• ASX opens lower as US rate expectations weigh
  • NAB faces lawsuit, banks hit by new levy
  • Alderan jumps on copper drilling hit in the US

 

The ASX has turned around to a positive gain at the halfway mark on Monday after earlier tracking Friday’s sell-off on Wall Street.

At 1.05pm AEST, the S&P/ASX 200 Index was up around 0.02%.

Of the 11 ASX sectors, six were flashing red, with Utilities leading and Healthcare lagging.

 

Source: Market Index

 

Big banks also faced headwinds today, with National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) falling 2% after news broke that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) was suing the bank for breaching the National Credit Code over a five-year period.

The market also reacted to a new rural bank levy, which is expected to impact major banks and potentially costing them $250 million in total.

Miners were doing well this morning, particularly goldies,  as investors bought on dips. Uranium and aluminium stocks were also higher.

 

Source: MarketIndex

 

Energy stocks even fared better with coal plays Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) and New Hope Corp (ASX:NHC) both seeing gains.

Still in large caps, shares in the family-focused app Life360 (ASX:360) slid over 7% after CEO and co-founder Chris Hulls sold 1.2% of his stake in the company. 

Hulls explained that he was looking to diversify his financial portfolio and allocate more resources to philanthropic endeavours, pledging to donate a portion of his shares to charity.

Meanwhile, Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) slumped almost 4% after the company agreed to pay $160 million to the government of Mali in a bid to resolve the ongoing conflict where its CEO and staff are still being detained.

 

NOT THE ASX

Wall Street had a sharp fall last Friday, ending a week of losses as the excitement from the ‘Trump bump’ faded. 

US stocks sank after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed is in no rush to cut interest rates.

The Dow Jones dropped 0.7%, while the S&P 500 lost 1%, and the Nasdaq fell over 2%. 

Big tech companies, which had been on a strong run, were hit particularly hard.

Vaccine stocks including Moderna and Pfizer were also down after reports that Trump is considering appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr – a known anti-vaccine activist – to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Bitcoin meanwhile remained hot, trading above US$90,125 at the time of writing.

At the ASIC Annual Forum last week, Joe Longo, chair of ASIC, labelled the Bitcoin rally a classic example of the “bigger fool theory” –where investors buy in, simply hoping to sell to someone else at a higher price. No matter how high Bitcoin runs, the asset class will always have plenty of critics. 

 

ASX SMALL CAP WINNERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for November 18 [intraday]:

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Alderan Resources (ASX:AL8) has confirmed the potential for a near-surface copper deposit at its New Years prospect in Utah, US, following promising drilling results. The company’s drilling at New Years intersected high-grade copper oxide, including 26m at 1.3% copper, with a section showing 8m at 2.8% copper. This confirms the presence of copper mineralisation in the area, consistent with historical drilling results.

The copper is found in tourmaline breccia, the same rock type that hosts the nearby Cactus copper-gold deposit. Alderan has identified 12 additional targets for follow-up drilling based on detailed geophysical data, with plans for further exploration and mapping to extend the mineralisation.

VRX Silica (ASX:VRX)  said the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of Western Australia had accepted and published the company’s Response to Submissions (RtS) for its Arrowsmith North Silica Sand Project. This marks a significant step in the environmental approval process, with the EPA now set to complete its formal assessment.

VRX has been invited to attend an EPA board meeting on November 21, where the board will review the draft assessment report and discuss remaining issues. Following this, the EPA will finalise its report and make a recommendation to the minister for the environment, with a decision expected within 12 weeks. 

Spectur (ASX:SP3) has secured a three-year contract worth $787,428 with Transport for NSW for the supply of cameras and analytic services. The contract includes options to extend for up to nine years, potentially bringing the total value to $2.6 million. 

It covers 23 existing locations and new fixed sites, along with mobile trailer systems. The contract is expected to start in January 2025 and replaces a smaller, ongoing contract.

This contract win is part of Spectur’s strong growth, with total sales for the year already reaching $4.18 million, a 90% increase compared with the same period last year. 

Lightning Minerals (ASX:L1M) has discovered spodumene in a pegmatite at its Esperança project in Brazil. Early results from fieldwork show up to 4.04% lithium oxide (Li2O) in the spodumene crystals.

The discovery provides a promising drill target for a fully funded drilling campaign set to begin in Q1 2025. The find was made during ongoing exploration activities, including geological mapping and soil sampling, and supports the company’s belief in the region’s potential for lithium. Further results from the other project areas in Brazil are expected in the coming weeks.

Memphasys (ASX:MEM) said it has reached a significant milestone in its clinical trial for the Felix System, with 95% of the patient recruitment now complete. The trial is expected to finish by the end of the year, providing crucial data to support the system’s market launch.

The trial aims to show that the Felix System is better at selecting sperm than traditional methods, which will help fertility clinics adopt it. The company is focused on obtaining CE mark approval for faster entry into European markets, with plans to expand into other regions like India and Australia. 

Warriedar Resources (ASX:WA8) has updated its Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Ricciardo Gold Deposit, showing a significant increase of 99% in contained gold ounces. The deposit now holds 16.44 million tonnes at 1.8 g/t gold, equating to 947.5 koz of gold. This increase was achieved with efficient drilling, adding over 470,000 ounces at a discovery cost of around $16 per ounce.

The resource includes 467.5 koz of open-pit gold and 480 koz from an underground gold resource. Importantly, the company said,  Ricciardo deposit remains open for further exploration, with additional growth potential along the 25km ‘Golden Corridor’. 

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CUV) has announced a strategic shift in its research focus, temporarily halting its studies into stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and xeroderma pigmentosum.

Instead, the company will now concentrate on three key areas: vitiligo (a skin disorder), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) treatments, and porphyrias (a group of rare blood disorders). This realignment of its clinical pipeline follows a detailed review of its portfolio and is part of a broader effort to streamline its resources and focus on areas with the most promising potential for commercialisation.

 

ASX SMALL CAP LOSERS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for November 18 [intraday]:

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Hastings Technology Metals (ASX:HAS) was down 4% despite Twiggy Forrest’s Wyloo Metals withdrawing a debt default notice against the company offering a lifeline to the struggling rare earths company. The deal, which centres on a restructuring of loan terms, has temporarily alleviated the financial pressure on Hastings, which had just $9.9 million in cash as of September 30.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Emma Davies reports that:

Mako Gold’s (ASX:MKG) directors have accepted the takeover offer by Aurum Resources (ASX:AUE), announced back in October, which proposes the creating of an exploration and development gold business in West Africa to advance MKG’s Napié and AUE’s Boundiali project.

The combined group will be pursuing its growth strategy from a position of greater market scale, underpinned by a strong cash balance of $20 million and lower consolidated cost base.

Per comments made by Mako MD Peter Ledwidge in October:

“We have always believed our Napié project has potential to host multi-million ounces of gold, and pleasingly, due to relative sizes of Mako and Aurum, upon close of the proposed merger, Mako security holders will remain a meaningful part of the expanded group, and therefore will share in the continued upside to the growth in Napié, as well as gain exposure to the rapidly evolving Boundiali project where Aurum expects to deliver its maiden resource in late 2024.

“We recommend all securityholders embrace this merger as a catalyst to unlock value from Napie.”

The takeover implies an offer price of $0.0191 per Mako share, which works out to around a 124% premium to Mako’s 30-day VWAP. As at November 15, 2024, Aurum had reported a relevant interest of 29.56%, excluding the shares held by Mako’s directors, who have now accepted into the offers.

Raiden Resources’ (ASX:RDN) joint venture partner Mallina Co has wrapped up aircore drilling over the Arrow gold project in WA, with samples awaiting analysis.

“The drilling program at Arrow has been successfully completed and we eagerly await the results,” RDN managing director Dusko Ljubojevic said.

“These findings will guide the next phase of activities for the project.

“We will update the market on future plans once the results have been analysed and Mallina provides direction.”

All activities for gold exploration on the project are financed by Mallina, with Raiden retaining 100% of the Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum (LCT) rights.

Indiana Resources (ASX:IDA) directors have resolved to pay a special dividend of 5.0 cents per share (unfranked) in December.

“The Board is delighted to be in the position to deliver a special dividend payment to shareholders in December 2024,” chair Bronwyn Barnes said.

“This is a great outcome for the company’s shareholders and reflects a transformational period for the business, with the United Republic of Tanzania having already paid US$60 million of the US$90 million settlement owed to the claimants.

“As a result, we report a robust consolidated cash position at November 15 of A$48m. “Following the special dividend payment to shareholders in December, totalling approx. A$32.6m, Indiana will have a remaining cash position of approx. A$15.4m.

“Importantly, this additional funding will be used to drive an accelerated exploration program in South Australia targeting several of our highly prospective gold targets that have the potential to deliver incredible upside.”

The company currently has a reverse circulation and diamond drill program underway at Minos looking to infill and extend the 600-metre strike length of known high-grade gold mineralisation.

“Results from the first phase of this campaign are expected in early December,” Barnes added.

St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) has appointed environmental consultancy Alger to advise on socio-environmental and cultural heritage matters with the aim of progressing all licences required for development and operation of its Araxá niobium-REE project in Brazil.

Alger has an impressive track record of assisting with the grant of licences for numerous mining projects in Brazil – including Brazil’s first producing lithium mine, Grota do Cirilo, owned by Sigma Lithium Resources in the State of Minas Gerais.

The company is finalising arrangements for the 100% acquisition of the project and is focused on ensuring its Brazil-based team is ready to commence on-the-ground work asap.

“The appointment of the well-credentialed Alger team to assist with our licensing process in Brazil follows the signing on October 30 of the MoU with the State of Minas Gerais, pursuant to which the state will assist us to streamline the approvals process for the Araxá project,” executive chairman John Prineas said.

“We believe these initiatives have created a strong platform to drive the project forward and secure all licences and approvals required for the successful development of a mining operation.

“We are extremely excited about completing the acquisition of Araxá and continue to assemble a firstclass team that can hit the ground running.”

AdAlta (ASX:1AD) has added two healthcare sector professionals to its board in Michelle Burke and Iain Ross as non-executive directors.

Burke is an experienced chair and non-executive director with comprehensive healthcare sector knowledge and expertise in strategy, governance, pharmaceuticals and cell therapies.

Ross has more than 40 years’ experience in the international life sciences sector, including leading board and executive roles in international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and brings expertise in corporate strategy, financing and capital markets.

AdAlta chair Dr Paul MacLeman said the company looks forward to leveraging Burke’s proficiency in cell therapies, strategy and governance as the company continues to advance its development strategy.

“Iain’s decades of experience in the international biotechnology space including in global capital markets and financing will also be invaluable to AdAlta as it continues to grow,” he said.

“His track record in successfully positioning businesses for growth aligns with our vision of developing and commercialising the next generation of protein therapeutics.”

 

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Mako Gold, Raiden Resources, Indiana Resources, St George Mining and AdAlta are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should really consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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