The Aurelia Metals Ltd (ASX: AMI) share price has taken off today after the small-cap ASX miner released a production update. 

Aurelia Metals is a mining and exploration company with a strategic landholding in the polymetallic Cobar Basin in New South Wales. The company operates 2 wholly-owned gold and base metal operations, Peak Mine and Hera Mine, along with 2 processing plants.

Aurelia is a gold-dominant business and in FY19, produced 117,521 ounces of gold at a group all-in sustaining cost of $1,045 per ounce. 

Why the Aurelia Metals share price is charging higher

This morning, Aurelia provided an update on group production for the June 2020 quarter to date. 

The company decided to provide these interim figures in light of the current absence of guidance due to COVID-19. Aurelia withdrew its guidance back in March given the uncertainty surrounding the spread, duration and impact of the pandemic.

Preliminary group production figures for the June quarter to 31 May 2020 are:

• Gold: 16,300 ounces
• Copper: 1,250 tonnes
• Lead: 3,300 tonnes
• Zinc: 2,300 tonnes

This represents a significant boost to the production figures announced for the March 2020 quarter.

Gold production in the entire March quarter came in at 14,304 ounces, while copper production was 871 tonnes. So in the first 2 months of the current quarter, Aurelia is already beating these production figures by 14% and 44%, respectively.

Lead is tracking along relatively in line with March figures of 4,657 ounces. However, zinc production in the current quarter is notably down from the 5,921 tonnes posted last quarter.

Nonetheless, on the whole, Aurelia is on track for a significantly improved quarter-on-quarter production result.

At the time of writing, the Aurelia share price has jumped 21.69% today to 43.2 cents. This takes the company’s market capitalisation to around $378 million.

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Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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No one will be surprised that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.25% today. But there are three things that every investor should know.

Before I get into that, it’s worth pointing out that the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) failed to react to the news as it continued to hover around breakeven.

But the Australian dollar ticked up slightly to US67.9 cents when the RBA released its monetary policy decision.

Currency traders are probably reacting to the relatively upbeat statement by RBA governor Philip Lowe and reassessing the prospects for negative interest rates.

Sounding upbeat

On the first point, the Governor Lowe is taking a glass half full perspective on the COVID-19 fallout.

While highlighting that we are suffering from the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s and that total hours worked dropped by a record 9% in April as 600,000 Australians lost their jobs, he thinks the downturn won’t be as bad as earlier expected.

The RBA also believes that bond markets are functioning well. So well in fact, that the central bank only had to buy government bonds once in the past month and that total purchases up to date stands at $50 billion.

Negative to negative rates

The second thing to note is that the market may be over estimating the chance of negative interest rates here.

Some believe that the RBA will have to adopt this drastic policy of charging financial institutions to park money with the central bank. Other central banks, like its European counterpart, have used this to stimulate their sagging economies.

Negative rates aren’t so much about lowering borrowing costs for businesses and consumers, but about “incentivising” nervous financial institutions to lend by penalising them for being too cashed up.

Dr Lowe played down the chances of negative rates here on a few occasions, and his statement seems to confirm this even though it didn’t mention negative rates.

Passing the buck to government

For one, his comments on how well bond markets are working suggest that the financial system is working as it should be.

The RBA’s relatively upbeat view on the economy further drives home the point with our central bankers looking to manage the economy with a light touch, in my view.

The RBA doesn’t look like it will be doing much in the interim as it is prepared to sit back to see what happens next.

This could put the federal government under more pressure to support the economy with the Morrison Government tipped to announce housing grants and other fiscal measures to support sectors of the economy that are on their knees.

Don’t feel abandoned

This takes me to the final takeaway from the RBA’s decision. While RBA may be taking a step back, it’s reassuring investors and borrowers that it stands ready to act if and when required.

No one knows how the unprecedented coronavirus crisis will play out, not even the central bank, but as Dr Lowe said: “the Bank is prepared to scale-up its bond purchases again and will do whatever is necessary to ensure bond markets remain functional.”

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Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Whilst it has been a tumultuous few months for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), there are several companies that have benefitted directly from coronavirus-related lockdowns. Companies such as JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) did a roaring trade in work from home equipment. So too did Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) subsidiary, Officeworks. Yet several others have also benefitted with little or no fanfare. 

An ASX 200 growth giant

Jumbo Interactive Ltd (ASX: JIN) is one of the great growth shares of the past 10 years. It returned investors over 25 times their initial investment on 1 January 2010. Yet year to date, the company’s share price is still 20% down. 

Jumbo predominantly sells lottery games online. Prior to lockdown, 75% of lottery tickets were sold via retail outlets. I believe it’s fair to assume that even if lottery sales declined overall during the lockdown, the volume sold online is likely to have grown. As mentioned, Jumbo Interactive’s share price is 20% down year to date. The company recorded its lowest share price of $6.99 on 16 March, one week earlier than most of the market.

Jumbo is one ASX 200 growth company I particularly like. It has sound financials across most major valuation metrics. Compare this to say, Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), a company that posted its first profit last financial year.

Over the past 8 years, Jumbo has grown its sales volumes by 12.5% on average. Last year’s sales grew by 42% after the company began to license its software to other lottery sales organisations. 

Healthcare benefits

Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) initially appeared to be one of the definite ASX 200 losers of the pandemic. Early bans on elective surgeries were in place to ensure the availability of resources should COVID-19 take hold in Australia. This is the core of Ramsay’s revenue streams. 

However, very smart and agile thinking on behalf of the company has, at least, trimmed those losses. Over the course of the pandemic, Ramsay has done deals with governments throughout Australia and in the United Kingdom. These deals ensure that for the period of the agreements, the company will not lose money on its private hospitals. In return, it has guaranteed the availability of beds for coronavirus patients should they be required. 

We have seen agility across a range of smaller companies during the lockdown. However, it is rare to find an ASX 200 company able to act swiftly enough to mitigate lost revenue to this extent. Ramsay’s share price is down by only 5.8% year to date and is up by 48% since its low point on March 23. 

While it is presently trading at a price-to-earnings ratio greater than its 10-year average, I believe the company is selling at a good price. It has shown consistent growth over the past decade, and I remain impressed by the current management. 

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Daryl Mather has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Jumbo Interactive Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Jumbo Interactive Limited and Ramsay Health Care Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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