Small caps round-up: Caza, Tower Resources, Noventa...

Mining firm Noventa says that operations have suffered from a "plague" of beetles as a result of tropical storms which have hit the firm's Marropino site in Mozambique over the past 10 days. The Rove Beetle is very poisonous and around 30% of the workforce at Marropino have been affected by the severe skin and eye irritations caused by coming into contact with the insects. The firm was keen to emphasise that an effective treatment has now been administered and a pesticide is being sprayed to erradicate the infestation. Progress at Marropino has been delayed and is set to start in March, a delay of around a month. Shares dropped 2.78% to 17.5p.

Caza Oil & Gas announced potential plans to horizontally drill its lease blocks further, paying particular attention to the Bone Spring Formation. "We are currently evaluating the production potential of the Bone Spring horizontal play and how it might impact our current New Mexico acreage position. This may also impact our 2012 drill plan when evaluated against the rest of our prospect/property inventory," the firm said. Shares were up 7.41% to 10.88p.

Oil and gas firm Tower Resources is set to begin drilling the Mvule-1 well within the next six to nine days, with preparation near completion. The well is set to reach 500m within two weeks of drilling, with an estimated recoverable resource potential of 80m barrels. Shares rose 5.26% to 4.00p.

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ValirRx, the AIM-listed life sciences firm, has been granted a patent approval for a cancer screening test acquired by its subsidiary ValiFinn. The test is part of an already well-developed cancer-screening test and ValiRx is now in a position to begin production of it, alongside marketing. Shares jumped 28.18% to 0.7p.

Connemara Mining has announced a joint venture with Hendrick Resources, a private Canadian exploration company, to explore four licences held by Connemara on the Wicklow/Wexford border. An extensive gold database exists on these licences and they are known to be prospective for gold. Hendrick will spend €500,000 to earn a 50% interest in the licences and has the option to spend a further €500,000 to increase its stake to 75% of the joint venture. Shares leapt 22.67% to 11.5p.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Amphion Innovations, a developer of medical and technology businesses, has won patent approval for 20 of its US patents that recently underwent re-exexamination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The firm said the positive news was "an important part of further validating our outstanding patents". Shares were up 16.67% to 4.38p.

India-focused oil and gas explorer Oilex has reduced its pre-tax losses for the half year ended December 31st from $8.5m to $2.6m. Revenues were down from $0.87m to $0.15m year-on-year. In 2011 the firm made a gain of $0.3m as a result of foreign exchange, compared to a loss of $2.8m the previous year, which made a significant impact on the pre-tax loss. Cash halved year-on-year from $20m to $10.5m. Shares gained 9.52% to 14.38p.

Medical staff provider Healthcare Locums has appointed a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). 46-year-old Sue Bygrave will replace Bill Jesup, Interim CFO, who will step down on publication of the financial accounts for the year ended December 31st 2011. Shares rose 16.67% to 3.5p.