Here are the key ASX small cap winners and losers at lunchtime Wednesday June 13.

The ASX Small Ords was down 25 points at 2,841 by 1pm AEST.

GOING UP

Atlas Iron (ASX:AGO) was again the most heavily traded ASX small cap today before it went into a trading halt ahead of an announcement expected on Friday.

Overnight it emerged that Gina Rinehart, via Redstone Corporation (a subsidiary of her Hancock Prospecting company), had quietly taken a 19.96% holding in Atlas.

The stock was up as much as 10 per cent to an intraday high of 4.6c in early Wednesday trade.

Atlas Iron was also heavily traded yesterday after much larger rival Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) took a further 15 per cent chunk of the struggling junior iron ore producer – raising its stake to 19.9 per cent.

The move is part of an attempt to block Mineral Resources’s (ASX:MIN) “friendly” takeover of Atlas.

UBS analyst Glyn Lawcock believes Fortescue’s motivation is Atlas’s 63 per cent stake in the 50 million tonne per annum export facility being built in Port Hedland.

Atlas Iron shares (ASX:AGO) over the past year.
Atlas Iron shares (ASX:AGO) over the past year.

Jindalee Resources (ASX:JRL) gained 43 per cent to 30c after adding a second project to its US lithium portfolio.

Jindalee staked a claim on a 19.6 sq km plot of land on the border of Nevada and Oregon, following an earlier acquisition.

The projects were acquired for the cost of field work, staking and filing the relevant claims, Jindalee said.

Jindalee compared the area’s lithium-bearing clays to Lithium America’s (TSX:LAC) “Thacker Pass” project 30km south which recently reported a resource of 532.7 metric tonnes at 2921 parts per million of lithium.

Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT) continued upwards after yesterday announcing positive drilling results at its Vares project in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

After a strong showing yesterday, the stock soared another 41 per cent today to an intraday high of 37.5c.

Adriatic’s CEO Geraint Harris said the “exciting” results were “some of the highest grade polymetallic results on the ASX” and “had the potential to add significant tonnes to any future resource”.

Senegal-focused phosphate miner Avenira (ASX:AEV) rose today after positive news about its investment in privately held JDCPhosphate which is developing a “potentially game-changing” phosphoric acid production technology called Improved Hard Process (IHP).

Avenira owns 7 per cent of JDC and hopes to use the technology for its own production.

Avenira told investors JDC had successfully produced phosphoric acid using the IHP process at a newly commissioned plant in Florida.

Avenira shares moved ahead 46 per cent to an intraday high of 2.2c.

Here’s a snapshot of the best performing ASX small caps at 12.45pm AEST Wednesday Jun 13.

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ASX code Company Price change intraday (Jun 13, 1pm) Price Jun 13, 1pm Volume Market Cap
MXR MAXIMUS RESOURCE 1 0.002 7M 3.2M
WGL WANGLE TECHNOLOG 0.5 0.003 6M 2.2M
NIU NIUMINCO GROUP 0.5 0.003 4M 4.8M
AHN ATHENA RESOURCES 0.454545454545 0.048 78k 7.2M
JRL JINDALEE RESOURC 0.428571428571 0.3 7k 7.3M
AIY AUTHORISED INVES 0.375 0.066 438k 10.6M
AEV AVENIRA 0.333333333333 0.02 613k 13.7M
IBN IBUYNEW GROUP 0.333333333333 0.004 567k 6.3M
HDY HARDEY RESOURCES 0.333333333333 0.004 6M 4.1M
ADT ADRIATIC MET-CDI 0.264150943396 0.335 2M 34.7M
SRO SHAREROOT 0.25 0.005 570k 4.9M
S3R SERPENTINE TECHN 0.25 0.005 3M 2.9M
MDX MINDAX 0.25 0.01 194k 5.9M
EER EAST ENERGY RESO 0.25 0.005 16k 1.4M
GRB GAGE ROADS BREWI 0.208791208791 0.11 3M 79.2M
GLA GLADIATOR RESOUR 0.2 0.006 607k 4.3M
DLC DELECTA 0.2 0.006 40k 3.2M
ABW AURORA ABSOLUTE 0.191176470588 0.405 187 2.8M
SOR STRATEGIC ELEMEN 0.166666666667 0.035 68k 7.3M
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GOING DOWN

Battery Minerals (ASX:BAT) shares dropped 39 per cent to an intraday low of 3c in early Wednesday trade after a $US30 million funding deal fell through and shipment dates were pushed back.

Private equity investor Resource Capital Funds last month agreed to a $US30 million debt and equity package to fund a Battery Minerals graphite project near Montepuez in Mozambique.

But today Battery Minerals announced the funding deal with Resource Capital had been terminated because “the graphite market no longer meets its investment criteria”.

Alaska-focused oil explorer 88 Energy (ASX:88E) has continued its share price march after today reporting the start of fraccing at a well at its Alaskan Project Icewine site.

The shares have nearly tripled since October. Despite the news, shares fell back 30 per cent to an intraday low of 3c.

Here’s a snapshot of the worst performing ASX small caps at 12.45pm AEST Wednesday Jun 13.

Swipe or scroll for full table. Click headings to sort data:

ASX code Company Price change intraday (Jun 13, 1pm) Price Jun 13, 1pm Volume Market Cap
MEM MEMPHASYS -0.5 0.001 500k 10.2M
BKP BARAKA ENERGY AN -0.5 0.001 184k 4.0M
BDI BLINA MINERALS N -0.5 0.001 4M 6.5M
T3D 333D -0.333333333333 0.002 1M 2.6M
IOT IOT GROUP -0.333333333333 0.002 12M 3.8M
BAT BATTERY MINERALS -0.265306122449 0.036 28M 46.6M
ABV ADVANCED BRAKING -0.25 0.003 5M 8.9M
CY5 CYGNUS GOLD -0.230769230769 0.1 17k 7.9M
MCM MC MINING -0.225490196078 0.395 17k 71.8M
TKF TIKFORCE -0.2 0.004 4M 969.3k
CLY CLANCY EXPLORATI -0.2 0.004 528k 15.6M
AUH AUSTCHINA HOLDIN -0.2 0.004 824k 5.6M
CEL CHALLENGER ENERG -0.2 0.012 230k 5.8M
NMS NEPTUNE MARINE -0.186991869919 0.5 3k 37.8M
COY COPPERMOLY -0.181818181818 0.009 15k 15.2M
88E 88 ENERGY -0.162790697674 0.036 60M 239.0M
NES NELSON RESOURCES -0.151515151515 0.14 20k 7.6M
WBE WHITEBARK ENERGY -0.142857142857 0.006 2M 6.9M
TSN TRANSACTION SOLU -0.142857142857 0.006 650k 15.2M
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