A weekly recap of the news driving ASX small cap gold stocks.

As a trusted safe haven in times of economic crisis, gold usually rallies amid nasty stock selloffs like this one. It seems like a strange time for gold and gold-facing equities to be dropping.

Gold producers have been hit hard, led by Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK),Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) and St Barbara (ASX:SBM) down 25 per cent, 19 per cent, and 18 per cent respectively week-on-week. The junior end didn’t fare any better.

Or maybe it’s not so strange. Speaking on the sidelines of the Prospectors and Developers conference (PADC) in Toronto, Canada, renowned investor Rick Rule says all asset classes get sold off during a liquidity squeeze.

“What you see in circumstances like last week — or in 2008, or before that in 2000, or before that in 1987 — is that all assets sell off in a crisis,” he told Kitco.

But for the last 20 years the official sector response to a liquidity squeeze is more liquidity. Easy money and lower interest rates tend to be good for gold, Rule says.

“If you look back to 2008 yes, gold sold off immediately [which] scared many of the faithful – but then it came back very, very, very strongly,” he says.

“What happens Monday? What happens Tuesday? The most honest answer is don’t know.

“What I can tell you is this — in circumstances where fear begins to prevail over greed … the risk of not owning gold is much higher than the risk of owning gold.”

Gold price over the past month.

Winners & Losers

Here’s how ASX gold stocks performed for the period Feb 24 — March 2 [intraday]:

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort. Best viewed on a laptop:

Code Name 1 Week Return % 1 Year Return % Price [intraday Monday] Market Cap
NCM NEWCREST MINING -8 9 26.66 $ 21,988,915,200.00
NST NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES -7 47 12.92 $ 10,974,923,776.00
EVN EVOLUTION MINING -9 15 4 $ 7,618,688,000.00
SAR SARACEN MINERAL HOLDINGS -10 46 3.77 $ 4,610,083,840.00
RRL REGIS RESOURCES -11 -22 3.745 $ 2,251,239,424.00
SBM ST BARBARA -18 -43 2.345 $ 1,761,885,952.00
SLR SILVER LAKE RESOURCES -8 133 1.47 $ 1,579,320,192.00
GOR GOLD ROAD RESOURCES -15 58 1.325 $ 1,480,949,632.00
PRU PERSEUS MINING -19 133 0.985 $ 1,448,388,736.00
RSG RESOLUTE MINING -14 -6 0.97 $ 1,175,731,712.00
WGX WESTGOLD RESOURCES -15 72 1.91 $ 911,771,904.00
RMS RAMELIUS RESOURCES -9 92 1.0675 $ 892,227,392.00
WAF WEST AFRICAN RESOURCES -5 102 0.495 $ 552,754,048.00
ALK ALKANE RESOURCES -25 272 0.715 $ 524,930,144.00
CMM CAPRICORN METALS -13 269 1.155 $ 454,105,792.00
RED RED 5 -7 152 0.3 $ 435,779,840.00
BGL BELLEVUE GOLD 2 -5 0.555 $ 359,046,176.00
DCN DACIAN GOLD 0 -50 1.4 $ 319,798,176.00
TBR TRIBUNE RESOURCES 2 33 4.81 $ 296,941,184.00
CYL CATALYST METALS -4 32 2.23 $ 230,718,432.00
DEG DE GREY MINING 3 94 0.17 $ 212,902,896.00
SPX SPECTRUM METALS -7 3025 0.12 $ 203,799,696.00
CDV CARDINAL RESOURCES 1 -7 0.32 $ 182,789,072.00
EMR EMERALD RESOURCES NL -16 -7 0.034 $ 171,077,744.00
RND RAND MINING -6 23 2.02 $ 129,920,704.00
MAU MAGNETIC RESOURCES NL -10 139 0.61 $ 126,508,544.00
MML MEDUSA MINING -19 51 0.56 $ 124,676,584.00
KCN KINGSGATE CONSOLIDATED -17 190 0.43 $ 109,719,584.00
BDC BARDOC GOLD -14 56 0.064 $ 102,801,912.00
BCN BEACON MINERALS -3 63 0.03 $ 97,193,512.00
OKU OKLO RESOURCES -6 -8 0.185 $ 94,941,544.00
TIE TIETTO MINERALS -7 143 0.23 $ 90,221,080.00
SVL SILVER MINES -22 54 0.0745 $ 87,952,760.00
TTM TITAN MINERALS -9 -56 0.105 $ 87,687,248.00
VAN VANGO MINING -13 -31 0.1 $ 82,169,064.00
BBX BBX MINERALS -13 3 0.16 $ 74,410,504.00
DGO DGO GOLD 8 180 1.7 $ 72,525,104.00
CHN CHALICE GOLD MINES -21 33 0.2 $ 67,146,696.00
CAI CALIDUS RESOURCES -2 20 0.25 $ 63,333,272.00
TAM TANAMI GOLD NL -15 13 0.042 $ 61,105,048.00
ADN ANDROMEDA METALS -11 680 0.038 $ 59,736,944.00
TRY TROY RESOURCES -10 -16 0.077 $ 58,781,932.00
BRB BREAKER RESOURCES NL -19 -51 0.185 $ 57,830,020.00
AOP APOLLO CONSOLIDATED -11 25 0.2 $ 53,154,368.00
NUS NUSANTARA RESOURCES -5 26 0.27 $ 52,807,124.00
ARL ARDEA RESOURCES -26 -16 0.39 $ 52,198,692.00
AAR ANGLO AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES 13 110 0.125 $ 51,139,832.00
BLK BLACKHAM RESOURCES -31 -67 0.0085 $ 47,162,424.00
DGR DGR GLOBAL -7 -45 0.069 $ 44,762,276.00
FML FOCUS MINERALS 0 -4 0.205 $ 43,859,656.00
BRV BIG RIVER GOLD -38 25 0.021 $ 43,467,520.00
HRZ HORIZON MINERALS -16 -41 0.08 $ 40,657,644.00
GMN GOLD MOUNTAIN -9 -6 0.06 $ 38,080,992.00
SIH SIHAYO GOLD -11 0 0.016 $ 37,759,860.00
PRX PRODIGY GOLD NL -10 -33 0.05 $ 36,579,540.00
RXL ROX RESOURCES -35 150 0.02 $ 36,448,680.00
STN SATURN METALS -18 137 0.44 $ 35,862,752.00
BSR BASSARI RESOURCES -18 -22 0.014 $ 35,816,324.00
MEU MARMOTA -19 119 0.03 $ 35,464,472.00
VMC VENUS METALS CORP -25 21 0.16 $ 33,237,310.00
ONX ORMINEX -12 -68 0.059 $ 32,885,232.00
MAT MATSA RESOURCES -7 -13 0.125 $ 32,537,606.00
BC8 BLACK CAT SYNDICATE -4 80 0.32 $ 31,988,254.00
ERM EMMERSON RESOURCES -5 -10 0.067 $ 31,864,040.00
AZM AZUMAH RESOURCES 0 23 0.032 $ 31,314,618.00
ARV ARTEMIS RESOURCES -23 -62 0.024 $ 30,716,012.00
HAW HAWTHORN RESOURCES 3 26 0.075 $ 27,435,712.00
AMG AUSMEX MINING GROUP -15 -44 0.038 $ 23,752,716.00
AQI ALICANTO MINERALS -6 150 0.074 $ 23,308,616.00
MLL MALI LITHIUM -12 -62 0.07 $ 22,849,064.00
KRM KINGSROSE MINING -9 -42 0.029 $ 21,900,220.00
GML GATEWAY MINING -13 -7 0.012 $ 21,433,856.00
AUC AUSGOLD 6 -14 0.016 $ 21,017,792.00
MDI MIDDLE ISLAND RESOURCES 14 -27 0.007 $ 19,418,060.00
CWX CARAWINE RESOURCES -27 17 0.22 $ 19,316,874.00
NAG NAGAMBIE RESOURCES -17 -50 0.04 $ 18,897,158.00
LNY LANEWAY RESOURCES -17 -17 0.005 $ 18,600,330.00
AGS ALLIANCE RESOURCES 0 22 0.12 $ 18,484,600.00
LEX LEFROY EXPLORATION -11 -11 0.17 $ 18,087,614.00
GWR GWR GROUP -18 -38 0.062 $ 17,828,736.00
KWR KINGWEST RESOURCES -15 0 0.13 $ 17,676,280.00
GSN GREAT SOUTHERN MINING -17 43 0.05 $ 17,657,604.00
AME ALTO METALS 58 73 0.053 $ 17,602,426.00
HRN HORIZON GOLD LIMITED -6 31 0.23 $ 17,602,042.00
DTR DATELINE RESOURCES -20 -33 0.002 $ 16,420,156.00
OAU ORA GOLD 0 100 0.018 $ 15,507,142.00
TLM TALISMAN MINING -9 -14 0.072 $ 14,930,271.00
NWM NORWEST MINERALS -9 -16 0.145 $ 14,252,830.00
E2M E2 METALS -17 -26 0.125 $ 13,780,468.00
CGN CRATER GOLD MINING 0 -29 0.01 $ 13,502,455.00
RML RESOLUTION MINERALS -17 64 0.054 $ 12,904,522.00
SAU SOUTHERN GOLD -18 -17 0.125 $ 12,366,026.00
ARS ALT RESOURCES -13 -23 0.019 $ 12,337,182.00
ANL AMANI GOLD -25 -40 0.002 $ 12,270,899.00
CTO CITIGOLD CORP 0 -33 0.004 $ 12,105,866.00
GBZ GBM RESOURCES -8 -14 0.07 $ 11,959,169.00
BAR BARRA RESOURCES -10 -45 0.015 $ 11,333,799.00
SMI SANTANA MINERALS -20 -20 0.003 $ 10,735,782.00
HMX HAMMER METALS -14 -28 0.017 $ 10,617,785.00
GMR GOLDEN RIM RESOURCES -10 -44 0.007 $ 10,466,695.00
TSC TWENTY SEVEN CO -13 75 0.006 $ 10,404,246.00
WWI WEST WITS MINING -17 0 0.01 $ 10,312,841.00
KTA KRAKATOA RESOURCES 27 58 0.04 $ 8,093,750.00
MKG MAKO GOLD 0 -51 0.067 $ 7,349,338.00
A1G AFRICAN GOLD -24 -54 0.11 $ 7,262,500.00
ALY ALCHEMY RESOURCES -8 -40 0.01 $ 7,156,816.50
GUL GULLEWA -4 67 0.045 $ 7,135,662.50
AWV ANOVA METALS -9 11 0.01 $ 6,391,323.00
PGI PANTERRA GOLD 0 13 0.026 $ 5,463,966.00
MTH MITHRIL RESOURCES -25 50 0.009 $ 5,394,281.50
MSR MANAS RESOUCES 0 -50 0.002 $ 5,286,325.00
CXU CAULDRON ENERGY 0 -35 0.015 $ 5,144,347.50
NXM NEXUS MINERALS -2 -33 0.04 $ 5,084,344.00
BNR BULLETIN RESOURCES -11 0 0.025 $ 5,020,206.00
DHR DARK HORSE RESOURCES -33 -33 0.002 $ 4,928,792.50
PDI PREDICTIVE DISCOVERY -22 -42 0.006 $ 4,859,336.50
MOH MOHO RESOURCES NL -28 -53 0.074 $ 4,661,233.00
SFM SANTA FE MINERALS 0 -20 0.064 $ 4,660,402.50
DAU DAMPIER GOLD -9 -45 0.021 $ 4,553,678.00
GBR GREAT BOULDER RESOURCES -7 -77 0.033 $ 4,537,436.00
AYR ALLOY RESOURCES -25 -50 0.0015 $ 4,177,354.75
DTM DART MINING NL -4 -33 0.067 $ 3,947,580.25
TAR TARUGA MINERALS -15 -79 0.011 $ 3,569,883.25
SLZ SULTAN RESOURCES -24 -3 0.068 $ 3,476,647.00
MLS METALS AUSTRALIA 0 -67 0.001 $ 3,207,352.75
PUA PURE ALUMINA -37 -69 0.011 $ 3,104,651.50
RGL RIVERSGOLD -8 -76 0.012 $ 2,967,044.50
TNR TORIAN RESOURCES 0 -64 0.008 $ 2,957,224.00
GSM GOLDEN STATE MINING -18 -44 0.07 $ 2,930,096.00
OKR OKAPI RESOURCES 7 -59 0.08 $ 2,883,429.25
VKA VIKING MINES -11 -27 0.007 $ 2,823,460.75
GED GOLDEN DEEPS -28 -64 0.01 $ 2,806,085.50
CY5 CYGNUS GOLD -12 -34 0.037 $ 2,730,043.25
KGM KALNORTH GOLD MINES -25 -25 0.007 $ 2,682,720.25
AVW AVIRA RESOURCES 0 -33 0.002 $ 2,250,000.00
TMX TERRAIN MINERALS -25 -40 0.003 $ 2,169,483.00
NES NELSON RESOURCES 3 -72 0.041 $ 2,165,692.25
AAJ ARUMA RESOURCES -14 -57 0.002 $ 2,128,241.75
GNM GREAT NORTHERN MINERALS 20 -80 0.005 $ 2,081,615.00
CDT CASTLE MINERALS -33 -25 0.006 $ 1,660,618.88
ARM AURORA MINERALS -22 -36 0.007 $ 1,639,866.00
Code Name 1 Week Return % 1 Year Return % Price [intraday Monday] Market Cap
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SMALL CAP HIGHLIGHTS

ALTO METALS (ASX:AME) +58%

Market Cap ~$17.6m

Alto is popular, fielding takeover offers from fellow top five mover Middle Island Resources last year (which failed) and Chinese-owned company Goldsea (which is ongoing).

The WA explorer is still considering its response to the February 21 Goldsea offer, which values it at about ~$20m.

On February 27 drilling at the historic 800sqkm Sandstone gold project intersected a new shallow gold lode, about 200m south of — and identical to — the old Lord Nelson open pit.

Which is great, but that’s not even taking into account the lack of deeper drilling by previous owners.

“[This was] primarily due to the inability of the former Sandstone process plant to treat large volumes of the harder, fresh ore found at depth,” Alto says.

“Given many other orogenic Yilgarn gold deposits, such as Jundee (+5.5moz production), Kanowna Belle (+4.9moz production), Gwalia (+5.5moz production) are known to extend to great depth, Alto firmly believes the significant potential of Sandstone has not yet been tested.”

 

KRAKATOA RESOURCES (ASX:KTA) +27%

Market Cap: ~$8m

Minnow Krakatoa is chasing porphyry whales at the recently acquired Belgravia project in NSW’s East Lachlan.

Drilling kicked off last week at the Bell Valley target which Krakatoa says “lies in the same rocks” that host the giant Cadia-Ridgeway mine (35km south) and Alkane Resources’ Boda discovery (65km north).

READ: Explainer — Why are so many explorers chasing a porphyry payday?

 

MIDDLE ISLAND RESOURCES (ASX:MDI) +14%

Market Cap: ~$19.5m

Middle Island’s 180sqkm Sandstone project is surrounded by perpetual takeover target Alto Resources, which also has a project called Sandstone (confusing, we know).

But the explorer has also completed a capital raising which saw notable mining investor Stephen Copulos top up his holdings.

 

ANGLO AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES (ASX:AAR) +13%

Market Cap: ~$51m

Anglo’s main game is the Mandilla gold project, 60km from Kalgoorlie.

In February, new managing director Marc Ducler said that drilling “continues to validate what appears to be a significant, large-scale gold system”.

Ducler was most recently the guiding force behind high-grade success story Egan Street Resources, a stock which went from 19.5c to ~55c in 12 months.

Egan Street was acquired by producer Silver Lake (ASX:SLR) late last year in a deal which valued it at ~$70m.

READ: Tim Treadgold — Back to work at Mandilla after the hatchet is buried at Anglo Australian