Shares of Ashton Mining jumped 28% to hit a year-high on Wednesday Nov. 21, as investors applauded fresh funding for the diamond exploration company and recent encouraging results from some Ashton-owned properties, Reuters reported.

Ashton stock was up 35 Canadian cents at C$1.60 on the Toronto Stock Exchange (U.S.$1.00) on a volume of 224,000 shares just before the close on Nov. 21.

On Monday, Ashton increased a previously announced $3 million private placement financing to $8 million, and said its major shareholder, a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian miner Rio Tinto Plc, would subscribe for half the issue, Reuters reported.

“Basically, we’ve got two properties that are both quite high profile, and then you combine that with quite a significant financing. All that in combination is the reason why it’s going higher,” analyst Wendell Zerb, of Pacific International Securities told Reuters.

JCK