Kalimantan Gold tumbles after it regains full control of KSK CoW

Kalimantan Gold Corporation's (LON:KLG) shares tumbled after it announced that it is to regain full control of the KSK contract of work copper project in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

KLG said its joint venture partner, Surya Kencana, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Exploration Corporation, has decided to withdraw from the project with effect from 31 January.

KLG said that Freeport funded over $33m of exploration expenditures since April 2011 on the KSK CoW, leaving the company with a wealth of exploration data and multiple drill targets. 

KLG said that a number of Indonesian groups expressed interest in the KSK CoW during 2013 and the board will now make contact with these parties and others to discuss possible partnerships and ways forward.

Avocet Mining's (LON:AVM) loan of approximately $15.8m, including accrued interest, owed to an affiliate of its largest shareholder, Elliott Associates, was not repaid by the maturity date of 31 December. Avocet, which announced that it had initiated a business review on 20 December, has today (2 January) paid the accrued interest of approximately $0.8m and, in the context of the business review, remains in discussions with the Elliott lender about repayment of the $15m principal amount. 

Petrohawk Energy Corporation - part of BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) - has issued a formal notice of redemption to holders of its 10.5% senior notes due 2014 and 7.875% senior notes due 2015.

All outstanding notes will be redeemed on 3 February at the applicable call prices. The total aggregate principal value of the notes to be redeemed is approximately US$1.4bn.

Jubilee Platinum (LON:JLP) has entered into a £10m equity finance facility with Darwin Strategic Limited. 

The EFF can be utilised by the company, at its sole discretion, over a commitment period of 60 months.

The EFF has been secured by Jubilee in support of its mine-to-metals strategy and more specifically towards potential acquisitions targeted by the Company in the platinum and other metals industry with a view to further utilizing the ConRoast process. The EFF will replace the current equity based funding structure held by Jubilee.

Jubilee also announced that its Middelburg smelter operation achieved a new record production rate - more than 35 tons of ferronickel metal within a single 24-hour shift - exceeding the previous record of 26 tons of metal. 

This achievement follows the company's announcement on 23 December that it had secured funding for the final phase of the smelter renewable programme, which includes the expansion of the Middelburg smelter operation to three operating ARC furnaces. Two of these furnaces will be dedicated to the production of ferronickel metal and the third furnace to the production of ferrosilicon metal, thereby increasing the total targeted smelter design capacity to 13,900 tons of metal per annum. All three furnaces have been fully contracted.

With proceeds in place to fund the commissioning of the remaining third ARC furnace at Middelburg, the board believes that the Middelburg smelter is in a strong position to enhance its earnings profile. 

The sector's biggest risers were Karelian Diamonds (LON:KDR) and Orsu Metals (LON:OSU) - both up by more than 14% in late afternoon trading.