The ASX200 closed the day trading up 0.35 of a per cent. The sectors are fairly split with Energy leading the pack, up 1.86%, followed by Financials, up 0.7%. Industrials dipped the most, down. 0.15% In the green Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) is up around a per cent, after it confirmed GR Engineering will build a cement plant on-site, at its flagship Kathleen Valley project. GR Engineering will be responsible for both delivery of the plant and getting it online.  Liontown expects 160 metres cubed per hour of cement fill to be produced, with ..read more

The biggest story of this week in my view hasn’t got much to do with Australian or US equities, and everything to do with forward-looking geopolitics. If that isn’t your cup of tea, I apologise – jump straight ahead to the list of headlines that caught my attention this week. But what’s happening with China-European relations is worth recapping this week. Three weeks ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz indicated that his government had no real issues doing trade with China; that German-Chinese relations were sound, and that the two nations will continue to do trade. Fast forward to this week, a ..read more

State Gas (ASX:GAS) has secured an exploration grant of $5.5 million from the Queensland Government’s Frontier Gas Exploration Program to fund exploration at the company’sRolleston West coal seam gas (“CSG”) project with the drilling of two new vertical wells. Success from this campaign is likely to accelerate State Gas’ application for a petroleum lease over a substantial portion of the project area, which will facilitate ongoing evaluation of the project. One key aspect of State Gas’ successful grant application is its unique ability to capture gas production testing from new wells – instead ..read more

Emerging mineral and silica sands producer Diatreme Resources Ltd (ASX:DRX) has entered into a negotiation protocol with an Aboriginal corporation representing the Dingaal Clan of far north Queensland, which it hopes will provide a framework of interactions in relation to the company’s Northern Silica Project in the same region. Among the key negotiations between the two parties – Diatreme and Walmbaar Aboriginal Corporation (WAC) – will be the development of a cultural heritage plan to ensure protection of significant sites and traditions. Other crucial aspects will be strategies to manage im ..read more

WA-focused explorer Dundas Minerals Ltd (ASX:DUN) has embarked on a capital raising aiming for $1.5 million to fund additional work on its Windanya and Baden-Powell gold plays north of Kalgoorlie, as well as evaluation of development opportunities and other corporate costs. The capital raise of up to $1,497,065 will be broken into two components: firstly, a pro-rata entitlement offer based on two new shares for every seven shares held on May 15 at 5pm (AWST); these will be offered at $0.022 cents per share, with a goal of raising $497,065. For this offer – which will close on May 29 – Dundas h ..read more

The ASX200 is up nearly half a per cent – beating futures earlier predictions, The energy sector is the top gainer mid-session – up nearly 1.7% whilst IT is down nearly a third of a per cent.  The ABS has released business turnover data for March. The latter showed a 0.3% lift in the 13-industry aggregate – where the largest rise was in Information media and telecommunications (3.7%) while the largest fall was in Transport, postal and warehousing (-3.5%). In company news Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) is down around a per cent after reporting an $85 million increase in 90-days past due loan ..read more

Perpetual’s recent decision to engage in exclusive talks with KKR to sell its Wealth Management and Corporate Trust divisions, which is set to fetch a substantial $2.175 billion in cash, undoubtedly signifies a juncture in the company’s journey. But what implications does this hold for Perpetual’s future, and is now the opportune time to consider it as an investment opportunity?Interestingly, Perpetual’s share price experienced a notable 7 per cent drop following the announcement. This reaction suggests a degree of scepticism, with some viewing the divestment of key business arms as a potentia ..read more

If you were the kind of person who would think an app designed to track family members pandered to a kind of enthusiastic paranoia, you’d definitely have to concede it’s what the market wants. Family tracking app developer Life360 (ASX:360) announced on Friday that it is now looking to enter the world’s largest equity market by nation – applying for a US IPO with the SEC. The company’s headquarters are already in San Fransisco, so a US listing could perhaps be viewed as something that was inevitable. At the same time, it’s also a testament to the popularity of the company’s product. It’s proba ..read more

Critical Minerals Group (ASX:CMG) has announced its JORC resource for vanadium, aluminium and molybdenum at its flagsip has increased 96%. The new resource sits at 713Mt of ore with 68% of mineralisation in the ‘indicated’ category at CMG’s Lindfield Project. In terms of grades, the company is running with projections of 0.32% vanadium; 3.4% aluminium oxide and 130g/t molybdenum. The company reported on Friday that some 72% of the resource is located within 20m of the surface, suggesting a cheaper mining operation compared to a project required to go underground. “This upgrade in the resource ..read more

After receiving a speeding ticket earlier this week, Aurum Resources (ASX:AUE) has announced intercepting a 59m long core section at 1.42g/t gold from 68m depth. The company also reported a 90m core grading at 1.16g/t gold from 14m depth. Aurum identified on Friday that its exploration team “has noted visible gold in the core and is identifying the best assaying method for this.” However, in the second hour of trades on Friday, Aurum shares were down -1.37% to 36cps – perhaps in response to the advertised depth of the 90m core. Also of interest is that the company had to respond to the ASX com ..read more