ASX Small Caps and IPO Weekly Wrap: Market newbie NGX makes a splash in a week of triple-digit gains

Despite being a day shorter than normal, it’s been a pretty big week for Small Cap stocks – and the broader market as well – with the benchmark finishing well past +2.0% since markets opened on Tuesday morning.

The clear winner was the InfoTech sector, moving forward by a whopping 6.3%, leading a market where every sector sunk its teeth into some nice, solid gains.

Except for Health Care, which bled out alarmingly for a large chunk of the week, to finish lower by more than 6.1%. Ugly scenes, indeed.

In more detailed scans, the XTX All Tech index topped the ladder on +4.09%, with the XJR Resources index up 3.92% and the Banks higher by 3.11%, while the goldies – despite a boost from today’s session – ended the week flat at -0.03%.

Of particular note is this week’s preponderance of triple-digit gainers. There are nine (count ’em! 9!) Small Caps hitting over 100% for the week – not including what appears to be some kinda data glitch that has plonked Roto-Gro up top on +1900%, which is a neat trick considering it was suspended from the ASX in 2022… so I reckon we can all comfortably ignore that one and move along.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks for the week 13 – 16 June, 2023:

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

Code	Company	Price	% Week	Market Cap
GRE	Greentech Metals	0.455	314%	$13,830,164
LME	Limeade Inc	0.4075	308%	$104,302,772
MQR	Marquee Resource Ltd	0.057	159%	$19,959,658
TNT	Tesserent Limited	0.1225	145%	$169,272,765
AHN	Athena Resources	0.009	125%	$7,493,273
AHI	Advanced Health	0.165	120%	$33,666,615
AZS	Azure Minerals	1.21	118%	$401,943,154
LYK	Lykosmetalslimited	0.11	108%	$6,240,000
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.051	104%	$14,261,801
AW1	American West Metals	0.1025	90%	$23,422,223
ERW	Errawarra Resources	0.165	90%	$10,285,680
KED	Keypath Education	0.415	80%	$87,728,162
IMB	Intelligent Monitor	0.2	67%	$26,140,059
HAW	Hawthorn Resources	0.15	67%	$43,552,030
DTR	Dateline Resources	0.034	55%	$24,181,929
XAM	Xanadu Mines Ltd	0.075	50%	$98,269,451
ALO	Alloggio Group	0.23	48%	$27,225,159
SNX	Sierra Nevada Gold	0.145	45%	$6,036,040
LCY	Legacy Iron Ore	0.023	44%	$147,357,003
BNZ	Benz Mining	0.46	39%	$45,116,778
IXU	Ixup Limited	0.054	38%	$51,774,634
OSX	Osteopore Limited	0.13	38%	$15,143,993
APS	Allup Silica Ltd	0.062	38%	$2,385,580
EMC	Everest Metals Corp	0.135	38%	$14,237,642
NIS	Nickel Search	0.078	37%	$4,658,917
DVL	Dorsavi Ltd	0.015	36%	$7,191,742
EQS	Equity Story Group	0.045	36%	$1,624,592
IMI	Infinity Mining	0.15	36%	$11,471,748
NOX	Noxopharm Limited	0.06	36%	$17,826,515
IND	Industrial Minerals	0.57	36%	$16,865,250
HIO	Hawsons Iron Ltd	0.05	35%	$46,872,624
SLM	Solis Mineralsl	1.075	34%	$47,029,502
ADS	Adslot Ltd.	0.004	33%	$6,613,045
AJQ	Armour Energy Ltd	0.004	33%	$19,685,368
ARV	Artemis Resources	0.016	33%	$18,839,020
HXL	Hexima	0.02	33%	$3,173,753
LHM	Land Homes Grp Ltd	0.008	33%	$8,395,114
MCT	Metalicity Limited	0.002	33%	$7,472,172
MTL	Mantle Minerals Ltd	0.002	33%	$9,221,169
SIH	Sihayo Gold Limited	0.002	33%	$12,204,256
EGN	Engenco Limited	0.45	32%	$142,042,615
LML	Lincoln Minerals	0.017	31%	$8,049,772
MX1	Micro-X Limited	0.125	30%	$64,295,679
NC6	Nanollose Limited	0.052	30%	$7,742,091
SIX	Sprintex Ltd	0.039	30%	$8,393,693
MGX	Mount Gibson Iron	0.505	29%	$588,993,377
DLM	Dominion Minerals	0.036	29%	$6,420,116
M4M	Macro Metals Limited	0.0045	29%	$7,948,311
RDN	Raiden Resources Ltd	0.0045	29%	$8,221,076

As you can probably tell from the chart above, it was Greentech Metals (ASX:GRE) taking top prize for the week in Small Caps thanks to a barn-smashing +314% jump, followed by Limeade (ASX:LME) up 308% and Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) up 159%.

The reasons for those company’s places on the podium are many and varied – and also captured in painstaking detail below, with the notable exception of Limeade, which is a hangover from late last week when the company announced that it’s set to be acquired by US-based WebMD Health Services, part of WebMD Health Corp for an all cash deal valuing the employee wellbeing company at ~$112 million.

WebMD will acquire 100% of the shares/CDIs for cash of $0.425 per share/CDI. The offer price represents a 325% premium to the last traded price of Limeade and a 217% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) to June 7, 2023.

The offer price implies a fully diluted market capitalisation for Limeade of ~$111.5 million and an enterprise value of ~$112 million.

For the rest of the details, please read on…

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks for the week 13 – 16 June, 2023:

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

Code	Company	Price	% Week	Market Cap
RGS	Regeneus Ltd	0.006	-45%	$2,145,058
FTC	Fintech Chain Ltd	0.013	-35%	$8,460,005
AYM	Australia United Min	0.002	-33%	$3,685,155
CCE	Carnegie Cln Energy	0.001	-33%	$15,642,574
CLE	Cyclone Metals	0.001	-33%	$10,264,505
KEY	KEY Petroleum	0.001	-33%	$1,967,928
CDR	Codrus Minerals Ltd	0.115	-30%	$4,649,450
TNY	Tinybeans Group Ltd	0.21	-30%	$14,732,509
VAL	Valor Resources Ltd	0.0035	-30%	$15,212,139
CEL	Challenger Gold Ltd	0.1125	-30%	$132,797,805
DGL	DGL Group Limited	0.845	-29%	$273,514,757
C7ADB	Clara Resources	0.04	-29%	$6,307,216
MBX	My Foodie Box	0.01	-29%	$371,279
LV1	Live Verdure Ltd	0.105	-28%	$8,899,701
CPM	Cooper Metals	0.16	-27%	$6,602,504
8IH	8I Holdings Ltd	0.03	-25%	$10,720,680
AMD	Arrow Minerals	0.003	-25%	$10,583,178
CT1	Constellation Tech	0.003	-25%	$4,413,601
DXN	DXN Limited	0.0015	-25%	$2,581,972
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.003	-25%	$5,807,973
MTH	Mithril Resources	0.0015	-25%	$5,053,207
OKJ	Oakajee Corp Ltd	0.015	-25%	$1,371,690
RLG	Roolife Group Ltd	0.006	-25%	$4,317,349
WNR	Wingara Ag Ltd	0.027	-25%	$4,739,648
BOA	Boadicea Resources	0.051	-25%	$4,448,799
PET	Phoslock Env Tec Ltd	0.013	-24%	$9,365,858
AAJ	Aruma Resources Ltd	0.046	-23%	$9,221,487
FTL	Firetail Resources	0.092	-23%	$7,700,000
LYN	Lycaon Resources	0.165	-23%	$6,254,563
AFW	Applyflow Limited	0.01	-23%	$1,478,807
WMG	Western Mines	0.57	-23%	$29,460,638
SPX	Spenda Limited	0.0085	-23%	$29,420,675
BEX	Bikeexchange Ltd	0.007	-22%	$7,846,884
SUM	Summit Minerals	0.125	-22%	$3,214,582
BBX	BBX Minerals Ltd	0.055	-21%	$28,464,645
KNI	Kuniko	0.295	-21%	$14,994,292
ETM	Energy Transition	0.037	-21%	$52,874,016
OJC	The Original Juice	0.078	-21%	$21,523,990
NUC	Nuchev Limited	0.205	-21%	$10,610,952
APX	Appen Limited	2.76	-21%	$408,415,997
CMO	Cosmo Metals	0.095	-21%	$2,525,490
OEQ	Orion Equities	0.07	-20%	$1,095,446
BMG	BMG Resources Ltd	0.012	-20%	$6,927,541
CDT	Castle Minerals	0.012	-20%	$14,618,409
CTO	Citigold Corp Ltd	0.004	-20%	$11,494,636
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.012	-20%	$11,101,577
GNMDB	Great Northern	0.03	-20%	$4,272,627
HFY	Hubify Ltd	0.02	-20%	$10,418,862
HMD	Heramed Limited	0.064	-20%	$16,500,679
ICN	Icon Energy Limited	0.004	-20%	$3,072,055

HOW THE WEEK PLAYED OUT

Monday, 12 June – ASX: Closed

Markets were closed for The King’s Birthday, however the hotly anticipated sequel to The Queen’s Birthday has been been labelled “an utter disappointment”, and widely panned by critics as “lazy and derivative”.

Tuesday, 13 June – ASX: Up 0.23%

Tuesday had all the hallmarks of a decidedly underwhelming day, and if not for the Tech Sector going on a +3.7% tear, the broader ASX would have banked a loss, rather than the 0.23% gain it managed to squeak out.

Energy stocks took a pounding because OPEC was being all super-OPEC, and tried one of its trademark “we’re cutting production… no, really guys… we’re 100% cutting production for reals this time” gambits to prop prices up, but it didn’t work.

Russian oil supply came back online (according to the highly trustworthy Russian oil people), and crude prices fell 4%.

Things weren’t helped by Goldman Sachs, which woke up on the wrong side of the bed and took a hatchet to its oil outlook and its future vision for iron ore as well.

Advanced Health Intelligence (ASX:AHI) provided a glimpse at the Extraordinary Gains Madness that the market had in store for investors this week, jumping +370% after its US-listed shares went bananas the previous Friday.

AHI pinned it on a cap raise. No one believed them.

News of a takeover from French-based Thales saw local cyber-sec mob Tesserent (ASX:TNT), up 150% , and Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) finished around 44% higher, on last Friday’s news that the company has reached an agreement with Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) to fast-track a farm-in.

Wednesday, 14 June – ASX: Up 0.32%

On Wednesday, it was nickel’s turn in the Market Darling barrel, providing enough oomph to the broader market to offset a horror session for the Health Care sector, which lapsed into a -4.7% coma and very nearly died.

The nickel surge helped the Materials sector step up to the plate to deliver an unexpectedly significant 2.5% climb, owing a huge debt of gratitude to Golden Mile Resources (ASX:G88), which leapt out of its skin to bank a 166% (or thereabouts) gain after dropping news of “Spectacular Intersections” at its Quicksilver nickel-cobalt project in WA.

Golden Mile reported that its “best ever” intersections include drill hole 23QDD008, which returned 49m at 1.74% nickel (Ni), 0.071% cobalt (Co) from 30m, including:

28m at 2.34% Ni & 0.109% Co from 32m depth, with intercepts up to 4.14% Ni and 0.421% Co; and
5m @ 1.6% Ni & 0.026% Co from 73m depth

Intelligent Monitoring Group (ASX:IMB), leapt +71% on news that it’s entered into a binding agreement to acquire all of the shares in Tyco Australia Group for $45 million, and IperionX (ASX:IPX), blasting off to gain 52% this morning, on yesterday’s news that the company has inked a deal with US automaker Ford to to supply titanium metal components to high-performance and racing division Ford Performance, using its 100% recycled low-carbon titanium metal.

Thursday, 15 June – ASX: Up 0.25%

Another day, another Small Capper went ballistic to help the ASX do better than break even, alongside better-than-average returns from InfoTech (up 0.96%) and Financials (up 0.79%) for the day.

On the wrong side of happiness, Health Care was mugged again causing a 1.97% nosebleed on top of the stroke it suffered the day before, 1.97% drop, despite positive news for both HeraMED (ASX:HMD) and Careteq (ASX:CTQ).

Additionally, the previous day’s high-flyer IPX gave back a large 33.5% slab of the gains it banked as well.

But it was Greentech Metals (ASX:GRE) time to shine on Thursday, gaining 257% by lunchtime (before easing back +223% by the end of the day) on news that rock chip sampling at the Ruth Well Project in the Pilbara region of WA has confirmed multiple lithium bearing pegmatites.

The rock chip assays are coming back sporting grades up to 1.65% from a pegmatite bearing zone about 200m wide and traced for 6km strike, and the company says the zone remains open in all directions.

Ongoing market hunger for lithium saw Errawarra Resources (ASX:ERW) step out of the wings and into the spotlight with a solid 48% climb, and Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) came back for another 32.5% helping of gains as well.

Friday, 16 June – ASX: Up 0.60%

Which brings us to today, which got off to a much better start thanks to Wall Street’s collective decision to focus on a potential stimmy round from China, rather than the same-old, same-old inflation data garbage that’s been boring us all to death for months.

By mid-afternoon, the ASX was up as high as +1.2%, but given the week – as short as its been – that we’ve had, a Friday arvo slowdown was almost guaranteed to happen.

Greentech Metals (ASX:GRE) looks set to add to its tally for the week – and top the Small Caps ladder for the second day running – posting a 41% gain on the back of yesterday’s rock chip news.

That performance by Greentech has helped Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) climb 25% today as well, thanks to the fact that Artemis holds a 12.25% stake in GRE, while junior explorer Jervois Mining (ASX:JRV), which is up 31.2% this morning on news that the company has inked a US$15 million deal with the United States Dept of Defence to drill at JRV’s Idaho Cobalt Operations mine, and look into the logistics of a stateside cobalt refinery.

IPO listings this week

NGX (ASX:NGX)

Listed: 16 June, 2023

IPO: $9.56m at $0.20

NGX is the Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) spin-out of its Malawi graphite assets, which SVM said would enable it to focus on its Kasiya rutile project – “the largest natural rutile deposit in the world”.

Under the spinoff deal, SVM shareholders are entitled to one NGX share for every 11 shares they hold, with the IPO allowing them to participate in purchasing one new NGX share for each NGX share held.

Upon listing, NGX holders will take full ownership of the advanced Malingunde project, which already boasts a measured, indicated and inferred resource of 65Mt at 7.2% total graphitic carbon for 4.68Mt of contained graphite, more than half of that in the higher measured and indicated categories.

They’ll also pick up the Duwi project, just 15km east of the Malawian capital of Lilongwe.

Graphite is seeing increasing demand driven by electric vehicle battery makers and while it hasn’t seen prices move to the same extent as other battery metals so far in the electric vehicle boom, a major gap is emerging between supply of battery graphite and demand.

NGX had a solid market debut, closing 35% higher at $0.27 per share.