Author: Fiona Craig

Botswana Minerals (LSE:BMIN) has moved its AI-assisted exploration programme in north-west Botswana from regional data analysis to targeted fieldwork as it works to identify potential drill targets across its Ngamiland licences.

On the company’s southern licences in eastern Ngamiland, AI-based analysis has identified nine principal corridors considered prospective for copper mineralisation. These include a priority target located next to historical copper oxide and carbonate mineralisation.

Botswana Minerals is also examining whether the geology identified within its licence area could have a regional connection with Namibia’s Matchless Belt.

On the northern licences, the company is preparing to begin field sampling across targets identified as priorities through AI analysis and geochemical data. The work is intended to further define these areas and identify specific locations for potential drilling.

Data generated from the sampling programme will be assessed alongside geophysical information and historical drill core as Botswana Minerals determines which targets should receive further exploration work.

The company said the planned next stages of the programme will be funded from its existing cash resources.

More about Botswana Minerals plc

Botswana Minerals plc is an exploration company listed on AIM and the Botswana Stock Exchange, with a focus on copper and strategic minerals in Botswana.

The company is applying AI-assisted exploration techniques across licences in the Ngamiland region to identify areas prospective for copper and polymetallic mineralisation.

Empyrean Energy (LSE:EME) has scheduled its Annual General Meeting for 29 September 2026 in London and has distributed its Annual Report and Accounts and notice of AGM to shareholders.

The company said voting for the AGM will be conducted electronically. Shareholders requiring a hard-copy proxy form can request one from the company’s registrars.

Empyrean has also changed its registered office to new premises on Fetter Lane in central London.

The AGM arrangements and registered office change form part of the company’s corporate administration and shareholder meeting procedures.

More about Empyrean Energy

Empyrean Energy PLC is an AIM-listed oil and gas company focused on exploration and production activities.

The company operates a portfolio of hydrocarbon assets alongside its related corporate activities.

PureTech Health plc (LSE:PRTC) said it will publish its results for the six months ended 30 June 2026 on Tuesday, 22 September 2026.

The company will hold a presentation and conference call at 9:00 a.m. BST on the same day. A webcast of the event will also be available through PureTech Health’s investor relations website.

The scheduled results will provide an update on the company’s financial performance and operations during the first half of 2026.

More about PureTech Health

PureTech Health plc is a biotherapeutics company that uses a hub-and-spoke model to develop therapies based on validated pharmacology for conditions with unmet patient needs.

The company’s research and development activities have generated multiple therapeutic candidates, including three drugs that have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

PureTech uses dedicated structures supported by external capital to develop certain therapeutic assets, allowing multiple programmes to progress in parallel. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker PRTC.

Yellow Cake plc (LSE:YCA) has granted long-term incentive awards to chief executive Andre Liebenberg and chief financial officer Carole Whittall under the company’s 2019 share option plan.

The awards take the form of nil-cost share options structured as performance shares. Based on a commencement share price of £6.33, Liebenberg received options covering 27,065 shares, while Whittall received options over 11,502 shares.

The options are scheduled to vest in April 2029, subject to the achievement of performance conditions measured over a three-year period.

The performance criteria are primarily linked to Yellow Cake’s relative share price performance compared with uranium-sector peers and benchmarks, as well as growth in the company’s uranium holdings and revenue.

The awards form part of the company’s long-term executive remuneration arrangements and link the number of shares ultimately vesting to the specified performance measures.

More about Yellow Cake plc

Yellow Cake plc is a Jersey-headquartered, London-quoted uranium investment company that provides exposure to the uranium market principally through the acquisition and holding of physical triuranium octoxide, or U3O8.

The company holds 24.4 million pounds of U3O8 at storage facilities in Canada and France. Its activities also include a ten-year uranium supply framework agreement with Kazatomprom.

Yellow Cake’s stated strategy is to generate returns from changes in the value of its physical uranium holdings and other uranium-related activities.

Cora Gold Limited (LSE:CORA) has completed a £15.7 million equity financing and secured a binding US$120 million gold stream to fund development of its Sanankoro Gold Project in Mali through to production.

Following the equity raise, Singapore-based Eagle Eye Asset Holdings became Cora Gold’s largest shareholder with a 29.85% interest and gained board representation.

During the first half of 2026, Cora began Front-End Engineering Design work at Sanankoro and commenced a 12,000-metre drilling programme. The company also made changes to its advisory team and board during the period.

After the period end, Cora secured the renewal of the Sanankoro II exploration permit. The financing arrangements were also amended to provide flexibility for the company to substitute up to half of the gold stream with senior debt.

Cora additionally appointed Russell White, who has experience in the West African mining sector, as the company continues preparations for construction at Sanankoro.

The company reported net assets of US$47.3 million alongside an interim loss.

More about Cora Gold

Cora Gold Limited is a West Africa-focused gold developer with projects in Mali and Senegal. Its principal asset is the Sanankoro Gold Project in southern Mali’s Yanfolila Gold Belt, which has a Probable Reserve of 531,000 ounces of gold and is planned as an open-pit oxide operation.

The company’s 2025 Definitive Feasibility Study for Sanankoro reported a post-tax internal rate of return of 98% and a post-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate of US$365 million.

Cora is also conducting exploration at its Madina Foulbé project in eastern Senegal, where it is assessing the potential for gold mineralisation.

Serval Resources Plc (LSE:SRVL) has renewed all of its exploration licences in Botswana’s Kalahari Copper Belt, with key permits now extending through late 2028.

Following the relinquishment of one lower-priority permit, the company’s updated Botswana exploration portfolio covers approximately 990.93 km². The holdings include PL 2474/2023, which contains the Sweet Thorn Pan prospect and is identified by Serval as a priority licence.

The renewals maintain the company’s access to areas containing historically identified mineralised contacts near MMG’s Khoemacau operations.

Serval said the licence renewals reflect its compliance with applicable regulatory requirements in Botswana and allow exploration activities across the retained portfolio to continue.

The company has also renamed its Botswana subsidiary and is progressing the transfer of an additional licence as part of changes to its local corporate and asset structure.

More about Serval Resources Plc

Serval Resources Plc is an AIM-listed exploration company focused on copper and associated future metals, with exploration and development assets in Namibia, Botswana and Côte d’Ivoire.

In Botswana, the company holds multiple exploration licences in the Kalahari Copper Belt. Its principal licences are held under its Serval Resources Botswana subsidiary, with the company maintaining full ownership of its key permits.

U.S. equity futures moved higher on Thursday as Treasury yields declined, with investors assessing fresh labor market data ahead of Friday’s monthly employment report.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell by more than 6 basis points after finishing Wednesday unchanged at its highest closing level in more than a year.

Yields extended their decline following the latest initial jobless claims figures from the Labor Department.

Jobless Claims Increase Slightly Above Forecast

Initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by 2,000 to 206,000 in the week ended August 29.

The previous week’s figure was revised to 204,000 from the initially reported 203,000, while economists had expected the latest reading to reach 205,000.

Attention now turns to Friday’s monthly employment report. Economists forecast an increase of 55,000 jobs in August following a decline of 23,000 in July. The unemployment rate is expected to increase to 4.2% from 4.1%.

The report will provide further labor market information ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting later this month.

Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com, said: “Weaker labor-market figures could strengthen the argument for patience, while resilience in employment alongside sticky inflation would make the hawkish case increasingly difficult to dismiss,”

She added, “Investors have been remarkably resilient so far, but that resilience is likely to be tested if oil, yields and expectations for Fed tightening begin moving higher simultaneously.”

Major U.S. Indices Closed Higher Wednesday

Wall Street recovered on Wednesday following declines over the previous three sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 295.07 points, or 0.6%, to 53,061.95. The Nasdaq Composite gained 118.05 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 26,217.82, while the S&P 500 advanced 35.13 points, or 0.5%, to 7,666.60.

The gains followed a period in which the S&P 500 had fallen to its lowest level in almost a month.

Crude oil prices and Treasury yields initially declined during Wednesday’s trading before recovering from their earlier lows.

ADP Data Shows 38,000 Increase in Private Payrolls

ADP reported that private-sector employment increased by 38,000 jobs in August, below the 48,000 increase expected by economists.

July’s increase was revised to 46,000 jobs from the initially reported 44,000.

The August reading represented the slowest rate of private-sector job creation since January, when 11,000 positions were added.

Investors are assessing the employment figures alongside inflation data as they consider the potential path of Federal Reserve interest-rate policy.

Gold and Oil Service Shares Record Gains

Sector performance was mixed during Wednesday’s session.

The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index rose 2.9%, while the Philadelphia Oil Service Index gained 2.4%.

Telecommunications, airline and biotechnology stocks also moved higher, while software shares declined.

LVMH (EU:MC) shares fell 2.4% on Thursday to their lowest level in five years after Bernstein reduced its forecasts for luxury-sector growth, citing early third-quarter data on spending in China.

Analysts led by Luca Solca lowered their third-quarter industry organic growth forecast by 110 basis points to 4.9%, compared with growth of 6.3% in the second quarter.

The revision reduced Bernstein’s full-year 2026 organic growth forecast for the industry by 40 basis points to 5.1%.

Bernstein Points to Slower Luxury Sales Growth in China

Bernstein cited a sample of luxury shopping mall sales data from mainland China that showed “a sharp deceleration in growth over June and July 2026, across price points and categories, with a -12% fall in July,” according to the analysts.

The data followed broadly unchanged growth during the first quarter and low-single-digit growth in the second quarter.

Bernstein described the latest development as the fourth interruption to a recovery in Chinese luxury spending since the pandemic.

“We have seen three false dawns already: in end-2023, end-2024, and end-2025,” the analysts said.

According to Bernstein, the previous periods were associated with expectations that government stimulus would support a sustained recovery before factors including structural issues, lower property prices and continued deflation affected spending trends.

The brokerage also identified taxation as a potential factor affecting spending. Bernstein said increased scrutiny of Chinese offshore wealth and a greater risk of tax enforcement “has likely had a chilling effect” on spending by high-net-worth consumers.

Bernstein Reduces LVMH Sales and Earnings Estimates

Bernstein lowered its organic sales growth forecasts for LVMH for 2026 and 2027 by 66 basis points.

The brokerage also reduced its earnings-per-share estimates by 1% for 2026 and 6.1% for 2027, while maintaining its Outperform rating and €570 price target.

The analysts said maintaining the recovery in LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division would require Louis Vuitton to increase engagement with middle-class consumers, which they said would likely involve adjustments to the product mix during the second half of 2026.

Kering and Hermes Forecasts Also Reduced

Bernstein also lowered its growth forecasts for Kering and Hermes, while leaving its estimates for Richemont unchanged.

The brokerage cited “relative resilience for Richemont’s jewellery brands in Mainland China.”

Bernstein named Richemont its Best Idea within the sector. It also identified Kering as having the most near-term “self-help” potential through Gucci price reductions and retail consolidation.

Gold prices climbed more than 1% on Thursday, returning above $4,400 an ounce as declines in the US dollar and Treasury yields accompanied a reassessment of expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate policy.

Investors were also preparing for Friday’s US nonfarm payrolls report, which is expected to provide further information on labour-market conditions. The Japanese yen strengthened as the dollar declined, with possible currency intervention also remaining in focus.

At 04:58 ET (08:58 GMT), XAU/USD gained 1.1% to $4,436.50 an ounce. Gold Futures increased 1.5% to $4,482.61.

Other precious metals also moved higher. XAG/USD advanced 0.9% to $65.94 an ounce, while XPT/USD rose 1.1% to $1,779.24. The US Dollar Index declined 0.4% to 99.21.

Fed’s Williams Says Inflation Continues to Ease

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said there was evidence that inflation in the United States was continuing to ease as the impact of tariffs faded.

Williams also said higher energy prices were not spreading into other areas of the services sector.

His comments provided investors with further information to consider when assessing the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy.

ADP Reports 38,000 Increase in US Private Payrolls

US private-sector employers added 38,000 jobs during August, according to the latest ADP employment report.

The figures came ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls release, which will provide another measure of conditions in the US labour market.

The data and Williams’ comments followed Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech last Friday, where he took a more hawkish stance on monetary policy, according to the source material.