. Shareholders will benefit from our cooperation, which will combine complementary experience and skills to further develop the Fijian assets."  Mr David Paxton, CEO of VGM commented; "Xintai's strategic investment is a significant step for VGM. It is not only a vote of confidence in the Vatukoula Gold Mine but it puts the Company on a sound financial footing for the expansion of the mine and allows us access to further technical expertise via Xintai's technical partners CGST."

Cash Set to Roll for Strategic Minerals SML.LN

Strategic Minerals Plc
("Strategic Minerals" or the "Company")

Successful Shipment by Rail

Strategic Minerals Plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), the magnetite iron ore producer and exploration company, is delighted to announce that it has successfully completed a test shipment by rail of its magnetite material from the Cobre stockpile in New Mexico to the port of Guaymas in Mexico. The test, which comprised an eight rail car shipment, was undertaken to verify key processes and procedures ahead of commencement of 72-car unit train commercial shipments for the export market.

James Fyfe, Executive Chairman of Strategic Minerals, commented:
"This was a vital test of our rail freight processes and procedures ahead of full scale commercial rail shipments, essential to our fulfillment of export sales. We are delighted to have proved that our systems, procedures and equipment can deliver a robust and efficient rail freight operation - and whilst some minor operational glitches and equipment problems were encountered, these were quickly resolved by the team. The proven ability to commence unit train rail shipments to port is an important milestone for the Company following the recent completion of the rail spur rehabilitation at the Cobre stockpile."

The Company's rail freight operations include its loading facility inside the mine gate, railroad switching during the 900+ kilometre journey to port, border crossing from the United States into Mexico and unloading and storage at the port.

Reef Resources Crack Open the Cash for Solo

OLO OIL PLC

("Solo")

Full-scale Production in Progress at the Ausable Field, Canada

Positive Results from Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Program

Solo today announces that full-scale oil production has commenced at the Ausable Field in South Western Ontario, Canada, operated by Solo's Joint Venture partner, Reef Resources Limited ("Reef").  Reef has reported that the field has been on production since the 13 July 2012.

Two of the four wells at the Ausable Oil Field (Ausable #1 and Ausable #5) have now been put on line and total liquids potential of 275 barrel oil equivalent per day (boepd) gross has been computed based on the current gas cycling rate of 236 thousand cubic feet per day (mcfd).  The initial two wells production rate averaged 13 boepd although this is now being rapidly scaled up as gas cycling rates are increased.

These initial two wells and the surface facilities have now been fully configured for long-term production. Wells Ausable #2 and Ausable #4 will additionally be placed on production and will add substantially to current daily production.  Reef anticipate increasing the gas cycle rate about 20-fold to 5,000 mcfd progressively over the next 4 to 6 months and project that liquids production from the four well scheme will then rise to approximately 700 boepd (gross).

Gas has been injected into the reservoir purchased from a local gas utility and will shortly be supplemented with gas from the North and South Airport wells, both drilled by Reef. The cycling of gas provides both pressure support to the reservoir and additional liquids production. Since March 2012, about 50 million standard cubic feet of dry gas have been injected into the reservoir, which represents approximately 10 per cent of the intended volume. As gas injection continues in the coming months, both oil and condensate production volumes will increase.

The recently completed facilities upgrade has successfully addressed all major issues arising from the installation of venturi pumps in the wells and has incorporated the modifications needed for sustainable long-term gas cycling.

The upgrade was a vital component in the optimisation of Reef's EOR program, which is already delivering results. Reef is currently reviewing the final phase of the facilities project, in which the addition of refrigeration will allow the capture of additional natural gas liquids from the production stream. Reef is now well placed to increase production at Ausable and start rolling out its fully configured EOR process across its portfolio of nearby oil projects.

Solo currently holds a 28.56% interest in the project and an option to increase that to 38.1% in return for further investments of CDN$ 1 million.  Based on projected production rates the project is expected to generate positive cashflow to its owners by late 2012.

Neil Ritson, Solo Executive Director, commented: 

"We are delighted that, after the recent comprehensive facilities upgrade, the Ausable Field is now entering full-scale operation. As additional wells are hooked up to the new facilities and gas recycling rates are increased we remain confident that our previous estimate of a gross 500 boepd remains achievable by end 2012. The addition of refrigeration facilities and the use of equity gas from the Airport wells will further enhance the economics of the project, which now offers substantial benefits to Solo and its shareholders."

Competent Person's Statement:

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Neil Ritson, Chief Executive Officer and Director for Solo Oil Plc who has 35 years of relevant experience in the oil industry.  Mr. Ritson is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, an Active Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

Brazilian Gold Corp BGC.TSXV Now Is The Time To Invest

You just have to check out Brazilian Gold Corp, trading on the TSX Venture exchange (BGC) Brazilian Gold has a massive gold bearing land package with advanced projects like Boa Vista and San Jorge with a PEA
Brazil is a great jurisdiction low royalty taxes on gold and pro mining. BGC is Brazil's leading junior gold development company and is moving rapidly towards production. The stock is hugely undervalued, given the fact the company has infrastructure and human capital available to support mine development, construction and operation. The board is highly talented, indeed Ian Stalker was one of the first guys that got into Ghana and helped set off that country's gold mining industry.........and just look where Ghana is today!!!!
This is really the time for investors to get into BGC

Alex Stewart International LBMA Member

Alex Stewart International is delighted to announce that the LBMA Management Committee have approved Alex Stewart International’s LBMA Associate status, which is effective from 10th August, 2012.
Mr. Alex Stewart, Chairman and CEO of the ASIC Group said, “It is very pleasing that my organization is again associated with the world’s leading most recognized bullion market”. Mr. Andy Smith, Precious Metals Group Business Executive for ASIC commented, “We are very happy to be back in a position to provide all LBMA members with a world class service for both inspections and analysis.”
For further information about Alex Stewart’s inspection and analysis services to the precious metal industry please contact andy.smith@alexstewartinternational .com

Atlantic Coal PlC ATC: AIM Benefitting From Higher Yield Anthracite Prices

Check out Atlantic Coal, listed in London on AIM and OTCQX
100% owner of a first class anthracite coal mine, Stockton, in Hazleton PA
Demand for anthracite at the moment is very strong and has driven prices to over 160$ per tonne
Export prices are trading about 130$ premium to API 2 and 4 and are approx 220$ per tonne tracking closely HCC pricing
Stockton could well produce over 155,000 tonnes of clean coal this year and will likely see ATC turn in a maiden profit
For investors, ATC is a good play and underpriced relative to its net asset value and likely shift into profit

BRAZILIAN GOLD CORP (BGC:TSX.V) OUTLINES 8.47 MT GRADING 1.23 G/T GOLD FOR 336,000 CONTAINED OUNCES IN THE FIRST RESOURCE ESTIMATE ON THE VG1 DEPOSIT (BOA VISTA PROJECT), BRAZIL

August 9, 2012

BRAZILIAN GOLD OUTLINES 8.47 MT GRADING 1.23 G/T GOLD FOR 336,000 CONTAINED OUNCES IN THE FIRST RESOURCE ESTIMATE ON THE VG1 DEPOSIT (BOA VISTA PROJECT), BRAZIL

Brazilian Gold Corporation (TSXV: BGC) is pleased to report the results of the first NI43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate for the VG1 gold deposit (Boa Vista project) located in the Tapajós region of northern Brazil. 

Brazilian Gold and their joint venture partners, Octa Mineração Ltda. and D’Gold Mineral Ltda., reported the VG1 discovery in the first quarter of 2011 and have completed two phases of diamond drilling (15 holes in 3,007 m) since that time.

The inferred mineral resource for the VG1 gold deposit is 8.47 Mt grading 1.23 g/t gold at a 0.5 g/t cut-off for 336,000 contained ounces. The mineral resource estimate was completed by Giroux Consultants Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, and is documented in an independent NI43-101 Technical Report that will be posted on the BGC website and SEDAR. 

The VG1 deposit is road accessible and is located approximately 170 km southwest of the town of Novo Progresso, which is located on the recently paved BR-163 highway.

Highlights

• Maiden resource estimate on the VG1 gold deposit completed shortly (16 months) after discovery was reported in March 2011 (News Release 5/11 and 6/11).

• Resource estimate is based on shallow (<150 m depth) and limited drilling (15 holes in 3,007 m) and trenching (14 trenches in 2,229 m) of the eastern 600 m of an overall 2,000 m long gold-in-soil anomaly.

• Mineralization forms a coherent deposit that is not significantly affected by changes in the cut-off grade near the declared resource grade of 0.5 g/t gold.

• Deposit is open at depth and along strike with a high potential to expand the existing resource.

• Mineralization starts at surface, is up to 85 m in thickness and may be amenable to open pit extraction with a relatively low strip ratio.

• Gold grade appears to be increasing with depth and to the east based on limited drilling completed to date.

• Coarse gold visible in some drill cores and trench samples and in screened metallic analysis of selected trench samples indicates the overall grade of the deposit could be higher when larger samples are mined and processed.

Geodrill, West Africa's Leading Supplier of Drill Rig Contracting and Support Services for the Global Mining and Exploration Industry

Vatukoula Gold Mines VGM.LSE One Of The World's Leading Producing Gold Mines By Grade

Solo Oil PLC Advance Ruvuma Testing

Solo recently reported it has accessed £363,000 from their three year £10 million Equity Line Facility with Dutchess Opportunity Cayman Fund Ltd to continue funding the developments and current flow testing programme at the Ntorya-1 discovery well in Tanzania. Solo holds a 25% working interest in the Ruvuma PSA.

Solo has issued and allotted 90,844,685 new Ordinary Shares of 0.01 p each at a price of 0.40p pursuant to the drawdown. An Application will be made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on the AIM Market. The new ordinary shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares in the Company and trading of these shares on AIM is expected to commence on the 1 August 2012.

Following Admission, the Company's issued share capital will consist of 2,778,344,708 Ordinary Shares with a nominal value of 0.01p each, with voting rights ("Ordinary Shares"), and 265,324,634 deferred shares of 0.69p each. The deferred shares are non-voting, are not admitted to trading on AIM and are not entitled to any participation in the profits or the assets of the Company. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in Treasury. Therefore the total number of Ordinary Shares in the Company with voting rights is 2,778,344,708.

The above figure of 2,778,344,708 Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Service Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

Strategic Minerals AIM:SML Set to Shine on AIM

Strategic Minerals AIM:SML the large scale processor of the magnetite bearing Cobre Stockpiles, located in New Mexico USA, edge closer to the commencement of mass tonnage shipment. With AIM mining stocks bearing the brunt of a negative market sentiment, there remain a few shining star stocks that offer shareholders some real earning and share performance upside. SML is one we pick out, principally because as Q4 approaches, Strategic are set to unveil an Olympic set of earning results courtesy of the fact they will be shipping up to 70,000 tonnes per month of magnetite under the terms of an offtake deal with Glencore. With investor appetite to fund exploration stage miners, SML are set to shine out as a transformation stock in 2013.
Keep an eye out for the guys!!!!

Atlantic Coal AIM:ATC Olympic Production Performance Q2 2012

Atlantic Coal AIM:ATC, Q2 2012 production figures from their Stockton Anthracite Colliery USA, demonstrate clearly that ATC's management has been consistent in their assessment of Stockton's performance capability. Having suffered years of difficult mining conditions, ATC are now free of the railroad ingress, that caused so much to hinder the stripping and mining at Stockton. With Stockton and ATC, "Now on Track" these latest production figures affirm the fact ATC is set to enter an unprecedented period of profitability. See Below Atlantic Coal plc ("Atlantic" or the "Company") Quarterly Production Update Atlantic Coal plc, the AIM-listed opencast coal production and processing company with activities in Pennsylvania, USA, is pleased to announce a positive production update from the Stockton Colliery ("Stockton"), its opencast anthracite operation, for the three months ended 30 June 2012. Highlights ·    18.8% increase in clean coal production compared to Q1 2012 due to successful diversion of Norfolk Southern Railroad ·    57.7% increase in removal of bank cubic yards and 3% increase in run-of-mine coal washed ·    Average sales price realised was US$166.85 due to continued strong demand for high quality anthracite ·    The Board anticipates production to increase further and is targeting production of more than 155,000 tons for 2012 Atlantic Managing Director Steve Best said, "The successful diversion of the railroad in April has transformed our production profile at Stockton, and I am pleased to report that this is reflected in our increased quarter on quarter results.  I am confident that this production increase will accelerate further over the coming months as we focus our attention on reserves contained within the prime Mammoth Seam.  The Company equalled its total 2011 ROM production of 208,730 tons in July 2012. "Additionally, it is important to note that, unlike recent trends in the thermal coal sector, we continue to experience solid demand for our high quality product.  This creates a positive pricing environment in which to implement our growth strategy to consolidate our position in the productive Pennsylvanian anthracite field." Detailed Information Production increased 18.8% to 37,686 tons of clean coal during Q2 2012 compared to output achieved in the previous quarter (Q1 2012: 31,729 tons).  During the period, Atlantic removed 1,128,981 bank cubic yards ("BCY") of overburden (Q1 2012: 715,691 BCY). 88,762 tons of run-of-mine ("ROM") coal were washed (Q1 2012: 85,911 tons).   Demand for Stockton's high quality anthracite remains strong and, in line with this, the Company achieved an average sales price of US$166.85 for its Pennsylvanian anthracite (Q1 2012: US$166.30), excluding by-product #5. The successful completion of the Norfolk Southern Railroad diversion in April 2012 has enabled Atlantic to access approximately 1.0 million tons of previously unworkable reserves and to achieve improved efficiency.  The Company is confident that production will continue to increase incrementally during the remainder of 2012 and is targeting clean coal production of more than 155,000 tons for the year to 31 December 2012. This target is in line with an independent mining report produced by Mine Engineers Inc, which predicted that production of 160,000 tons of clean coal is achievable for the year. Q2 2012 Production Summary: Run-of-mine washed (tons) Overburden Removed (bank cubic yards) Clean Coal Production (tons) Average Price per ton (US$) 88,762 1,128,981 37,686 166.85