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

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Wednesday 27, September 2023 – a date of some infamy for the Catholic Church, as it marks the end of the shortest Papal reign in history.

Way back in 1590, the Church was being competently run by the confusingly-named Pope Sixtus the Fifth, who – among other things – delivered the Sixtine Septuagint (which was well-received) and the Adults Only Sixtine Vulgate, which was panned by critics for being way too raunchy.

Sixtus the Fifth was beloved by many for his energetic efforts to root out corruption and ‘modernise’ Rome, but fell in favour because that modernisation involved breaking and burning lots of really old stuff that people quite liked.

So, on August 24, Sixtus the Fifth was given the gift of malaria, and – loathed by his subjects – he died and the Papal name “Sixtus” was retired, sparing Catholics with lisps around the world from drowning their families during prayers for the long life of Sixtus the Sixth.

Before too long, a replacement was found, in Giovanni Battista Castagna, a local from Rome, who was elevated to the rank of Pope on 15 September, taking the name Urban VII after his favourite country music star.

Sadly, Urban VII barely had his ruby slippers under the desk before malaria – which was hugely fashionable at the time in Rome – claimed Urban VII’s life, after a brief but glorious 12 days in office.

It’s a timely reminder for us all of the swings and roundabouts of life. One day you get tapped on the shoulder as Pope, but less than a fortnight later you’ve been called up to meet the CEO in person – and you never know quite when major changes are going to happen.

But – with the right information at hand – you can make some educated decisions, and with the help of the Stockhead team of excellent journalists, that’s a lesson that you can apply to your day today.

You should definitely start with looking at Peter Strachan’s take on who’s hunting where for lithium at the moment, and the always alarming Christian Edwards is scaring us with hot China takes again.

As always, here’s the nitty and the gritty of what’s just happened on, in and around the ASX in the lead-up to all today’s action.

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$1,900.52 (-0.79%)

Silver: US$22.84 (-1.15%)

Nickel (3mth): US$18,890/t (-1.20%)

Copper (3mth): US$8,106.50/t (-0.48%)

Oil (WTI): US$90.48 (+0.90%)

Oil (Brent): US$91.49 (-1.93%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$120.93/t (-0.21%)

AUD/USD: 0.6399 (-0.41%)

Bitcoin: US$26,164 (-0.38%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Resident Expert Peter Strachan tapped into the magic button with “URANIUM” written on it yesterday morning, and had all manner of interest in what he, managing director at Elevate Uranium  Murray Hill, and executive director at Valor Resources George Bauk had to say.

Host Peter Strachan discusses the recent pick up in the #uranium market with George Bauk, executive director at Valor Resources (#ASX:$VAL) and Murray Hill, managing director at Elevate Uranium ($EL8).https://t.co/Bts6BZfUSW pic.twitter.com/O5I9kYW7Gc

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) September 25, 2023

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

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Yesterday’s Small Caps highlights were:

In a very welcome letter to shareholders on Tuesday, Michelle Miller CEO and MD of the Aussie pharmaceutical aspirant, Biotron (ASX:BIT) revealed a fair bit of excitement about the near-term outlook as it completes the final stage of three Phase 2 clinical trials for HIV‐1 and COVID‐19.

“Biotron expects to have data from three such trials available in the very near term which puts the company in a very strong position.”

Biotron is developing a batch of new anti-viral therapies which potentially have broad applications.

Based in Sydney, the company is developing and commercialising a novel small molecule approach that has the potential to treat a number of serious viral diseases.

The technology targets viroporin proteins, which are key to enabling the pathogenicity of a number of viruses including hepatitis C, HIV-1, dengue, zika, influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

“These data, if positive, will be central to successfully negotiating and completing a commercial transaction for the Company’s HIV‐1 and COVID‐19 clinical programs,” Miller says.

Meanwhile, top of the pops on Tuesday was NickelSearch (ASX:NIS), which busted out of its trading halt following lithium-related exploration results at its Carlingup nickel sulphide project near Ravensthorpe in Western Australia and the nickel-now-lithium aspirant surged on the results.

NIS says it’s ID’d spodumene in pegmatites at Carlingup in collaboration with geologists from neighbouring Allkem (ASX:AKE) .

As Stockhead’s legendary roving (mostly around his own home) reporter Rob Badman wrote earlier, AKE is a $7.44bn lithium exploring star and NIS has set up its Carlingup shop with a nearology narrative just 10km from Allkem’s Mt Cattlin lithium mine – which hosts an estimated 12.8Mt high-grade resource.

Rising uranium exploration star Aurora Energy Metals (ASX:1AE was surging again after strong gains on Monday, and it’s currently up 71% over the past week.

With a market cap of just $28.6m, Aurora is one of several lately upwardly mobile ASX uranium players, also including Elevate Uranium (ASX:EL8), Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) and Icon Energy (ASX:ICN), among others, as chatter about a nuclear-powered future builds in intensity.

Aurora is focused on the exploration and development of its namesake project in Oregon, USA, which hosts a defined uranium resource of 107.3Mt at 214ppm U3O8 for 50.6Mlbs U3O8 – and is also prospective for lithium.

A scoping level metallurgical testwork program is currently underway using samples from the latest drill campaign.

Finally, Avenira (ASX:AEV) was up over 20% after executing a License and Technology Transfer Agreement and a Subscription Agreement with its Taiwanese tech partner Aleees (or Advanced Lithium Electrochemistry).

The two deals provide Avenira access and the right to use Aleees’ intellectual property for the manufacture and global distribution of Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) cathode active material.

The new tie-ups follow the signing of a non-binding MOU with Aleees in September last year to work towards the development of a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery cathode manufacturing plant in Darwin using Avenira’s flagship Wonarah Phosphate Project.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

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TRADING HALTS

Anatara Lifesciences (ASX:ANR) – Pending an update on the GaRP Irritable Bowel Syndrome trial results (GaRP Trial)

Amaero International (ASX:3DA) – Pending an announcement in relation to the production of C-103 powder

Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) – For the purposes of finalising a proposed lithium project acquisition and associated capital raising

Cardiex (ASX:CDX) – Pending an announcement relating to each of the following: a corporate update, an update as to the company’s F-1 lodgement with the SEC, and an announcement relating to the company’s general capital raising activities.

Latin Resources (ASX:LRS) – Pending the release of an announcement in relation to its preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Colina Project

Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC) – Pending the release of an announcement in respect of a maiden JORC mineral resource estimate for the Rio Lithium Deposit

Eroad (ASX:ERD) – Pending the outcome of the capital raising and proposed bookbuild in relation to the previously announced Retail Offer opened to eligible retail shareholders on Tuesday 12 September 2023 and closed on Thursday 21 September 2023.

BPH Energy (ASX:BPH) – Pending an announcement regarding a proposed capital raise