One of today's reports by Proactive Investors took a close look at the results from the second borehole at Sirius Minerals’ (LON:SXX) York potash project, which suggested that the project’s economics could be significantly improved.
Coring of SM2 has confirmed two thick and potentially high grade seams, the upper or "Shelf" seam and the lower or "Basin" seam.
The hole intersected 67 metres of total massive polyhalite mineralisation, of which 33 metres are in the materially shallower Shelf bed that is currently being mined at the Boulby mine nearby.
Meanwhile, two of today's main stories were dedicated to technology investor ANGLE (LON:AGL) and Iraqi Kurdistan operating oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LON:GKP), whose statements generated the most interest in London this morning.
ANGLE said the potentially revolutionary cancer cell separation device being developed by its portfolio company Parsortix has separated cells in blood from a patient, while Gulf Keystone the Shaikan-4 may be the best well it has logged to date.
In the latest operations update the group said it achieved a flow rate of 4,970 barrels and 7 million standard cubic feet of gas a day from a thin zone at the bottom of the lower-lying Kurre Chine B formation.
Other oil and gas stocks that had news to report today included Magnolia Petroleum (LON:MAGP), which said the drilling of the Eckelberg 14-23H and 14-23TFH wells is now underway.
Marathon Oil is the operator of the wells and last month, Magnolia revealed it was participating in both wells.
Magnolia's chief operating officer Rita Whittington said she was aware of the growing interest in the firm's operations.
"We are looking forward to receiving the results from these two wells. We believe they will illustrate the transformational effects technological advancements have had on recovery and flow rates of the already prolific Bakken / Three Forks Sanish basins in North Dakota.”
Fellow oil company Rockhopper Exploration (LON:RKH) emerged among the top performers in the sector after Anadarko Petroleum joined the list of potential partners or acquirers for the Falklands oil firm.
Reports yesterday suggested the American oil major is ‘considering a move’ for Rockhopper and that a team had been sent to meet with the company in Port Stanley.
“We believe that Rockhopper's assets are of the same geological family as Anadarko's assets on the East Coast of Africa. We are therefore not surprised that Anadarko is taking a serious look a Rockhopper,” Merchant Securities analyst Brendan Long said in a note to clients.
“Anadarko's involvement in the project would represent an American interest in the assets which would dispel political risks.”
This is the second report in as many weeks to speculate on Rockhopper’s future. A week ago reports suggested that Cairn Energy was also considering buying either a stake in Rockhopper’s acreage or possibly buy the company outright.
Later in the session, Proactive Investors published an in-depth article dedicated to Arian Silver (LON:AGQ, CVE:AGQ). The report said the group’s share price gives little clue to the good year for exploration, development and production enjoyed by the Mexico-focused silver miner.
A diamond drill programme completed last year doubled JORC-compliant inferred and indicated resources at its key San Jose project from approximately 44 million to more than 88 million ounces of silver.
Additional lead and zinc by-products raised the silver-equivalent resource to more than 100 million ounces.
This month, the company revealed that results from its latest stage of exploration drilling had found more multiple high grade silver intercepts along the San José Vein (SJV), including 6.97 metres with 259 grammes per tonne (g/t) silver and 2.59 metres with 270 g/t silver.
The company said the findings supported the potential for a large scale resource along the SJV first revealed by results from 24 holes of this current phase drilled last year.