Performance 
Following the announcement of their 2010 results, Alecto Energy added a healthy glow to our portfolio on Tuesday, finishing 24% up on the day.
We bought into Alecto back in November last year at 3.75 pence a share on the back of their three gold and copper mining and two uranium mining licenses in the Mauritanide mobile belt of Mauritania and the possibility of more licences to come. I like a company that has its irons scattered in a few fires.
In yesterday’s results Malcolm James – in his Chairman’s report – had this to say:
This has been an important year for Alecto, during which we have successfully been granted three gold and base metal and two uranium development licences covering circa 3,500 sq km in the highly prospective Mauritanide mobile belt in Mauritania. With a defined work programme currently underway at a number of these licences, a strong cash position to fund our forthcoming activities and an experienced management team in place, we are now centred on building value both on the ground and through the acquisition of complementary resource projects, primarily in Africa.
Mauritania provides the Company with an opportunity for discovery, having already yielded some significant mining projects including Red Back Mining Inc’s Tasiast Gold Mine with a resource of 6.5 Moz (but remains open along strike). Production at the Guelb Moghrein deposit, owned by First Quantum Minerals, has also resumed with both copper and gold being targeted.
Our licences were granted by the Mauritanian Ministry of Industry and Mines in October 2010, following extensive fieldwork and analysis of historic data conducted by our consulting partner, O’Connor International Ltd (‘O’Connor’), together with leading consultants SRK Exploration Services (‘SRK ES’).
The three gold and base metal licences are located at Chegar (756 sq km), Wad Armour (613 sq km) and Zreibya (459 sq km) and SRK ES has commenced work on our defined exploration programme to identify key areas of interest for further development and drilling. This is primarily taking place at Wad Amour and Zreibya which are both considered highly prospective and have good accessibility. The first phase of the work programme includes detailed soil sampling and regional reconnaissance work, which commenced in February 2011, and reinterpretation and analysis of historic data is being carried out in tandem with this. Once the results from these studies are received, additional soil sampling and geophysical surveys will be undertaken and this is expected to commence by the end of April 2011. Exploration at these licences is still at an early stage but to date, progress has been encouraging and we are optimistic about the Company’s ability to advance these projects to the next stages of development.
Having previously seen geochemical sampling results in May 2010 which demonstrated the existence of uranium values at the sites, SRK ES is also carrying out initial exploratory and data analysis at our Mreiti (888 sq km) and Wad Mourkba (704 sq km) uranium licences to support our existing knowledge of the licences. The licences span an internal WSW-ESE contact within the Achaean shield and close to its edge with the younger rocks of the Taoudenu Sedimentary Basin. We look forward to results from these studies and will update shareholders accordingly.
You can read the full release over at Interactive Investor.
Cash in the bank is healthy (£2.37M) following on from two placings in 2010 and there’s the added exposure to additional resource projects through investments in Bulgarian Mining Corporation Ltd (20% holding) and AIM listed Charles Street Capital plc (9.73% holding).
There’s a name change in the offing to Alecto Minerals which can only lead to more press and with results from sampling surveys due in the coming months hopefully it’s onwards and upwards for Alecto.
As always, don’t take my word for it before parting with your hard-earned, always do tons of homework and gather information from a number of sources. The Alecto Energy web site is a good place to start.
Thanks again for dropping by.
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