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

Here’s everything you need to know before the ASX gets rolling for the week.

You don't need your comfort bears to tackle the stock market this morning. You just need this column. Picture: Getty Images

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.

Mithril ran way ahead of the small caps pack today with a big silver and gold hit in Mexicohttps://t.co/RpNwdKLIFv

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) September 20, 2024

FRIDAY'S SMALL CAP LEADERS

Best performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
MTH	Mithril Silver Gold	0.328	60%	13,835,305	$21,130,626
SMS	Starmineralslimited	0.049	48%	1,671,463	$3,125,852
BGE	Bridgesaaslimited	0.014	40%	250,000	$1,227,304
MEL	Metgasco Ltd	0.004	33%	250,491	$4,342,760
RFA	Rare Foods Australia	0.016	33%	1,275,975	$3,263,799
SIS	Simble Solutions	0.004	33%	4,388,051	$2,260,352
ESR	Estrella Res Ltd	0.009	29%	1,720,027	$12,723,936
PIM	Pinnacleminerals	0.055	28%	237,072	$1,954,923
ATX	Amplia Therapeutics	0.125	26%	708,198	$27,205,033
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.003	25%	3,519,701	$57,867,624
AMD	Arrow Minerals	0.003	25%	8,895,016	$25,378,730
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.003	25%	1,592,003	$2,090,032
PUR	Pursuit Minerals	0.003	25%	3,616	$7,270,800
BDG	Black Dragon Gold	0.017	21%	371,921	$3,745,247
AD1	AD1 Holdings Limited	0.006	20%	255,657	$5,486,742
GCM	Green Critical Min	0.003	20%	95,000	$3,671,357
TMG	Trigg Minerals Ltd	0.024	20%	33,041,196	$9,360,026
TZL	TZ Limited	0.024	20%	95,000	$5,131,662
SUH	Southern Hem Min	0.019	19%	838,208	$11,779,841
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.007	17%	2,302,947	$7,068,458
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.004	17%	523,188	$2,833,920
CDT	Castle Minerals	0.004	17%	3,741,667	$4,118,442
POS	Poseidon Nick Ltd	0.004	17%	3,946,555	$12,611,626

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

Worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
OVT	Ovanti Limited	0.003	-25%	23,419,786	$6,225,393
RBR	RBR Group Ltd	0.002	-25%	8,250,000	$3,268,809
SI6	SI6 Metals Limited	0.002	-25%	328,987	$4,737,719
FSG	Field Solu Hldgs Ltd	0.015	-25%	992,770	$15,468,891
PNT	Panthermetalsltd	0.018	-25%	2,640,858	$2,091,988
BLG	Bluglass Limited	0.023	-21%	5,630,473	$53,262,660
EXL	Elixinol Wellness	0.004	-20%	27,908	$6,605,912
GTI	Gratifii	0.004	-20%	3,013,784	$10,745,981
GTR	Gti Energy Ltd	0.004	-20%	6,885,116	$12,749,735
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.002	-20%	41,833	$2,608,206
RIL	Redivium Limited	0.004	-20%	160,000	$13,734,274
WML	Woomera Mining Ltd	0.002	-20%	1,941,896	$3,795,347
TOR	Torque Met	0.082	-18%	130,964	$18,843,893
GMN	Gold Mountain Ltd	0.003	-17%	1,060,008	$11,722,420
BIM	Bindimetalslimited	0.088	-16%	315,706	$3,386,250
EQX	Equatorial Res Ltd	0.105	-16%	22,185	$16,430,669
OCN	Oceanalithiumlimited	0.033	-15%	50,755	$3,217,422
DOU	Douugh Limited	0.003	-14%	187,500	$3,787,241
M24	Mamba Exploration	0.012	-14%	141,772	$2,633,152
NRZ	Neurizer Ltd	0.003	-14%	24,000,522	$7,633,918
PLG	Pearlgullironlimited	0.012	-14%	51,102	$2,863,585
SS1	Sun Silver Limited	0.760	-13%	2,355,541	$60,969,125

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.

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