Small Cap Monitor: Rex Minerals Shines On Debut

Sydney, Sep 21, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Shares in Rex Minerals (RXM), which has several heavyweight mining companies on its share register, rose as much as 40% on their first day of trade on the Australian Stock Exchange. Although volumes were thin, it was a windfall for those who purchased the stock at the offer price of 25 cents and sold at the intraday high of 35 cents. The stock eased back to close at 30 cents.The $7 million initial public offering attracted some large players in the resources sectors, with names such as Avoca Resources and Lihir Gold having substantial stakes in the exploration firm.Rex Managing Director Steven Olsen said the successful float reflected the strong interest and support for the company's projects and the quality of its management team."The company will now focus on its first drilling programs in both South Australia and Victoria," Olsen said.Rex Minerals, an emerging Victorian-based exploration company, is focused on two copper-gold projects in South Australia and two gold projects in Victoria."The company also owns two historical goldfields in Victoria, which are prospective for high grade gold mineralisation," the company said. ..................Progen Pharmaceuticals (PGL) said it has been granted special regulatory benefits by a European authority for a compound it is trialling to treat liver cancer, initially pushing up its shares.The authority has granted it an "orphan product designation" for its PI-88 compound, which Progen plans to start a Phase III trial towards the end of 2007.An orphan product designation is granted to drugs intended to treat life-threatening diseases.The designation may provide a regulatory approved drug exclusivity for 10 years.Shares in Progen, which posted an underling loss for fiscal 2007, closed down almost 1 percent to $3.37, having earlier risen as much as 9% after the announcement was released.Progen said last month it has the cash reserves to conduct its last-round trial....................Central Asia Resources (CVR) said it has discovered new gold mineralised zones near its Kengir prospect in Kazakhstan, propelling it shares up by as much as 22% on Thursday.The company said it planned to resume drilling for further tests in October. "The discovery signifies a potential to increase the existing resource tonnage and ounces," the company said. Shares in Central Asia closed up 3 cents, or 18.8%, at 19 cents each.Chief Executive Kevin Malaxos said the October work will further test the continuity of mineralisation in the two zones with completion scheduled in the December quarter.Central Asia's project areas have access to established road, rail and telecommunications infrastructure and are close to Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan.The company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange last July....................Marginbet (MRB) was under pressure on its second day as a listed company, with shares in the online sports betting company falling as much as 24%.The stock closed at 13.5 cents apiece, down 3.5 cents or 21%.It was issued at an offer price of 20 cents a share. Maginbet Chief executive Stephen Hobbs said on Wednesday there were significant opportunities for growth in the internet gambling market, particularly internationally."In the coming year, we plan to introduce a new sports betting medium known as spread betting or index betting," Hobbs said."This type of betting is very popular in the UK and Europe."Marginbet Director David Gray said that the company wasn't profitable yet.He said sports betting was not as popular in Australia as it was in the UK, largely because the resources boom had tended to overshadow any other sector in the local market."Now the business has its funding, we're seeking to grow the active clients and start achieving the theoretical win ratio that sports betting businesses bank on," Gray said.



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