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

Good morning, and Happy Tuesday! Here’s everything you need to know before the ASX gets rolling today.

Pic: Getty Images

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Tuesday, October 1 – an important date in the history of rich men in big boats getting into pointless races.

That’s because it was on this day in 1661 that King Charles II took on – and beat – his brother James, Duke of York in a sailing race from Greenwich to Gravesend, inadvertently introducing the concept of “yachting” to England.

If only they could see the damage that has wrought on the psyches – and bank balances – of countless thousands of people since then.

I reckon they’d be delighted.

Luckily for you, you won’t need to mortgage your home for spinnaker money in order to get your hands on all the pre-market info you need for 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$2,657.40/oz (-0.04%)

Silver: US$31.57/oz (-0.15%)

Nickel (3mth): US$17,117/t (+2.72%)

Copper (3mth): US$9,846/t (-0.99%)

Zinc: US$3,080/t (-0.61%)

Oil (WTI): US$68.94/bbl (+1.11%)

Oil (Brent): US$72.49/bbl (+1.36%)

Iron Ore: US$113/t (+10.63%)

AUD/USD: 0.6931 (+0.18%)

Bitcoin: US$64,526.50 (-1.66%)

WHAT GOT YOU TALKING

Which Aussie biotech has a gut feeling about the Next Big Thing in probiotics? Tim Boreham’s got the skinny on this one:

Health Check: Probiotics supplier has gut feeling about surging growth. Tim Boreham has the deets > https://t.co/lFFQR8HgDX

— Stockhead (@StockheadAU) September 30, 2024

MONDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Here are the best-performing ASX small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.005	150%	29,338,804	$2,086,565
AL8	Alderan Resource Ltd	0.005	67%	59,166,165	$3,818,584
FGH	Foresta Group	0.005	67%	27,658,523	$7,066,137
IBX	Imagion Biosys Ltd	0.040	60%	2,377,395	$891,164
CAN	Cann Group Ltd	0.094	57%	9,682,082	$28,119,989
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.002	50%	1,707,438	$5,824,681
CDE	Codeifai Limited	0.002	50%	704,554	$2,641,295
TFL	Tasfoods Ltd	0.014	40%	398,505	$4,370,955
IMI	Infinitymining	0.032	39%	1,118,412	$3,122,115
AR3	Austrare	0.130	38%	1,280,305	$14,848,592
ALR	Altairminerals	0.004	33%	137,511	$12,889,733
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.004	33%	662,942	$2,833,920
CTO	Citigold Corp Ltd	0.004	33%	3,588,323	$9,000,000
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.004	33%	789,522	$3,309,952
MEL	Metgasco Ltd	0.004	33%	125,000	$4,342,760
RDS	Redstone Resources	0.004	33%	250,000	$2,776,135
RNE	Renu Energy Ltd	0.002	33%	960,798	$1,206,201
SMM	Somerset Minerals	0.004	33%	300,075	$3,092,996
BUR	Burleyminerals	0.069	30%	892,408	$7,969,660
HZR	Hazer Group Limited	0.370	28%	897,526	$66,732,627
CXO	Core Lithium	0.128	28%	36,460,281	$214,301,554
MPP	Metro Perf.Glass Ltd	0.050	25%	23,387	$7,415,123
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.003	25%	2,881,435	$57,867,624

Monday’s small cap winners included:

Odessa Minerals (ASX:ODE) has doubled on news the company has received the nod for $1.1m through a share placement to continue exploration and drilling of its Lyndon uranium project, where impressive grades of up to 6612ppm U3O8 were discovered. Odessa completed a heritage survey last month across the tenure in the Carnarvon Basin previously conducted detailed airborne magnetics and radiometrics over a large part of the project area.

Results showed multi-commodity prospectivity for lithium-pegmatites, uranium, REEs, intrusive nickel-copper-PGE, orogenic gold and sedimentary-hosted copper-lead-zinc mineralisation and it looks like yellowcake has been plucked out of the pack to be targeted. Drilling across an identified 8km trend by Newera Uranium in 2008 and 2009 was confirmed and has since had no further drill testing.

Alderan Resources (ASX:AL8) has reported that its Stage 1 drilling program at the New Years copper prospect in the Cactus copper-gold (Cu-Au) district in Utah, USA has intersected high grade copper mineralisation, based on visual inspection and pXRF readings on the drill core. Spot pXRF readings showed grades of 45.5% copper between 14.0-14.2m downhole, with the average of three separate readings over this interval being 23.2% copper within a 30m interval from 10.8m downhole.

Citigold (ASX:CTO) was up on the heels of a quarterly report this morning, outlining how things are going at its high-grade, production-ready Charters Towers gold project. The report says that while gold is the main focus of the company’s work in the area, it is keeping a keen eye out for other critical minerals as well.

Enterprise Metals (ASX:ENT) was gaining on news that it has received the results of a recent 81 sample UltraFine orientation soil sampling program completed within the Mandilla Tenement E15/1437 in Western Australia.  The results have identified a cluster of +30ppb gold results within shallow soils east of the Emu Rocks Granite, which the company says is “in the general area where the 744oz Ausrox gold nugget was purported to have been found in 2013”.

Burley Minerals (ASX:BUR) was up on news that it has been granted an exploration licence over the Cane Bore Iron Ore Project within the Hamersly Province of the Pilbara, Western Australia, less than 100km by sealed road from the export Port of Onslow. The company says it is a “major milestone for Burley as Cane Bore has the potential for significant CID-style iron resources, rivalling its neighbours in the local region”.

Triangle Energy (ASX:TEG) was up on news that its JV with Strike Energy (ASX:STX) and Echelon Resources (ASX:ECH) has received approval of the EP to drill the Becos-1 well, which is a commitment well under the EP 437 permit title. The news clears the path to drilling the Becos-1 well when a rig is available, with discussions underway with a number of possible alternatives and a decision is anticipated within the next few weeks.

RMA Global (ASX:RMY) was up on news that it has signed a strategic partnership deal with a major US brokerage Realty ONE Group, will see RMA become integrated into ROG’s technology architecture to gather agent and team reviews, and syndicate these on the Realty ONE Group website.

A resource expansion at Koppamurra has sent Australian Rare Earths (ASX:AR3) shares flying today, expanding the resource by 27% up to 236Mt, which includes a 70% upgrade of its higher-grade core, now 68Mt at >1000ppm.

That’s some very decent grades and puts South Australia and Victoria (it cuts through the border) on the radar to contain its very own world-class ionic clay-hosted REE deposit, which AR3 has been proving up for the past few years. The results further back up the company’s bold theory that Koppamurra is a discovery of “multi-generational significance”. It’s gearing towards an accelerated timeline for developing the resource and now has a large swathe of tonnes in the higher confidence indicated category that makes up just 2% of its massive 7700km2 landholding in the region.

Hazer Group (ASX:HZR) said it has completed >360 hours of continuous operation at its CDP graphite plant, a milestone achievement that comes on the back of recently shipping 105kg of graphite to FortisBC to be used on commissioning their small-scale test unit in November as part of the project development plan.

FortisBC’s test rig has completed construction and will be installed on-site in Q4 for testing in early 2025 ahead of a final investment decision. Hazer’s climate tech enables the production of clean and economically competitive hydrogen and high-quality graphite, using a natural gas (or biogas) feedstock and iron ore as the process catalyst.

While its ‘HAZER’ process is essentially a variation of methane pyrolysis, which uses heat to break down methane into hydrogen and a solid carbon, the company is considerably ahead of its competitors with some 17 years of work and $110m invested into its development.

And Artrya (ASX:AYA) has submitted an FDA application for approval of its AI-based Salix Coronary Anatomy product to detect coronary artery disease. Specifically, the device detects the build-up of invisible plaque that is a key cause of heart disease. The application followed feedback and guidance from the agency at two so-called Q-Submission meetings. The company says over the last 10 months it has worked with US hospital groups and healthcare systems final testing and validation on the Artrya system, “which will allow the company to reduce the sales cycle post FDA approval.”

MONDAY’S ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Here are the worst-performing ASX small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
FAU	First Au Ltd	0.001	-50%	30,000	$3,623,987
RIE	Riedel Resources Ltd	0.001	-50%	30,000	$4,447,671
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.002	-33%	479,341	$3,671,296
WEL	Winchester Energy	0.001	-33%	3,272	$2,044,528
FRX	Flexiroam Limited	0.008	-27%	5,141,916	$8,679,542
ATH	Alterity Therap Ltd	0.003	-25%	2,270,136	$21,281,344
LNU	Linius Tech Limited	0.002	-25%	751,284	$11,730,481
ESR	Estrella Res Ltd	0.011	-21%	17,608,982	$25,447,873
EEL	Enrg Elements Ltd	0.002	-20%	4,213	$2,612,540
EXL	Elixinol Wellness	0.004	-20%	10,728	$6,605,912
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.004	-20%	500,000	$3,969,071
NTM	Nt Minerals Limited	0.004	-20%	469,248	$5,087,015
PUR	Pursuit Minerals	0.002	-20%	114,480	$9,088,500
ERG	Eneco Refresh Ltd	0.010	-17%	38,500	$3,268,300
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.003	-17%	1,074,735	$25,767,375
RIM	Rimfire Pacific	0.047	-16%	7,395,066	$128,533,127
FRB	Firebird Metals	0.105	-16%	484,167	$17,795,175
PEX	Peel Mining Limited	0.110	-15%	396,694	$75,540,989
ASQ	Australian Silica	0.022	-15%	278,025	$7,328,370
HAR	Harangaresources	0.040	-15%	20,023	$4,207,881
POL	Polymetals Resources	0.290	-15%	616,881	$66,218,626
NVU	Nanoveu Limited	0.018	-14%	219,376	$10,603,376

TRADING HALTS

Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX:SNX) – pending an announcement in relation to a change in the company’s Board of Directors.

Reward Minerals (ASX:RWD) – pending the release of an announcement in relation to a potential material acquisition.

Alderan Resources (ASX:AL8) – pending the release of an announcement in relation to exploration results from the New Years prospect.

Spacetalk (ASX:SPA) – pending release of a supplementary announcement by SPA in connection the Talius Group Partnership announced to ASX today.

BPM Minerals (ASX:BPM) – pending an announcement regarding a material capital raising.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is, while Hazer Group 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.

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