(Alliance News) – Stocks in London are set to open higher on Friday, ahead of a much-anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump insisted that Putin was “not going to mess around with me” because “I am president”. He also said that Ukraine would be involved in any deal on its fate. However, Swissquote’s Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented: “Trump warned of ‘severe consequences” — including sanctions — if Ukraine peace talks stall, raising the risk of tensions with Russia.
Comment: The Clinton administration blew returning Russia to the Western fold in the 1990s, probably due to fears that the Military-Industrial Complex would not have any enemies / anything to do. Since then we have had over 30 years of disastrous relations with the tyranny prone nation, and its very scary small man syndrome dictator for life. Barring Russia joining NATO / a complete love-in in Anchorage, we are looking at a partial or total sell out of Ukraine, or some kind of Korea / Cyprus / Finland amalgam. Don’t mention the Sudatenland…
Altona (REE), a resource exploration and development company focused on critical raw materials in Africa, today announces that it has raised a gross amount of £507,450. The proceeds of the Fundraise will be used to fund the activities at Monte Muambe and will also support the Sesana Copper-Silver project through environmental permitting, as well as initial geophysical surveys. They will also be used to continue assessing the recent Gallium discovery and to secure a strategic partner for the development of the Monte Muambe rare earths project. The Board continues to seek additional, alternative funding sources, including proposed strategic investments at project level through equity, debt, grants, or pre-payments in the context of off-take agreements.
Comment: REE is one of the Holy Trinity of hot Rare Earths companies on the London market at the moment, alongside Cobra Resources (COBR), and Harena Resources. One can choose at least one of these, or perhaps even all three.
SolGold (SOLG) reported assay results from three additional drill holes at the Tandayama-Ameríca deposit. These results follow the high-grade intervals reported on 28 July 2025 (News Release: SolGold plc Reports Multiple High-Grade Intervals at Tandayama-América as Part of Cascabel Execution Plan)1 and further reinforce the Company’s strategy to bring forward low capex, low opex, open-pit ore from Tandayama in the early years of Cascabel’s mine life.
Comment: SOLG has been gathering momentum in terms of both its share price, and the newsflow coming into this summer, with the news if anything becoming stronger as the share price has climbed.
Pulsar Helium Inc. (PLSR), a leading helium project development company, announced that University Bank, a Michigan-based banking company wholly owned by University Bancorp, Inc., has provided a non-binding expression of interest to provide Pulsar with project financing of up to US$12.5 million for the construction of a helium processing plant at the Company’s wholly owned Topaz project in Minnesota, USA. University Bancorp, Inc. currently holds approximately 4.9% of Pulsar’s issued share capital.
Comment: As a leading London private investor said this morning on X, this kind of news is a rather useful thing to have in your back pocket. It means that once PLSR proves up Topaz, it is effectively good to go.
Vaultz Capital plc (AQSE:V3TC), a digital asset operating company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Aleksander Nowak as Chief Operating Officer (COO), in a non-Board position, of the Company with immediate effect. Mr Nowak will be responsible for aligning the Company’s strategic objectives with its day-to-day operations. He will oversee core business functions, focusing on process efficiency and operational delivery.
Comment: One of the keys as far as the Bitcoin Treasury Strategy stocks are concerned, apart from acquiring as much BTC as possible, is to beef themselves up with OG’s in the space, with proven track records of success and experience. This is clearly something which V3TC is on to.
Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals (HEMO) announce that the third patient has been successfully treated as part of the Company’s ongoing Phase I clinical trial of HG-CT-1, its proprietary CAR-T cell therapy for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (“R/R AML”) in adults. Treatment of this patient, the final participant in the first adult dose cohort, was made possible after the Company secured special permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed under exceptional circumstances. This regulatory clearance reflects the Company’s ability to navigate complex clinical challenges to ensure eligible patients can access potentially life-saving therapies.
Comment: Any RNS from HEMO without a fundraise is a win. That said, given that the company is rubbing shoulders with the FDA, it may be said that the market is and has been a little hard on it.
Light Science Technologies Holdings (LST), the innovative technology and manufacturing business announced that its Contract Electronics Manufacturing division, UK Circuits and Electronics Solutions Limited, has won three contracts worth, in aggregate, approximately £0.5m (comprising a new contract worth approximately £0.3m and two re-tendered contracts with existing clients worth a further approximately £0.2m).
Comment: LST is one of the stock market’s somewhat quirky contenders as the next big thing, both in terms of the space it operates in, and how the market perceives the upside here. A £0.5m deal helps moves things along, but we are probably still waiting on the £1m plus deals to really get things going it terms of investor appreciation.
Asiamet Resources Limited (ARS) announced the commencement of limestone resource drilling at the Rinjen prospect, approximately 12km north of Asiamet’s flagship BKM Copper heap leach project in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Securing a local limestone source for use in BKM’s process plant neutralisation circuit is a key enabler of the project’s low operating cost base, eliminating the need to import lime from elsewhere in Indonesia at significantly higher cost.
Comment: A decent announcement from ARS, if only to remind the market of the massive potential at BKM, and of course how the market continues to undervalue the company at £30m market cap.
Aterian (ATN), the critical mineral exploration and development company, announce that it has entered into a MoU with a stealth-stage, machine learning start-up specialising in advanced computational modelling for mineral exploration. MLS is spun out from the University of Cambridge and backed by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Entrepreneurs First – a global talent investor co-founded by Matt Clifford (former AI Opportunities Advisor to Keir Starmer, UK Prime Minister).
Comment: The obvious thing to say here is that if Keir Starmer has received advice from anyone on anything other than how to turn the UK into a Marxist State, it does not show. Such a view notwithstanding, the rest of this RNS does look significant for ATN, and its currently rather beleaguered share price.
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.
