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Good morning everyone, and welcome to August 16, 2024 – an important date in the history of body bits and terrible cars.

It was on this day in 1384 that the Hongwu, Emperor of Ming Chin, aka Emperor Dong, was presented with a couple that had been fighting over money, and in the process had torn up some bank notes – a heinous crime that warranted 100 lashes per person.

However, the mercy of Dong prevailed, and the pair were pardoned instead.

Speaking of dongs, it was on this day that Michaelangelo was asked by the Overseers of the Office of Works of the Duomo to grab a slab of marble and knock out a statue of David.

There’s no word on whether the Overseers were expecting David to have trousers on, but the statue’s bare tackle went on to cause all manner of pearl-clutching hysterics among people who really should have known better.

And it was on this day in 1955 that the Fiat Motor Company ordered the world’s first-ever privately owned nuclear reactor, which it used for research and, rumour has it, to assist with the design of some of the most radioactively unreliable cars ever to wheeze off the assembly line.

Luckily for you, you won’t have to get your pants off in order to get your hands on good pre-market info today.

That’s because – as always – we’ve worked super-hard to gather together lots of fiddly little things below, so you don’t need to go ferreting all over the internet for your ASX info this morning.

 

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2454.17/oz (+0.19%)

Silver: US$27.81/oz (+0.84%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,235/t (-0.99%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,905/t (+0.83%)

Zinc: US$2,713/t (+0.39%)

Oil (WTI): US$78.85/bbl (+0.23%)

Oil (Brent): US$81.14/bbl (+0.21%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$93.25/t (-2.51%)

AUD/USD: 0.6620 (-0.01%)

Bitcoin: US$$58,183.60 (-0.86%)

 

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Pilbara’s takeover of Latin Resources was the talk of the town yesterday – here’s a wrap up (and then some) of what’s gone down in Brazil.

 

 

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:

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) was up today on news that high grade gold has been reported in veins at Titan prospect with abundant visible gold at surface, with the prospect tracked over 700m and remaining open. Early rock chip assays have come in strong, with three samples providing results that exceeded the testing equipment’s 10,000g/t upper limit. The company says that gold that it has already picked up at the site has been smelted into a 10.4oz bar, and that the site is just 2km from its existing Carlow project which boasts an MRE of 374,000oz Au.

Nex Metals Exploration (ASX:NME) was continuing on from its decent day yesterday, when it announced that drilling has re-commenced at its highly prospective Yundamindra Gold Project. Nex followed that up with news today that a new chief executive has been appointed, with Maki Petkovski taking the helm as of 15 August, 2024.

Latin Resources (ASX:LRS) was soaring Thursday on news that the company and its giant Salinas lithium project in Brazil is set to be acquired by mining giant Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), in a deal worth around $580 million. Pilbara is offering the equivalent of ~$0.20 a share, to be delivered as 0.07 PLS shares, a premium of 57% on the LRS 10-day VWAP.

Lightning Minerals (ASX:L1M) was up on Latin Resources’ news.L1M has expanded its lithium tenure in Brazil by snapping up the Esperança project which is just 5km away from its recently acquired Caraíbas and Sidrônio lithium projects in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The company’s stock rise today may have something to do with Pilbara Minerals’ buyout of LRS, since L1M’s tenements are along trend from its lithium deposits, including the more than 70Mt Colina.

The option agreement to purchase allows for identification of drill targets prior to the potential full acquisition. Current exploration work will carry over to the new Esperança project, which includes ground recon, rock chip and soil sampling.

Emerging lithium-ion battery recycler Redivium (ASX:RIL) has been boosted by news that the company has started trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange, with the dual-listing undertaken to support the company’s strategy to broaden its investor base outside Australia.

Volt Resources (ASX:VRC) was up on news that it’s planning a $500,000 capital raise via Convertible Note to professional and sophisticated investors, after the company’s successful push to reduce cash burn from $9,528,000 during FY23 to $4,610,000 in FY24.

Lachlan Star (ASX:LSA) made gains on news of a wide disseminated copper sulphide system discovery at the Basin Creek Prospect, part of the Junee project in NSW, following comprehensive relogging of half-a-century-old diamond drill core. The company says it has uncovered historical high-grade intercepts including 21.3m @ 4.51% copper from 41.1m, and 3.1m at 5.50% copper from 59.4m.

Kalina Power (ASX:KPO) was up on news of the execution of important tolling MOUs with natural gas producers for its project development portfolio of Alberta based power plants incorporating CO2 capture and sequestration. The volumes set out under the MOUs represents 40,000 GJ per day and is sufficient to supply the requirements of KDP’s first ~170 MW project of ~ 36,300 GJs per day.

Litchfield Minerals (ASX:LMS) gained on on news that drilling at the Silver King project area in West Arunta has intersected massive base metal sulphides, with intercepts of 17m at 2.47% Pb, 1.06% Zn, 15.7 g/t Ag from 49m, including 3m at 11.84% Pb, 5.62% Zn, 0.1% Cu, 57.1 g/t Ag from 51m among the highlights.

Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC) was on the winner’s list on news that initial drill results from its Raptor project confirm that exceptionally high TREO grades persist at depth, with “a significant weighting towards the higher-value Neodymium-Praseodymium (Nd+Pr) rare earth oxides”. Standout intercepts include 12m at 4,601ppm TREO (23% Nd+Pr), and 7m at 4,240ppm TREO (23% Nd+Pr) – both from surface.

And, OncoSil Medical’s (ASX:OSL) surged 20% as its device has been successfully used to treat its first commercial patient at Memorial Hospital in Istanbul, where the patient’s pancreatic tumour was successfully removed. The patient, initially diagnosed with locally advanced pancreatic cancer that was deemed inoperable, received OncoSil treatment alongside chemotherapy. The OncoSil treatment uses a specialised device to deliver targeted radiation directly to pancreatic tumours, helping to shrink them and improve their operability.

 

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:

Wordpress Table Plugin

 

TRADING HALTS 

Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR) – ending an announcement by the Company with respect to a development at Daydream-2.

WRKR (ASX:WRK) – pending an announcement by WRKR in relation to a capital raising.

Killi Resources (ASX:KLI) – pending an announcement in relation to a potential capital raising.

 

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

 

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