Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning everyone, and welcome to 03 May, 2024 – an important date in ancient astronomy, as it was on this day in 1374BC (so, like… 3,400 years ago) that there was a lunar eclipse.

We know this, because it was seen by Mesopotamian astronomers, who wrote “On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance.”

Ancient Egyptian astronomers also saw it, but they wrote “Bird. Bird. All Seeing Eye. Man Walking Backwards” which doesn’t translate nearly as well.

Luckily for you, you won’t need to cower from the disappearing sun in mortal fear, nor will you need a torch to find the info you need to get today off to the best possible start, as Jess Cummins looks at whether lithium carbonite prices are really going to triple by the end of the year, and Cam Drummond’s looks into who’s prepping to follow BHP into the wilds of the South American copper boom.

And Eddy Sunarto’s done a cracking job of laying out the land in the US, where it’s looking like all your legal weed dreams are closer than ever to reality.

Plus there’s all the data and digits and highlights listed below to help prep you for what’s very likely to be Friday, unless I’m horribly mistaken.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,304.35 (-0.60%)

Silver: US$26.36 (-1.08%)

Nickel (3mth): US$18,618.53/t (-1.85%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,826.07/t (+0.36%)

Oil (WTI): US$79.55 (+0.70%)

Oil (Brent): US$84.10 (+0.80%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$117.27/t (+5.37%)

AUD/USD: 0.6530 (-0.04%)

Bitcoin: US$57,703.10 (-0.97%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

There’s a lot happening up the big end of town, and Josh Chiat’s Monsters of Rock had the guts of it covered yesterday. Here’s a link, in case you missed it.

#ASX Monsters of Rock:
Rio Tinto leaves investors guessing on M&A thoughts in mild Brisbane AGM
Northern Star adds to #resources and reserves in ho-hum exploration update
Meteoric rises on rare earths (#REEs) supply MoU https://t.co/gP1kAm1qt4

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) May 2, 2024

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap LSR Lodestar Minerals 0.002 100% 865,705 $2,023,397 VPR Volt Power Group 0.002 50% 1,091,119 $10,716,208 KTA Krakatoa Resources 0.016 45% 39,942,102 $5,193,179 TRI Trivarx Ltd 0.035 35% 15,197,046 $8,800,446 HLX Helix Resources 0.004 33% 6,232,755 $6,969,438 NAE New Age Exploration 0.004 33% 5,288,000 $5,381,697 CUF Cufe Ltd 0.015 25% 2,698,228 $13,753,348 SEN Senetas Corporation 0.015 25% 1,047,419 $18,855,400 GBE Globe Metals &Mining 0.050 25% 710,866 $27,034,704 1AG Alterra Limited 0.005 25% 564,336 $3,448,586 BLZ Blaze Minerals Ltd 0.005 25% 888,835 $2,514,233 CAQ CAQ Holdings Ltd 0.010 25% 2,500 $5,742,290 SIH Sihayo Gold Limited 0.003 25% 7,137,238 $24,408,512 CR9 Corellares 0.021 24% 124,617 $7,906,571 ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.022 22% 23,075,896 $17,242,728 IRX Inhalerx Limited 0.039 22% 29,629 $6,072,543 HTG Harvest Tech Grp Ltd 0.023 21% 1,482,845 $15,425,299 RRR Revolverresources 0.096 20% 576,505 $20,769,941 BPH BPH Energy Ltd 0.025 19% 16,212,855 $23,048,512 M4M Macro Metals Limited 0.019 19% 15,859,653 $51,713,068 AHK Ark Mines Limited 0.165 18% 16,181 $7,762,498 PVT Pivotal Metals Ltd 0.020 18% 6,626,890 $11,970,011 WSI Weststar Industrial 0.135 17% 856,778 $12,738,002 CHW Chilwaminerals 0.450 17% 168,489 $17,661,875 RNT Rent.Com.Au Limited 0.035 17% 330,508 $18,889,487

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Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Cracking the top of the small caps market on Thursday was critical minerals-hunting junior Krakatoa Resources (ASX:KTA), smashing through on news that the company has identified a promising new niobium-REE gravity target at the Mt Clere tenement, located in the northwestern margins of the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia.

It’s an extensive, 40km long target catchment area with potential for alkaline intrusive systems including carbonatites, and the company says that infill soil sampling is underway, so we can expect further updates soon-ish.

Pivotal Metals (ASX:PVT) said it’s concentrating its efforts in Quebec, Canada, eschewing the usual trendy lithium search in that region in favour of copper, nickel, and PGMs. First assay results from the first two of 34 diamond drill holes are back from its 100% owned Horden Lake project. It’s hit some thick copper zones, with Cu-Ni-Au-PGM-Co mineralisation, including 37.5m at 1.31% Cu equivalent.

Vinyl Group (ASX:VNL) was up on news that that Songtradr has issued a conversion notice for a portion of its Tranche #2 convertible note, increasing its beneficial ownership in VNL to 19.95%. The company says that Songtradr will convert a principal balance of $1,629,351 into 77,588,162 ordinary shares in VNL at the conversion price of $0.021 per share, with Songtradr CEO Paul Wiltshire saying his company is “very impressed with the strategic progress and discipline Josh and the team at Vinyl Group have shown over the last year”.

Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI) said it has entered into a non-binding MoU with Neo Performance Materials (TSX:NEO) for an offtake of 3,000 metric tonnes total rare earth oxide (TREO) per year from its Caldeira Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, to supply Neo’s magnet manufacturing plant. The deal allows a right of first refusal for Neo to purchase additional MREC (mixed rare earth carbonate) that Meteoric produces from the Caldeira Project in excess of 6,000 MT TREO per year, on similar terms.

Augustus Minerals (ASX:AUG) has been granted a co-funded drilling grant of up to $110,000 for 2x 700m deep diamond drill holes under the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) for the Minnie Springs prospect. The deeper diamond drill program is designed to test and to provide a 550m deep, 1km wide geological/geochemical/structural cross-section through the large 3km long by 1km wide copper moly porphyry system, linking the Mo mineralised leucogranite to the extensive Cu in soil anomaly to the northeast.

Insignia Financial (ASX:IFL) said Funds Under Management and Administration (FUMA) increased by $11.7 billion (+3.9%) to $312.3 billion as at 31 March. Total net outflows for the quarter were $1.7 billion, largely reflecting the transitory impact of execution of wrap platform consolidation.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.001 -33% 875,024 $11,677,324 YPB YPB Group Ltd 0.002 -33% 1,366,667 $2,371,384 SGC Sacgasco Ltd 0.006 -31% 12,891,428 $6,237,497 ICG Inca Minerals Ltd 0.005 -29% 770,000 $5,633,172 EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.002 -25% 275,729 $7,356,542 GCM Green Critical Min 0.003 -25% 117,005 $4,546,340 JAV Javelin Minerals Ltd 0.002 -25% 87,550 $4,352,462 LPD Lepidico Ltd 0.003 -25% 4,055,714 $30,553,232 BAP Bapcor Limited 4.370 -24% 10,274,381 $1,961,804,250 CAG Caperangeltd 0.098 -22% 501 $11,863,538 VRX VRX Silica Ltd 0.055 -21% 2,885,326 $40,836,498 MTB Mount Burgess Mining 0.002 -20% 7,143 $2,612,034 RML Resolution Minerals 0.002 -20% 1,151,076 $4,025,055 ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.004 -20% 13,093,682 $27,111,136 BCT Bluechiip Limited 0.007 -19% 500,000 $8,806,134 TOU Tlou Energy Ltd 0.035 -19% 31,523 $54,615,730 AU1 The Agency Group Aus 0.031 -18% 83,835 $16,285,910 MCL Mighty Craft Ltd 0.009 -18% 4,180,434 $4,016,454 SRK Strike Resources 0.058 -17% 2,507,122 $19,862,500 AKN Auking Mining Ltd 0.020 -17% 544,031 $5,648,489 AYT Austin Metals Ltd 0.005 -17% 137,006 $7,711,148 BFC Beston Global Ltd 0.005 -17% 2,176,026 $11,982,281 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.005 -17% 125,000 $12,571,482 NMR Native Mineral Res 0.020 -17% 286,908 $5,036,412 AER Aeeris Ltd 0.066 -15% 14,940 $5,695,081

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