LONDON (Alliance News) - Mercom Oil Sands PLC Thursday said it has made investments in NWT Coal Ltd, Lion Natural Resources PLC and Maverick Petroleum Ltd totalling GBP768,000 as part of its new investment strategy.
Mercom, which recently switched from an oil exploration and development company to an oil and gas investment company, said it has paid GBP300,000 for a 35% interest in NWT Coal, an unquoted company with two coal concessions in the Bac Giang Province of Northern Vietnam.
The concessions are based in the Quang Yen Basin, which currently provides 80% of Vietnam's coal production and are just 10 kilometres apart, potentially meaning they could be linked into a single exploration area.
The company said the estimated coal resource for the larger concession is roughly 80 million tonnes and for the smaller concession around 10 million tonnes, but the company noted that these estimates are not based on systematic exploration.
Mercom said it has also invested GBP400,000 for a 30% interest in Lion Natural Resources PLC, which holds investments in two companies with projects in Sierra Leone and Kenya.
Lion's major asset is Askia Gold Ltd, which is developing an alluvial gold project in Sierra Leone and has strong links to the Sierra Leone government and local community leaders.
The site is projecting output of 25 kilograms of gold per month during its phase one expansion, which is scheduled for completion during the third quarter.
Mercom also said it has made a small investment of GBP68,000 in 7% convertible debentures of Maverick Petroleum Ltd, a company with late-stage development oil projects in north western African states with a focus in the Republic of Chad.
The company said that as a result of the investments, it has now met the AIM rules for investment companies, and the investments will be managed with a view to returning cash to shareholders.
It added that it is continuing to review a number of other investment opportunities and any further announcements will be made when necessary.
Mercom Oil shares were down 17% to 0.310 pence, putting it in the top 10 AIM ALL-Share fallers during early trading on Thursday.
By Tom McIvor; tommcivor@alliancenews.com; @TomMcIvor1
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