Exploration news dominated the small-cap mining tape, with Arkle Resources (AIM:ARK) moving to drill after geophysics defined uranium targets in Namibia and East Star Resources (LSE:EST) reinterpreting a Kazakhstan prospect as a gold-bearing epithermal system. Gemfields (AIM:GEM) meanwhile banked US$26.8m from its latest Kagem emerald auction, while Caledonia Mining (AIM:CMCL) resolved a technical compliance issue at its Bilboes project.
Arkle accelerates Namibia uranium drilling after geophysics defines targets
Arkle Resources (AIM:ARK) has moved to accelerate a fully funded drilling campaign at its northern Erongo licences in Namibia after Phase 1 geophysics across the three licence areas defined a suite of uranium targets. The company has fast-tracked a c.4,000m RC drilling programme, which is already funded, removing the financing risk that often delays early-stage exploration. The shares responded sharply, rising 7.69% to 0.7p.
East Star finds gold-bearing veins at Snowy, launches IP survey
East Star Resources (AIM:EST) has identified gold-bearing epithermal veins at its Snowy prospect in Kazakhstan, with rock chip samples returning up to 1.44g/t gold. The company has reinterpreted the system as a low-sulfidation epithermal target, a structurally significant upgrade in geological model, and has begun a two-line induced polarisation survey, with results expected in Q2 2026. The stock added 4.38% to 3.81p on the news.
Kagem emerald auction banks US$26.8m as top-tier stones hold firm
Gemfields Group (AIM:GEM) completed an auction of higher-quality emeralds from its Kagem mine in Zambia, realising US$26.8m with 36 of 37 lots sold, a near-complete clearance rate that underscores sustained demand for premium-grade material. Average pricing came in softer compared with prior sales, but the strong lot clearance and headline revenue figure demonstrated that top-tier stones continue to attract competitive bidding. The shares gained 5.88% to 4.5p.
Caledonia refiles Bilboes NI 43-101 with compliant qualified persons
Caledonia Mining Corporation (AIM:CMCL) refiled its NI 43-101 technical report for the Bilboes gold project after replacing the named report authors with individuals who meet the Canadian regulatory definition of a qualified person. The updated report was filed on SEDAR+ and resolves a compliance deficiency in the original submission. Caledonia's shares were quoted at 1745.0p.
