Gemfields PLC (LON:GEM) achieved a new record at its auction of rough emeralds in Jaipur, India last week.
It netted US$5.15 per carat, a new high for lower quality stones, as it raked in a total of US$14.3mln from the sale.
In other news, a rush from Chinese businesses has made .vip one of the most successful internet domain name launches yet, according to Minds + Machines Group Limited (LON:MMX).
In the five days following the launch of the address on 17 May, 203,720 .vip registrations were made, which puts it in the top 20 of new gTLDs (top level domains) said MMX.
Elsewhere, Mariana Resources Ltd (LON:MARL) expects to complete a new resource estimate for the Hot Maden project in Turkey next month (June) as it continues to receive exciting. high grade results from on-going drilling.
Results today are from 14 holes, which have revealed further high grade gold mineralisation, along with copper and zinc, the latter having not been factored into any estimates for the project so far.
Over at Stride Gaming PLC (LON:STR), the owner of Kitty Bingo and Lucky Pants, it declared a maiden dividend after posting a strong rise in turnover and earnings.
Investors will receive 1.1p a share next month after the company weighed in with a 21% increase in net gaming revenue to £21.6mln in the six months to February 29, which pushed operating profits (EBITDA) up 29% to £5.6mln. The company was sitting £9.9mln in cash as at the period-end.
Meanwhile, Europa Oil & Gas Holdings Plc (LON:EOG) brought Union Jack Oil (LON:UJO) into the upcoming Holmwood exploration project , in the south east of England.
To earn its stake Union Jack will cover a portion of upcoming well costs. It estimates the net cost to the company at around £480,000.
Shares in Internet of Things (IoT) specialist Telit Communications Plc (LON:TCM) nudged higher in early deals as it struck a new deal with SAP over its deviceWISE platform and said it was on course to maintain double-digit revenue growth for the full year.
The licence and reseller collaboration will allow a new way for firms to onboard the Internet of Things, said the firm.
Over at Andes Energia PLC (LON:AEN), chief executive Alejandro Jotayan has highlighted that the Argentina and Colombia focussed oil firm accomplished “very demanding” objectives in its past financial year.
Notably, it completed the Interoil transaction in Colombia, and saw continued success with the drilling program at the Chachahuen block, Argentina.
Aureus Mining Inc. (LON:AUE) hopes to have processing operations at New Liberty back online within the next two weeks.
Production at the recently commissioned mine in Liberia was suspended three weeks ago after too high concentrations of cyanide were found in waste from the process plant.
And finally, Strategic Minerals posted its final results, reporting a cash balance of just over $1mln at 31 December. The mining group maintained a tight control of overheads, falling 26% despite increased activity.
"2015 was a challenging year where tough decisions had to be made in light of turbulent market conditions, but also a transformational one in which the Company took a stake in an exciting new project and adopted a new investment strategy,” said managing director John Peters.
He said the company’s solid cash flow positioned it well for 2016.