The ASX has explained why it suspended Pilbara gold explorer Artemis Resources

Artemis Resources shareholders were buzzing on Tuesday after the ASX suspended the Pilbara gold explorer’s shares with very little explanation.

On Tuesday afternoon the ASX issued an announcement saying Artemis would be “suspended from official quotation immediately pursuant to listing rule 17.3”.

Under ASX listing rules, the bourse can suspend a company from trading for a number of reasons including if it is “unable or unwilling to comply with, or breaks, a listing rule” or “to prevent a disorderly or uninformed market”.

ASX spokesman Matthew Gibbs told Stockhead the suspension was not voluntary.

“ASX has put the company in suspension,” Mr Gibbs said. “It’s not a voluntary suspension.”

“It’s related to some queries that we have with their recent announcements about some projects they are involved in, and we took the decision to suspend the stock while we make those queries with the company to prevent any disorderly or uninformed trading.

“More obviously will come out once our queries are satisfied.”

On Wednesday morning, Artemis retracted information it had published in earlier ASX announcements about several projects.

Read the Artemis announcement here.

Earlier on Tuesday Artemis had moved to quell speculation, tweeting: “There’s a lot of chatter on @HotCopper today for @Artemis_ARV. Yes, this is about the ASX trading suspension.

https://twitter.com/Artemis_ARV/status/978472654930722816

Artemis shares dipped 2 per cent to 20c just prior to the suspension on Tuesday morning.

The shares hit a high of 59c at the height of the Pilbara gold nugget rush late last year.

Artemis Resources shares over the past year. (ASX:ARV)

Earlier on Tuesday Artemis boss David Lenigas showed off a heart-shaped gold nugget recovered in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The Pilbara region has been undergoing something of a gold nugget rush since last July when Artemis and Canadian partner Novo Resources made a now-legendary announcement regarding a gold nugget find at their Purdy’s Reward site south of Karratha, WA.

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