London BTC Company Limited (BTC), the London Stock Exchange main market-listed company announced new assay results received from its Amonett-Frank Gold-Silver Project in Nevada, USA. The Company also announced the completion of assay verification across its full US portfolio and the engagement of Dahrouge Geological Consulting as its US-based consultant, significantly increasing exploration capacity.
“143 grams of gold per tonne is a truly exceptional grade at Amonett-Frank,” said David Lenigas, the Company’s Chairman. “Just as importantly, we have now put every one of our high-grade results through fire assay verification and have validated all of our previously announced high-grade results reported from our Nevada portfolio. This gives us real confidence in the quality of the ground we have secured thus far. Additionally, we have appointed Dahrouge to scale up our operations in the United States, as we swiftly move from staking into active exploration across the portfolio.”
Comment: We already know that Nevada is one of the best, if not the best mining postcodes / zip codes in the world, and hence the exceptional grades being revealed by London BTC can be considered par for the course in such a jurisdiction for this company. BTC is now quickly transforming itself into Nevada Gold. There is a June chart gap to fill at 2.2p, something which in the wake of the latest newsflow could be a magnet for the shares in coming weeks.
Ajax [AQSE: AJAX], the natural resources investment company, provided an update in respect of the Pereira Velho Gold project in Alagoas, Brazil, which was acquired from an affiliate of Appian Capital Advisory in March 2026. The Company is pleased to confirm that it has commenced the environmental permitting process for its planned maiden drilling campaign at Pereira Velho by appointing a specialist environmental consultancy to prepare and submit the environmental studies required to obtain the necessary environmental authorisations. The initial permitting programme will focus on two priority exploration licences, covering approximately 2,950 hectares, and will support the Company’s planned exploration activities, including diamond drilling, geological mapping and associated field programmes.
Comment: It is no accident that in the week since the interview here with the CEO the shares are up nearly 50%, given the strong mission statement he revealed. It also helped that one Friday it was announced that the stock overhang in the shares has been eliminated. The path is clear for an assault on the 2026 10p share price peak, especially as the company is well funded for the foreseeable future.
S4 Capital (SFOR) announced Interim Results for 2026. Reported net revenue £308.0 million down 6.2%, 4.7% like-for-like. Reported record operational EBITDA £38.0 million up 82.7%, 127.5% like-for-like, with higher proportion of operational EBITDA in the first half compared to previous years based on 2026 full year target. Reported operational EBITDA margin 12.3%, up 600 basis points, 710 basis points like-for-like. Net debt6 £66.3 million, 0.7x pro-forma 12 month Operational EBITDA, down £79.6 million, £76.3 million like-for-like against 30 June 2025. As previously signalled, subject to financial targets being met, the Board has implemented a dividend payout ratio of 50% of adjusted basic earnings per share and will recommend a final dividend for 2026 in line with that policy.
Comment: SFOR has already been in the frame as a solid recovery situation among the London markets coterie of smart investors, and today despite the slight revenue drop has done nothing to change this state of affairs. Indeed, the update today underlines that the shares should be one the right side of 50p and more by the end of next month.
Marechale Capital (MAC), the AIM-quoted digital merchant bank, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Blubird Global Inc., has launched its second-generation Tokenization Platform, Digital Asset Registry and Marketplace. The Platform unifies tokenised assets with their designated legal contracts for the life of the asset, a fundamental development in increasing token adoption, risk mitigation and ownership security for its current and future clients. MAC said, “Blubird’s innovative approach reimagines tokenization by ensuring that the token and the underlying legal asset are created simultaneously, are governed by a clear and robust legal framework, and remain intrinsically linked throughout the asset’s lifecycle. This breakthrough has the potential to further strengthen Blubird’s market-leading position and to set a new standard for the industry.”
Comment: While one wonders how many of the over 50s in the market understand one end of a tokenization platform from another, or indeed the monetisation of the process, it is the case that MAC is through Blubird a leader in the space. This should at least ensure that the 50% retracement from the June 9p peak has finally run its course.
ECR Minerals plc (ECR), the Australian gold exploration and development company, provided an operational update on development and upcoming production-related activities across the Maddens and Brothers mining operations within the Maddens Gold Project at the Maddens Flat Group of Mines in Queensland. ECR has a 50% interest in the Maddens Gold Project. The Company has advanced several operational and technical workstreams for the development of the Maddens Gold Project, which the Board considers to be one of ECR’s highest-priority gold production opportunities. These activities span underground mine development, geological evaluation, processing plant enhancements and preparations for trial alluvial mining, reflecting ECR’s strategy of establishing multiple gold production opportunities from a single operating hub.
Comment: There would appear to be an irksome disconnect between the newsflow and indeed the prospects for ECR and its share price, which continues to trade in a slow drift towards the 0.2p level. Presumably this state of affairs will be corrected as some of the multiple gold production opportunities get closer to fruition.
Mendell Helium (MDH), the helium production company with operations in Kansas, reported that operational activity continues to advance as scheduled across the Rost lease in Fort Dodge. Recent site upgrades have led to enhanced performance from the Brobee saltwater disposal asset, high-capacity infrastructure upgrades at Rost 2-26, and targeted well intervention work to optimise and accelerate long-term production at Rost 1-26.
Comment: Given that most of the helium plays on the London market have achieved much higher market caps than MDH, by not producing, merely proving up, MDH remains something of a novelty in the space. The more noises we get regarding production, as we have today, the greater the eventual re-rate MDH should get in coming months. Let’s go for at least year highs at 7p by the end of October, or hopefully sooner.
Next (NXT) issued a Trading Statement for Q2 2026. Full price sales in the second quarter were up +9.2% versus last year. This was materially ahead of our forecast for the period of +4.0%. We are increasing our full year pre-tax profit guidance2 by +£25m to £1,243m, up +7.3% on last year. There are two elements to this upgrade: The addition of £70m of full price sales added +£15m of profit. The performance of our equity investments has been better than expected and we are increasing our forecast for full year profit by +£10m.
Comment: The obvious questions regarding NXT are “who buys the stuff” and “how do they do it?” The answer to the second question is clearly, great management. But putting such trifles aside, exposure to the UK High Street does not get much better than this, and it looks as though it can get better still.
Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (GTE) announced the Company’s financial and operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. GTE said “Our second quarter results benefited from a stronger commodity price environment, reduced total operating costs and the continued strength of our portfolio, with production within our guidance range and improved margins and cash generation across the business. During the Quarter, we advanced several priorities that make our portfolio more durable.”
Comment: GTE underlines the excitement there should be in the market when a small cap transforms itself into a proper growth play, with a market cap to match. One could say that these days the threshold is £250m to get a company above the clouds as far as the slings and arrows of commodities prices, bad luck or simply being invisible to the market. A two year price channel target of 900p beckons by Q4 2026.
BATM (BVC), a global provider of advanced network infrastructure and cybersecurity technologies, announced that it has received its first order, worth c. $1.6m, for a tactical encryption platform. This latest order follows the Group undertaking projects with its long-standing customer to develop next-generation cyber capabilities, including tactical encryption. The Group delivered a proof-of-concept of the platform during the first half of 2026, which has now transitioned to an initial supply order to be delivered in the current year. The platform, which is hardware based and quantum-era-ready, provides military-grade encryption and compliance with the highest security standards. Moti Nagar, Chief Executive Officer of BATM, said: “We are delighted to have received this first order for our new tactical quantum-era-ready encryption platform, which is another example of how our development projects transition to supply agreements. This represents a significant expansion of our cybersecurity offer and entry into a new market as well as execution on our strategy to be able to offer customers a complete encryption solution to address all their requirements. It also reflects our dedication to providing ultra-high-technology solutions to protect mission-critical organisations and their networks. We look forward to delivering this initial order and receiving further contracts in due course.”
Comment: One can glean that BVC is as pleased as punch regarding this order, something which should open the floodgates as far as further business in the same vein. It is a shame that the market in its (non) infinite wisdom continues to leave the shares near the low end of the range for now.
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest:
The information, investment views, and recommendations in this Zaks Traders Cafe interview are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this interview should be construed as a promotion or solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or referred to or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engage in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the commentator but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. The commentators may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.
