London’s AIM Index fell in line with many other global markets today, although managed to recover some ground from mid-session lows, reaching the bell seven points lower at 1225.33
- Goldstone Resources +25%
- Lexington Gold +25%
- URU Metals -15%
- Quantum Blockchain -14%
- Online Blockchain -10%
Goldstone Resources LON:GRL was the day’s biggest riser, adding 25% by 4.30pm with a news update this morning evidently helping deliver some confidence for the stock. The company advised the market that it mining and ore stacking at a project in Ghana was now underway and believes that over the next eight months they can extract 25,000 ounces of gold at a cost of less than $600/oz – comparatively cheap by industry standard. Production forecasts have been increased significantly so whilst not without risk, this could have further to run.
Lexington Gold LON:LEX also had a solid session, closing just under 25% up on the day. Final results published earlier in the week appeared to have limited effect on the share price, but sentiment is now ticking higher. Upside could find itself countered by the relatively wide spread and small market cap, but assay results are awaited following an update in late April and good news here could offer more excitement.
URU Metals LON:URU saw off 15% at the closing bell, making it the day’s biggest faller. The company saw shares gains as much as 50% in the early part of the week, but today’s note advising that it had no information to support the gains seems to have initiated a degree of profit taking. Lithium remains a hot topic however, so a full reversion here would perhaps be unlikely.
Quantum Blockchain LON:QBT was the day’s second biggest casualty, closing some 14% lower. The shake out for cryptocurrencies can arguably be used to explain away the decline, with Elon Musk noting that Tesla would no longer accept payment in BTC – just weeks after announcing the initiative to much fanfare. As he rightly points out, the environmental impact of mining blockchain makes this toxic, but we’ve seen these 20% sell offs in crypto before – will this be any different?
Listen: Podcast with Stephen Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager Digital, on trading and investing in cryptocurrencies
A notable mention for Online Blockchain LON:OBC, which reached the bell 9% lower. Again however there’s nothing here other than the read-across from the slump in the price of bitcoin, but those two spikes to above 100p per share in the first quarter do feel rather distant. If we see BTC and its ilk roar back, that may fire some fresh enthusiasm, but recent history suggests that the stock doesn’t respond well to slow, incremental gains in cryptos.
