Lunch Wrap: ASX wobbly as US government shutdown looms; lithium dumps

• ASX slides on US shutdown fears

• BHP hit by China ore ban talk
• Lithium hammered; Bravura soars

By lunch time in the eastern states, the ASX was down around 0.3% , with defensive stocks holding the fort while miners and lithium names sagged.

The ASX seesawed as traders weigh up the looming US government shutdown, which could land within hours from now.

Utilities and healthcare were the winners this morning, the two sectors you buy when you’re not feeling brave.

Gold names were also perking up – the usual “in case of chaos, break glass” trade.

On the ASX, the big story was BHP (ASX:BHP), down around 1.5% after Bloomberg reported that Beijing’s state buyer had slapped a temporary ban on its Pilbara iron ore cargoes.

Call it brinkmanship or muscle-flexing, but if the ban sticks, cargoes sitting off Chinese ports won’t just dent headlines, they’ll hammer margins.

BHP’s London-listed stock was already belted 5% overnight, so local punters were always going to take a bite. Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), somehow, managed to stay flat.

Elsewhere, lithium stocks were hammered this morning.

Chinese regulators gave the nod to fresh reserve reports from two of Yichun’s major producers, which spooked the market into thinking oversupply could get even uglier.

Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) slid 7%, while Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) dropped 5%.

In other large-cap news, wealth-management software player Bravura Solutions (ASX:BVS) rocketed 19% after upgrading its FY26 earnings guidance.

Whether it sticks beyond today’s pop is another question. Fundies have long memories and Bravura hasn’t exactly been the picture of consistency.

DroneShield (ASX:DRO) kept soaring, up another 14% on Wednesday and now 40% for the week.

Military contracts and Europe’s so-called “Drone Wall” to fend off Russia are fuelling the bid.

ASX LEADERS

Today’s best performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

Tambourah Metals (ASX:TMB) more than doubled after reporting a string of high-grade hits from follow-up drilling at its 100%-owned Beatty Park South project, 160km north of Meekatharra. The standout was 24m at 18.8g/t gold from 20m in hole BPAC028, including 4m at 92.2g/t. The results build on Tambourah’s maiden hit of 6m at 25.8g/t and confirm Beatty Park South as an emerging gold system with plenty of room to grow.

Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) more than caught a break after its US subsidiary, Alaska Range Resources, secured US$43.4m in funding from the US Department of War under the Defense Production Act. The money will bankroll the first stage of a fully domestic supply chain to extract and refine antimony from Nova’s Estelle Project in Alaska, producing the military-grade material needed for munitions and other defence gear.

Podium Minerals (ASX:POD) has delivered what it calls a “game-changing” breakthrough at Parks Reef in WA. There are a lot of games being changed in Company Announcement Land, but nevertheless…Podium has unveiled a new concentrator flowsheet that recovered about 80% of platinum, palladium and gold in lab tests. The process produced two high-grade PGM concentrates with a fifty-fold upgrade from bulk sulphide feed and ultra-low chrome, making them potentially attractive to existing refiners.

Savannah Goldfields (ASX:SVG) is closing in on restarting gold production at its Georgetown Project in Far North Queensland, with the plant on track to be recommissioned before the end of October. Maintenance at the Georgetown Gold Processing Plant is progressing smoothly, key equipment like the ball mills and leach tanks have already been tested, and haulage of stockpiled ore from Charters Towers and Agate Creek is underway. All approvals are also in place, putting Savannah in position to pour gold again within weeks.

ASX LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

ASX investors are finding value opportunities in specialist consultancies working in the digital space.

Theta Gold Mines (ASX:TGM) is gearing up to generate a massive US$1.2 billion in free cash flow from its TGME gold project in South Africa.

Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) has started drilling at the Consolidated Dulcie project, aiming to upgrade the exploration target into inferred ounces.

White Cliff Minerals’ (ASX:WCN) recent Danvers assays have more than doubled the known strike and confirmed broad zones of copper mineralisation at the Rae project.

LAST ORDERS

Broken Hill Mines (ASX:BHM) has inked an offtake agreement and US$25 million finance facility with Hartree Metals.

The deal covers 200,000 tonnes of silver-lead concentrate from the Rasp and Pinnacle mines, with the financing to go to growth and development operations for both mines.

Chariot Corporation (ASX:CC9) has flagged its intention to list to the OTCQB markets in the US. Management says the dual listing will increase exposure to US investors and has entered into an agreement with Viriathus Capital as financial advisor.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Broken Hill Mines and Chariot Corporation are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article. 

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