Small caps news round-up

Southern African diamond mining, development and exploration company Diamond Corp announced on Monday that diamond mining operations at the Lace mine have been temporarily suspended following an investigation on 15 July by the South African Department of Minerals Resources into a fall of ground incident in a development tunnel, on the 310 metre level. The AIM-traded firm said the incident occurred when explosive misfires were being made safe, and resulted in a miner’s assistant suffering contusions and four cracked ribs.

Independent gas and electricity supplier Yu Group said on Monday that it is on track to meet market expectations for the full year. In a trading update for the six months to 30 June, the company said group revenues for the period are expected to be in line with management’s view at the time of admission to trading on AIM.

Technology investor Draper Esprit has made its first investment since listing on AIM in June. The company has invested £3.1m to acquire a stake in Stockholm-based digital health company Lifesum. It made the investment alongside Nokia Growth Partners and existing investors Bauer Media and VC Sparklabs Global Ventures.

Trans-Siberian Gold reported on its mining and production update at Asacha on Monday, saying that mine development in the second quarter comprised 986 metres while ore extraction - including ore from stoping and mine development - amounted to 43,281 mt. The AIM-traded firm said that included new stoping ore of 5,937 mt at an average of 12.6 g/t gold in April, 8,525 mt at an average of 9.2 g/t gold in May and 4,378 mt at an average of 9.6 g/t gold in June.

Herencia Resources was close to clinching the sale of one of its mining projects as it continued to look for funding amid one of the worst market periods for junior resource companies, the company said in its annual report. Chile-focused Herencia had yet to be successful in that regard, management admitted, but said it had progressed on a number of negotiations in relation to a potential joint-venture or sale of the flagship Picachos copper project.

Gold mining company Conroy Gold and Natural Resources said four new gold zones were intersected in a drilling programme in Ireland. The AIM listed company said, together with previous sampling in the area which had 1.3 metres grading at 9.4 grams per tonne gold, demonstrated the presence of the four new gold zones in a 150 metre wide structural corridor in the western part of the Glenish gold target in Ireland.

Stratex International, the AIM-quoted exploration and development company focused on gold and base metals in Turkey and West Africa said the recent coup attempt in Turkey had not hit operations. "Following the recent disturbances in Turkey, all personnel are safe and well and that there has been no impact on the company's operations in the country," the company said in a statement.

Mirada reported a slight fall in full year earnings on Monday as the group invested in products. The company - which supplies products and services in digital TV and broadcast - reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £1.50m in the year ended 31 March 2016, compared to £1.55m the previous year.

Crimson Tide, the AIM-quoted provider of mpro5-Smart Mobility as a service, has won a pilot contract with a “large” unnamed UK retailer worth an initial £0.2m that could extend to four years “with a considerably higher value”. The roll-out involves implementing the mobility platform to enable the scheduling of “regular cleaning, reactive cleaning and incident capture as well as providing dynamic audits and bespoke management dashboards”, Crimson said.

Bargain Booze operator Conviviality Retail doubled annual earnings and cash flow and says it is a "stronger and more resilient business able to thrive in uncertain economic times". Revenues in the year to 1 May of £864.5m were 137% higher than the prior year thanks in part to the acquisitions of wholesaler Matthew Clark in October and events bar operator Peppermint in December.

Operating profit for the year ending 31 December at Christie Group is likely to be lower than previously expected due to softer-than-anticipated trading in its professional business services division on the back of the Brexit vote. The company said a number of transactions were lost within its Agency business following the outcome of the referendum.