Because tomorrow’s a public holiday, and I – like most Australians – will be flat out in hardcore relaxation mode for Straya Day, we’re wrapping up the week a day early.
The good news is that it’s been a pretty solid week for local investors – over the past four days, almost every sector finished the four-day week well into positive territory, with Health Care and Financials out in front, around a very handsome +3.0%.
At a more granular level, the big banks did well this week, ahead of the release of the Big Four’s quarterlies that are expected to arrive in short order.
From there, the winnings got progressively smaller by market cap this week, with the ASX 20 outperforming each of the broader valuation-based indices, while the rush this week on mining stocks was reflected in the XJR ASX 200 Resources index cropping up near the top of the list around +2.25% for the week.
So… on balance, it’s been a pretty good few days for local investors – now it’s time to check to see who the real stand out performers for the week were.
SMALL CAP WINNERS THIS WEEK
| Code | Company | Price | % Week | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JAV | Javelin Minerals Ltd | 0.002 | 100% | $2,450,593 |
| MSG | MCS Services | 0.018 | 80% | $3,565,794 |
| CG1 | Carbonxt Group | 0.1 | 64% | $30,325,278 |
| AUZ | Australian Mines Ltd | 0.012 | 50% | $11,340,592 |
| AYM | Australia United Mining | 0.003 | 50% | $5,527,732 |
| CBE | Cobre | 0.067 | 49% | $21,518,325 |
| KOB | Koba Resources | 0.14 | 47% | $14,758,333 |
| DTR | Dateline Resources | 0.013 | 44% | $15,954,674 |
| IPB | IPB Petroleum Ltd | 0.013 | 44% | $7,911,714 |
| HTG | Harvest Tech Grp Ltd | 0.02 | 43% | $12,001,377 |
| OD6 | Od6 Metals | 0.15 | 43% | $8,252,324 |
| NMR | Native Mineral Res | 0.027 | 42% | $5,663,264 |
| ZIP | ZIP Co Ltd | 0.74 | 36% | $725,057,482 |
| GMN | Gold Mountain Ltd | 0.004 | 33% | $9,076,314 |
| HLX | Helix Resources | 0.004 | 33% | $9,292,583 |
| PXX | Polarx Limited | 0.012 | 33% | $19,675,401 |
| SRY | Story-I Limited | 0.004 | 33% | $1,505,619 |
| WTM | Waratah Minerals Ltd | 0.1 | 33% | $15,683,272 |
| FG1 | Flynngold | 0.069 | 33% | $8,889,179 |
| FND | Findi Limited | 1.325 | 33% | $58,561,465 |
| FHS | Freehill Mining Ltd. | 0.013 | 30% | $37,359,848 |
| PHL | Propell Holdings Ltd | 0.013 | 30% | $1,203,555 |
| DEL | Delorean Corporation | 0.035 | 30% | $7,550,232 |
| BTH | Bigtincan Holdings | 0.225 | 29% | $120,169,353 |
| GGE | Grand Gulf Energy | 0.009 | 29% | $16,761,976 |
| PVW | PVW Res Ltd | 0.057 | 27% | $5,070,239 |
| CST | Castile Resources | 0.088 | 26% | $16,933,170 |
| ASV | Assetvisonco | 0.01 | 25% | $7,258,366 |
| CAV | Carnavale Resources | 0.005 | 25% | $17,117,759 |
| CHK | Cohiba Min Ltd | 0.0025 | 25% | $5,060,460 |
| PUA | Peak Minerals Ltd | 0.0025 | 25% | $3,124,130 |
| RNT | Rent.Com.Au Limited | 0.02 | 25% | $12,592,991 |
| SKN | Skin Elements Ltd | 0.005 | 25% | $2,947,430 |
| WEL | Winchester Energy | 0.0025 | 25% | $2,551,055 |
| XPN | Xpon Technologies | 0.025 | 25% | $6,982,988 |
| HUM | Humm Group Limited | 0.69 | 24% | $335,398,388 |
| OSM | Osmond Resources | 0.087 | 24% | $4,079,955 |
| PAA | Pharmaust Limited | 0.165 | 22% | $57,744,840 |
| RIM | Rimfire Pacific | 0.023 | 21% | $46,625,139 |
| ACW | Actinogen Medical | 0.029 | 21% | $55,375,442 |
| PLY | Playside Studios | 0.64 | 21% | $257,063,884 |
| GAS | State GAS Limited | 0.175 | 21% | $47,989,688 |
| CBY | Canterbury Resources | 0.03 | 20% | $5,152,227 |
| CT1 | Constellation Tech | 0.003 | 20% | $4,424,201 |
| HXG | Hexagon Energy | 0.012 | 20% | $5,642,075 |
| KP2 | Kore Potash PLC | 0.012 | 20% | $8,033,386 |
| M4M | Macro Metals Limited | 0.003 | 20% | $6,167,694 |
| MKR | Manuka Resources. | 0.084 | 20% | $42,384,005 |
| TMR | Tempus Resources Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | $4,141,740 |
| IOD | Iodm Limited | 0.275 | 20% | $167,067,385 |
At the risk of sounding rude, we can probably ignore Javelin Minerals (ASX:JAV) at the top of the ladder there – yes, it’s a 100% jump, but that was from $0.001 to $0.002 without any news to the ASX, so you could blame it on a gust of wind and no one would think any worse of you.
The jump for security (the big, punchy kind – not the stock market kind) company MCS Services is a little harder to explain. There was certainly a bit of interest around the company, enough to move the needle +80%, but in the interests of time, my sanity and accuracy, I’m not going to guess at why it happened. It just did.
It’s a similar kinda story for Carbonxt as well – big jump, no news, but at least this time, we have a letter from the company to the ASX outlining that they don’t have an explanation for the movement, either… so that’s that.
Australian Mines (ASX:AUZ) enjoyed rising fortunes this week, after neighbour Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE) shifted gears in Brazil’s east and announced an “accelerated” consolidation plan at the Rocha de Rocha Rare Earth Province.
Cobre went bananas thanks to BHP selecting the digger to participate in the 2024 BHP Xplor Program, which the company says will greatly assist the advancement of exploration plans on its Kalahari Copper Belt projects in Botswana. BHP (ASX:BHP) will supercharge Cobre with some US$500,000 in non-dilutive funding “to support and accelerate its exploration plans.”
SMALL CAP LAGGARDS THIS WEEK
| Code | Company | Price | % Week | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S3N | Sensore Ltd | 0.04 | -58% | $1,637,696 |
| AVW | Avira Resources Ltd | 0.001 | -50% | $4,267,580 |
| DCX | Discovex Res Ltd | 0.001 | -50% | $4,953,852 |
| APM | APM Human Services | 0.75 | -43% | $687,886,460 |
| PIM | Pinnacle Minerals | 0.125 | -38% | $4,506,205 |
| EDE | Eden Inv Ltd | 0.002 | -33% | $7,356,542 |
| GCR | Golden Cross | 0.002 | -33% | $2,194,512 |
| GES | Genesis Resources | 0.004 | -33% | $3,131,365 |
| LNR | Lanthanein Resources | 0.006 | -33% | $9,028,683 |
| LNU | Linius Tech Limited | 0.002 | -33% | $9,878,481 |
| MCT | Metalicity Limited | 0.002 | -33% | $8,970,108 |
| SLB | Stelar Metals | 0.14 | -33% | $7,337,110 |
| SUM | Summit Minerals | 0.07 | -33% | $4,384,456 |
| TD1 | Tali Digital Limited | 0.001 | -33% | $3,295,156 |
| WA8 | Warriedarresourltd | 0.04 | -33% | $21,437,720 |
| YPB | YPB Group Ltd | 0.002 | -33% | $1,580,923 |
| LM8 | Lunnon Metalsl | 0.31 | -33% | $67,312,513 |
| RNO | Rhinomed Ltd | 0.021 | -32% | $6,000,114 |
| APX | Appen Limited | 0.32 | -31% | $73,446,026 |
| MI6 | Minerals260Limited | 0.19 | -31% | $43,290,000 |
| NGY | Nuenergy Gas Ltd | 0.027 | -31% | $57,757,264 |
| IR1 | Irismetals | 0.51 | -31% | $68,627,040 |
| LRS | Latin Resources Ltd | 0.165 | -30% | $489,344,835 |
| AD1 | AD1 Holdings Limited | 0.005 | -29% | $4,493,242 |
| PRX | Prodigy Gold NL | 0.005 | -29% | $8,755,539 |
| GLA | Gladiator Resources | 0.023 | -28% | $14,220,827 |
| GRE | Greentechmetals | 0.26 | -28% | $19,789,276 |
| MRC | Mineral Commodities | 0.026 | -28% | $29,534,178 |
| CTM | Centaurus Metals Ltd | 0.3 | -28% | $143,508,714 |
| VTX | Vertexmin | 0.094 | -28% | $7,007,000 |
| HTA | Hutchison | 0.024 | -27% | $420,747,766 |
| JTL | Jayex Technology Ltd | 0.008 | -27% | $2,250,228 |
| PEC | Perpetual Res Ltd | 0.008 | -27% | $4,480,206 |
| POS | Poseidon Nick Ltd | 0.008 | -27% | $25,994,743 |
| TTT | Titomic Limited | 0.035 | -27% | $31,945,960 |
| CPN | Caspin Resources | 0.073 | -27% | $6,975,659 |
| KNB | Koonenberry Gold | 0.06 | -27% | $8,981,182 |
| NAN | Nanosonics Limited | 3.04 | -27% | $881,233,458 |
| ERW | Errawarra Resources | 0.061 | -27% | $5,755,240 |
| WC8 | Wildcat Resources | 0.39 | -26% | $490,293,630 |
| DGR | DGR Global Ltd | 0.014 | -26% | $18,786,483 |
| AAJ | Aruma Resources Ltd | 0.02 | -26% | $3,937,830 |
| CAZ | Cazaly Resources | 0.02 | -26% | $9,092,726 |
| COD | Coda Minerals Ltd | 0.1 | -26% | $14,237,137 |
| IND | Industrial Minerals | 0.39 | -26% | $24,753,600 |
| AKN | Auking Mining Ltd | 0.035 | -26% | $8,062,380 |
| CY5 | Cygnus Metals Ltd | 0.075 | -25% | $22,741,613 |
| CYQ | Cycliq Group Ltd | 0.003 | -25% | $1,072,550 |
| DXN | DXN Limited | 0.0015 | -25% | $2,153,340 |
| GT1 | Greentechnology | 0.15 | -25% | $50,760,336 |
HOW THE WEEK SHOOK OUT
Monday 22 January, 2024
Resource Mining Corporation (ASX:RMI) made early ground, climbing about 30% with gains most likely being driven by a sluggish market response to its news from last week about assay results from the Liparamba diamond drill program in Tanzania.
Resource told the market on 17 January that drilling had uncovered anomalous Ni-Cu values within a number of the drill holes, with 0.35-0.40% Ni and 0.20-0.23% Cu sulphide mineralisation occurring at 133-135m in hole LPDD009 among the highlights.
Also appearing to move belatedly was New Zealand King Salmon (ASX:NZK), staging a recovery from sharp end-of-the-week losses, on the heels of news that the company has received notice of a positive ‘aquaculture decision’ for Blue Endeavour from Fisheries New Zealand – which, in short, means that the project can go ahead.
RAS Technology Holdings (ASX:RTH) had big news, revealing that it’s entered into a partnership with global online casino and sportsbook Stake.com, which will see RTH provide an all-in-one “racing solution” to enable them to launch a racing offering to their extensive global customer base.
PharmAust (ASX:PAA) climbed well, too, as the market continued to digest its big news from last week that the company has partnered with leading MND/ALS clinical study design and statistical analysis specialists Berry Consultants, to get its Phase 2/3 study for monepantel in patients with Motor Neurone Disease (MND)/ Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) off the ground.
Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) informed the market that drilling is well underway at the company’s Colosseum Gold Mine in California, with the first hole now complete, which should allow Dateline to test down plunge extensions previous exploratory hole CM23-08, as well as test a revised sedimentary breccia model at the site.
Tuesday 23 January, 2024
Cobre (ASX:CBE) ended about 70% higher on Tuesday, after BHP selected the digger to participate in the 2024 BHP Xplor Program, which the company says will greatly assist the advancement of exploration plans on its Kalahari Copper Belt projects in Botswana.
BHP (ASX:BHP) will supercharge Cobre with some US$500,000 in non-dilutive funding “to support and accelerate its exploration plans.”
The Xplor Program provides not only with funding, but full access to BHP’s “deep expertise and global partnerships.”
Cobre intends to use the US$500,000 to advance its exploration programs by assessing and progressing targets which have the potential to host tier-one copper-silver deposits.
Exploration will focus on the newly identified fold hinge related trap-sites where mineralisation is expected to be upgraded, offering an opportunity for larger deposit formation.
Exactly the same thing happened to Hamelin Gold (ASX:HMG).
Managing director Peter Bewick, commenting on inclusion in the 2024 Xplor Program, was more than delighted.
“We are thrilled to have been selected to participate in the 2024 BHP Xplor program,” he said. “The identification of Ni-Cu-PGE mineralised, mafic-ultramafic intrusions by the Company in mid-2023 was a first for the Tanami region.”
Bewick says the BHP helping hand will facilitate the accelerated assessment of the nickel-copper-PGE potential of the region.
“The Xplor funded program will be completed in parallel to our ongoing gold exploration in the Tanami which includes a planned RC drill program at the Sultan prospect commencing in March-April 2024. This program is following up the identification through aircore drilling of extensive bedrock gold mineralization at Sultan announced earlier in January 2024.”
Also gaining strongly was True North Copper (ASX:TNC) after revealing it has signed binding offtake and toll-milling agreements with (Glencore) for its Cloncurry Copper Project up in Queensland.
Glencore is among the world’s largest natural resource companies and has signed up for 100% of the copper concentrate from TNC’s Cloncurry.
TNC will also provide toll-milling services, of up to 1 million tonnes of ore per year for the CCP’s Life of Mine (LoM).
Aside from the certainty of concentrate sales for the mine, TNC says it will be entitled to claim 20% Queensland State Royalty discount for all material processed through the Mt Isa Smelter.
True North MD Marty Costello says the agreements with an industry major such as Glencore marks a significant milestone … with CCP fully permitted and TNC on track to soon be in production for copper with CCP located in a Tier One jurisdiction.
Wednesday 24 January, 2023
Surefire Resources (ASX:SRN) hit a home run in the lab, with the company claiming a breakthrough pre-treatment and leach process that has allowed it to extract 91% of vanadium and 88% of titanium directly from Victory Bore magnetite concentrate.
It’s big news for Surefire, and stems from the company’s strategy of teaming up with METS Engineering in May last year, specifically to look into developing a better method of extraction, specifically for vanadium – as it appears that the ”unexpected extraction” of titanium during the process is a surprise bonus for the team.
The process is, as you’d expect, commercial in confidence – so, the specifics aren’t going to be made public just yet – and Surefire says it is subject to a Provisional Patent protection and remains solely the company’s IP.
Market minnow Eden Innovations (ASX:EDE) banked a 33.3% jump on the heels of a positive quarterly, which talked up “interest from a large multi-national company” in the company’s patented, core pyrolysis tech to make hydrogen and carbon nanotubes from natural gas without all that pesky CO2 as a by-product.
Eden reports that revenue for December quarter for its EdenCrete product is up 8% on PCP, however sales of its OptiBlend have fallen dramatically, down -93% – with a caveat that there are some significant sales negotiations underway in India at the moment.
And online retailer Harris Technology (ASX:HT8) has dropped its quarterly with the news that it has generated sales revenue of $4.9m through the December quarter, with thanks to an “increased contribution from the Household and Seasonal categories in line with the busy retail season through Black Friday, Christmas and Boxing Day”.
That was enough to drive a net operating cash inflow of $235,000 for the quarter, marking the second consecutive quarter and just pipping the previous three-month result of $226,000.
Later in the day, Harvest Technology Group (ASX:HTG) spiked on news that its received both second and third orders for its Nodestream technology from its significant Five-Eyes defence customer, in the total amount of approximately $380,000 – which has reportedly been paid up-front, and in cash.
And Flynn Gold (ASX:FG1) enjoyed a late surge after lunch, after the results from an Extraordinary General Meeting were published, days out from the extended deadline of the company’s in-progress share purchase plan.
Thursday 25 January, 2024
Up the pointy end of the Small Caps was NeuRizer (ASX:NRZ), showing a 100% jump after some to-ing and fro-ing with the ASX over disclosures by the company in the lead-up to it releasing its quarterly and Appendix 5B on 18 January.
It’s all very complicated and I don’t have the time to completely unpack it here, but the short version is that there have been some legislative and oversight changes affecting the NeuRizer Urea Project, which in turn has had a knock-on effect on investment negotiations for NRZ.
The company has assured the ASX that it is solvent, and working through other potential investment options to keep the project on track.
Meanwhile, CuFe (ASX:CUF) has jumped 33% despite nothing to say to the ASX for a while, most likely on the back of renewed enthusiasm for copper among local investors.
Similarly, Castile Resources (ASX:CST) continued to whipsaw in value, up more than 28% today after shedding 18% in recent days, which in turn was a major step down from the 27% spike the company enjoyed between Friday and COB Monday.
Black Mountain Energy (ASX:BME) has posted a decent gain off the back of a crowd-pleasing quarterly that includes a little tidbit about the company’s divestment of its Half Moon project, which has brought in a pre-tax windfall of US$6,577,810.
Actinogen Medical enjoyed a solid run through the day, off the back of earlier news that a human Positron Emission Tomography (PET) study, confirming high levels of the company’s Xanamem target occupancy in the brain at safe, well tolerated, and biologically active doses, has been published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The company says the study confirms that Xanamem is a brain-penetrant inhibitor of the tissue cortisol synthesis enzyme, 11β-HSD1, with high levels of target occupancy at doses as low as 5mg – which is, I am assured, is a Good Thing.
Here’s how the 2024 ASX IPOs have performed
| Code | Name | IPO Price | Current Price | Return | Market cap | Listing date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KM1 | Kali Metals | 0.25 | 0.54 | 116% | $98,591,981 | 8/1/2024 |
| I88 | Infini Resources | 0.20 | 0.27 | 35% | $9,560,000 | 15/1/2024 |
IPOs we’re waiting for
Golden Globe Resources (ASX:GGR)
Expected listing: January 18, 2024
IPO:$6 million at 20 cents/share
The gold explorer with projects in Queensland, WA and NSW was down to list on the local bourse in October 2023. In the last four years, the company says it has acquired four projects with high prospectivity including Dooloo Creek and Alma in Queensland, Crossways in Western Australia, and Neila Creek in NSW.
GGR says each of these projects offers substantial opportunities for gold resources, including high-grade copper. The explorer has conducted extensive drilling and sampling at Dooloo Creek, yielding impressive results over the past two years.
There are plans for further drilling across all GGR projects, with an immediate focus on Neila Creek and ongoing efforts at Dooloo Creek.
K S Capital is lead manager of the float.
The post ASX Small Caps and IPO Weekly Wrap: A proper espresso of a week – short, strong and tasty appeared first on Stockhead.
