Rise and Shine: Everything you need to know before the ASX opens

Good morning everyone, and welcome to 03 May, 2024 – an important date in ancient astronomy, as it was on this day in 1374BC (so, like… 3,400 years ago) that there was a lunar eclipse.

We know this, because it was seen by Mesopotamian astronomers, who wrote “On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance.”

Ancient Egyptian astronomers also saw it, but they wrote “Bird. Bird. All Seeing Eye. Man Walking Backwards” which doesn’t translate nearly as well.

Luckily for you, you won’t need to cower from the disappearing sun in mortal fear, nor will you need a torch to find the info you need to get today off to the best possible start, as Jess Cummins looks at whether lithium carbonite prices are really going to triple by the end of the year, and Cam Drummond’s looks into who’s prepping to follow BHP into the wilds of the South American copper boom.

And Eddy Sunarto’s done a cracking job of laying out the land in the US, where it’s looking like all your legal weed dreams are closer than ever to reality.

Plus there’s all the data and digits and highlights listed below to help prep you for what’s very likely to be Friday, unless I’m horribly mistaken.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,304.35 (-0.60%)

Silver: US$26.36 (-1.08%)

Nickel (3mth): US$18,618.53/t (-1.85%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,826.07/t (+0.36%)

Oil (WTI): US$79.55 (+0.70%)

Oil (Brent): US$84.10 (+0.80%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$117.27/t (+5.37%)

AUD/USD: 0.6530 (-0.04%)

Bitcoin: US$57,703.10 (-0.97%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

There’s a lot happening up the big end of town, and Josh Chiat’s Monsters of Rock had the guts of it covered yesterday. Here’s a link, in case you missed it.

#ASX Monsters of Rock:
💠 Rio Tinto leaves investors guessing on M&A thoughts in mild Brisbane AGM
💠 Northern Star adds to #resources and reserves in ho-hum exploration update
💠 Meteoric rises on rare earths (#REEs) supply MoU https://t.co/gP1kAm1qt4

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) May 2, 2024

YESTERDAY’S 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	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
LSR	Lodestar Minerals	0.002	100%	865,705	$2,023,397
VPR	Volt Power Group	0.002	50%	1,091,119	$10,716,208
KTA	Krakatoa Resources	0.016	45%	39,942,102	$5,193,179
TRI	Trivarx Ltd	0.035	35%	15,197,046	$8,800,446
HLX	Helix Resources	0.004	33%	6,232,755	$6,969,438
NAE	New Age Exploration	0.004	33%	5,288,000	$5,381,697
CUF	Cufe Ltd	0.015	25%	2,698,228	$13,753,348
SEN	Senetas Corporation	0.015	25%	1,047,419	$18,855,400
GBE	Globe Metals &Mining	0.050	25%	710,866	$27,034,704
1AG	Alterra Limited	0.005	25%	564,336	$3,448,586
BLZ	Blaze Minerals Ltd	0.005	25%	888,835	$2,514,233
CAQ	CAQ Holdings Ltd	0.010	25%	2,500	$5,742,290
SIH	Sihayo Gold Limited	0.003	25%	7,137,238	$24,408,512
CR9	Corellares	0.021	24%	124,617	$7,906,571
ENV	Enova Mining Limited	0.022	22%	23,075,896	$17,242,728
IRX	Inhalerx Limited	0.039	22%	29,629	$6,072,543
HTG	Harvest Tech Grp Ltd	0.023	21%	1,482,845	$15,425,299
RRR	Revolverresources	0.096	20%	576,505	$20,769,941
BPH	BPH Energy Ltd	0.025	19%	16,212,855	$23,048,512
M4M	Macro Metals Limited	0.019	19%	15,859,653	$51,713,068
AHK	Ark Mines Limited	0.165	18%	16,181	$7,762,498
PVT	Pivotal Metals Ltd	0.020	18%	6,626,890	$11,970,011
WSI	Weststar Industrial	0.135	17%	856,778	$12,738,002
CHW	Chilwaminerals	0.450	17%	168,489	$17,661,875
RNT	Rent.Com.Au Limited	0.035	17%	330,508	$18,889,487

Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Cracking the top of the small caps market on Thursday was critical minerals-hunting junior Krakatoa Resources (ASX:KTA), smashing through on news that the company has identified a promising new niobium-REE gravity target at the Mt Clere tenement, located in the northwestern margins of the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia.

It’s an extensive, 40km long target catchment area with potential for alkaline intrusive systems including carbonatites, and the company says that infill soil sampling is underway, so we can expect further updates soon-ish.

Pivotal Metals (ASX:PVT) said it’s concentrating its efforts in Quebec, Canada, eschewing the usual trendy lithium search in that region in favour of copper, nickel, and PGMs. First assay results from the first two of 34 diamond drill holes are back from its 100% owned Horden Lake project. It’s hit some thick copper zones, with Cu-Ni-Au-PGM-Co mineralisation, including 37.5m at 1.31% Cu equivalent.

Vinyl Group (ASX:VNL) was up on news that that Songtradr has issued a conversion notice for a portion of its Tranche #2 convertible note, increasing its beneficial ownership in VNL to 19.95%. The company says that Songtradr will convert a principal balance of $1,629,351 into 77,588,162 ordinary shares in VNL at the conversion price of $0.021 per share, with Songtradr CEO Paul Wiltshire saying his company is “very impressed with the strategic progress and discipline Josh and the team at Vinyl Group have shown over the last year”.

Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI) said it has entered into a non-binding MoU with Neo Performance Materials (TSX:NEO) for an offtake of 3,000 metric tonnes total rare earth oxide (TREO) per year from its Caldeira Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, to supply Neo’s magnet manufacturing plant. The deal allows a right of first refusal for Neo to purchase additional MREC (mixed rare earth carbonate) that Meteoric produces from the Caldeira Project in excess of 6,000 MT TREO per year, on similar terms.

Augustus Minerals (ASX:AUG) has been granted a co-funded drilling grant of up to $110,000 for 2x 700m deep diamond drill holes under the WA Government’s Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) for the Minnie Springs prospect. The deeper diamond drill program is designed to test and to provide a 550m deep, 1km wide geological/geochemical/structural cross-section through the large 3km long by 1km wide copper moly porphyry system, linking the Mo mineralised leucogranite to the extensive Cu in soil anomaly to the northeast.

Insignia Financial (ASX:IFL) said Funds Under Management and Administration (FUMA) increased by $11.7 billion (+3.9%) to $312.3 billion as at 31 March. Total net outflows for the quarter were $1.7 billion, largely reflecting the transitory impact of execution of wrap platform consolidation.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

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

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.001	-33%	875,024	$11,677,324
YPB	YPB Group Ltd	0.002	-33%	1,366,667	$2,371,384
SGC	Sacgasco Ltd	0.006	-31%	12,891,428	$6,237,497
ICG	Inca Minerals Ltd	0.005	-29%	770,000	$5,633,172
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.002	-25%	275,729	$7,356,542
GCM	Green Critical Min	0.003	-25%	117,005	$4,546,340
JAV	Javelin Minerals Ltd	0.002	-25%	87,550	$4,352,462
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.003	-25%	4,055,714	$30,553,232
BAP	Bapcor Limited	4.370	-24%	10,274,381	$1,961,804,250
CAG	Caperangeltd	0.098	-22%	501	$11,863,538
VRX	VRX Silica Ltd	0.055	-21%	2,885,326	$40,836,498
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.002	-20%	7,143	$2,612,034
RML	Resolution Minerals	0.002	-20%	1,151,076	$4,025,055
ROG	Red Sky Energy.	0.004	-20%	13,093,682	$27,111,136
BCT	Bluechiip Limited	0.007	-19%	500,000	$8,806,134
TOU	Tlou Energy Ltd	0.035	-19%	31,523	$54,615,730
AU1	The Agency Group Aus	0.031	-18%	83,835	$16,285,910
MCL	Mighty Craft Ltd	0.009	-18%	4,180,434	$4,016,454
SRK	Strike Resources	0.058	-17%	2,507,122	$19,862,500
AKN	Auking Mining Ltd	0.020	-17%	544,031	$5,648,489
AYT	Austin Metals Ltd	0.005	-17%	137,006	$7,711,148
BFC	Beston Global Ltd	0.005	-17%	2,176,026	$11,982,281
GGE	Grand Gulf Energy	0.005	-17%	125,000	$12,571,482
NMR	Native Mineral Res	0.020	-17%	286,908	$5,036,412
AER	Aeeris Ltd	0.066	-15%	14,940	$5,695,081