The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries moved lower after the opening bell as weakness across the broader Australian market continued to weigh on smaller companies.
Just as the market opened the XSO was down 6.8 points, or 0.2%, at 3,340.30. It opened at 3,347.10, briefly reached 3,352.80 and then fell to an early low of 3,336.90.
The index has now declined 3.3%, or 114.6 points, over five sessions. The ASX 200 was down 0.5% at 8,707.80, while the All Ordinaries fell 0.4% to 8,885.70.
Against the weaker market backdrop, small-cap companies reported drilling progress, expanding commercial footprints and upcoming exploration programs across gold, diagnostics and oncology.
Pilbara Gold delivers wide Mt York intersections
Pilbara Gold Ltd (ASX:PGL) has reported further wide, high-grade results from drilling at its 2.1-million-ounce Mt York Gold Project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Results from Main Hill included 5 metres at 7.91 g/t gold from 29 metres, incorporating 2 metres at 15.65 g/t, and 13 metres at 3.13 g/t from 297 metres, including 4 metres at 8.37 g/t.
Another hole returned 23 metres at 2.11 g/t gold from 11 metres, including 5 metres at 7.04 g/t.
At Breccia Hill, drilling intersected 17 metres at 3.21 g/t gold from 349 metres, including 4 metres at 9.51 g/t, and 31 metres at 1.91 g/t from 25 metres, including 3 metres at 10.91 g/t.
Pilbara Gold has completed 36,600 metres, or about 60%, of its planned drilling program of more than 60,000 metres.
The current work is focused on increasing resource confidence ahead of a new mineral resource estimate and maiden reserve estimate for the Mt York pre-feasibility study.
Critical infill drilling is scheduled for completion in October, followed by deeper resource and extensional drilling from November. The updated resource remains targeted for early 2027, with the pre-feasibility study expected during the first half of that year.
Resolution records highest Horse Heaven gold grade
Resolution Minerals Ltd (ASX:RML, OTCQB:RLMLF, FRA:NC3) has returned the highest gold grade recorded to date in drilling at its Horse Heaven Antimony-Tungsten-Gold-Silver Project in Idaho.
Drilling at Golden Gate South produced 1 metre at 14.8 g/t gold and 12 g/t silver from 62.1 metres within a broader intersection of 7.2 metres at 2.35 g/t gold.
A second hole returned 10.2 metres at 1.83 g/t gold from 58.05 metres, including 3.9 metres at 3.19 g/t and 1 metre at 7 g/t.
Significant gold mineralisation has now been identified in all six holes reported from the southernmost drill section, expanding the mineralised zone at Golden Gate South to approximately 600 metres wide.
The higher-grade intervals may represent feeder structures within the broader mineralised system, providing new targets for follow-up work.
Resolution recently completed 42 diamond holes for 12,236 metres at Golden Gate. Gold and tungsten assays remain pending for another 36 holes.
Lumos expands FebriDx rollout
Lumos Diagnostics Holdings Ltd (ASX:LDX, OTC:LDXHF) has increased the number of US sites using its FebriDx point-of-care diagnostic test to 215, up from 170 in July.
The number of sites actively evaluating FebriDx has risen from 350 to 405.
Two additional top-100 US urgent-care groups, both operated by major health systems, have moved into network rollout. FebriDx will be deployed across more than 40 combined sites.
Another two top-100 urgent-care groups are undertaking clinical and economic validation across more than 45 sites.
Lumos is targeting the 100 largest US urgent-care groups, which account for an estimated 40% of the country’s urgent-care sites.
The existing live-site network spans 26 states and serves an estimated 900,000 to 1.2 million acute respiratory illness visits annually. Lumos previously reported payment coverage exceeding 90% at US$41.38 per test.
FebriDx is designed to help clinicians distinguish bacterial from viral acute respiratory infections and support more appropriate antibiotic prescribing.
NewPeak prepares Las Opeñas follow-up drilling
NewPeak Metals Ltd (ASX:NPM, OTC:NPMFF, FRA:NPM)has secured a drilling rig for a second-phase diamond program at its wholly owned Las Opeñas Gold Project in Argentina’s San Juan Province.
The minimum 1,000-metre program is scheduled to begin in mid-October and will be fully funded from NewPeak’s recently completed placement.
Drilling will test the interpreted higher-grade gold core west of the company’s recent discovery holes, where mineralisation remains open towards the west-southwest.
Previous results included 663 metres at 0.42 g/t gold equivalent from surface. That intersection contained 283 metres at 0.67 g/t gold equivalent from 7 metres.
Another hole returned 657 metres at 0.30 g/t gold equivalent from surface, including 117 metres at 0.60 g/t from 77 metres.
NewPeak may expand the program depending on observations from the drill core, rig availability and funding.
Prescient extends share purchase plan
Prescient Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:PTX)has extended the closing date of its share purchase plan from September 15 to 5pm AEST on Friday, September 18.
The extension follows requests from shareholders who experienced delays receiving their application documents. All eligible Prescient directors have participated in the offer.
New shares are priced at $0.065, representing an 18.8% discount to the 10-day volume-weighted average price before the plan was announced.
Eligible shareholders can apply for up to $30,000 of shares.
Prescient expects to announce the results on September 24, issue the new shares on September 25 and commence trading on September 28.
The company is developing PTX-100 for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma alongside its OmniCAR and CellPryme cell-therapy platforms.