One of the worst performers on the local market on Monday has been the Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX: ARV) share price.
At lunch the West Pilbara-based mineral exploration company's shares are down 20% to 30.5 cents.
What happened?
This morning Artemis was subject to a couple of big developments. The first one was in relation to its Radio Hill treatment plant at the Radio Hill Nickel/Copper/Cobalt mine.
The company has commenced refurbishment and upgrade works after over nine years of inactivity at the site. The mine and plant were shut down in 2008 as a result of the slump of base metals prices, but has been kept on active care and maintenance.
Management is working towards having the plant fully operational as a multi-metals processing facility by end of June 2018.
The second development was a disappointing announcement from Canada-based joint venture partner Novo Resources Corp in regards to drilling at its Purdy's Reward project.
Its shares fell 18% on the Canadian Venture Exchange on Friday after it stated that after reviewing samples it is uncomfortable with the current drilling being undertaken as a means of grade estimation. As a result, Novo is reviewing other potential options for collecting bulk samples from drilling.
While this is likely to be down to the way the gold nuggets are scattered underground, it appears as though some investors are doubtful that the project will be as lucrative as first expected.
As this project is a key reason why both Artemis and Novo have seen their shares go gangbusters this year, I can't say I'm surprised by today's decline.
Time will tell whether the project lives up to expectations, but until its bulk sampling is done I would suggest investors hold off an investment and consider other resources shares such as Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) or BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP).
