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

Good morning, and happy Wednesday! Here’s everything you need to know before the ASX opens today.

Sssschloooop! Pic via Getty Images

Good morning everyone, and welcome to August 21, 2024 – an important date in the history of egregious movie tie-ins.

It was on this day in 1264 that a fella called Ariq Böke surrendered to his brother, Kublai Khan, at Xanadu, inadvertently causing the 1980 musical horror show starring Olivia Newton John.

And, just to be sure that the theme song to the film gets well and truly stuck in your head all day, here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLi8fTlDEag

You're very, very welcome.

Luckily for you, you won’t have to star in an early '80s musical or wear shoulder pads so large you could play Tight End for the Green Bay Packers 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.

(And just quickly, I’d like to add that this is the 200th of these that I’ve written so far this year… I hope you’re enjoying them, because I’m having the time of my life. g.)

COMMODITY/FOREX/CRYPTO MARKET PRICES

Gold: US$2,499.22 (-0.20%)

Silver: US$29.31 (-0.58%)

Nickel (3mth): US$16,282/t (+2.39%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,137/t (-0.05 %)

Zinc: US$2,745/t (+1.91%)

Oil (WTI): US$73.00 (-1.82%)

Oil (Brent): US$77.00 (-0.84%)

Iron 62pc Fe: US$94.00/t (-0.67%)

AUD/USD: 0.6722 (+0.53%)

Bitcoin: US$$61,044.60 (+2.68%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

If you were wondering what’s got Tony Locantro’s mandarins a-janglin’, you should definitely have a squiz at this week’s episode of Tony’s Takeaway.

This week on Tony’s Takeaway, host Tony Locantro looks at adding rhythm to the portfolio in the form of Saturn Metals and some golden vocals from Aurumin.https://t.co/VJ0Y4F8Tyk #ASX $STN $AUN @saturn_metals @AuruminLtd

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) August 20, 2024

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
JAV	Javelin Minerals Ltd	0.002	100%	2,689,334	$4,276,846
GCR	Golden Cross	0.003	50%	106,330	$2,194,512
ICU	Investor Centre Ltd	0.003	50%	555,440	$609,023
M2R	Miramar	0.010	43%	44,720,459	$2,763,457
CR9	Corellares	0.007	40%	8,699,303	$2,325,462
GT1	Greentechnology	0.086	34%	1,718,189	$20,592,134
POS	Poseidon Nick Ltd	0.004	33%	475,357	$11,140,604
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.004	33%	103,390	$12,476,034
YAR	Yari Minerals Ltd	0.004	33%	19,628	$1,447,073
FFG	Fatfish Group	0.012	33%	3,671,794	$12,659,157
BSX	Blackstone Ltd	0.033	32%	521,350	$13,159,070
HCT	Holista CollTech Ltd	0.014	27%	470,400	$3,066,801
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.003	25%	2,431,365	$57,867,624
AX8	Accelerate Resources	0.010	25%	956,019	$4,974,031
ION	Iondrive Limited	0.010	25%	4,665,322	$5,668,060
LV1	Live Verdure Ltd	0.530	20%	448,037	$55,333,430
BDG	Black Dragon Gold	0.018	20%	812,500	$4,012,765
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.003	20%	363,333	$3,028,580
BP8	Bph Global Ltd	0.003	20%	260,333	$991,604
TEG	Triangle Energy Ltd	0.006	20%	4,958,992	$10,400,670
UNT	Unith Ltd	0.019	19%	1,898,710	$19,641,666
LEX	Lefroy Exploration	0.091	18%	875,196	$15,435,303
ASM	Ausstratmaterials	0.555	18%	658,176	$85,192,837

Yesterday’s Small Cap Winners included:

Corella Resources (ASX:CR9) was up  on news that it has been granted government funding to fast track an R&D program to investigate a new and alternative HPA Flowsheet for its Tampu kaolin deposit in Western Australia, in conjunction with an industry partner and the Chemical Engineering division of the University of Queensland.

Green Technology Metals (ASX:GT1) was climbing on news of the execution of a Framework Agreement and corporate Subscription Agreement with leading South Korean EV battery metals producer EcoPro Innovation Co, which will bring in $8 million via a two-tranche placement at a premium of 40% over the company’s 90-day VWAP, as part of GT1’s strategy to become the first integrated lithium producer in Ontario.

Also in Canada, Koba Resources (ASX:KOB) gained after announcing “exceptionally high-grade rock chip assays” from its inaugural sampling and prospecting program at the Harrier Uranium Project, including samples as high as 74,800ppm (7.48%) U3O8, and 72,000ppm (7.20%) U3O8, with a further five samples assaying >30,000ppm (3.0%) U3O8.

Celsius Resources (ASX:CLA) was up on recent news. CLA has obtained a mineral production sharing agreement with the Philippines government for its flagship Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyon (MCB) copper project which gives the company a 25-year lease for exploration and development. MCB contains a 338Mt at 0.47% copper and 0.12 g/t gold resource for a contained 1.6Mt copper and 1.3Moz of gold.

A 2021 study highlighted a post-tax NPV8 of US$464m and an IRR of 31% at an assumed copper price of US$4/lb and gold price of US$1695/oz, both below current spot prices, with gold recently cresting record highs of US$2500/oz. It’s a key step for Celsius in its planned transition from explorer to developer

Javelin Minerals (ASX:JAV) was up on yesterday’s news. Compelling gold-copper targets were announced yesterday at JAV’s Coogee deposit, which is right next door to the world-class St Ives gold field in WA.

Run-throughs of historical data from previous exploration work has cropped up numerous targets for the explorer to sink its teeth into, including a large, untested magnetic anomaly 300m from the Coogee pit.

Little to no previous drilling has been conducted and JAV reckons it’s on track to start drilling the new targets next quarter and is cashed up to do so after a raising $1.25m last month.

Inoviq (ASX:IIQ) lifted nicely after announcing that its NEURO-NET technology has been further validated for isolating brain-derived exosomes in Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Earlier this year, Inoviq demonstrated that NEURO-NET could successfully isolate brain-derived exosomes from blood and identify a distinct protein fingerprint that differentiates Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from healthy samples.

Now, NEURO-NET has also proven effective in isolating exosomes from the blood of Parkinson’s disease patients, revealing a unique protein profile that contrasts with healthy individuals.

Initial studies show that NEURO-NET enhances the detection of known neurodegenerative disease biomarkers by 5-8 times compared to direct blood measurement, potentially allowing for earlier detection of Parkinson’s disease.

YESTERDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks:

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
RNE	Renu Energy Ltd	0.002	-33%	2,346,448	$2,178,402
KBC	Keybridge Capital	0.047	-28%	64,502	$13,476,959
1TT	Thrive Tribe Tech	0.002	-25%	15,746,388	$1,223,243
BCT	Bluechiip Limited	0.003	-25%	245,000	$4,728,158
MEL	Metgasco Ltd	0.003	-25%	32,963,784	$5,790,347
MBK	Metal Bank Ltd	0.013	-24%	994,146	$6,637,808
ZMM	Zimi Ltd	0.015	-21%	45,000	$2,406,630
WMG	Western Mines	0.250	-21%	292,078	$25,483,839
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.004	-20%	3,132	$2,516,434
PRX	Prodigy Gold NL	0.002	-20%	35,000	$5,294,436
RGL	Riversgold	0.004	-20%	1,780,512	$6,637,313
RON	Roninresourcesltd	0.095	-17%	165,000	$4,234,876
A8G	Australasian Metals	0.100	-17%	175,554	$6,254,459
AUA	Audeara	0.025	-17%	471,538	$4,356,724
NVO	Novo Resources Corp	0.100	-17%	15,230	$10,734,985
AVE	Avecho Biotech Ltd	0.003	-17%	65,500	$9,507,891
GTI	Gratifii	0.005	-17%	595,160	$10,536,286
LML	Lincoln Minerals	0.005	-17%	1,920,099	$12,337,557
PRM	Prominence Energy	0.005	-17%	152,846	$1,868,258
ROG	Red Sky Energy.	0.005	-17%	3,727,250	$32,533,363
WML	Woomera Mining Ltd	0.003	-17%	8,000,000	$4,554,417
MOZ	Mosaic Brands Ltd	0.042	-16%	76,481	$8,925,322
MCM	Mc Mining Ltd	0.076	-16%	15,000	$37,261,201

TRADING HALTS

Panther Metals (ASX:PNT) – pending the release of an announcement to the market regarding a capital raising.

Unico Silver (ASX:USL) – for the purpose of executing a proposed capital raising and a material acquisition.

Arrow Minerals (ASX:AMD) – requested in respect of a proposed capital raising.

SRG Global (ASX:SRG) – pending an announcement in relation to a corporate acquisition and an associated equity raising.

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