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CLOSING BELL: Iron ore price plunge leads the ASX lower, leaving REEs to rule the roost
News
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- ASX 200 benchmark closes 0.11% lower after a fickle day on the bourse
- Iron ore price drops to five month lows, making (almost) everyone sad
- Larvotto ends up on top of the Small Caps, adding 61.9% for the day
Aussie markets were a tad mercurial throughout the day, leaving the benchmark peering around for a clue on which way and how far it should move, before settling on “not very far” and “downwards” to complete the session at -0.11%.
A brief look at the sectors puts Real Estate at the top of the ladder on +1.14%, with InfoTech a close second on +0.98%.
It was a less-pleasing result for people who like massive holes in the ground, as the Materials and Energy sectors both flagged throughout the day, leaving them lower by 1.66% and 0.60% respectively.
That dip can largely be attributed to a broad selloff of iron ore stocks, thanks to (drumroll, please…) “an avalanche of meddling by the Chinese Government”, as our very own Josh Chiat wrote last week.
The knock-on effect of that saw iron ore prices continue to tumble today, with spot iron ore prices plunging by 6% to a 5-month low on subdued buying interest from steel mills and an increase in port inventories.
The spot iron ore price has now fallen around 20% since the middle of March, when it was trading around the $US132.70 a tonne level.
But a falling iron price didn’t mean it was a total disaster across the board, as a number of Small Cappers found themselves in very positive territory by the close of the session today.
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 | Company | Price | % | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LRV | Larvottoresources | 0.335 | 60% | 6,563,075 | $14,123,492 |
| OAU | Ora Gold Limited | 0.003 | 50% | 200,373 | $7,873,850 |
| WMG | Western Mines | 0.81 | 41% | 9,163,181 | $28,204,900 |
| MTC | Metalstech Ltd | 0.385 | 33% | 871,485 | $51,461,831 |
| OSL | Oncosil Medical | 0.013 | 30% | 10,642,417 | $9,942,423 |
| L1M | Lightning Minerals | 0.195 | 30% | 742,481 | $5,590,687 |
| MTH | Mithril Resources | 0.0025 | 25% | 951,820 | $6,526,180 |
| SIH | Sihayo Gold Limited | 0.0025 | 25% | 409,515 | $12,204,256 |
| ICE | Icetana Limited | 0.047 | 24% | 265,252 | $7,574,480 |
| LME | Limeade Inc. | 0.2 | 21% | 38,904 | $42,354,386 |
| ROO | Roots Sustainable | 0.009 | 20% | 2,652,980 | $649,513 |
| WOO | Wooboard Tech Ltd | 0.018 | 20% | 3,406,525 | $3,449,323 |
| EDE | Eden Inv Ltd | 0.006 | 20% | 4,445,574 | $14,984,722 |
| HSC | HSC Technology Group | 0.012 | 20% | 10,593,806 | $22,786,393 |
| EDC | Eildon Capital Group | 0.9425 | 19% | 26,403,162 | $37,320,087 |
| CHR | Charger Metals | 0.44 | 19% | 1,346,817 | $16,174,316 |
| HFY | Hubify Ltd | 0.032 | 19% | 665,363 | $13,395,680 |
| PVS | Pivotal Systems | 0.01 | 18% | 1,824,397 | $2,125,120 |
| AGR | Aguia Res Ltd | 0.042 | 17% | 77,875 | $15,618,753 |
| ODA | Orcoda Limited | 0.21 | 17% | 842,961 | $30,088,272 |
| BAT | Battery Minerals Ltd | 0.0035 | 17% | 53,750 | $8,848,327 |
| FAU | First Au Ltd | 0.007 | 17% | 4,357,127 | $6,568,700 |
| YPB | YPB Group Ltd | 0.0035 | 17% | 1,031,250 | $1,857,747 |
| TSO | Tesoro Gold Ltd | 0.036 | 16% | 10,478,236 | $32,658,890 |
| IAM | Income Asset | 0.15 | 15% | 8,000 | $36,402,707 |
The big winner for Monday was Larvotto Resources (ASX:LRV), which stacked on another 59.5% to add to its recent admirable climb on the back of some stellar exploration results from its Merivale South REE prospect.
The explorer keeps gaining after last week reporting high grade clay rare earths drill results up to 1.26% (12,611ppm) at Merivale South, part of the Eyre lithium-nickel-REE project in WA.
That 1m intercept was within a larger 12m at 2326ppm TREO, and the company says the mineralisation may be hosted within ionic clays, making it suitable for simple, cost-effective extraction. Testwork to confirm this theory is currently underway.
Next best was Western Mines Group (ASX:WMG), which has been something of a market darling in recent times – a status further cemented by the company’s 41.7% climb today that took its trading price up to $0.80 per share.
That’s still below the company’s all-time high that it hit last week, but still enough to have WMG up more than 409% for the month, as the company continues work to dial in on the motherlode at its “extensive” Mulga Tank system.
Rounding out the Top 3 for today is gold explorer MetalsTech (ASX:MTC), which has cranked out a 33% hike on absolutely no news, but close to a 10x surge in volume for the day.
There seems to be a fair bit of ‘sudden surges in activity despite no news’ happening around the market at the moment, with a few price query postcards from the ASX making their way to a number of apparently equally-bewildered Small Caps over the past few trading days.
ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS
Here are the least best performing ASX small cap stocks:
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Company | Price | % | Volume | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GGX | Gas2Grid Limited | 0.001 | -33% | 241,886 | $6,115,653 |
| PRM | Prominence Energy | 0.001 | -33% | 1,281,912 | $3,636,913 |
| GGE | Grand Gulf Energy | 0.0145 | -31% | 54,295,740 | $34,865,188 |
| AHN | Athena Resources | 0.003 | -25% | 13,014 | $4,281,870 |
| XTC | Xantippe Res Ltd | 0.003 | -25% | 773,058 | $42,320,399 |
| HXL | Hexima | 0.01 | -23% | 26,000 | $2,171,515 |
| ENT | Enterprise Metals | 0.007 | -22% | 850,000 | $6,345,726 |
| RGS | Regeneus Ltd | 0.012 | -20% | 935,732 | $4,596,554 |
| K2F | K2Fly Ltd | 0.1 | -20% | 6,500 | $21,914,350 |
| AVM | Advance Metals Ltd | 0.008 | -20% | 62,245 | $5,820,441 |
| EMU | EMU NL | 0.002 | -20% | 20,000 | $3,625,053 |
| M4M | Macro Metals Limited | 0.004 | -20% | 189,973 | $9,785,389 |
| NTM | Nt Minerals Limited | 0.008 | -20% | 5,296,929 | $8,006,989 |
| ROG | Red Sky Energy. | 0.004 | -20% | 444,730 | $26,511,136 |
| BDG | Black Dragon Gold | 0.037 | -18% | 128,949 | $9,030,152 |
| OSX | Osteopore Limited | 0.079 | -17% | 1,015,424 | $11,773,816 |
| DTM | Dart Mining NL | 0.06 | -17% | 553,581 | $11,204,680 |
| M24 | Mamba Exploration | 0.125 | -17% | 4,582,913 | $9,147,501 |
| ERL | Empire Resources | 0.005 | -17% | 1,477,064 | $6,677,610 |
| DGR | DGR Global Ltd | 0.048 | -16% | 943,145 | $59,490,528 |
| INV | Investsmart Group | 0.16 | -16% | 16,495 | $26,831,648 |
| EEL | Enrg Elements Ltd | 0.016 | -16% | 4,575,392 | $17,655,451 |
| RC1 | Redcastle Resources | 0.011 | -15% | 600,862 | $3,715,194 |
| DUN | Dundasminerals | 0.145 | -15% | 33,178 | $8,065,523 |
| CNB | Carnaby Resource Ltd | 1.26 | -14% | 1,516,459 | $213,827,514 |
LAST ORDERS
Just a couple of quickies to mention today, starting with EQ Resources, which got a speeding ticket from the ASX this morning after the company’s price sprinted from $0.068 on 18 April to a high of $0.088 at the time the ASX put pen to proverbial paper.
EQR has fired back a quick “nothing to see here” reply, so the reason for the surge in interest and price looks set to remain another Small Caps Unexplainable Moment for the time being, which seems to be quite fashionable around here at the moment.
Meanwhile, serial board-member John Mullen can now add “winemakers” to his lengthy CV, after it was announced that he’s landed a seat at the Big Table with Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE).
Mullen’s name is a familiar one in business circles – he’s currently an independent Non-executive Chairman of ASX-listed Telstra (ASX:TLS) and Brambles (ASX:BXB), and an independent Non-executive Director of Canadian public company Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.
“I am delighted to welcome John Mullen to the Board,” TWE chairman Paul Rayner said. “He is a highly respected Non-executive Director with extensive international experience in transport, logistics and technology and will be a very valuable addition to the Board.”
TRADING HALTS
Titanium Sands (ASX:TSL) – Announcement on the way about a material joint venture agreement.
Coppermoly (ASX:COY) – AGM decision results pending.
Resolution Minerals (ASX: RML) – Capital raising.
CardieX (ASX:CDX) – Announcement incoming regarding progress in relation to FDA approval for its Pulse device.
Tigers Realm Coal (ASX:TIG) – Announcement regarding a proposed privatisation and delisting of the company.
LawFinance (ASX:LAW) – Announcement by LAW in connection with its existing debt facilities and the funding transaction and debt restructure.
