While large cap shares such as South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) and Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) will take the headlines with their strong gains today, there have been equally strong gains being made at the small end of the market.
Three small cap shares climbing notably higher today are listed below. Here's why they are on the up:
The Blackham Resources Ltd (ASX: BLK) share price is up 4% to 7.7 cents. As well as benefiting from a rise in the gold price in recent days, this gold miner released a positive quarterly update this morning. According to the release, Blackham delivered a 38% increase in quarterly gold production during the March quarter to 20,631 ounces. This strong production result was driven by record gold production achieved in each successive month of the quarter. The miner achieved this with an all-in sustaining cost of A$1,092 an ounce, well below the average price realised of A$1,669/oz for the quarter.
The Ellex Medical Lasers Ltd (ASX: ELX) share price is up 5.5% to 87 cents after providing an update on the performance of its glaucoma business. According to the release, sales of Ellex iTrack were up 57% in the USA and 40% globally in the third quarter compared with the prior corresponding period. Global sales from the Ellex glaucoma business have now reached a record US$22.3 million during the first three quarters of FY 2018. After a difficult couple of years, I think there are signs that Ellex has now turned a corner.
The Lepidico Ltd (ASX: LPD) share price has risen 2.5% to 4.1 cents on Monday after the junior lithium company announced that a lower capital and operating cost development option has been identified for the brownfield expansion of the Alvarrões pegmatite mine in Portugal. This could be a big win for the $115 million company and puts it in a position to cost-effectively maximise the potential of the Alvarrões pegmatite deposit. But it is still early days and more work must be undertaken before everything is confirmed.
