Top 10 at 11: ASX on the up as resource companies drum up drill bit cash

Morning, and welcome to Stockhead’s Top 10 (at 11… ish), highlighting the movers and shakers on the ASX in early-doors trading.

With the market opening at 10am sharp eastern time, the data is taken at 10.15am, once trading kicks off in earnest.

In brief, this is what the market has been up to this morning.

ASX makes steady early gains

The ASX 200 has climbed 0.25% as of about 10:30 am AEST, with 7 of 11 sectors in the green.

Healthcare (+0.77%) is leading gains, but the ASX 200 Banks (+0.55%) and All Tech (+0.48%) indices are also climbing.

A fall in gold prices overnight (-1.8%) is applying pressure to resource stocks; the materials sector has shed 0.9% and the ASX 200 Resources index 1.22%.

Despite the headwinds for mining stocks, several are making big gains this morning, drumming up fresh finance and preparing for new drilling programs. Let’s take a look.

WINNERS

In the news…

Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) is looking to follow up on gold hits at the Darwin gold project in Chile with proceeds from a $2.2m two-tranche share placement.

LSR is offering shares at 0.06 cents each to clients of lead manager Oakley Capital Partners and at 0.05 cents in a second tranche subject to shareholder approval at the next general meeting. The company is offering two options for every three shares, and will issue one loyalty option to all shareholders on a 1:30 basis once the placement is complete.

Adavale Resources (ASX:ADD) is preparing to put drill bit to ground at the London Victoria Mine in NSW, which historically produced gold grades up to 43.8 g/t gold.

It’s the first exploration at the mine in 30 years; ADD will target shallow extensions to the existing mineral resource estimate, which currently sits at 115,000 ounces of gold.

GTI Energy (ASX:GTR) is locking in a $4.5m capital raise after securing firm commitments from investors for a placement at an issue price of 0.035 cents a share, a 16.7% premium to the last close price of 0.030 cents.

The money will be funnelled directly to resource expansion and infill drilling at the Lo Herma uranium project. GTR’s recent scoping study revealed a potential pre-tax net present value of between $174m and $187m and an internal rate of return of between 52% and 66% for Lo Herma, depending on its development context.

LAGGARDS

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While GTI Energy is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.