Atlantic Coal ATC.LN well positioned

We are bullish on Atlantic Coal
Anthracite is a great place to be and ATC have tonnes of it

Geodrill reports 74% increase in revenue for first quarter 2012

TORONTO, May 14, 2012 /CNW/ - Geodrill Limited ("Geodrill" or the "Company") (TSX: GEO), a leading West African based drilling company, reported its financial results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2012. All figures are reported in US dollars (US$), unless otherwise indicated. Geodrill's financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS.

Financial Highlights

US$ millions (except earnings per share)	For the three months ended March 31, 2012	For the three months ended March 31, 2011
	Q1-12	Q1-11
Revenue	$21.66	$12.48
Gross profit	$11.52	$8.84
As percentage of revenue	53%	71%
Net Earnings	$4.43	$4.87
Earnings per share - basic	$0.10	$0.11
EBITDA(1)	$7.94	$5.93
EBITDA margin (adjusted)(2)	37%	31%

Notes:
(1)	Please see "Non-IFRS Measures" below for additional discussion.
(2)	EBITDA margin was 47% of revenue in Q1-2011. The margin reflects the reduction in cost of sales associated with the reversal of $2.05M of VAT and salary taxes no longer considered to be an obligation of the Company. Without this impact, the adjusted EBITDA margin would have been 31% for Q1-2011.

First Quarter 2012 Operational Highlights:

• Revenue up 74% to $21.66M;
• Increased rig fleet and rigs deployed from 21 in Q1-2011 to 28 in Q1-2012;
• Secured new drilling contracts with Goldstone Resources, Cardero Resources Corp., Taruga Gold Ltd., Romex Mining Corp., and Gondwana Gold Inc.;
• Deployment of one drill rig into Niger during the second quarter of 2012 and plans to re-enter Cote d'Ivoire during the third quarter of 2012;
• Strengthened management team with addition of Stephan Rodrigue, Business Development Manager;
• Completed 317,741 meters of drilling a 69% increase from Q1-2011; and
• Subsequent to the quarter-end, renewed the pre-payment agreement with Azumah Resources (ASX: AZM) ("Azumah") for a $3.0M advance in drilling services.

"We continue to generate industry-leading revenue per rig and profitability.  Our first quarter of this year reflects the strength of our business model and geographic concentration in West Africa. With rig demand continuing to exceed supply in the region, we are focused on fully utilizing our increased capacity to gain larger market share in our primary markets, Ghana and Burkina Faso, as well as extending our reach into equally prospective neighbouring regions," said David Harper, President and CEO of Geodrill Limited.

Financial Review

Revenue

Q1-2012 revenue increased 74% to $21.66M compared to $12.48M in Q1-2011. The increase in revenue is attributable to new drilling contracts and the deployment of 7 new drill rigs resulting in a 69% increase in the number of meters drilled from 188,421 in Q1-2011 to 317,741 in Q1-2012.

Gross Profit

Gross profit increased 30% to $11.52M for Q1-2012 or 53% of revenue compared to $8.84M or 30% for Q1-2011. The gross profit percentage for Q1- 2012 was 53% compared to 71% for Q1- 2011. The decrease in the gross profit percentage reflects the dissolution of the Cote d'Ivoire operation in 2011, which triggered the positive resolution of VAT and salary tax obligations that positively impacted gross profit by 17%. The net effect of this positive resolution was a decrease in the cost of sales in the Q1-2011 of $2.05M.

Selling, General and Administrative ("SG&A") Expenses

SG&A expenses were $5.30M in Q1-2012 compared to $3.94M for Q1-2011. Costs increased due to inflation and also reflects costs of hiring, training, and mobilization of management and support staff necessary to accommodate growth and geographical expansion.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization of property, plant and equipment increased slightly to $1.71M for Q1-2012 compared to $1.02M during for Q1-2011 as a result of additional drill rigs and property, plant and equipment purchases.

EBITDA

EBITDA was $7.94M or 37% of revenue in Q1-2012, compared to $5.93M or 47% of revenue in Q1-2011. The decrease reflects the reduction in cost of sales associated with the reversal of $2.05M of VAT and salary taxes no longer considered to be an obligation of the Company. Without this impact, the adjusted EBITDA margin would have been 31% for Q1-2011. 

Net Earnings

Net earnings were $4.43M or $0.10 per share in Q1-2012, compared to $4.87M or $0.11 per share for Q1-2011. The decrease reflects the reduction in cost of sales associated with the reversal of $2.05M of VAT and salary taxes no longer considered to be an obligation of the Company.  Without these changes, the net earnings for the 1st quarter of 2011 would have been US$2.82M, being 23% of revenue, or US$0.07 per Ordinary Share (US$0.06 per Ordinary Share fully diluted).

Cash from Operations

During the Q1-2012, the Company generated a positive operating cash flow of $6.9M, compared to a negative operating cash flow of $4.17M incurred in Q1-2011. Cash inflow in Q1-2012 from operating activities was driven mainly by the general increase in revenues. These funds were used to finance the advance payments for drill rigs ordered, increases in inventories and trade receivables less the increases in payables due to the expansion of the drill rig fleet.  It is anticipated that cash flows from operating activities will continue to be fully utilized to fund growth.

The Company currently has 42,476,000 ordinary shares issued and outstanding.

Outlook

The Company's business strategy is focused on continued growth through the development and optimization of its service offering across geographical regions and industry segments, as well through the expansion of its customer base. To support this growth Geodrill has added significant capacity through the acquisition of additional drill rigs. All of the Company's drill rigs as at March 31, 2012, are currently committed to contracts. With 28 of the Company's drill rigs commissioned and being utilized on client sites, 3 drill rigs in workshop undergoing modifications, 5 drill rigs in transit and 4 drill rigs on order and with the supplier under manufacturing, (3 drill rigs are expected to arrive in Ghana, of which 2 of them will be operational in Q3-2012 and 1 in Q4-2012), the Company will be able to leverage increased capacity.

The number of drill rigs in operation has increased to 28 in Q1-2012 or 33% increase from 21 drill rigs in Q1-2011.

The Company's drill rig fleet and the drill rig deployed or planned to be operational in the field is noted below:

	As at Dec 31, 2011		As at Mar 31, 2012		Planned as at Jun 30, 2012		Planned as at Sep 30, 2012		Planned as at Dec 31, 2012
	No. of Rigs	Type	No. of Rigs	Type	No. of Rigs	Type	No. of Rigs	Type	No. of Rigs	Type
Operational	15	Multi- Purpose	16	Multi- Purpose	22	Multi- Purpose	26	Multi- Purpose	27	Multi- Purpose
	8	Core Only	8	Core Only	8	Core Only	8	Core Only	8	Core Only
	3	Air core	4	Air core	5	Air core	5	Air core	5	Air core
TOTAL OPERATIONAL	26		28		35		39		40
In transit	1	Air core	5	Multi- Purpose	1	Multi- Purpose
Total In Transit	1		5		1		0		0
In W/Shop			2	Multi- Purpose	4	Multi- Purpose	1	Multi- Purpose
			1	Air core
Total in W/shop			3		4		1		0
Under Manufacturing	10	Multi- Purpose	3	Multi-purpose
	1	Aircore
Total Under Manufacturing	11		3		0		0		0
TOTAL DRILL RIGS	38		39		40		40		40
Split
Multi- Purpose	25		26		27		27		27
Core Only	8		8		8		8		8
Air Core	5		5		5		5		5
TOTAL	38		39		40		40		40

 

Geodrill's interim financial statements and management's discussion & analysis ("MD&A"), for the three-month period ended March 31, 2012, are available via Geodrill's website at www.geodrill-gh.com and will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Following the release, the Company will host its Annual Meeting of Shareholders at the TMX Broadcast Centre, the Exchange Tower, 130 King St. West, Toronto at 10:00 am (EST) in which management will discuss the quarterly financial results. 

A live audio webcast will be available through:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/webcast/detail/965423/1035663
An archived replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days. Operator Assisted Toll-Free Dial-In Number: (888) 231-8192.

Non-IFRS Measures

EBITDA is defined as Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation and is used as a measure of financial performance. The Company believes EBITDA is useful to investors because it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in the Company's industry.  However, EBITDA is not a measure recognized by IFRS and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS.  EBITDA should not be viewed in isolation and does not purport to be an alternative to net income or gross profit as an indicator of operating performance or cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity.  EBITDA does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other publicly traded companies, and EBITDA should not be construed as an alternative to other financial measures determined in accordance with IFRS.

Additionally, EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of free cash flow for management's discretionary use, as it does not consider certain cash requirements such as capital expenditures, contractual commitments, interest payments, tax payments and debt service requirements.  Please see the Company's MD&A for the three-month period ended March 31, 2012 for the  EBITDA reconciliation. 

NOVA Resources, NOVA.LN Truck Contract Should Begin This Month

Nova Resources, NOVA.LN, the London listed logistics company, is expected to commence the first phase of its trucking contract in Mongolia this month.

Atlantic Coal ATC.LN, Shouting Loud and Proud in the Sunday Telegraph

Nice spread on Atlantic Coal in the Sunday Telegraph Mining Supplement
Looks like a maiden profit on the cards
Anthracite is in demand, prices are up and at Stockton, they can now mine more efficiently now the railroad has been moved.
Looks undervalued at the moment

TAIA Lion Resources, Low Cost Open Pit Potential

TAIA Lion Resources, Sierra Leone's leading gold and precious metals exploration company, is well positioned to weather the increasingly difficult capital market situation currently embracing exploration stage mining companies.

In Sierra Leone, TAIA's Lake Sonfon and Gori Hills gold projects (subject to positive feasibility studies) will be low cost open pit projects. Traditionally, low gold prices benefit the open pit gold mining sector and with some recent uncertainty surrounding the gold price, where the price broke through the $1,600 per ounce price floor recently, TAIA is well positioned to offer investors a low risk profile when it comes to taking what is already a decent set of drill results from its projects, through to realising mine development.


Typically a plant capable of treating bulk low grade gold feed can be built for circa 75 million US$.
Set this against an underground gold-copper mine, where the capital expenditure can exceed 1 billion US$. Cash cost per ounce typically for gold recovered from an open pit operation, where grades average around 3 grammes per tonne can fall between $400 to $600 per ounce. Cash cost per ounce for underground mines often fall above $1,000 per ounce.

Should gold track lower, then the ability to bring into production, underground "marginal" projects will be extremely limited. With project finance becoming even more difficult to secure, a lower gold price could render a number of gold projects redundant. This could actually hinder supply and may serve to drive gold prices higher. At what point the inflection between supply, demand and price works to adjust back into driving the price of gold up, is difficult to predict. But if the gold price remains below $1,400
and uncertainty surrounds the market, then even gold-copper mines with good prospects, may struggle to secure development finance. Given the fact older mines, with high cash per once production costs, need ongoing development finance, many may find that financing continuing production could prove difficult.


Accordingly, TAIA with promising drill results from its gold projects to date, strong corporate responsibility profile in Sierra Leone, favourable on the ground conditions and low cost, low risk exploration to production profile, is positioned better than most to make their operations in Sierra Leone a great success.

Strategic Minerals SML.LN Institutional Investor Support Grows

Strategic Minerals SML. LN one of London's few junior listed iron ore plays currently in the production phase, announced last week that they had raised £3,125,000 to fund ongoing development of their Cobre Magnetite Project at their New Mexico Site.

A revised upward forecast of 70,000 tonnes per month of magnetite, shipped through the soon to be connected rail spur, is certain to add significant income flows to the company over the next twelve months. With the market losing appetite for pure play exploration play propositions, SML is appealing to investors, both private and institutional, because of its cash generating lower risk profile that is backed by a strong portfolio of infrastructure supported iron ore projects located across Australia.

Highlights:

· £3,125,000 raised through a placing of new shares;
· Funds raised through the issue of 39,062,500 new ordinary shares at a subscription price of £0.08 per share with an attaching warrant to purchase one ordinary share at an exercise price of £0.12 per share exercisable at any time at the holder's option on or before 30th April 2014;
· Institutions and high net worth individuals participated in the round;
· Funds raised to be used in part for the final rail refurbishment payment at the Company's New Mexico site and to develop further near-term revenue generating iron ore projects.

Strategic Minerals Plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), the magnetite iron ore producer and exploration company, is delighted to announce that it has raised £3,125,000 before expenses from institutional and other investors through the subscription to 39,062,500 new ordinary shares of £0.001 each (the "Subscription Shares") at a price of £0.08 per Subscription Share with an attaching warrant to purchase one ordinary share at an exercise price of £0.12 per share exercisable at any time at the holder's option on or before 30th April 2014. The placement was conducted for the Company by Intrinsic Capital LLP.

The funds raised will be used in part for the final rail refurbishment payment at the Company's New Mexico site and to develop further near-term revenue generating iron ore projects. Although later than previously anticipated, completion of the rail upgrade is now imminent which will enable increased shipments of magnetite from the site to begin. Shipments continue to be made by truck for the time being.

Steven Sanders, Chairman of Strategic Minerals, said:

"We are delighted to announce this successful placing and in particular the interest shown by new institutional investors participating in the round. This funding will be used partly to make the final rail refurbishment payment at our Cobre project in New Mexico and allow for significantly increased shipments of magnetite to commence from the site. When operating at full capacity, the Company will be able to ship up to 70,000 tonnes per month from this location which is ideally positioned within the major U.S market. The Board is further encouraged by the multiple, profitable end markets in addition to the underlying iron ore market that we are able to serve from our first magnetite stockpile."

Application will be made for the Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission") and it is anticipated that Admission will occur on or around 11 May 2012. On Admission the Subscription Shares, will rank pari passu with the Company's existing ordinary shares of £0.001 each ("Ordinary Shares").

Following Admission the total number of Ordinary Shares in issue will be 448,158,893. This figure may be used by shareholders 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 Services Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

The placement was carried out within the Company's existing share authorities.

URU Metals Nickel Joint Venture UPDATE

South African Nickel Joint Venture Update  Ongoing drilling continues to confirm large disseminated nickel resources at Burgersfort and Zebediela nickel projects, South Africa Highlights ·    Additional drilling results from both the Burgersfort and Zebediela nickel projects confirm large open pit disseminated sulphide nickel resources. The first phase of drilling has now been completed on both projects. ·    URU Metals has satisfied the terms of the Joint Venture Agreement and has fully vested its interest in both projects. ·    The South African Nickel Joint Venture ("Joint Venture") has engaged MSA Group to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on the Zebediela Nickel Project.  ·    Appointment of Mike Houston as CEO of the Joint Venture. Commenting on the nickel joint venture update, Paul Loudon, Non-Executive Chairman of URU Metals, said: "The results continue to be extremely pleasing and indicate that both Burgersfort and Zebediela host large open pit disseminated sulphide nickel resources. Furthermore, the economic potential of one of these projects, Zebediela,will be indicated with the completion of a PEA.  I am particularly pleased to announce that Mr. Mike Houston, a highly experienced mine builder has joined the team.  Mike will lead the feasibility assessments and development of the projects on behalf of the Joint Venture. "