果冻传媒

A classic approach for mine developers is to plug in the day鈥檚 spot price to show off how profitable their project could be. Gold hopefuls have been updating investors frequently on this in recent months, although Friday鈥檚 sell-off may slow this practice for now. 

To this end, Tungsten West (TUN) has given investors a view of the economics of the Hemerdon mine in Devon using spot tin and tungsten prices. Hemerdon has been in production in the past but Tungsten West has been beavering away on a restart since 2019, when it floated. 

The most recent mine study saw a $93mn (拢68mn) build cost with an internal rate of return of 29 per cent and net present value of $190mn. This used a $400 per tonne tungsten price and $32,500 per tonne tin price. 

Taking those figures up to the spot prices as of last week, which were $1,313 for tungsten and almost $60,000 to tin, the company raised the mine鈥檚 net present value to $1.7bn and rate of return to almost 200 per cent. Investors liked this exercise in imagination, sending the shares up 17 per cent in early trading. Even after a dip later on, this took the year-to-date rise to almost 100 per cent. 

In a related update, Tungsten West is currently working on financing for the project. 鈥淒ebt funding is progressing well, with a number of potential lenders advanced into term sheet stage,鈥� the company said. 

The tin rise has come from declining supply from Myanmar and Indonesia, which feed China鈥檚 electronics sector. Myanmar鈥檚 opaque market is supposedly seeing supply increases but so far this year the tin price has only risen. Tungsten has risen in prominence as a strategic metal used in defence applications. Fellow Aim-listed Guardian Metal Resources (GMET) has risen 400 per cent in the past 12 months because it is re-opening a US tungsten mine.

Begbies Traynor (BEG) is letting go of the name it has carried since the 1990s. The Aim-traded insolvency specialist is set to rebrand as BTG Consulting, reflecting its move away from being seen purely as a restructuring firm. 

Begbies Traynor was created in 1997 when current chair Ric Traynor鈥檚 Manchester firm acquired George Begbie鈥檚 London practice. The old name won鈥檛 disappear entirely, though, as BTG Begbies Traynor survives as a sub-brand for formal insolvency appointments. 

BTG Consulting will now act as an umbrella brand for its wider advisory offering, spanning financial, restructuring and real estate services. The company said its activities will be marketed under eight service lines to better demonstrate its 鈥渂readth of expertise and capabilities鈥�. The shares rose 2.4 per cent to 121p. VM

The long-running (and increasingly tired) takeover saga at ATG Technology Group (ATG) has come to an end. After a dozen rejected approaches, FitzWalter Capital 鈥� the online auctions platform鈥檚 biggest shareholder 鈥� has decided to walk away. 

The distressed debt specialist told the board it does not intend to make a firm offer, drawing a line under months of back and forth.

The final straw appears to have been the board鈥檚 rejection of FitzWalter鈥檚 latest proposed bid of 400p a share, which valued ATG at 拢484mn, alongside its refusal to grant access to due diligence.

FitzWalter, which holds a stake of more than 20 per cent in the group, claimed ATG鈥檚 management has destroyed value through deals such as the purchase of furniture restorer Chairish last year. The board, for its part, described its shareholder鈥檚 approaches as 鈥渙pportunistic鈥� and suggested FitzWalter has not been serious in advancing these offers. 

The board said this morning it was 鈥済rateful for the substantial engagement鈥� of its shareholders and the support of its customers and employees throughout this process, adding it 鈥渓ooks forward to continuing its constructive dialogue with FitzWalter鈥�.

The market had already priced in failure. When FitzWalter hinted earlier last week that it would not raise or formalise its offer, the shares were trading around 300p. Still, confirmation sent them down another 8.4 per cent to 283p this morning.