Shares in Koonenberry Gold rose by 88.72 per cent, albeit off a low base, after the miner announced it had received approval to commence a maiden drilling program at its Atlantis copper and gold prospect in New South Wales.

It comes after the company was the number two Loser in last week’s column, demonstrating the impact major announcements have on Adelaide’s small-cap companies. On a 12-month basis, shares in KNB were up 31.67 per cent.

Koonenberry managing director Dan Power said final approvals were received for its maiden drilling program at Atlantis, and that “as soon as weather conditions permit, the company will mobilise the drill rig to conduct first pass Air Core drilling”.

“Whilst this prospect has been known about for some years, Koonenberry Gold has advanced it to drill ready status and will be the first ever exploration company to conduct drill testing.”

Argonaut Resources, Sparc Technologies, Aerometrex and LBT Innovations rounded out the top five Winners for the week.

After shares fell by nearly 60 per cent over the last five trading days, Woomera Mining landed on the top of the Losers list this week.

It follows an announcement from the company that results from the first two holes in a 26-hole drilling campaign at Ravensthorpe, WA, showed no significant lithium results returned.

Further, broader weakness across the lithium sector coupled with this announcement saw investors dump the stock this week.

Neurizer also landed in the Losers list this week, with Baker Young analysts attributing the drop to a host of news that saw the share plunge before being placed into a trading halt.

This included the company determining that, following a corporate review, the managing director position was “redundant”. Neurizer’s executive chairman has assumed the duties of MD Phil Staveley who has since ceased in the role.

The company also announced that, following due diligence, its potential strategic partner for its urea fertiliser project “declined to continue negotiations… as it was unable to secure the required approvals to proceed with the partnership”.

“The company will continue to pursue other strategic partner opportunities but is now also working through the impact of these delays on the project, its funding and its timeframes”.

Stelar Metals, Whitebark Energy and Petratherm all wound up in the Losers week for the five days to Friday 19 January.

The full list of Winners and Losers:

Data compiled by Baker Young Limited.