Good morning everyone, and welcome to Monday, September 23, 2024 – an important date in the commemoration of famous academics widely misunderstood by the general public.

That’s because it was on this day in 1939 the world mourned the death of Sigmund Freud in London, the father of psychoanalysis, a field widely known for its core belief all your problems are your mother’s fault.

“According to Freud, there is an unconscious desire for one’s mother to be a virgin and for one’s father to be an all-powerful, almighty figure,” says the organ of truth (Wikipedia) of one of Freud’s psychoanalytical theories.

And so the slippery slope to Jordan Peterson balling his eyes out recalling the first time he heard The Ketchup Song began.

Luckily for you, you won’t have to grapple with the Oedipus Complex 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$2,647.10/oz (+1.24%)

Silver: US$31.50/oz (+0.23%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,510/t (+1.08%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,476.50/t (-0.40%)

Zinc: US$2,874/t (-1.89%)

Oil (WTI): US$71.23/bbl (+0.13%)

Oil (Brent): US$74.72/bbl (+0.31%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$91.55/t (-1.21%)

AUD/USD: 0.6809 (-0.14%)

Bitcoin: US$62705.90 (-1.09%)

 

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

You can’t get enough of Mithril Silver and Gold (ASX:MTH)  big silver and gold drill hits in Mexico at its Copalquin precious metals project.

FRIDAY’S SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

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Mithril Silver Gold (ASX:MTH) announced impressive drilling results from its Copalquin District project in Mexico, with hole CDH-159 yielding a remarkable intercept of 33.00 metres at 31.8 g/t gold and 274 g/t silver, including a standout 7.00 metres at 144 g/t gold and 1,162 g/t silver.

This finding represents the highest-grade intercept to date in the area and suggests significant potential for resource expansion, with plans to double the existing resource of 529,000 ounces at El Refugio by Q1 2025.

With multiple target areas and promising geological conditions, Mithril says it aims to capitalise on the Copalquin district’s substantial mineralisation and further enhance its exploration success.

In spite of weak lithium prices, US-focused ioneer (ASX:INR) has set its sights on a potential 2028 start date for commercial production and December 2024 date for FID on its Rhyolite Ridge lithium and boron mine in the USA.

Not on the leaders list, but significant news.

The company published its final environmental impact statement today for the project, which has the potential to quadruple domestic production of lithium in the United States, where carmakers are finding it tough to find material that complies with rules to garner tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Currently the only commercial source of lithium domestically in the USA is Albemarle’s Silver Peak brine operation. At 5000t LCE, that’s a fraction of the output of the giant hard rock lithium mines in Australia.

Importantly, the release of the final EIS includes an opinion from the US Fish and Wildlife Service that it won’t jeopardise the future existence of the Tiehm’s Buckwheat, a flowering plant in the Silver Peak region of Esmeralda County, Nevada.

Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) was also one of the best-performing small caps Friday.

Reborn after originally listing in WA’s short-lived wave of potash proponents, Trigg has two major exploration fronts at hand now after securing a project where the company says some of Australia’s highest grade antimony has been found.

It started drilling earlier this week at the Drummond project in Queensland, where the explorer is searching for an analogue of the 3.6Moz Pajingo mine.

But the company also acquired the Taylors Arm and Spartan assets in the New England Orogen of New South Wales.

The latter is next to Hillgrove, Australia’s largest known deposit of the critical mineral, which has doubled in value this year and surged in investor interest since China initiated export controls in August.

Taylors Arm, though, has the historic antimony chops. Its 71 historic workings include Testers, where grades from massive stibnite veins clocked 63% Sb, regarded by TMG as the highest in Oz.

Also in the package, the Swallows Nest mine started during World War 2 and delivered a 40% Sb concentrate from 1940-1955 along with a 30% product when it reopened in 1972, with recent rock samples showing the grade could still be there (29.8% Sb and 31.4% Sb)

Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX) has received Fast Track Designation from the US FDA for its drug narmafotinib, a treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer.

This designation helps speed up the development of the promising drug, and will also mean Amplia can have more frequent communications with the FDA, which could lead to accelerated approval in the future.

Meanwhile, the company’s ongoing ACCENT trial for narmafotinib is taking place in Australia and South Korea, and the company is also planning a trial in the US after receiving clearance for its application earlier this year.

 

FRIDAY’S SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

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TRADING HALTS

North Stawell Minerals (ASX:NSM) – capital raising.

Carbonxt Group (ASX:CG1) – capital raising.

Equity Story Group (ASX:EQS) – placement (same, same).

Element 25 (ASX:E25) – grant funding for US high purity manganese sulphate project, already revealed in the media as a US$166m ($243m) grant to part-fund the development of a downstream plant in Louisiana.

Cobre (ASX:CBE) – material transaction related to Kalahari copper belt projects in Botswana.

Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) – announcement related to Becancour lithium refinery preliminary feasibility study.

Gullewa (ASX:GUL) – related to gold drilling results from Canadian listed Central Iron Ore (confusing, we know), in which GUL has a ~37% stake. Results from the British King prospect near Leinster included a headline strike of 5m at 20.52g/t, among other high grade hits.

Select Harvests (ASX:SHV) – capital raising (back to that).

E&P Financial Group (ASX:EP1) – also a capital raising.

 

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Mithril Silver and Gold and Trigg Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, 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.

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