Global trade tensions weighed heavily on the ASX this week, dragging the index down as the overbought banking sector cooled and the Commonwealth Bank relinquished its title as the world’s priciest bank.
United States President Donald Trump’s threats to impose 30 per cent tariffs on imports again rattled markets, as an August 1 deadline loomed for negotiations that might allow some countries to avoid the levies. Stalled China-European Union trade talks addressing China’s overproduction and trade imbalances added to the complex market equation.
The consensus is that if global tariffs settle at 15 per cent, it’s a pain we can live with.
It was a different story for Aussie miners. Buoyed by China’s steel supply reforms and proposed mega dams in Tibet, iron ore prices rose to a five-month high of $105 a tonne.
Meanwhile, Dr Copper is well and truly back, with the red metal hitting all-time high prices this week of US$12,500 (A$19,000) per tonne.
It was a bad week for green diversification, as BP joined a growing list of majors, including Origin Energy, Woodside and Fortescue, in scrapping green hydrogen projects in the Pilbara. With a project pegged at about $54 billion, BP cited a strategic shift back to its core oil and gas business, as fossil fuel demand forecasts continue to see longer tail time horizons for traditional fuels well beyond 2050.
This week’s Bulls N’ Bears Runners reflect the market’s mixed mood, with materials soaring and financials stumbling. A plucky AI minnow stole the show when it delivered a 10-bagger in under a week, leaving the ASX stunned.
I SYNERGY LIMITED (ASX: IS3)
Up 1200% (0.2c – 2.6c)
Bulls N’ Bears’ Runner of the Week is AI-driven digital solutions company I Synergy Limited, which kicked off the week in a big way, with its share price shooting up 700 per cent by Tuesday - curiously on no news to the market.
The surge earned management an accompanying “please explain” from the ASX’s autocrats.
Intriguingly, the company was unable to quickly extinguish the “please explain”, instead pulling together an announcement about a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Treasure Global Inc.
I Synergy said it was negotiating the sale and purchase of advanced AI-based graphics processing units from Treasure and potential joint initiatives to design, develop and deploy AI cloud infrastructure into Malaysia’s booming digital economy.
Treasure Global, a big NASDAQ-listed tech firm with expertise in e-commerce and AI solutions, makes a prime strategic partner to amplify I Synergy’s ambitions in a region craving tech innovation.
I Synergy insists they haven’t yet reached an agreement, which the company believes could be worth about $600,000 over 12 months via multiple purchase orders.
The news caused even more of a stir on Thursday as the stock flew up to a high of 2.6c per share, equating to a 1200 per cent gain on the week on more than one million in stock traded for the day.
With AI infrastructure in high demand, this tiny digital dynamo could transform into a regional powerhouse, leaving its penny-stock roots in the dust.
ACTIVE EX LIMITED (ASX: AIV)
Up 357% (0.7c – 3.2c)
Stealing silver on the Runners’ list this week was dormant junior goldie ActiveEX Limited, which saw its share price shoot like a lightning bolt on Monday after the company unveiled a maiden mineral resource estimate at its historic Mt Hogan gold mine in northeast Queensland.
The little-known Mt Hogan sits within the company’s broader Gilverton gold project, which delivered a solid maiden resource of 8.5 million tonnes grading 1.13 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for a respectable 310,000 ounces.
Gilverton has a very hot gold address. The world-class 3.5-million-ounce Kidston gold mine, just 50 kilometres northeast, is in the same geological terrain. Kidston churned out more than 1.5 million ounces of gold up to 1990.
ActiveEX says its gold riches span an 8km mineralised trend along Mt Hogan granite, with historic drilling confirming it has shallow, high-grade potential.
The company’s stock opened slowly on Monday at just 1.2c a share, before cracking an intraday high of 3.2c, up some 357 per cent from last week’s close of just 0.7c on $330,000 of stock traded.
Before the day’s share price increase, ActiveEX had a market cap of $1.5 million or about $4.8 per ounce equivalent, which makes for tough sledding in a $5000-an-ounce gold price environment.
With two other historic gold centres, Josephine and Comstock, in its portfolio, this long-dormant junior looks ready to unearth a golden bonanza in Queensland’s fast-ascending gold-rich terrain.
VANADIUM RESOURCES LTD (ASX: VR8)
Up 149% (2.05c – 5.1c)
Taking out Bulls N’ Bears bronze this week is regular Runners’ list contender and minerals developer Vanadium Resources. The company shot out of a cannon on Tuesday, after locking in its binding offtake agreement to supply 100,000 tonnes per month of vanadium-rich magnetite direct shipping ore to metals trader China Precious Asia.
Vanadium says it will supply 2.4 million tonnes of vanadium-rich magnetite to the heavyweight global metals trader from its world-class Steelpoortdrift vanadium project in South Africa, as soon as December this year.
The company says its milestone offtake deal will allow it to establish early cash flows at the fully permitted Steelpoortdrift, a behemoth resource with 680Mt of ore at 0.70 per cent vanadium oxide, which is equivalent to 4.74Mt contained vanadium.
Vanadium says China Precious Asia will load and collect the direct shipping ore. The agreement is subject to Vanadium appointing a suitable mining contractor and ensuring the DSO product meets agreed specifications.
Management believes material positive operating cash flows can fast-track its development. Steelpoortdrift’s vanadium-rich ore also brims with iron-rich magnetite, making it a dual-threat commodity for China’s fast-returning steel market.
The news sent Vanadium’s share price soaring to a new high of 5.1c per share, up from a low of 2.05c at the end of last week, on more than 55 million pieces of paper traded on Tuesday alone.
The company has since swiftly completed a $1.2 million capital raise as it seeks out profit-sharing deals and acquisitions to bolster its near-term game plan without derailing the direct shipping ore opportunity.
Near-term cash would preserve Vanadium’s flexibility to pursue full-scale development at the monster deposit as the iron-ore price begins to improve.
Steelpoortdrift’s high-grade, low-cost direct shipping option has reinvigorated the company as the former resources minnow vaults into the vanadium big league, potentially self-funding its own mine development.
The eponymous Broken Hill Mines’ historic Rasp mine, in the centre of the famed New South Wales mining town. Credit: File
BROKEN HILL MINES LTD (ASX: BHM)
Up 145% (21c – 51.5c)
Scooping up the final Runners’ spot is a reborn Broken Hill Mines Limited, which re-listed on the ASX on Monday morning after raising $20 million to push forward two operating mines in one of Australia’s most storied mining centres.
The company unites two Broken Hill mines: Rasp and Pinnacles, which have a rich history dating back to 1883, when prospector Charles Rasp pegged the first block on what became the Broken Hill township.
Initially mistaken for tin, his discovery revealed a rich silver vein, birthing BHP - now the world’s richest mining company. Centuries later BHP has swapped its New South Wales’ roots for Pilbara iron ore and Chilean copper.
The original Rasp lode, however, continues to produce and Broken Hill Mines is cashing in on its enduring potential.
Rasp hosts an impressive 10.1Mt resource grading 9.4 per cent zinc equivalent – comprising 5.7 per cent zinc, 3.2 per cent lead and 49g/t silver. It produced 25,000 tonnes annually of zinc equivalent and $20 million in cash flow last year at just 40 per cent plant capacity.
The company says its $20 million capital raising will help improve that 40 per cent, as an empty mill means lower efficiency and lower production.
Pinnacles, on the other hand, is a high-grade, under-developed gem with a 6Mt resource grading 10.9 per cent zinc equivalent and stellar drill hits such as 8.9 metres at 36.3 per cent zinc equivalent from 11m.
Broken Hill Mines says a 4000m drilling program at Pinnacles is underway, with assays pending from 3000m already drilled, aimed at expanding the resource ahead of eventual production.
Silver’s resurgence and the rebirth of one of Australia’s great mining towns fuelled the market’s excitement, sending the company’s share price rocketing 145 per cent to 51.5c a share from last week’s close of 21c.
Between Rasp’s operation and Pinnacles’ shallow high-grade potential, the company looks poised to springboard its silver-lined jackpot back to some of its former glory.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Andrew Todd
