The Mineral Commodities Limited (ASX: MRC) share price ended the week on a sour note, closing 15.38% lower on Friday at 22 cents.

While the ASX was a sea of red as investors responded to a potential second COVID-19 wave in the US, Mineral Commodities also released a trading update today which likely weighed on its shares.

Mineral Commodities is a global mining and development company. Its primary focus is on the development of high-grade deposits within the mineral sands and battery minerals sectors.

The company’s major projects include the Tormin mineral sands operation in South Africa and the Skaland graphite operation in Norway.

Operations update

In the release today, Mineral Commodities shed some light on trading conditions and recent developments at its major operations.

At Skaland, the company’s mining operations and downstream program haven’t experienced any major interruptions from COVID-19.

Meanwhile, at Tormin, Mineral Commodities revealed that the pandemic has caused delays for its section 102 expanded mining rights application. Nonetheless, the application has progressed to the Department of Mines Resources and Energy for granting.

Mining and processing operations at Tormin were impacted by South Africa’s nationwide lockdown in March and April. However, operations resumed on 13 April and have since returned to normal. Accordingly, the company reported that mining and processing tonnes in May were the highest recorded performance for the year.

Sales

Mineral Commodities revealed it has seen “unabated” demand and continues to sell all the production of its non-magnetic zircon rutile concentrates to China.

However, as flagged back in March, there has been reduced demand for bulk ilmenite concentrate. As a result, no sales for ilmenite concentrate had been secured up until mid-June. However, the company noted it has now secured firm sales for the second half of FY20.

With this, Mineral Commodities stated it has observed improving market conditions as most Chinese tertiary mineral sands processing facilities have returned to production. It expects to start shipping ilmenite concentrates by as early as July 2020.

Mineral Commodities also flagged a technical dispute that has arisen regarding its Life of Mine Garnet Offtake Agreement with GMA Group. The dispute relates to stockpiled inventory quantities and both parties have reverted to a formal dispute resolution process.

On a more positive note, graphite sales at Skaland have continued without interruption. The company achieved record sales in the first quarter as product inventory accumulated in 2019 was sold down.

Financial position

Turning to the balance sheet, Mineral Commodities has US$18.6 million in current account receivables. This includes US$11.7 million owing from GMA Group, with US$8.6 million past due for payment.

Mineral Commodities noted that budgeted revenue and operating cash inflows have been adversely affected by the disruption to normal ilmenite and garnet sales.

“The Company’s business remains sound and on track to deliver the growth profile at Tormin and Skaland, however unforeseen circumstances have ensued, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which require Management and the Board to undertake contingency planning to ensure that the business successfully navigates these challenges,” said executive chair Mark Caruso.

More reading

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• ASX shares I’d buy if this decline is a second COVID-19 crash
• Insiders have been buying these ASX shares this week
• 3 fantastic ASX shares to buy and hold to make you wealthy
• The latest ASX shares to be hit by broker downgrades to “sell” today

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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Investing is one of those rare games where cheating isn’t against the rules. Well, not all cheating. Insider trading is still a crime.

But by ‘cheating’, here I mean looking over other investors’ shoulders and seeing what they’re buying. Of course, not all investors are worth a look. You never want to copy the test of the worst student in the class.

But the fund managers at Bennelong Australian Equity Partners are amongst those investors that are well worth a peek, in my view. Bennelong’s managed funds are often at the top of the pile in terms of performance history. The Bennelong Emerging Companies Fund, for example, has managed a return of 22.47% per annum since its inception in 2017.

And it’s this fund we’re going to have a peek at today.

Bennelong has just released its monthly update for May, and it merits some interesting reading if you’re looking for some small-cap ASX shares to buy.

Bennelong’s top ASX share picks

In its letter to investors, Bennelong remained coy about its exact portfolio holdings (and fair enough). But it did give us some tidbits.

The fund manager named Viva Leisure Ltd (ASX: VVA), Mader Group Ltd (ASX: MAD) and BWX Ltd (ASX: BWX) as amongst its top holdings for the month.

Viva Leisure owns a chain of gyms, including Club Lime and HIIT Republic. Here, Bennelong obviously bet on the lifting of coronavirus restrictions surrounding gyms benefitting this company going forward. Fair enough too – this stock is already up more than 260% from the lows we saw in March.

Mader (which an enviable ticker symbol, I must say) is a manufacturer of mining equipment and machinery. According to the company it works with ‘all the major names Australian and international mining’, which presumably includes BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG). Again, Mader has done well in recent months, up more than 30% from the March lows. Even so, this company remains significantly underwater from its highs in February, and so might still offer some growth opportunities.

BWX is a boutique beauty products manufacturer which includes brands such as Sukin, Andalau, USPA and Nourished Life. Its shares have also been doing well lately, up more than 36% from its March lows. Like Mader though, BWX is still underwater in 2020 so far, and so perhaps Bennelong is playing a long game with this one.

Foolish takeaway

Just because one ASX investor is buying a share doesn’t mean we should all rush out and blindly copy their moves without doing our own research first. But we can still ‘cheat’ by getting some of our next ideas to research from well-performing fund managers. So take these shares with a grain of salt, but take note nonetheless!

More reading

• These top ASX shares have doubled in value in 12 months

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BWX 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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ASX shares are falling again. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down by 1.6%, though it has bounced back from earlier today. The ASX 200 was down more than 3% in the morning.

Investors seem to be scared after US Federal Reserve boss made comments suggesting that the US economy isn’t likely to recover as quickly as some are hoping. It probably isn’t going to be a V-shaped recovery.

The original COVID-19 crash caused the ASX 200 to fall around 35% by 23 March 2020. Since then the share market has been recovering. Some ASX shares have made astonishing gains. For example, the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has gone from $8.90 to over $50.

There have been plenty of other ASX shares that have made large gains since March like Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB), Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) and EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML). It has been getting harder to find good value after such a strong recovery.

If the ASX keeps falling then I’d buy ASX shares:

Share 1: Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

I believe that Altium is one of the highest-quality businesses on the ASX.

It is trying to become the global leader of electronic PCB software. It’s aiming to do this by achieving 100,000 Altium Designer subscribers by 2025. Reaching that goal is a large part of hitting another goal of US$500 million revenue by 2025.

The company has warned that the ongoing conditions has caused the company to respond with “attractive pricing and extended payment terms to drive volume”. Lower-than-expected short-term revenue isn’t ideal, but gaining subscribers is more important for the long-term goals I mentioned above.

Altium recently launched a cloud offering called Altium 365. I think this service will prove popular because COVID-19 has caused more engineers to work from home.

In the FY20 half-year result the ASX share reported it had US$80.7 million of cash. This means it’s well funded to keep going through these uncertain times.

I’m hoping to buy Altium at a share price under $30.

Share 2: A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

I think A2 Milk is another high-quality ASX share. A2 Milk has been one of the most successful ASX businesses at growing beyond Australia and New Zealand.

In its FY20 half-year result the ASX share generated NZ$317.2 million of revenue from its China and other Asia segment. That revenue total was 76.7% higher than the prior corresponding period. This division generated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of NZ$117.5 million, up 60.3%.

In the US the ASX share generated revenue of NZ$28 million, representing growth of 116%.

I think these Asia and US alone give A2 Milk an attractive growth runway. It’s also about to start generating earnings from Canada with an exclusive licensing agreement with Agrifoods Cooperative.

COVID-19 doesn’t seem to be slowing A2 Milk down. I think it’s one to watch. I’d like to buy it at a share price under $17.

Share 3: Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks is best known for being a building products business. It manufactures a variety of things like bricks, paving, masonry, roofing, precast and so on.

Construction is expected to suffer this year as the impact of COVID-19 flows through the economy. If that’s true, it will probably hurt Brickworks’ building product earnings in Australia (and the US too, where COVID-19 is also a problem).

However, Brickworks has two other divisions to provide stability to the ASX share. It has a 50% stake in an industrial property trust alongside Goodman Group (ASX: GMG). Ecommerce demand is expected to further strengthen the demand for industrial properties.

Brickworks also owns a large shareholding of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) shares. Soul Patts has been delivering steady and growing earnings and dividends for Brickworks for decades.

I think Brickworks looks like a very good long-term buy at a share price under $15.

Foolish takeaway

I really like each of these ASX shares. At the current prices I think Brickworks is the best buy for 2020. Particularly because Australia is lifting many COVID-19 restrictions. However, if they were all trading at a good price I’d go for Altium first. I really like high-quality tech businesses.

More reading

• 3 fantastic ASX shares to buy and hold to make you wealthy
• Tech shares! Should we even invest in anything else?
• S&P quarterly rebalance: A2 Milk added to ASX 50 & NEXTDC in the ASX 100
• Have $1,000? You should pick one of these 8 ASX shares
• Why is the A2 Milk share price underperforming?

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO, Emerchants Limited, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Emerchants 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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