MXP.L Share News (MXP)

A A$20.95m (£12.1m) share placing by copper miner Finders Resources has been fully subscribed by investors at A$0.28 per share.The money will be used for near term development of the Wetar copper project, capital equipment purchases, payment of environmental bonds, relocating the Whim Creek plant from Australia and completion of a revised capital estimate for the planned expansion to 23,000 tonnes per annum copper cathode.Pan African Resources grew revenue from gold sales by 29% to £68.5m in the year ended 30 June, boosting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairments (EBITDA) by 9% to £25m.The group, which produces about 100,000 ounces of gold each year, has already said output is expected to keep rising due to increased capital investment and greater mining flexibility following implementation of an integrated Mineral Resource Management programme.Oil explorer Max Petroleum has been told by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Oil and Gas that it will extend the exploration period of the company's Blocks A&E exploration and production licence for two years until March 2013. The extension is expected to become effective before the end of the year.Allied Gold, focused on the Pacific Rim of Fire, produced 64,327 ounces of gold from Simberi in Papua New Guinea during the year ended 30 June.Studies are nearing completion for an expansion of the oxide plant to 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) that would increase gold production to about 130,000 ounces a year.There was a profit after tax of $10.2m compared with a loss of $7.1m a year ago thanks to a $36.7m contribution from the acquisition of Australian Solomons Gold last year, owner of the Gold Ridge mine on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Bellzone Mining, which floated on London's AIM in April, lost $11.6m in the first six months of 2010, out from $5.4m a year earlier, but still has $49m in the bank to fund development of resources and bankable feasibility study on the Kalia iron project in Guinea, West Africa. Initial production is scheduled for 2014, with 20mtpa direct shipping ore (DSO) capacity, then a 10mtpa magnetite concentrator in 2015. Stage two increases DSO output to 30mtpa in 2017 and doubles the concentrate capacity to 20mtpa by 2018.