16-Apr-2024: New-High-Grade-Discovery---Pepper-Prospect.PDF

Spartan Resources (SPR), the new name for the old Gascoyne Resources, defied the sea of red today and rose +8.7% on this news.

There weren't many stocks that did rise, Lycopodium (LYL) managed to put on 3 cents for a +0.27% rise, but they've been sold off a fair bit since they went ex-div on 25th March, when they were around $12/share, now down to $11/share or thereabouts, after very briefly tagging $13.21 in February (21st Feb).

SPR have had a decent year. Their 10-year chart doesn't make them look so flash though - you'd still be hurting if you paid around $7/share for them 7 years ago (when they were Gascoyne - GCY), but they were trading at around 13 cps this time last year so they've gone 4.8x from a year ago.

And these grades are decent:

Those numbers are a bit blurry - here they are blown up a bit:

Please Note: Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Visual estimates also potentially provide no information regarding impurities or deleterious physical properties relevant to valuations. Assays for DGDH064 are expected in April 2024.

https://spartanresources.com.au/

A good performer on a day when most stocks went down:

Some companies that have been creeping back up from low points, like South32 (S32), which has recovered from below $3/share to close at $3.44 yesterday (Monday), gave a fair bit back today; S32 was down -16 cps (-4.65%) today, so it seems like it could be up by the stairs and down by the elevator, and it's likely to get worse if the middle east conflict escaltes further. Obviously solid industrial and other companies that will keep on growing at a good clip regardless of stuff that occurs outside of Australia will recover in terms of their share price, but perhaps one of the sectors that just might outperform if this middle east situation deteriorates further is the Gold sector. Interesting that on a day when everything fell, the three sectors that fell the least were Comms, consumer staples and Gold.

And just on consumer staples, didn't the pollies get stuck into Woolworths CEO & MD, Brad Banducci today - "I'm not interested in your spin, or your bullsh!t" - was one comment I heard one of them say on the news this evening - when he was claiming to not know Woolworths ROE for the last financial year - see here: Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci grilled in Senate inquiry into price gouging | ABC News - YouTube

And WOW closed down just -1.15%, i.e. less than the market average - the All Ords and the ASX200 were both down by around -1.8%. But then, if you're looking at Woolworths as in investor or as a prospective investor, rather than as a consumer or a regulator (or a senate committee member), then you probably want them to have a decent double digit ROE that's closer to 30 than 20. All a matter of perspective I guess.

Coles was also in front of the senate enquiry into supermarket prices today, but their MD, Leah Weckert, had her ROE number ready for them - see here: Supermarkets inquiry: Brad Banducci, CEO of Woolworths Banducci threatened with prison time over profits (afr.com)

Bunnings had their day in front of the enquiry yesterday (Monday) - see here: Plant suppliers say Bunnings pushed them 'into the dirt' with unfair, unprofitable contracts - ABC News and here: Australian sharemarket falls as geopolitical tensions weigh on global markets, Bunnings grilled at Senate inquiry — as it happened - ABC News

And here: Australian sharemarket falls as geopolitical tensions weigh on global markets, Bunnings grilled at Senate inquiry — as it happened - ABC News

Disclosure: Of the companies I've mentioned in this straw, I hold WES shares, but not WOW or COL at this point. I also hold a few gold companies, but not SPR. I do hold LYL.