European Metals Holdings Ltd (AIM:EMH, ASX:EMH, OTC:EMHLF) leapt 9.9% to 44.5p after United Super announced a 5.4% stake in the company.
Elsewhere in the sector, Tertiary Minerals PLC (AIM:TYM) jumped 9.7% to 0.17p on the back of an exploration update from the Jacks Copper Project.
The company has completed the first drilling programme at the project, which is in Zambia, with four diamond core drill holes completed on two separate 150 metres spaced traverses for a total 746 metres of drilling.
Systematic portable XRF ("pXRF") analysis of drill core in-field has revealed intersections of copper mineralisation in all four holes that require confirmation and quantification by laboratory analysis.
1.40pm: Tintra rises following patent application
Tintra PLC (AIM:TNT) shot up 14% to 100p after it filed a UK patent application to protect intellectual property.
The bank technology business said the patent would protect the company’s intellectual property (IP) relating to the verification and authentication of independent digital wallets.
“The IP we are protecting under this patent application forms part of our philosophy that legacy banking and Web 3.0 need not view each other as an existential threat,” said Richard Shearer, the company's chief executive.
12.45pm: Anpario slides as its margins come under pressure
Anpario PLC (LSE:ANP) fell 7.6% to 545p after a trading statement issued ahead of its annual general meeting failed to come up to snuff.
The manufacturer of natural sustainable animal feed additives for health, nutrition and biosecurity said group sales in the first five months of the year were just ahead of the dsame period of last year, which chair Kate Allum reckoned was a good performance given China's recent Covid lockdown and the Russia - Ukraine conflict, both of which affected its sales performance.
The market reckoned different, taking fright at talk of falling margins.
11.50am: ASOS's fall from grace continues
ASOS PLC (LSE:ASC) lost more than a quarter of its value at 825p after a profit warning.
The company that was once the pride of AIM cut its full-year profit guidance to reflect the impact of inflation on consumer behaviour, it said in a trading statement today.
The online retailer also said it has appointed José Antonio Ramos Calamonte, who joined the company last year to lead commerce, as its new chief executive after Nick Beighton stepped down last year.
10.55am: Bad day for retailers as Halfords joins the profit warners
Halfords Group PLC (LSE:HFD) reversed 21% to 157p after it reduced full-year profit guidance.
Worse still, the board did not seem overly confident it would meet the lowered expectations as it warned rising inflation and declining consumer confidence will present short-term challenges.
Liberum Capital Markets said the new guidance implies a cut of around 15% to profit before tax forecasts.
10.00am: Arkle shows turn of foot after announcing discovery of zinc target
Arkle Resources PLC (AIM:ARK) flashed out of the stalls on Thursday morning after it announced the discovery of a significant zinc target.
Shares in the mineral projects developer were 17% higher at 0.85p after the company provided an update on drilling progress at its Stonepark licence block.
A major fault structure has been discovered in the drilling. A fault structure in one’s kitchen is a bad thing but in the mining world it is apparently a good thing.
“This is the first time that drilling at Stonepark has found the fault system which is a vital part of Irish zinc discoveries. It is very big with traces of zinc. This might well be the best target discovered on the block. It needs to be drilled and will be,” said John Teeling, the chair of Arkle said.
9.05am: Best of the Best lives up to its name on Thursday morning
Best of the Best PLC (AIM:BOTB) topped the risers on Thursday morning with a 21% rise to 475p after a flurry of announcements.
Chief among them was the company’s announcement of plans to return cash to shareholders by way of a tender offer to buy back shares at 600p a pop.
Shareholders will be entitled to take advantage of the offer on the basis of one share for every nine held, which the mathematicians among you will have worked out means the company could be buying back roughly 11% of its shares in issue.
The total cost to the company, which specialises in online competitions, could be as high as £6.28mln.
MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd (LSE:MXC, OTC:MGCLF, ASX:MXC), up 19% at 1.1p, was the next best performer after it publicised results from a phase II trial of its dementia treatment.
The study demonstrated the treatment’s ability to ‘inhibit the deterioration in behaviour’ of patients with the disease.
CogniCann, an oral spray that incorporates both TCH and CBD (the active ingredients found in cannabis), was also shown to be safe.