Argo Blockchain PLC, Shield Therapeutics PLC, Critical Metals PLC…

() () said it has completed a fundraising that it says will allow it to complete a follow-on investment in Pluto Digital Assets as well as pursue strategic opportunities in crypto mining, capital investment, decentralised finance (DeFi) and Web 3.0 initiatives, and general working capital purposes.

 () revealed encouraging news from Labrador Iron Mines Holdings (LIMH), in which it holds a 12% stake, with LIMH releasing details of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of its 52%-owned Houston Project in Canada.

() said Australia’s Therapeutics Goods Administration has approved its drug Feraccru to treat iron deficiency with or without anaemia in adults.

Diagnostics specialist genedrive plc () said it has inked a deal with a US military contracting specialist that will distribute its BioPlex range, which provide rapid tests for threats from pathogens.

() said its Venn Life Sciences business has won a contract to support a phase I clinical study.

() has been awarded a contract worth a minimum of US$960,000 by a customer that wants to use Kromek’s technology in a new radiation technology product.

(), the biotech backer, saw a sharp increase in its net asset value (NAV) per share in 2020. The company’s NAV stood at £328mln at the end of December, up from £202mln a year earlier. The company also announced it has founded a new 49%-owned portfolio company, Twelve Bio, that is a spin-out from the Foundation Centre for Protein Research at the University of Copenhagen and is developing novel engineered Cas12a nucleases for therapeutic gene editing.

() said it has invested US$200,000 into a seed funding round at Automata Network alongside trading firm Alameda Research and other investors such as IOSG Ventures, Divergence Ventures and Block, for a yet-to-be-determined amount of Automata (ATA) tokens.

() said its portfolio company AquaInSilico, in which it owns a 29% stake, will receive a US$250,000 grant as an Ocean Innovator through the United Nations Development Programme’s Ocean Innovation Challenge.  () said it has signed a new contract for Paddington Bear with the Black Watch Museum in Perth, Scotland.

() announced it has received an eighth positive test result confirming that its graphene nanoplatelets are not absorbed through human skin. This is vital for the use of graphene in textile markets where customers have to be certain of the safety of the apparel they produce and market, the company said.

()() has completed the first 26 drill holes of the La India starter pit infill drilling programme.
La India is Condor’s flagship gold project in Nicaragua.

() said further infill drilling results were “outstanding” at its Havieron project in Australia.

Westmount Energy Limited () told investors it is expecting that operations for Jabillo-1, the next well at the Canje block, offshore Guyana, will start tomorrow.

() said it has identified a series of drilling targets on its gold exploration acreage in the Sodankylä area of Northern Finland.

() has signed a Master Services Agreement with Synergy Consulting to provide financial and transaction advisory services in regard to the integrated 300MW coal fired Ncondezi power project and coal mine in Tete, Mozambique. 

Canadian Overseas Petroleum Ltd (LON:COPL, CSE:XOP) has raised £14mln through a share placing with the proceeds earmarked for its new North American assets, which are being acquired in the Atomic Oil & Gas deal (due to close next week).

() has received warrant exercise notices to subscribe for 4,000,000 new ordinary shares in the company at an exercise price of 10p per ordinary share for total gross proceeds of £400,000. Chief executive Russell Fryer said: “It is encouraging to see further support from our shareholders endorsing the confidence they have in the Company’s strategy to identify and acquire brownfield mining opportunities in the strategic metals sector. We continue to consider a number of operators or…