Small caps round-up

Australian gold and copper miner SolGold’s shares soared 24% on Thursday ahead of its AIM share placing on Friday, as it said demand had been strong for its two capital raising initiatives. On 8 July and with a revised offer on 1 August, the company agreed to raise capital through a private placement with Maxit Capital, a financial advisor, of up to $36.5m. Maxit Capital agreed to subscribe up 268.8m shares at 0.08 cents per ordinary share for proceeds of $21.5m.

Iron, copper and nickel explorer Bellzone Mining’s technical study for its Guinea mine said ferronickel production was viable but it will cost £51m to get it started. The AIM-listed miner’s Kalia mine in Guinea consists of two large iron-rich mineralised deposits and a pre-feasibility study work conducted to date shows the first phase of Kalia's development is expected to deliver a positive return on investment, ahead of the planned development of the large-scale bulk export iron ore mine.

OptiBiotix Health’s shares dropped on Thursday as the medical product developer reported a wider first half loss. In the six months to the end of May, the loss before tax widened to £713,772 from £514,424 the same period a year earlier as administrative expenses grew to £802,083 from £514,431. Revenue came to £88,252, compared to no revenue in the first half of 2015.

Air Partner said in a pre-close statement that trading in the first half has been strong, and that it is optimistic about the company's prospects for the full year. It said first-half underlying pre-tax profit was seen at not less than £3.0m, from £2.2m a year ago. The company enjoyed a strong net cash position.

Thor Mining has begun its aircore drilling programme to test for further tungsten mineralisation within 6km of its Molyhil deposit in Australia's Northern Territories. The 50-hole programme was to test bedrock through shallow alluvial cover. These were targeting magnetic anomalies with similar characteristics to Molyhil.

Giant observation wheel specialist Challenger Acquisitions said a complaint filed against it and some subsidiaries by Madison Capital Markets LLC in a US court has been dismissed. Madison had demanded compensation for alleged services for advising and facilitating Challenger's acquisition of Starneth Group and investment in the New York wheel project.

Zamano said its overall trading was mixed in the first half, but noted significant increases in both sales performance and cash generation. "This was offset by falling margins due to increased investment in advertising, a changing sales mix in the UK and some foreign exchange headwinds," said acting chairman Colin Tucker.