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Good morning everyone, and welcome to August 29, 2024 – an important date in the history of commerce.

That’s because it was on this day in 708 that copper coins were first minted in Japan, after scientists at the University of Kyoto figured out that portable currency was required to operate vending machines “almost at will”, and liberate the rare and exotic treasures that lurk within.

Such as Hirohito Suzuki’s seminal adult-oriented comic series タコも私の心に触れました, featuring a vast, sexually motivated cephalopod, who gets very handsy after misreading some admittedly ambiguous social cues, during the opening of a new tourist aquarium on the outskirts of Osaka.

Luckily for you, you won’t have to secretly deposit $800 worth of ancient copper coins into a well-hidden vending machine 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$2,508.38/oz (-0.59%)

Silver: US$29.56/oz (+0.37%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,946/t (+0.68%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,235/t (-0.98)

Zinc: US$2,884/t (+1.51%)

Oil (WTI): US$74.78/bbl (-1.01%)

Oil (Brent): US$77.91/bbl (-2.03%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$101.00/t (-0.39%)

AUD/USD: 0.6792 (-0.26%)

Bitcoin: US$60,142 (-3.6%)

 

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

I don’t often get excited reading about BHP’s plans to grow its exposure to copper, but when I do, it’s because Josh Chiat’s put pen to paper about it.

 

 

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:

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Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Felix Gold (ASX:FXG) has uncovered high grades of antimony after retesting assays from drilling carried out in 2022 and 2023 that were previously only targeted for gold. It is now considering standalone, antimony production.

Dart Mining (ASX:DTM) rose after the company issued an open invitation to investors to a webinar, where the company will be talking about the acquisition of the Triumph Gold Project as announced on ASX on August 27.

City Chic Collective (ASX:CCX) was up after announcing FY24 sales revenue of $131.6m (down 28.3% on FY23), which has led to an underlying EBITDA loss of $8.4m, which is a 47.3% improvement on FY23 and 9.8% ahead of proforma forecast, and also the departure of the company’s Chief Financial Officer Peter McClelland, who is leaving the company in mid-October.

ENRG Elements (ASX:EEL) rose on news that it has completed the acquisition of the Lamont Lake uranium exploration project in Saskatchewan, Canada, which is a highly prospective uranium province and favourable operating jurisdiction.

Estrella Resources (ASX:ESR) was climbing, but went into a halt before lunch ahead of a capital raising.

Pantera Minerals (ASX:PFE) was up on news that the company is set to access a Smackover production well and a disposal well allowing for potential DLE pilot plant location, to produce lithium brine. Work is expected to begin imminently, and the company says a re-entry well will provide brine samples for Lithium grade analysis and Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) process testing.

WIN Metals (ASX:WIN) was up after announcing plans to acquire the Palm Springs Gold Project in the Kimberley region of Western Australia from Meteoric Resources via a tenement sale agreement, which boasts an already established high-grade mineral resource of some 357,000oz (5.6Mt @ 2.0g/t) of gold based around two resource area, and produced 52,000oz produced between 1995 and 1997.

ECS Botanics (ASX:ECS) announced its annual results, showing revenue of $20.5 million – up 31% on pcp, delivering NPAT of 2.0 million, up a bumper 305% on pcp. The company was also celebrating a bumper crop 6.6 tonnes, up 57% on pcp with sell-through initiatives in place, and has begun construction on 9 new Protective Crop Enclosures.

Canterbury Resources (ASX:CBY) gained Wednesday morning on news of “outstanding” drilling results from large-scale Briggs copper-molybdenum project in central Queensland, including a bumper 276m at 0.45% Cu and 24ppm Mo from surface, with around 50% of that mineralisation occurring beyond the current boundary of the site’s existing inferred mineral resource.

Sun Silver (ASX:SS1) has jumped through the roof after releasing a 45% upgrade to its Maverick Springs project in Nevada to a world-class 423Moz silver equivalent resource. Demand for the shiny metal is surging on the back of growth in industrial uses, primarily in solar PV cells, leading to spot prices increasing 23% since the start of the year to almost US$30/oz.

A comprehensive review of existing drill data and remodelling of the resource led to the upgrade with the inclusion of the entire mineralised domain at the project, which is deemed to have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.

And, desktop studies are underway at Critical Resources (ASX:CRR)’s Hillgrove South prospect at the explorer’s Halls Peak project in NSW. CRR is aiming to define high-priority targets that may be an extension of Larvotto Resources’ (ASX:LRV) Hillgrove deposit 6km away, which currently hosts a 7.264Mt at 1.3% Sb for 93kt of contained antimony. The project is along the major Chandler fault, which runs between Halls Peak and Hillgrove in the New England Fold Belt in NSW.

 

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:

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TRADING HALTS 

Estrella Resources (ASX:ESR) –  pending an announcement regarding a capital raising.

EDU Holdings (ASX:EDU) –  pending an announcement by it in relation to the Government’s proposed imposition of caps on new international student commencements in EDU’s operating businesses.

Dubber Corp (ASX:DUB) – pending an announcement by the Company in relation to potential adjustments to its FY2023 financial statements and the prior year position.

Australian Oil Company (ASX:AOK) – pending an announcement to the market in relation to material asset divestment.

 

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Felix Gold and Sun Silver were Stockhead advertisers at the time of writing, 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.