A gold bar heavier than a double Big Mac sent shares in Artemis Resources Ltd a walloping 66 per cent higher this week.
In imperial measurement terms, Artemis was able to gather enough gold from a bumper discovery at its Titan prospect in Pilbara, Western Australia, to produce a 10.4-ounce bar of gold.
‘We remain excited by the gold prospectivity that our tenements continue to deliver,’ Artemis executive director George Ventouras said as he showed off the ripper of a discovery.
‘The re-focus of exploration efforts and strategy on a tenement-wide scale is continuing to deliver evidence of multiple new zones for gold mineralisation, which we believe could contain the potential for large scale deposits,’ he added.
Not only that, but copper assays of the Titan area were also highly encouraging, leading to an all-around killer week for Artemis, making the explorer the biggest mover on the AIM junior market this week.
Golden win: Artemis was able to gather enough gold from a bumper discovery at its Titan prospect in Pilbara, Western Australia, to produce a 10.4-ounce bar of gold
Good vibes were abundant in the wider junior market too, with the AIM All-Share Index adding a percentage point across the week to enter Friday at around 774.
Things were even livelier in the blue-chip space as the FTSE 100 added a full 2 per cent, bolstered by a spate of encouraging macroeconomic news.
The UK economy expanded by 0.6 per cent in the second quarter, per Thursday’s gross domestic product price, with the services sector putting in a solid showing 0.8 per cent growth.
Then on Friday, a retail sales print from the Office of National Statistics showed that volumes climbed 0.5 per cent in July, following a 0.9 per cent drop a month earlier.
This was fuelled by a rise in shopping at department stores and on sports equipment as the Euros football tournament and Olympics in Paris took place.
Tungsten West plc rallied 22 per cent after appointing experienced mining manager Jeffery Court as its new chief executive.
Kazera Global plc added a tidy 23 per cent after the AIM-quoted investment company announced that it has received certification from the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) in South Africa.
This certification enables its Whale Head Minerals project to imminently commence the mining and production of Heavy Mineral Sands (HMS).
Orcadian Energy shares bounced 27 per cent higher after announcing a promising update on the status of its three licence awards in the 33rd Seaward Licensing Round.
EQTEC plc shares kicked 11.5 per cent in mid-week trades after the waste-to-energy expert said it could be close to settling a £2 million deal with Logik Developments.
An agreement between the two companies, which would entitle EQTEC to the cash, is expected to be settled once the London-listed firm disposes of the Deeside Industrial Park.
Gamblers beware but Rank Group plc, the owner of Mecca Bingo, jumped 8 per cent this after after announcing a return to profit.
‘With inflation receding, disposable incomes improving, investment continuing to be made in the customer proposition and a strong pipeline of growth initiatives underway, we are confident in the future,’ said chief executive John O’Reilly.
IXICO plc shares surged 33 per cent following a positive trading update in which the medical imaging specialist said it had landed new contract wins worth £5.8million since March.
The rebound story of the week is brought to you by spirits maker Distil, whole shares collapsed some 30 per cent to 0.21p on Wednesday after warning it would need immediate short-term funding following a profit warning.
This reaction was perhaps overcooked as shares in the owner of various boutique gin and vodka brands shot back up to 0.42p the following day.
Biome Technologies plc shares were slashed in half on Friday following a deeply discounted equity round.
On Friday, the bioplastics and radio frequency technology business said it plans to raise £950,000 through the issuance of 19 million shares at 5p each. This represents a meaty 76.7 per cent discount to the previous day’s mid-market closing price.
Biome was not in much of a bargaining position- it warned that without a quick funding injection, its cash runway will run out of tarmac in a month.
Shares in Celadon Pharmaceuticals plc tanked 43 per cent amid hold-ups that should have seen it access to £1.3 million of funding.
Lastly, BiVictrix Therapeutics plc announced plans to delist from AIM and to re-register as a private limited company.
The proposal is part of the company’s strategy to better position itself for the development of its next-generation cancer therapeutics, specifically its bispecific antibody drug conjugates.
In announcing the delisting, chief executive Tiffany Thorn delivered a swipe a AIM’s seeming inability to do what it’s there for.
She said: ‘To maintain our competitive advantage within this space, we intend to progress our pipeline and platform expeditiously, and after extensive review, the board has concluded that this will be best achieved by the company delisting from AIM and re-registering as a private company.’
Thorn further emphasised that the current public market valuation ‘does not reflect the scale of our potential’.
Shares fell 30 per cent on the news.
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