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

"I'm a devil on the run, a six gun lover, a candle in the wind… yeah." Pic via Getty Images

Good morning, and welcome to Rise and Shine.

It was on this day way back in 1881 that notorious Wild West gunfighter Billy the Kid escaped from prison in Mesilla, New Mexico, where he had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging.

Unfortunately for him, he was killed some months later by Sheriff Pat Garrett, but not before sharing a few hi-jinks with his “Regulator” mates Doc and Chavez, which made for a decent yarn or two.

Have those Young Guns films dated horribly, by the way? We’re not about to find out, but probs. That said, a New Mexico historian of some note, Paul Andrew Hutton, did once apparently nominate them as the “most historically accurate of all Billy the Kid films”.

What’s any of this got to do with the market info we’ve laid out for you this morning below? Nothing, but here’s hoping the commods and share prices you have your eyes on aren’t shot down (in a blaze that’s gory) this week.

Will gold bounce back after last week’s stumble? Various analysts seem to think so. And so does Stockhead’s sharp-shooting Eddy “The Grown Up” Sunarto over at today’s Hot Money Monday.

On to the markets …

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$3319.83/oz (-0.88%)

Silver: US$33.08/oz (-1.34%)

Iron Ore: US$99.98/t

Nickel (3mth): US$15,530/t (-0.61%)

Copper (3mth): US$9360/t (-0.35%)

Zinc: US$2618/t (-0.68%)

Lithium carbonate 99.5% Min China Spot: US$9,550.78 (-0.14%)

Oil (WTI): US$63.02/bbl (+0.37%)

Oil (Brent): US$66.87/bbl (+0.48%)

AUD/USD: 0.6393 (-0.23%)

Bitcoin: US$94,247 (-0.01%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Gold bulls received something of a reality check last week. But… all is not lost. In fact, very far from it according to certain prominent analysts. The precious metal could yet hit US$3750/oz, Commbank says, even after a thawing of trade tensions between the US and China saw prices drop mid last week.

Gold’s mid-week stumble led to a short-lived bloodbath for ASX miners, but forecasters see more upside after the sell-off. https://t.co/XJWm3QrCjW

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) April 24, 2025

Also in the news…

• ASX miner Northern Star Resources is not only a $24bn gold giant. Its legacy extends to a host of ASX companies now led by former employees.

• Argonaut Funds Management’s David Franklyn breaks down five standout miners amid reporting season – a key period for ASX investors.

• It receives just a fraction of the cash spent on drilling in Australia, but stats show Victoria punches above its weight in gold discoveries.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Thursday’s best performing small cap stocks:

Security	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.002	100%	20,505,789	$2,031,723
TKL	Traka Resources	0.002	100%	848,136	$2,125,790
NES	Nelson Resources.	0.003	50%	333,333	$4,343,855
RLG	Roolife Group Ltd	0.006	50%	2,482,142	$5,984,125
AVR	Anteris Technologies	7.800	39%	46,724	$86,519,608
GMN	Gold Mountain Ltd	0.002	33%	423,044	$7,193,970
BGE	Bridgesaaslimited	0.023	28%	23,000	$3,597,466
RLL	Rapid Lithium Ltd	0.003	25%	2,000,000	$2,489,889
SRK	Strike Resources	0.039	22%	674,551	$9,080,000
AUR	Auris Minerals Ltd	0.006	20%	13,287,422	$2,383,130
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.006	20%	15,726,874	$22,809,073
SHP	South Harz Potash	0.006	20%	250,000	$5,412,894
VHL	Vitasora Health Ltd	0.039	18%	5,062,350	$51,984,148
M24	Mamba Exploration	0.013	18%	989,941	$3,246,822
PLC	Premier1 Lithium Ltd	0.013	18%	3,989,235	$4,048,666
TNC	True North Copper	0.230	18%	697,076	$24,538,608
CYM	Cyprium Metals Ltd	0.020	18%	519,710	$35,083,353
PUR	Pursuit Minerals	0.045	17%	153,680	$3,789,891
DTR	Dateline Resources	0.007	17%	11,752,092	$16,593,412
GES	Genesis Resources	0.007	17%	100,000	$4,697,048
HHR	Hartshead Resources	0.007	17%	3,434,472	$16,852,093
JAV	Javelin Minerals Ltd	0.004	17%	1,562,175	$18,138,447
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.007	17%	3,832	$9,597,195
REZ	Resourc & En Grp Ltd	0.028	17%	227,271	$16,119,339

WordPress Table

Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) has been poking around its Ararenda Project in northeast Brazil, and reckons it’s onto something big. Early test results from stream sediment samples show some chunky copper-gold anomalies stretching across 20 kilometres, which line up with a known mineralised zone nearby. It’s sniffing out signs of a large IOCG-style system and with more results on the way, the company said it’s keen to drill.

Pursuit Minerals (ASX:PUR) released its quarterlies today. The company said during the quarter, it’s been busy at its Rio Grande Sur lithium project over in Argentina, which is starting to hit some solid milestones. The company fired up its lithium carbonate pilot plant in Salta and produced its first batch from synthetic brine. Pursuit is also rolling out a staged production plan aiming for over 15,000 tonnes a year, and the numbers from its recent resource upgrade are feeding straight into the feasibility study due out in the first half of 2025.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Thursday’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.001	-50%	2,799	$4,574,558
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.001	-50%	931,095	$6,507,557
ASR	Asra Minerals Ltd	0.002	-33%	5,708,984	$7,119,380
CR9	Corellares	0.002	-33%	2,994,561	$1,904,722
EDE	Eden Inv Ltd	0.001	-33%	308,650	$6,164,822
CRR	Critical Resources	0.003	-25%	1,126,789	$9,856,885
MMR	Mec Resources	0.003	-25%	116,714	$7,399,063
SVY	Stavely Minerals Ltd	0.012	-20%	796,098	$8,160,631
ERL	Empire Resources	0.004	-20%	1,011,777	$7,419,566
MTB	Mount Burgess Mining	0.004	-20%	25,000	$1,758,513
RGL	Riversgold	0.004	-20%	750,100	$8,418,563
LYK	Lykosmetalslimited	0.013	-19%	534,615	$3,767,111
WMG	Western Mines	0.125	-17%	224,769	$13,553,002
PIL	Peppermint Inv Ltd	0.003	-17%	2,172,069	$6,712,918
OLY	Olympio Metals Ltd	0.045	-15%	101,431	$4,667,567
SCN	Scorpion Minerals	0.017	-15%	2,053,761	$10,244,124
GDG	Generation Dev Group	4.140	-15%	6,045,810	$1,875,886,254
QXR	Qx Resources Limited	0.003	-14%	450,000	$4,586,151
GT1	Greentechnology	0.033	-13%	1,909,119	$14,772,580
CDR	Codrus Minerals Ltd	0.020	-13%	200,000	$3,803,913
OLH	Oldfields Holdings	0.040	-13%	130,972	$9,800,720
AAU	Antilles Gold Ltd	0.004	-13%	1,526,666	$8,505,471
DTI	DTI Group Ltd	0.007	-13%	356	$3,588,411
ID8	Identitii Limited	0.007	-13%	476,467	$6,224,108

Despite reporting a ripper of a March quarter, where Sofdra Gel sales more than doubled from Feb to March, Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) still still slid by 2% today.

Sofdra is Botanix’s new prescription gel for people with excessive underarm sweating. More than 2,000 new patients a month are jumping on board, and over 1,500 doctors have already been handing out scripts, said Botanix.