NA Proactive news snapshot: Neo Lithium, BioPorto, Zinc8 Energy, Newgioco Group UPDATE …

Neo Lithium Corp (CVE:NLC) (OCTMKTS:NTTHF) announced Wednesday it has produced battery-grade lithium carbonate at its pilot plant in Fiambala using concentrated brine from its wholly owned Tres Quebradas lithium project (3Q project) in Argentina's Catamarca province. In a statement, Neo Lithium said the brine was extracted from the high-grade zone located in the northern zone of the 3Q Project and then evaporated at the company's industrial-scale ponds at the same location under similar conditions as production scale. The company achieved 99.599% purity using an improved process, which may decrease operational and capital costs while minimizing reagent, water and power consumption.  The surge in market volatility triggered by the deadly coronavirus outbreak is prompting BioPorto A/S (CPH:BIOPOR) to start a rights issue, which will allow for the subscription of up to 24,992,054 new shares, instead of going the route of a private placement. The move to strengthen the Danish in-vitro diagnostic company’s financial position is set to raise up to US$8.3 million or roughly 55 million in Danish Krones, and provides a subscription price of DKK2.20 per share ($0.33). All proceeds from the rights issue will be put towards funding BioPorto’s applications to the US Food and Drug Administration for clearance in 2020 of its flagship NGAL test, which provides an early risk assessment of acute kidney injury, as well as to raise awareness about the NGAL platform, particularly in the US. MGX Renewables Inc, doing business as Zinc8 Energy Solutions (CSE:MGXR), has settled the debt claimed by MGX Minerals Inc (CSE:XMG) (OCTMKTS:MGXMF) by agreement to pay to it $1.5 million over the next four months. Also as part of the settlement, MGX Minerals has agreed to sell to Zimtu Capital Corp 5.5 million shares of Zinc8 for $550,000 that are to be held in escrow and released over two years. The remaining Zinc8 shares in escrow will be retained by MGX Minerals. In other news, Jared Lazerson, the former CEO of Zinc8, has resigned as a director. The board of Zinc8 now is composed of CEO Ron MacDonald, Michael Reimann, Lyndon Patrick and David Hodge. Newgioco Group (NASDAQ:NWGI), the sports betting and gaming group, has been forced to close about 150 of its betting shops across Italy in the wake of the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in the Mediterranean country. However, CEO Michele Ciavarella says the company’s long-term fundamentals remain robust and Newgioco is still proceeding according to plan with its planned investments like the development of its US betting platform. Further financial updates, as well as earnings and the publishing of cash flow from operations, will be made available during the fiscal second quarter of this year. Seelos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SEEL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies for central nervous system disorders and rare diseases, has commenced a proposed underwritten public offering of shares of common stock. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed or as to the actual size or terms of the offering. In addition, the company intends to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the aggregate number of shares of common stock on the same terms and conditions to cover over-allotments, if any. All of the shares of common stock in the offering will be sold by Seelos. Benchmark Company is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering. Seelos intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes and to advance the development of its product candidates. LexaGene Holdings Inc (CVE:LXG) (OTCMKTS:LXXGF) said Wednesday that it is accelerating the submission of its LX Analyzer to the US Food and Drug Administration as the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak expands. In response so far, the FDA has encouraged labs and manufacturers to submit applications for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to help address the lack of quality diagnostics to fight this disease. LexaGene said the FDA’s track record of granting EUA during declared emergencies, such as the Ebola and Zika outbreaks, provides the company's management confidence that its decision to pursue EUA is in the best interest of its shareholders, its future customers and the patients they serve. LexaGene said it “is taking every measure to accelerate” its FDA-EUA submission. Ideanomics Inc’s (NASDAQ:IDEX) subsidiary Grapevine Village created a buzz with its glamorous International Women's Day event featuring media mogul and entrepreneur Yang Lan, iconic New York City fashion designer Vera Wang and Grapevine CEO Kristen Standish participating in a panel on "Empowering Women Through Fashion, Entrepreneurship, and the Influencer Trust Economy." "Through Her Village, a personal development community that I built in China, we were able to bring together high quality content and experts to reach over twenty million urban working women and inspire them to succeed," said Yang Lan, a talk show host and media entrepreneur, who is often called the Oprah Winfrey of China.  Seelos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SEEL) is moving forward with a Phase 2b/3 study of its drug Trehalose (SLS-005) in patients with Sanfilippo syndrome types A and B after receiving written feedback from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Based on the agency’s guidance, Seelos will design an open-label, non-placebo controlled study for the treatment of Sanfilippo patients in the European Union. Sanfilippo syndrome is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the central nervous system, typically in children. Over time, patients suffer a loss of speech and other cognitive skills, heart problems and often death prior to adulthood. Helix Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS:HLIX) said Wednesday that it has reached a “significant milestone” in the rollout of its Cannalytics Business Intelligence platform by reaching the 100-user mark weeks ahead of adding powerful new feature sets to the platform. The Denver-based technology company said it was adding new features to its novel business intel platform which included additional “robust, interactive displays, customer segmentation tools,” and an updated user interface. Garvis Toler, who is president of data services at Helix Technoligies, said the tech company had “worked very closely with the industry” to design the product around their needs. “That’s driven the rapid adoption and tremendous feedback we’ve been getting,” said Toler. BioPorto A/S (CPH:BIOPOR), the Danish in-vitro diagnostic company, logged a number of advances in 2019 for the development of its flagship NGAL Test, which provides an early risk assessment of acute kidney injury. The top achievements for the Danish company last year included making the public aware of NGAL’s importance as a key marker for the detection of acute kidney injury as well as winning Breakthrough status from the US Food and Drug Administration for an NGAL test to detect kidney impairment in children.“Our efforts to increase awareness of NGAL for the diagnosis of AKI were bolstered by the US government’s attention on kidney health initiatives,” said Peter Mørch Eriksen, CEO of BioPorto, in a statement. Ideanomics Inc (NASDAQ:IDEX), the greentech and Fintech advisory group, revealed it may take its Malaysia-based subsidiary Treeletrik public via an IPO in Singapore or Hong Kong this year as it updated on the electric vehicle manufacturer. The group bought 51% ownership in the holding companies of Treeletrik last year. Already expanding, Treeletrik has secured sizeable electric motorbike and moped orders through distributors in Indonesia, while talks are also ongoing with other countries. AgraFlora Organics International Inc (CSE:AGRA) (OCTMKTS:AGFAF) said Wednesday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Farmako GmbH has submitted an application to the regional authorities in Germany for EU Good Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) certification, and a manufacturing and import authorization (MIA) license under the German Medicinal Products Act. In a statement, the diversified international cannabis company said that with the submission of its application documents, it anticipated the EU-GMP and MIA licensing processes to be completed by the summer. EuroLife Brands Inc (CSE:EURO) (OTCMKTS:EURPF), the cannabis-focused group, revealed it had a new chief financial officer, Dean Callaway, who will provide his services on a contractual basis.  It comes as Miroslav Beganovic steps down as finance chief and corporate secretary and leaves with the firm's best wishes, while chairman and chief executive Shawn Moniz becomes corporate secretary. Progressive Planet Solutions Inc (CVE:PLAN) (OTCMKTS:ASHXF), the natural pozzolan-focused group, is aiming to lay the groundwork to expand operations this year and is finalizing exploration plans for its properties in British Columbia. In a corporate update, the firm also updated on its research partnership with the University of Alberta on work to improve the natural pozzolan from its Z-1 Quarry in the province. Next Green Wave Holdings Inc (CSE:NGW) (OTCMKTS:NXGWF) said Wednesday that it has surpassed US$1 million in net sales from a combination of dispensary, bulk flower and CBD sales (online and retail).  "We remain committed to moving into profitability and growing our distribution network,” said CEO Michael Jennings in a statement. Blackrock Gold Corp (CVE:BRC) reported final dill assays from its 2019 program at the Silver Cloud project in Elko County, Nevada, where it has now defined a mineralized strike of 250 metres. A follow-up drill program is now ongoing to test the Northwest Canyon east-west structure down dip and aims to expand upon this new strike length to the west. Parallax Health Sciences Inc (OTCMKTS:PRLX) is trying its hand at developing a low-cost rapid coronavirus test, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Parallax Diagnostics Inc. The subsidiary plans to employ a partnership strategy to develop, acquire or license monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, which can be used to develop a COVID-19 screening test. The idea is to deliver the test in conjunction with the manufacturing and distribution of the company’s patented and FDA 510(K) approved VT-1000 Immunoassay diagnostic platform.  LeanLife Health Inc (CSE:LLP), the Omega-3 product-focused firm, has tapped former Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) executive Marisa Sanchez to take charge of sales of its products in Mexico.  Sanchez previously worked at P&G for ten years, where she sourced products for its health and beauty care groups. After P&G, she went on to launch an import/export company that distributed an array of popular French beauty products. Fura Gems Inc (CVE:FURA) (OTCMKTS:FUGMF), a gemstone mining and marketing company, announced Wednesday it has arranged a long-term loan facility. The Toronto company said the arrangement involves the issuance of a grid promissory note to a private company that will immediately lend it US$21 million. An additional US$7.6 million remains available for drawdown by Fura Gems at a later date, subject to the terms of the note, for a maximum aggregate principal amount of US$28.6 million. The proceeds are expected to be used for the advancement of its Coscuez emerald project in Colombia, its ruby projects in Mozambique and its sapphire projects in Australia. GSRX Industries Inc. (OTCMKTS:GSRX) announced that its board of directors has been re-constituted under a written resolution received by the company from its majority shareholder, Chemesis International Inc., which holds over two-thirds of the voting power with respect to the removal and appointment of board members. Effective immediately, the group said, Leslie Ball, Christian Briggs, and Steven Farkhas are no longer directors of GSRX; and Troy Nihart and Jeff Rogers have joined the board. The company also announced that Nihart has been appointed chairman of the board, and interim president and CEO, replacing Ball in the latter offices. Medexus Pharmaceuticals Inc (CVE:MDP) said the TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation in relation to its purchase agreement, dated February 28, 2020, with Aptevo Therapeutics Inc., under which the company will acquire all of the vendor's outstanding limited liability interests for upfront cash consideration of approximately US$30 million. The group said the acquisition will be financed entirely with existing cash and a new US$20 million term loan credit facility with MidCap Financial. Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. (TSE:GMX) (OTCMKTS:GLBXF) announced that the Toronto Stock Exchange has approved the renewal of its normal course issuer bid (NCIB). Under the NCIB, as renewed, Globex said it will be entitled to repurchase for cancellation up to 1,000,000 common shares, representing approximately 1.84% of its issued and outstanding shares as of March 1, 2020, over a twelve-month period starting on March 13, 2020 and ending on March 12, 2021. The group intends to acquire the common shares because it believes that the repurchase of common shares at certain market prices is beneficial to the company and its shareholders. It said it intends to make any purchases on an opportunistic basis, taking share price and other considerations into account. Great Panther Mining Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:GPL) (TSX:GPR) said it has scheduled the release of its fiscal year 2019 financial results for Monday, March 16, 2020 after the market close. The group added that a conference call and webcast will be held on March 17, 2020 at 10:00am Eastern Time (7:00am Pacific Time) to discuss the results and provide a corporate update, with Jeffrey Mason, its interim president and CEO, Neil Hepworth, COO,Jim Zadra, CFO and corporate secretary, and David Wiens, VP, Corporate Finance and Treasury to host the call. Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKDA), a leader in science-based approaches to enhancing the quality and nutritional content of crops, has announced that it will release its 2019 fourth-quarter and full-year financial and business results after the market close on March 25, 2020. The company said it has scheduled a conference call for 4.30pm Eastern time (1.30p, Pacific time) to discuss the results and the year's key strategic achievements. Interested participants can join the conference call using the following numbers: US Toll-Free Dial-In: +1-844-243-4690; International Dial-In: +1-225-283-0138; Passcode: 8662765 A live webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investors section of Arcadia's website at www.arcadiabio.com. Harvest One Cannabis Inc. (CVE:HVT) (OTCMKTS:HRVOF) announced that MMJ Group Holdings Ltd. has agreed to extend the maturity date of a secured loan agreement in the amount of $2,000,000, issued on January 10, 2020, to June 8, 2020, subject to earlier repayment in certain circumstances. The group said the loan, as amended, continues to be secured by a general security agreement over all of the present and future assets of the company, including intangibles, and continues to bear interest at a rate of 15% per annum on the principal amount outstanding. In consideration for the extension, the company has agreed to issue common share purchase warrants which will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.06 at any time until the earlier of: (i) the date of the extension or renewal of the loan; and (ii) the second anniversary of the date of the issuance of the warrants. The common shares issuable upon the exercise of the warrants will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and a day from the date of issuance.