The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index (XSO) closed at 3,320.10 on Friday, down 18.20 points or 0.55%. Over the past five days, the index declined 1.05% or 35.20 points.
It could be a quiet for news this week as many of the country’s resource companies head to Diggers and Dealers in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia for the year’s biggest networking event. The event is in its 34th year and is still going strong.
Of course, the work being done by small cap companies continues and there’s plenty to like about this morning’s announcements which you can read about further throughout the day.
Alkane-Mandalay merger clears final hurdle
Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX:ALK, OTC:ALKEF) managing director and CEO Nic Earner confirmed that the company’s merger with Mandalay Resources will close on August 5. “Work on integration of the two companies has been underway since the original merger announcement, with the integration of our board and management teams we expect minimal impact on the operations in the coming months,” Earner said.
Nova reports strong gold recoveries from RPM test work
Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX:NVA, NASDAQ:NVA, OTC:NVAAF) has released promising metallurgical results from its RPM gold prefeasibility program. High-grade ore over 2 grams per tonne gold will feed directly into the carbon-in-pulp/carbon-in-leach (CIP/CIL) circuit. Lower-grade ore processed via ore sorting delivered a 4.33x upgrade from 1.32 g/t to 5.72 g/t gold in bulk testing.
Solis secures drilling permits for Ilo Este
Solis Minerals Ltd (ASX:SLM, TSX-V:SLMN, OTCQB:SLMFF) has received permits to start a 10-hole, 5,000 metre diamond drilling program at its Ilo Este copper-gold project in southern Peru. The project, located near the coast and key infrastructure, is targeting large-scale copper systems akin to those held by Southern Copper, Teck, and Anglo American.
Imugene delivers 79% response rate in lymphoma trial
Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) announced further positive results from its Phase 1b trial of azer-cel in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The trial has shown a 79% overall response rate, with six complete and five partial responses. Notably, the first patient dosed remains cancer-free at 15 months.
West Wits begins ore transfer ahead of first gold
West Wits Mining Ltd (ASX:WWI, OTCQB:WMWWF) has begun transferring stockpiled ore to the Ezulwini Processing Plant under its agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater. Subject to final funding, ore stockpiling will continue until mid-2026, with processing and the first gold pour anticipated thereafter.