In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another strong gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.8% to 7,524 points.
Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:
Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX: APE)
The Eagers Automotive share price is up over 2% to $14.40. This morning the automotive retailer announced an agreement with WFM Motors to acquire a portfolio of dealerships and associated properties located in Canberra for approximately $205 million. The portfolio covers a range of brands including Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Jeep, Lexus, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Volvo, and GMSV.
Firefinch Ltd (ASX: FFX)
The Firefinch share price is up almost 13% to $1.06. Investors have been buying the mineral exploration company's shares after it announced that it has been granted a mining licence covering the Finkola exploration licence. The Finkola licence is located 23 kilometres north-west of Firefinch's Morila Gold Mine and contains the Beledjo-Koting gold deposit and other prospects.
Latin Resources Ltd (ASX: LRS)
The Latin Resources share price has jumped 24% to 9.4 cents. This follows the release of the first assay results from drilling at the Salinas Lithium Project in Brazil. These results have confirmed spodumene rich pegmatites that contain high-grade lithium, with a peak grade of 3.22% Li2O returned from one sample. Management believes the results point to a potential major new lithium discovery.
Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL)
The Piedmont Lithium share price is up 2% to 97 cents. This morning the lithium developer announced that its partner, Atlantic Lithium, has completed a mineral resource estimate update for the Ewoyaa Project in Ghana. Atlantic Lithium's new mineral resource estimate is a total of 30.1 million metric tonnes at 1.26% Li2O. This represents a sizeable 42% increase on its previous estimate. Piedmont has the option to earn-in a 50% interest in this project.
