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Reuters
2 days ago
- Climate
- Reuters
Ivory Coast farmers hope for more rain, sunshine to boost cocoa crop growth
ABIDJAN, June 9 (Reuters) - Soil moisture is helping the April-to-September mid-crop to develop across most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions, farmers said on Monday, adding that they hoped for a mix of rain and sunshine to boost growth even more. Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in its rainy season which runs officially from April to mid-November, when rains are abundant and often heavy. However, they were below average last week, farmers said, adding that the weather was often cloudy and overcast. Although beans continued leaving the bush, growers feared a drop in quality. They said if the weather remained adequate with a good mix of sun and rains until late June, it would help the last stage of the mid-crop. In the western region of Soubre, in the southern region of Agboville and Divo and in the eastern region of Abengourou, where rains were below average, farmers said they expected significant volumes of beans to leave the bush. However, they warned that harvesting would start to fall from July. So far, they haven't seen any signs of damage in their plantations. "The weather is good, there are still enough pods on the trees, and the future looks promising,' said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre, where 37.1 millimetres (1.46 inches) of rain fell last week, 18.4 mm below the five-year average. In the west-central region of Daloa and in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rains were below average, farmers said weather conditions from June to late July would be crucial for the last stage of the mid-crop and the start of the next main crop. "In the next few weeks, harvesting will drop sharply and we'll be watching to see how the end of the mid-crop and the start of the next main crop progress,' said Albert N'Zue, who farms near Daloa, where 9.1 mm of rain fell last week, 20.8 mm below the five-year average. The weekly average temperature across Ivory Coast last week ranged from 25.7 to 29 degrees Celsius.
News.com.au
20-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: Many Peaks scales new heights on Côte d'lvoire gold results
Many Peaks has hit a new record on the back of strong gold news from its projects in Côte d'lvoire Kingston Resources is selling its Misima gold project in PNG to Ok Tedi Mining in a deal worth up to $95m The potential of EUR's Tanbreez project has grown with assays from historical drilling revealing high REE concentrations Your standout resources stocks for Tuesday, May 20, 2025 Many Peaks Minerals (ASX:MPK) A new record high of 60c has been set by Many Peaks Minerals, a lift of 22.45% on the previous close, on the back of strong news from its gold projects in Côte d'lvoire. The release of prospect of the Ferké gold project in the country's north follows Monday's start of a 3500-metre RC drilling campaign at its Odienné gold project in the northwest. A second diamond drilling campaign at Ferké extended Ouarigue South mineralisation and produced results of up to 201m at 1.12g/t gold from surface, including 12m at 1.04g/t from surface, 34m at 1.92g/t from 26m and 19m at 3.72g/t from 72m. The 34m intercept included 3m at 9.05g/t and the 19m intercept included 6m at 10g/t. Another hole returned 72.21m at 2.11g/t gold from 233.85m, including 30.8m at 3.95g/t from 233.85m, and another produced 78.75m at 1.33g/t from 278.65m, including 4m at 7.17g/t. Ferké is on the eastern margin of the Daloa greenstone belt at the intersection of major regional scale shear zones and is host to the >16km Leraba gold trend. Many Peaks Minerals (ASX:MPK) is leveraging data from more than US$4m of previous exploration expenditure with follow-up activity focused on extending confirmed gold mineralisation. Exploration success in the second phase has prompted the company to progress an additional 4000m of diamond drilling and mobilise a second diamond rig to site. A 6000m RC drill campaign at Ferké is also expected to begin within the next 10 days while assays from a further 172 aircore drill holes for 5477m are expected this month. 'The Ferké project continues to deliver increasing volume potential at the Ouarigue South prospect, where downplunge extensions of the mineralised felsic intrusion return increasing widths and gold grades with depth,' MPK managing director Travis Schwertfeger said. 'Our 8-hole diamond core program just completed included several 'scissor' holes drilling down the mineralised lithology at Ouarigue with the intention to define fault and vein orientations within the mineralised intrusion to underpin increasing confidence in mineral resource estimation work. 'This drilling has also delivered substantial extensions to gold mineralisation from drilling in multiple orientations, with drill hole FNDC032 visually extending the favourable Felsic intrusion body an additional 188m down-dip of the deepest hole drilled to date. 'That deepest hole, also drilled in this program, has demonstrated increasing width and high gold grades. 'The increasing gold grades and volume with depth continues to expand the scope of work at Ouarigue, with conceptual pit depths and bulk tonnage potential increasing as exploration progresses.' Moving ahead 45.17% to 13.5c, a new high of almost three years, was Kingston Resources after agreeing to sell its 3.8Moz Misima gold project in PNG to Ok Tedi Mining Ltd in a deal worth up to $95m. This injection of funds will put KSN in a strong position to grow its Mineral Hill copper-gold operations in the prolific Cobar Basin of NSW, Australia, by wiping out debt, funding new gold and copper projects and unlocking millions in future value. The deal includes $50m payable at completion, $10m after 12 months and another $10m upon a final investment decision. It also includes a 0.5% gross revenue royalty on production beyond 500,000oz with a $25m royalty buy-back option for PNG-owned Ok Tedi. The transaction aligns with Kingston's strategic objective to unlock shareholder value and strengthen its balance sheet while retaining upside exposure to Misima. It negates the $4m a year annual interest and upkeep costs at Misima and locks in a two times return on investment for Kingston. Sale proceeds will allow Kingston to fully repay a $15m debt facility… and support the expansion and exploration of the Mineral Hill copper-gold operations. Kingston is focused on building value by growing production at Mineral Hill, targeting the start of underground operations by next year. The company is also progressing a second underground ore source, near-mine surface exploration and greenfields exploration at the site. 'The sale of Misima concludes a comprehensive global strategic process that commenced in November 2024,' Kingston's managing director Andrew Corbett said. 'This deal will deliver Kingston up to $70 million in cash plus ongoing exposure to the future large-scale production profile of Misima through a gross revenue royalty, unlocking significant value for our shareholders. 'The total consideration is greater than Kingston's current market capitalisation whilst we retain 100% of the Mineral Hill gold and copper operation. 'Kingston is delighted to complete this transaction with PNG's largest mining company Ok Tedi. Ok Tedi is the natural owner and operator of Misima and we are excited by their vision to fast track towards FID for project construction. 'We look forward to Ok Tedi returning Misima to a leading Asia-Pacific gold mine for the benefit of the Papua New Guinea economy and local Misima community.' Ok Tedi operates the Ok Tedi Mine, the longest running open-pit copper, gold and silver mine in PNG. The company is 100% PNG owned with a 67% direct shareholding by the Independent State of PNG through Kumul Minerals (Ok Tedi) Limited and a 33% interest held by the people of the Western Province. Ok Tedi is the single largest employer in the Western Province and one of the largest in PNG. 'The company is now ideally placed to consider accretive Australian based copper and/or gold growth initiatives that match with our vision of being a leading multi mine producer with significant scale and long-term returns,' Corbett added. Midas Minerals (ASX:MM1) Investors have welcomed positive news from Midas Minerals, driving shares up as much as 65.63% to 26.5c, a new 12-month high. After acquiring an option on Monday over a 195km2 Exclusive Prospecting Licence in proximity to its Otavi copper project in Namibia, the company has received firm commitments for a $6.5 placement. Funds from the placement at 15c per share, which was strongly supported by existing shareholders, will be put towards the acquisition of the Otavi and new South Otavi projects and for exploration programs in Namibia as well as at MM1's Newington lithium-gold and Challa gold-copper-PGE projects in Western Australia. Demonstrating their confidence in the company, directors will participate for a total of $185,000, subject to shareholder approval. The issue price represents a 6.25% discount to the last traded price of 16c on Thursday, May 15, 2025, and a 4.76% discount to the 15-day volume weighted average price of 15.75c. South Otavi hosts a large bedrock gold anomaly defined by geochemical drilling in 1997 to 1999 while a copper anomaly was delineated in the 1970s in a setting analogous to the Deblin deposit on Midas' Otavi project. Due diligence soil sampling has confirmed copper anomalism and with trenching, mapping and sampling underway, MM1 plans to drill-test prioritised gold and copper targets once defined. 'We are already active on the ground, having located insitu near-surface copper mineralisation, and have plans to test the separate gold target zone with drilling,' Midas MD Mark Calderwood said. European Lithium (ASX:EUR) European Lithium has reinforced the critical minerals potential of the Tanbreez project in Greenland with initial assays from historical deep drilling revealing high rare earth concentrations and securities have been up 10.2% to a daily high of 5.4c. All deep drill holes delivered consistently well-mineralised total rare earth oxide (TREO) levels, grading between 0.39% to 0.47%. The assays also revealed around 27% heavy rare earth oxides (HREO) accompanied by minimal uranium and thorium content. EUR sees these results as a strong opportunity to expand the 45Mt maiden resource through further drilling, pending approval from the Greenland government. European Lithium holds a 7.5% interest in Tanbreez in southern Greenland as well as around 68% of Critical Metals Corp which holds 42% of the project and the right to earn 92.5%. Held under a 30-year exploitation licence, the project is primed to provide reliable, long-term rare earth output to meet growing demand in Europe and North America. Tanbreez hosts elevated concentrations of high-value magnet rare earth oxides — including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium — which are significantly more valuable than light rare earths. The company is planning to mobilise exploration and in-country field crews to Tanbreez for the upcoming field season to prepare for resource drilling in mid to late June. Axel REE (ASX:AXL) Auger drilling by Axel REE at the Caldas project in Brazil continues to return high-grade rare earth elements including high-value neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), and dysprosium and terbium (DyTb). Caldas is within a proven rare earths rich intrusive in the southwest of mining-friendly Minas Gerais with neighbours Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI) and Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX:VMM) boasting high end discoveries. The shallow auger drilling was conducted inside and around the northern extents of the Poços de Caldas alkaline complex, highlighting a large prospect along the weathered zone at the northern contact point of the Caldera which returned encouraging REE mineralisation. Best results include: 8.8m at 5309ppm TREO (26% MREO) from surface including 1m at 8100ppm TREO (29% MREO) from 4m ending with 0.8m at 6289ppm TREO (27% MREO) from 8m; and 10.8m at 3683ppm TREO (32% MREO) from surface including 1m at 6726ppm TREO (38% MREO) from 6m ending with 0.8m at 3452ppm TREO (32% MREO) from 10m. 'The consistent flow of high-grade TREO results continues from our shallow auger drilling program inside the Poços de Caldas alkaline complex,' AXL's board said. 'The grades reported are consistent with major discoveries made by neighbours including Meteoric Resources and Viridis Mining and Minerals. 'Importantly, the high-grade TREO mineralisation is increasing at the end of auger holes, demonstrating the mineralisation is open at depth and amenable to deeper drilling.' Shares reached 7.5c, an increase of 15.5% on the previous close.
Reuters
12-05-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Below-average rains threaten Ivory Coast's cocoa mid-crop, farmers say
ABIDJAN, May 12 (Reuters) - Heavy rains are needed in Ivory Coast to compensate for below-average rainfall last week and fortify the last stage of the April-to-September midcrop in the country's main cocoa producing regions, farmers said on Monday. Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in its rainy season, which runs officially from April to mid-November, when rains are abundant and often heavy. Cocoa growers said sufficient rain in May and June would be crucial for crop development in August and September, as many small and average pods developing on trees need more moisture. "We need abundant rains as we have plenty of small pods on trees that need moisture," said Paul Adou, who farms near Soubre in southwest Ivory Coast, where 0.8 mm fell last week, 28.5 mm below the five-year average. In addition to Soubre, rains were below average in the southern regions of Agboville and Divo and in the eastern region of Abengourou, farmers said. Irregular rainfall in the west-central region of Daloa and in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro also threaten small pods, farmers said. "If it doesn't rain well until the end of the month, we won't have much cocoa at the end of the mid-crop," said Albert N'Zue, who farms near Daloa, where 4.5 mm fell last week, 17.8 mm below the five-year average. Farmers also said harvesting was picking up, that the availability of beans was expected to continue rising until late June and that buyers have been happy with the quality. The weekly average temperature ranged from 27.4 to 31.1 degrees Celsius.
