Irish mining company, Botswana Diamonds has reported a 25% widening in its first-half losses.

Providence Resources plans to commence drilling next year at its Rathlin Basin assets, off the Co Antrim coast, with the company saying its prospects there could contain up to 530 million barrels of oil.

Irish mining company, Conroy Gold and Natural Resources is set to raise up to £3.15 million (€3.94m) in additional funding, via a new share placing.

AFRICAN DIAMONDS PLC, the Irish AIM and Botswana-listed diamond exploration company, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kukama Mining & Exploration, has been awarded three prospecting licences close to the Orapa region of Botswana.

AFRICAN Gold has reported increased losses in its last financial year, but chairman John Teeling, said it was also a period of significant progress for the group in Botswana, Africa.

African Diamonds, the Dublin-based diamond mining company, has announced the discovery of two additional diamonds from the ongoing analysis of drilling samples from their 19 hole drilling programme in Orapa, Botswana.

Minco PLC said it has been issued a licence to extract the silver-rich tailings contained within La Laguna Zacatecana in Mexico.