The Kuniko Ltd (ASX: KNI) share price has stepped firmly into the green from the opening of trade on Thursday.
Kuniko shares are now changing hands at $1.97 apiece, a 20% jump from the open.
Let's investigate a little further.
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A quick recap on Kuniko
Kuniko is in the business of minerals exploration. It has particular interests in the development of non-lithium battery metals, used in the production of electro-mobility and other modern forms of energy production.
Kuniko was formed via a spinoff from Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) earlier this year. The company completed its initial public offering (IPO) last month.
At the time of writing, Kuniko has a market capitalisation of $87 million.
What's behind the Kuniko share price lately?
The Kuniko share price has been on a wild ride since listing on the ASX back on 24 August.
Kuniko shares were originally listed at 20 cents apiece, and have since climbed to the current price. Since that time, they have experienced periods of significant volatility.
What does this mean? Well basically, Kuniko shares have fluctuated up and down consistently over the past few weeks. And the fluctuations haven't been of a small magnitude, either.
On several days across this time, the Kuniko share price has shown an intraday range that resulted in a difference in prices of over 100%, even over 300% on one day.
Even today there has been a 27% spread between the intraday highs and lows of the Kuniko share price.
Equally as interesting, is that some of these fluctuations have occurred on significant trading volume. The average 1 month trading volume on Kuniko shares is an exchange of 11.3 million shares, which is around 27% of the company's total shares outstanding. That's exquisitely high for a newly listed company.
One potential explanation for the short-term fluctuations is the appointment of the company's new CEO, Antony Beckmand.
Beckmand comes with more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry, and is "enthusiastic about (the company's) portfolio of projects in Norway".
Kuniko shares have dipped 39% into the red from a closing high of $3.23 since the company announced its new CEO.
What's next for the Kuniko share price?
There's been no market sensitive information released by the company over the last week or two.
Nonetheless, current Kuniko shareholders have recognised an 882% return on their initial investment, if they subscribed during the IPO.
Kuniko is also focused on establishing robust ESG principles in its operations, ensuring ethical sourcing of its materials, committing to a zero carbon production process, and operating in Norway, where "98% of electricity comes from renewable sources".
This may impact the Kuniko share price favourably given the current macro-narrative in corporate social responsibility.
