The ASX small caps had a mixed week, with the S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) down 0.50% and the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO) down 0.56% over the past five days. Acorn Capital portfolio manager Rick Squire provided his recommendations, backing rare earths, base metals, and gold plays.
On Monday, the market eked out a 0.17% win, with banks and healthcare leading the way, while resources had a slow day. Tuesday saw the RBA hike to 4.60%, with the ASX rising 0.34% in response. Wednesday was the week’s best day, with softer inflation, lower yields, and a 0.92% ASX jump, driven by property and consumer stocks.
Thursday, however, saw the ASX dump 1.99% as all 11 sectors went red and bond yields resumed their upward trend. Friday saw the ASX attempting to recover, up about 0.60% around 2.45pm as yields eased and oil nudged back above US$102.
Expert Recommendations
Rick Squire recommended Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI), which recently received a takeover bid from Lynas. However, Squire notes that there are two potential rival bidders, POSCO International and MP Materials, which could lead to an interesting battle for control of the company’s rare earths project.
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Squire also recommended Aurelia Metals (ASX:AMI), which has finally turned the corner after several years of struggles. Aurelia Metals’ operations at Federation, Peak South, and New Cobar in New South Wales are forecast to generate strong cash flows in FY2027, with exploration upside also good at existing operations and development projects, such as Nymagee.
In addition, Squire backed Pantoro (ASX:PNR), which recently provided a positive production update. Pantoro will focus on production from two underground and two open-pit operations while developing a new underground at Mainfield, and its recent production update suggests it may be approaching its target of consistently generating more than 100,000oz of gold per annum.
Small-Cap Movers
Among the small-cap movers, Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) was up 69% over the past five trading days, after the US Department of Justice filed a motion seeking a stay of the injunction over the company’s Colosseum gold and rare earths project in California. Mamba Exploration (ASX:M24) was up 66%, after lining up technical, operational, and financial wins, including a share placement to raise $6 million and a drilling program at the Meeka East project.
BOA Resources (ASX:BOA) was up 59%, after hitting high-grade copper at its Ricci Lee prospect in Western Australia. The company’s reverse circulation drilling results peaked at 22m at 3.05% copper and 9.5g/t silver, with a high-grade component of 9m at 6.86% copper and 22.1g/t silver.
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Blue Star Helium (ASX:BNL) is also worth noting, as the company is the lone producer on the ASX from its strategic foothold on US soil. The helium market is facing a structural tightness, and Blue Star Helium is well-placed to take advantage of this, with six wells from the Galactica project feeding into its Pinyon Canyon plant for processing.
Blue Star Helium currently has six wells from the Galactica project feeding into its Pinyon Canyon plant, with another three planned for tie-in this year and a further six marked for 2027.
While the benchmark indices declined, some small-cap companies, including Blue Star Helium, BOA Resources, and Mamba Exploration, made notable gains.
