Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Commencement of Drilling Operations Onshore Morocco
Chariot Limited (AIM: CHAR), the Africa focused transitional energy group, is pleased to announce that drilling operations have commenced at the Loukos Onshore licence ("Loukos") onshore Morocco (Chariot, Operator 75%, ONHYM, 25%) with the spud of the RZK-1 well on the Gaufrette prospect.
· Gaufrette Main target has Best Estimate recoverable prospective resources of 10 Bcf
· Option to penetrate a deeper target identified on newly reprocessed 3D seismic data
· Strong read through for other geologically linked prospects in the Gaufrette area with success potentially unlocking combined Best Estimate recoverable prospective resources of 26 Bcf
· Results will be announced on completion of drilling
Duncan Wallace, Technical Director of Chariot commented:
"We are very pleased to commence this onshore campaign, kicking off the first of our exciting drilling operations for Chariot this year. We also continue to work up the prospectivity across this acreage as we see significant upside both in the vicinity of our high graded well locations and beyond. I would like to thank our operational team for their hard work and efforts in getting this drilling underway within ten months of licence award and ONHYM for their ongoing support and partnership. We look forward to providing an update on the results in due course."
Automotive program extension to 2032 with existing North American Tier 1 and OEM, start of production this calendar year
Initial estimated incremental lifetime value of US$26m
Seeing Machines Limited (AIM: SEE, "Seeing Machines" or the "Company"), the advanced computer vision technology company that designs AI-powered operator monitoring systems to improve transport safety, announces a significant generational program extension with an existing North American Tier-1 customer and OEM.
The initial program, already in production, will expand to a total of 19 distinct vehicle models being sold in North America, Europe and China, and extend through 2032 based on the OEM's next generation Driver Monitoring System (DMS) solution utilising Seeing Machines' improved FOVIO Chip design delivering increased feature capability with reduced cost, power and size.
This award extends to all of the OEM's European vehicle models in support of fast approaching Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) and European GSR (General Safety Regulation) requirements and is scheduled to start production before the end of 2024 with an initial estimated incremental lifetime value of US$26m.
Nick DiFiore, SVP and GM of Automotive at Seeing Machines, commented: "I am delighted to be extending an important incumbency with this generational program extension, which benefits from our evolving FOVIO Chip technology supporting our Tier 1 and OEM customer's long-term needs related to safe semi-automated driving, driver safety regulation, and enhanced convenience features. Seeing Machines' commitment is firmly focused on building customer confidence by getting programs successfully to production and this new award demonstrates the confidence our customers have in our ability to do just that."
Seeing Machines has now been appointed to deliver 18 expanding programs for 11 individual OEM customers, building the cumulative initial lifetime value of all ongoing Automotive programs to US$392m, with most of that revenue expected between now and 2028.
Posted by Dale | 30/04/2024
Tamboran Resources has announced that the Tamboran/Sheffield JV has entered into a 10-year Gas Sales Agreement for up to 36.5 PJ per annum (18.3 PJ per annum net to Tamboran) with energy retailer Origin.
This follows a MOU executed in June 2022 with gas pipeline operator, Jemena, to enable Tamboran to contract ~100 TJ per day of firm capacity through the Northern Gas Pipeline, subject to applying NGP Access Principles, under a long-term gas transportation agreement.Tamboran Resources’ pure focus is on its acreage portfolio in the Beetaloo/McArthur Basin in the Northern Territory, where it is the largest acreage holder with ~1.9 million net prospective acres, held through 100% owned properties and two joint ventures – one with Santos and the other with Falcon Oil & Gas and Daly Waters Energy LP (Sheffield).
Through these interests, the Company holds net 2C contingent resources of ~1.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
The Beetaloo Basin is located in the Northern Territory of Australia, approximately 600 kilometres south of Darwin. Being proximal to a major industrial hub enables relative logistical and operational luxuries, like close access to key infrastructure through roads, a pipeline and a railway.
Its location means efficient access to Australian markets and beyond, with the northern port city of Darwin and the Eastern Seaboard of Australia to the east through Queensland.
https://pesa.com.au/tamboran-steps-on-the-gas-with-origin-agreement-in-the-top-end/
The well will now be shut in and suspended as a potential future production well. The Beetaloo joint venture partners of Falcon and Tamboran Resources (TBN.AX TBNRL) will continue to undertake front end engineering and design studies and the company expects to take final investment decision in mid-2024, subject to funding and key stakeholder approvals. The 1 million acres of deep shale in the Beetaloo West, at a similar depth to SS-1H, has the potential to deliver the joint venture’s production ambition of 2 billion cubic feet per day (equivalent to more than 13.0 million tonnes per annum of LNG export capacity) for 40 years from a single landing zone.
end
On with the company news, Falcon Oil & Gas (FO.V FOG.L FAC.F) announced funding, a long-term gas sales agreement and results of the Shenandoah South 1H flow test. The bookbuild has been completed and Falcon has raised gross proceeds of c.US$4.9 million (c. £3.9 million) through the subscription and placing of 64,794,087 shares at an issue price of 6p. The company’s subsidiary also has agreed to grant Daly Waters Energy and a major US-based energy industry service provider overriding royalty interests over Falcon Australia’s working interests in the Beetaloo Sub-Basin exploration permits in return for cash payments of US$3 million and US$1 million respectively. The net proceeds of the fundraising, together with the company’s existing cash resources of c.US$4.3 million, the balance of Falcon’s net carry of A$3.75m due from Tamboran and the consideration from the grant of the ORRIs will primarily be used to fund Falcon’s share of estimated capital expenditure in respect of the work to be carried out on the proposed Shenandoah South Pilot Project in 2024, including the drilling of two 3,000m horizontal wells and the stimulation and flow test of two wells in the Beetaloo Sub-basin. These proceeds will also enable Falcon to fund its share of the cost of the planned 330km2 of 3D seismic survey around the Pilot area, which it is expected will be acquired during Q4 2024 with processed results being available by Q1 2025. The Beetaloo joint venture now has signed a binding agreement for a long-term gas sales agreement to supply the Northern Territory Government with 14.6 PJ (13.8 BCF) per annum from the proposed Shenandoah South Pilot Project for an initial term of nine years, with a buyer’s option to extend for a further six-and-a-half years. Gas will be delivered to the APA-owned Amadeus Gas Pipeline on a take-or-pay basis at a market-competitive gas price, escalating at 100% of the Consumer Price Index. The buyer’s extension option is at a slightly discounted price. The Beetaloo joint venture is targeting FID on the proposed 40 TJ (38,000 MCF) per day upstream drilling program in mid-2024, subject to securing funding and key regulatory and stakeholder approvals. First gas flow is planned for H1 2026. Falcon holds a 5% working interest in the 51,200-acre area that will include the wells required to deliver the proposed pilot project volumes. The company also announced last week that the Shenandoah South 1H (SS-1H) well in EP117 achieved an above commercial IP90 flow rate of 2.9 million cubic feet per day (normalised to 5.8 million cubic feet per day over 1,000 metres), indicating that future development wells with lateral lengths of 10,000 feet may be capable of delivering average rates of 17.8 million cubic feet per day over the first 90 days of production. The SS-1H well has demonstrated steady gas flows and decline profiles in line with some of the most prolific regions of the Marcellus Shale in the US.
cont.....
'the 1 million acres of deep shale in the beetaloo west, at a similar depth to ss-1h, has the potential to deliver the joint venture’s production ambition of 2 billion cubic feet per day (equivalent to more than 13.0 million tonnes per annum of lng export capacity) for 40 years from a single landing zone.'
https://*******************/p/oilman-jims-letter-28-april-2024
BHP Group Ltd.’s blockbuster bid for Anglo American Plc looks set to usher in an era of frenetic deal-making in the mining business as competitors jostle for position during the energy transition.
The combination would add bulk to BHP’s colossal iron-ore operation and create, by far, the world’s largest copper mining business. The kind of high-quality assets in Anglo’s portfolio are hard to come by, and the shock bid looks likely to bring other suitors into the fray.
Simultaneously, industry majors probably will accelerate their hunts for other large or fast-growing copper assets to keep pace with BHP.
The revival of mining M&A has been a long time coming. The biggest producers got burned on acquisitions they made at the top of the China-led supercycle that began in the mid-2000s, and it’s taken more than a decade for executives to warm back up to the idea of major deals.
It’s arguably taken even longer to convince shareholders they’ll handle them more deftly this time around.
The mood is shifting fast thanks to a new generation of leaders — including BHP Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry and Glencore Plc’s Gary Nagle, who bid $23 billion for Teck Resources Ltd. soon after taking over from the famously cost-conscious Ivan Glasenberg.
Teck’s controlling shareholder proved strongly opposed to letting go of its copper and zinc assets, but the two miners ultimately found alignment on a plan leading them to combine and then spin off their coal assets into a standalone company.
Glencore will have a lot of financial firepower once that deal is done and an undiminished appetite to beef up its portfolio after a steady decline in copper production in recent years.
Rio Tinto Plc, with its particularly iron-heavy portfolio, likely will search for copper acquisitions, as well. However, Western miners face stiff competition from Chinese producers that kept spending during a downswing in the 2010s.
Cash-rich Middle Eastern companies also have emerged as pivotal players.
The contest between miners will be intense, and so will the scrutiny from governments keenly aware of copper’s strategic importance to a clean-energy future.
--Mark Burton, Bloomberg News