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

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.

Monsters of Rock: BHP launches long term copper growth plan as profits slide. Stockhead > https://t.co/p0v3njxxD6 pic.twitter.com/rCpzufm86m

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) August 27, 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
FXG	Felix Gold Limited	0.084	68%	23,441,887	$12,776,542
SHO	Sportshero Ltd	0.006	50%	4,608,111	$2,471,331
CCX	City Chic Collective	0.150	46%	17,733,083	$35,930,426
ERL	Empire Resources	0.004	40%	3,920,150	$3,709,783
SPA	Spacetalk Ltd	0.035	35%	2,777,765	$12,339,414
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.020	33%	1,443,625	$3,876,493
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.006	33%	9,333,469	$6,576,425
CRR	Critical Resources	0.012	33%	10,815,253	$16,023,153
NGS	NGS Ltd	0.029	32%	122,848	$2,387,122
ECS	ECS Botanics Holding	0.017	31%	8,387,483	$16,751,144
MKT	The Market Limited	0.180	29%	12,942	$44,936,161
RON	Roninresourcesltd	0.125	25%	265,663	$3,682,501
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.003	25%	100,000	$2,019,930
ESR	Estrella Res Ltd	0.005	25%	1,338,400	$7,037,487
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.003	25%	547,979	$17,178,250
PRM	Prominence Energy	0.005	25%	1,910,616	$1,245,506
RML	Resolution Minerals	0.003	25%	316,667	$3,220,044
RNE	Renu Energy Ltd	0.003	25%	138,642	$1,452,268
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.003	25%	3,150,643	$11,790,134
ZMM	Zimi Ltd	0.014	24%	43,297	$1,435,491
KAM	K2 Asset Mgmt Hldgs	0.037	23%	93,206	$7,232,556
WGR	Westerngoldresources	0.032	23%	119,456	$4,429,231
PFE	Panteraminerals	0.027	23%	799,576	$8,338,588
EZZ	EZZ Life Science	2.390	23%	430,730	$86,605,740
CNQ	Clean Teq Water	0.355	22%	221,152	$20,950,268

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:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
ERA	Energy Resources	0.007	-55%	40,157,727	$343,298,637
FGH	Foresta Group	0.003	-40%	14,861,821	$11,776,895
FHE	Frontier Energy Ltd	0.275	-40%	3,019,085	$203,283,499
AMD	Arrow Minerals	0.002	-33%	234,349,584	$31,618,095
IVX	Invion Ltd	0.002	-33%	2,276,941	$19,913,597
BSN	Basinenergylimited	0.023	-32%	1,345,153	$2,827,098
NSM	Northstaw	0.011	-27%	135,132	$2,098,137
RFA	Rare Foods Australia	0.014	-26%	412,750	$5,167,682
MCT	Metalicity Limited	0.002	-25%	482,000	$9,392,132
DM1	Desert Metals	0.019	-24%	2,244,212	$6,635,642
RC1	Redcastle Resources	0.012	-20%	1,069,000	$4,995,387
HCT	Holista CollTech Ltd	0.020	-20%	231,042	$6,970,002
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.002	-20%	2,213	$3,096,217
TFL	Tasfoods Ltd	0.013	-19%	569,046	$6,993,528
KPO	Kalina Power Limited	0.009	-18%	13,316,005	$27,350,334
TG1	Techgen Metals Ltd	0.041	-18%	4,415,502	$6,406,628
HIQ	Hitiq Limited	0.014	-18%	219,571	$5,981,364
BUR	Burleyminerals	0.100	-17%	295,280	$18,044,513
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.003	-17%	506,114	$9,507,891
ECG	Ecargo Hldg	0.005	-17%	38,462	$3,691,500
FFF	Forbidden Foods	0.010	-17%	662,792	$3,002,263
H2G	Greenhy2 Limited	0.005	-17%	37,500	$3,589,105
JAV	Javelin Minerals Ltd	0.003	-17%	327,500	$12,830,539

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.