The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (ASX: XSO) finished Friday at 3,517.10 points, down 24.30 points or 0.69% for the session. Over the past five trading days, the small-cap benchmark has lost 27.00 points, or 0.76%, leaving the index at 3,517.10. Against the softer small-cap market backdrop, several ASX-listed companies provided operational, exploration and corporate updates, spanning helium and gas drilling in South Africa, gold exploration in Western Australia, a proposed share buy-back and copper-nickel-PGE exploration.
D3 Energy Ltd (ASX:D3E, OTCQX:DNRGF) expects drilling crews to remobilise at its 100%-owned ER315 permit in South Africa's Free State after adverse weather temporarily interrupted operations at the Nooitgedacht two-well program. Both NGT245 E and NGT245 D had reached total depth before operations were suspended and the drilling crew demobilised. The company said operations were expected to resume as planned and remain within budget.
Once the crew returns, production casing will be run and cemented in both wells, followed by drilling out the cement plugs and cleaning up each well bore. Subject to completing those activities, D3 Energy expects production testing at NGT245 E to begin in the coming weeks. The program will include flow testing and gas sample compositional analysis, with results to be released to the market once available.
Astral Resources NL (ASX:AAR) has reported assay results from another 3 diamond drill holes at the Theia deposit within its 100%-owned Mandilla Gold Project, around 70 kilometres south of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. A diamond drill rig is continuing to test the Theia Deeps area for extensions below the current mineral resource estimate. Astral said the program was designed to establish the potential broader scale of the Theia mineral system.
Following results from the program to date, the company has expanded drilling to 21 holes for around 11,000 metres, with additional holes planned to test high-grade extensions to the existing Theia resource at depth and along strike. Surefire Resources NL (ASX:SRN, FRA:GBL) intends to undertake an on-market share buy-back of up to 15 million ordinary shares, representing around 8.3% of its fully paid shares on issue. Based on the previous closing share price, Surefire estimated the cash cost of acquiring the full 15 million shares at around $345,000.
Executive chair Vladimir Nikolaenko said the board believed the company's current share price did not reflect the underlying value of its assets and viewed the buy-back as an opportunity to acquire shares at a discount. Dalaroo Metals Ltd (ASX:DAL) has completed Stage 1 of a systematic soil sampling program at the Watheroo copper-nickel-PGE prospect within its 100%-owned Watheroo Project in Western Australia's mid-north wheatbelt. The program involved 106 soil samples designed to test extensions of previously identified historical copper and nickel soil anomalies.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
