Metals explorer Landore Resources closed out Monday about 300% after it confirmed that gold unearthed at its Junior Lake property in Ontario was a "significant discovery".
The AIM share rose 2.25p to end the session at 3.05p.
Chief executive Bill Humphries, said: "The highly prospective, relatively unexplored, greenstone belt which traverses Landore's flagship Junior Lake Property for over 30 kilometres east to west, continues to yield exciting new mineral discoveries.
More broadly, other commodity tied stocks rallied too.
Herencia Resources (LON:HER), which was boosted last Friday by funding talk, gained a further 0.02p or 54% to 0.05p.
Gulfsands Petroleum (LON:GPX) rose 30% to 7.88p, North River Resources (LON:RRP) added 31% to 0.1p and Zanaga Iron Ore gained 29% to 3.25p.
The FTSE AIM 100 edged slightly higher, up 3 points to end at 3,349. The FTSE Small Cap index moved slightly lower to 4,523.
In the blue-chip market the FTSE 100 gained 18 points or 0.3% to close Monday at 6,164.
AIM indices struggle to match the Footsie's pace
Stocks on London's junior market are being put in the shade by the blue-chips, with the FTSE 100 having a serious look at breaking through the 6,200 barrier.
The FTSE 100 is up 48 points, or 0.8%, at 6,193, lifted by the prospect of a firm start on Wall Street and a steadying of the oil price.
The two main Aim indices are up but only nominally: the Aim All Share is one point higher at 712 while the Aim 100 is up two points at 3,348.
Nevertheless, it is still an Aim stock – Landore Resources Ltd (LON:LND) – that continues to sit at the top of the heap in London after divulging details of a significant discovery at its Junior Lake property in Ontario.
The shares were up an eye-popping 188% at 1.00pm.
Intelligent Energy Holding PLC (LON:IEH) saw its market value increase by two-thirds to just under £27mln, as it unveiled a business restructuring plan while financing talks continue.
Shares in the energy technology company are off 80% this year, despite today's sharp ascent.
Sticking with the energy theme, 88 Energy ltd (LON:88E) shot up 7.9% to 3.875p on the back of a broker note from Cenkos, which described the oil-bearing shale unearthed by 88 in Alaska as a prospect that could rival the colossal Eagle Ford shale in Texas.
Electronic invoicing firm Tungsten Corp PLC (LON:TUNG) has been a favourite target of short-sellers in the past but it put on a spurt today, rising 5.81p to 54.81p, on news that Morgan Stanley has lifted its holding above the 9% level to 9.47%.
The trading update from Sepura PLC (LON:SEPU), the provider of critical communications solutions, sent the shares almost 30% lower.
Adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) for the year just ended are expected to be below market expectations at somewhere between €16mln and €20mln. On the plus side, expectations for the current financial year (to 1 April 2017) remain unchanged.
Mineral exploration company Sunrise Resources PLC (LON:SRES) waned to 0.14p, down 0.02p, after placing shares at 0.11p as part of a £120,000 fund-raising.
It has been a bad year for collectibles trader Stanley Gibbons Group PLC (LON:SGI), and the shares took another thumping today, shedding 1.25p at 15p, as it emerged that Richard Griffiths, through various investment vehicles, has increased his stake from less than 9% to almost 14% following the company's recent heavily-discounted open offer of shares.
Open
The UK's shares are mixed-to-higher, and the picture is mirrored among small and medium-sized companies.
The oil majors are holding up, even though the price of Brent Crude dropped below $39 a barrel in the wake of comments on Friday from Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince to the effect that the kingdom would not countenance cutting back on oil production until other major producers do likewise.
The FTSE 100 was up nine points (0.2%) at 6,155 after an hour's trading. The junior market's equivalent to the Footsie, the FTSE 100 Aim 100, was up four points (0.1%) at 3,350 while the broader-based FTSE Aim All-Share was up just over a point (0.15%) at 713.
The top performer on Aim was Landore Resources Ltd (LON:LND) on the back of a significant gold discovery at its Junior Lake asset.
The shares shot up 150% to 2p as it confirmed the previously announced gold find at its Junior Lake property in Ontario as a "significant discovery".
Mineralisation of around 30 metres close to the surface could be developed as a low cost, bulk tonnage mine, which will boost the potential economics of developing the rest of the property, it added.
Fellow miner Herencia Resources PLC (LON:HER) saw a similar sort of rise to Landore last Friday, prompting the company to put out a statement saying that, other than the fact that negotiations over a cash injection from major shareholders are well advanced, it knew of no reason for the share price rise.
The board must be similarly mystified today, because the shares were up another 46%; the share price has more than doubled over the last week.
Metal Tiger plc (LON:MTR) was another adding to last week's strong gains, which were won on the back of director share purchases and strong trading activity on the Australian stock exchange in the shares of MOD Resources (ASX:MOD), Metal Tiger's partner on the Botswana copper/silver project.
Tidal power firm Atlantis Resources Ltd (LON:ARL) was buoyed by a cash injection from infrastructure investment group Equitix, which will acquire at least 25% of each Atlantis project. Equitix will also work with Atlantis to help find the rest of the money needed to build Atlantis's projects.
Shareholders headed for the exits at Caza Oil & Gas Inc (LON:CAZA, TSE:CAZ) as it signalled its intention to go private.
The dual-listed US-focused oil producer is 95%-owned by Talara Opportunities, so the near-halving of the share price will not affect many shareholders.