SMALL CHAPTER MOVEMENTS: Explorer Cora Gold Soars 60% in One Week

There was minimal action this week in the AIM All-Share Index, which fell about 0.3 per cent to enter Friday at 743.44.

That meant the junior index underperformed the blue chips, given the FTSE 100’s rise in percentage points.

The main index benefited from optimism among blue-chip mining companies thanks to record gold prices and news of a $113 billion stimulus package from China.

Cora Gold shared some of the record love for the gold price, with West Africa-focused small-cap exploration soaring more than 60 percent this week.

Cora’s latest exploration update, detailing approximately 50 kilometers of “highly prospective terrain for exploration targets,” surely helped.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Hummingbird Resourceswhich fell 25 percent after the Guinea-based gold miner revealed management changes, a strategic review and a new short-term financing package.

A chief transformation officer will be appointed to oversee the review, while chief executive Dan Betts will become executive chairman and take on a strategic rather than operational role.

Some assets are also likely to be sold, including the Dugbe gold project in Liberia, the group said.

Distill fell 45 per cent as it revealed a deeply discounted placement to provide the spirits group with £650,000 of working capital funding. The shares were issued at 0.12 pence, representing a 40 per cent discount.

Speaking of discount fundraising, Enteq Technologies plc fell 42 per cent following a deeply discounted sale of shares worth £1.5m.

Funds raised will support the launch of Enteq’s SABER tool, a rotary directional system for directional drilling, targeting a $2 billion annual market.

Direct Plus It was another big flop this week. Shares plunged more than 20 percent after the graphene specialist issued a profit warning alongside first-half results.

Founder and CEO Giulio Cesareo said full-year revenue is expected to be “materially below” market expectations.

Deltic Energywhich became the latest British oil company to warn about the impact of the political and fiscal approach the UK government is taking to the North Sea and offshore oil and gas, fell 43 per cent.

Back to the bands, Electric guitar rose 33 percent after announcing a new loyalty app in the banking and finance sector.

The app is jointly developed by Electric Guitar subsidiary 3radical, its partner Marcomms.ai, and fintech company Little Birdie. It integrates Open Banking data, improving consumer engagement and providing personalized financial information.

In the biotechnology space, Shield Therapeutics surged by a third following the announcement of successful Phase III trial results of its iron deficiency treatment, Accrufer, which could pave the way for its use in children.

Actions in Biomedical Ondine rallied 22 per cent after saying it had raised around £2.8 million from a new private investor in Canada to support commercial growth of its antimicrobial treatments.