Small-cap week, September 21 - FT.com Ethiopian gold miners were a hotspot this week. Nyota Minerals soared 108 per cent even after biggest shareholder Centamin launched an attempt to oust chief executive Richard Chase. Talks between the two over a joint venture had stalled and Nyota, which said that it would run out of cash by the end of September, said cutting directors" pay meant it could survive for at least an extra month and pursue other options. Centamin turned to Aim-listed penny stock Alecto Minerals, which jumped 132 per cent after signing a joint venture with the Egypt-focused miner to realise the value of Alecto's two licences in Ethiopia. Centamin paid $3m to fund exploration and development work in exchange for a 51 per cent stake in the venture. Siberian oil explorer Exillon Energy, in talks to be bought by Kazakh businessman Maksat Arip, rose 29.6 per cent after saying it had received "additional preliminary approaches." Exillon said it had hired Goldman Sachs to run the auction. North Yorkshire potash mine developer Sirius Minerals fell 16.3 per cent after delaying the planning determination date for the project by 12 months to July 2014. Optimal Payments, the provider of deposit and cash transfer software for online gambling, rose 20 per cent after first-half results showed revenue and operating profit up 50 per cent and 126 per cent respectively. Gulfsands sets its sights on Morocco after Syria retreat Gulfsands Petroleum continues to talk up pastures new as it deals with the consequences of its retreat from Syrian operations forced by international sanctions, writes Michael Kavanagh. Interim results this week pointed to the Aim-quoted oil junior holding gross cash and bank balances of $73m. However, the continued suspension of its activities in Syria, where it operated oilfields in partnership with Sinochem of China, still drags on its fortunes. Belt-tightening, though, led to a reduction in interim losses from $18m to $12m after Gulfsands set its sights on Morocco by spending $18m to acquire interests in the country. Early exploration is also planned in Colombia next year. Gulfsands shares trade at a fraction of the 390p high reached in late 2010 ahead of their Syrian travails. But the low valuation offers upside - albeit with considerable risk attached. Quindell offers bungee jump thrills but doubts remain If some investments are rollercoasters, Quindell Portfolio is a bungee jump, writes Henry Mance. Shares in the Aim-traded group, which processes insurance claims, plunged in May amid revelations over a controversial financial contract. This week they completed a bounceback after Quindell announced a deal to provide telematics technology in Canada. "We want to be a FTSE 100 company," said chief executive Rob Terry, promising more contract wins and acquisitions within the next year. Yet critics still have ammunition. Although the Canadian contract is expected to bring in C$6m in revenue by the end of 2014, Quindell has offered C$5m in warrants as part of the deal. And Quindell has yet to turn its profits into cash. Its operating cash flow was £2.6m in the first half of 2013, while The Innovation Group, a rival, reported £11.5m, despite lower profits. Proton Power charges ahead with €857,000 Siemens deal Proton Power, which makes fuel cells for electric vehicles, announced this week it had won an €857,000 contract to supply Siemens with uninterruptible power supply systems for healthcare equipment in hospitals over the next 10 months, writes Kate Burgess. The contract is the company's biggest to date. Proton - which is 94 per cent owned by septuagenarian chief executive, Dr Faiz Nahab - turned over £920,000 in the year to December and made a £4m pre-tax loss. The company is working on ways of boosting the distance that electric vehicles can travel before recharging and has contracts with Smith Electric Vehicles and Skoda. It has also been working with Transport for London on ways of powering an electric double-decker bus. Proton Power was founded in 1998 by Dr Nahab and staff from Siemens.