After a slow start to the week, the market roared back today on the seemingly sure thing that the United States Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, with three cuts baked in for the rest of the year.
Of course, the all-time highs in the US come on the back of bad inflation and worsening employment figures.
Meanwhile, geopolitical roles were being flipped across the pond, as US ally Israel launched missiles into Qatar, a non-aggressor and mediator in regional affairs, to target leaders of the Hamas terrorist group. And oft-agitator Russia got on its philanthropic horse by releasing a personalised cancer vaccine called Enteromix to the world. Clinical evidence shows the vaccine can deliver outstanding cancer-fighting results by training the body to identify and fight cancer cells.
Inevitably as war ensues gold is still going crazy. The yellow metal piled on yet another $100 to its price, peaking at $5550 an ounce earlier this week.
The week's biggest losers were oil and lithium, as OPEC and China demonstrated their respective ample supply availability by ramping up production when prices align, effectively capping recent price surges.
The Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week was claimed by the curious case of a digital management provider that recently pivoted toward Bitcoin investment. Having shocked the market two weeks ago, the company emerged from an ASX suspension this week to seize the top spot.
333D LIMITED (ASX: T3D)
Up 410% (5c – 25.5c)
Bulls N’ Bears’ Runner of the Week is 333D Limited, a digital asset outfit that flipped from obscurity to crypto poster child, leaving the market gobsmacked.
Two weeks ago, the company dropped a bombshell that its Bitcoin Treasury management policy was sinking $370,500 into Bitcoin, triggering an ASX ‘please explain’ and suspension, but not before the company’s share price jumped 400 per cent.
When trading resumed on Monday, 333D announced its “new policy” - not a business pivot, in keeping with the listing rules - backed its core NFTs, digital assets and radiology suite initiatives with Bitcoin as a “strategic reserve” for liquidity and growth.
The news saw punters and/or crypto-lovers line up out the door, rocketing 333D’s share price up 410 per cent to 25.5 cents a share on $360,000 worth of shares traded, a wild 2450 per cent surge from 1c a fortnight ago.
The company says its financial year marked a turnaround first profit in five years.
The market’s buzzing with its Bitcoin pivot hoping 333D’s gamble is a digital gold mine, but crypto’s volatility and ASX’s watchful eye keep this a high-stakes tightrope.
If 333D balances its digital roots with its Bitcoin bets, it could continue on its stratospheric trajectory to become the small caps market crypto king.
IMAGION BIOSYSTEMS LIMITED (ASX: IBX)
Up 163% (1.6c – 4.2c)
Snagging silver is Runners' familiar Imagion Biosystems, a cancer imaging battler now clawing its way out of the biotech graveyard to kick off its latest phase two trial of its MagSense HER2 breast cancer imaging technology.
The comeback to clinical relevance sparked another rally for the company this week, building on US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) feedback it received two months ago.
MagSense uses nanoparticles to tag HER2-positive breast cancer - a protein-fuelled tumour type - in ultra-precise MRI images, skipping invasive procedures to pinpoint the exact cells.
Imagion has teamed with Siemens Healthineers and Wayne State University for AI imaging optimisation ahead of its phase two cancer trial starting next quarter.
The company’s phase one research proved the nanoparticles were safe, but the journey has been brutal. The phase 1 trial crawled along while enrolling enough patients and took three years to complete – in turn tanking the company’s shares from $7 a pop to a measly 1.5c. The 99.998 per cent drop also included a CEO exit.
This week was a different story, as the company’s shares surged 163 per cent to a 4.2c/share high on Monday from a 1.6c close last week, with more than $10 million in stock traded across the week.
Imagion has traded so many shares in recent months, it could have an entirely fresh shareholder base. That’s a positive for the company, which would like to leave its past behind.
Imagion’s tech could redefine cancer diagnostics, especially with an FDA regulatory nod looming, but past scars and regulatory hurdles make this a gritty comeback story. Let’s hope it can continue its way to redemption and return to Bulls N’ Bears Runners of the Week to make it a trifecta.
ZENITH MINERALS LIMITED (ASX: ZNC)
Up 150% (6c – 15c)
This week’s final podium placer is gold and base metals explorer Zenith Minerals, which uncovered a potentially massive gold discovery in Queensland at its Red Mountain gold project within the gold-rich Auburn Arch.
Thursday’s monster 139.7 million intercept at 1.05 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 215m, including 14.2m at 4.62g/t and 9.45m at 5.29g/t, has the company touting a significant intrusion-related gold system (IRGS) discovery.
Zenith have long speculated its project could be hiding a multi-million-ounce gold discovery akin to nearby Resolute Resources’ previously mined Mt Wright IRGS.
The company says it intersected extensive zones of semi-massive sulphide with zinc, lead and copper, suggesting richer gold and copper could wait at depth. It has assays pending and deeper drilling underway.
Red Mountain’s rhyolitic breccia pipe shares Mt Wright’s geological DNA, with pathfinder elements and sub-vertical feeders pointing to a structural jackpot. Earlier whiffs piqued interest, but this hole’s scale and grade hints at faulting or angled drilling, with stronger grades likely below.
With gold at a new record $5550 an ounce, Zenith’s timing is golden. Its share price skyrocketed up 150 per cent on Thursday to 15c/share on a massive $5 million in paper changing hands.
A Mt Wright-scale prize would see its stock push well beyond those prices.
Queensland’s gold heartland loves a big discovery and is often overlooked for the Aussie goldies in Western Australia. If the drills keep hitting, Zenith could morph into a major player in a white-hot gold industry, as early signs suggest it won’t remain an explorer for too long.
Locksley Resources has added 249 claims to its Mojave rare earths and antimony project in California, adjacent to the $10 billion MP Materials Mountain Pass mine. Credit: File.
LOCKSLEY RESOURCES (ASX: LKY)
Up 112% (25c – 53c)
Rounding out Runners this week is Locksley Resources, a US-based critical minerals explorer whose Mojave project in California has gone supernova after adding 249 claims this week.
Sitting just 1.4 kilometres from MP Materials’ Mountain Pass - the US’s only rare earths mine - and 3km from Dateline Resources’ Colosseum project, Mojave’s prime real estate has put it in exclusive company. Both its neighbours are tearing away into valuations of billions of dollars – MP into the tens of billions.
Early indicator rock chips have dazzled with up to 46 per cent antimony and 1022g/t silver at Locksley’s Desert mine. It could be a rare earth dual commodity treat, turning up 12.1 per cent total rare earth oxides, including 3.19 per cent magnet rare earths at its El Campo prospect.
The critical minerals cocktail has Locksley in the crosshairs of the market as its stock shot up again this week, up 112 per cent to 53c/share from a 25c close last Friday on more than a monstrous $40 million traded on the week.
The company is riding a 2600 per cent share price surge – ro a $125 million market cap - since Trump’s Truth Social plug for Dateline four months back. With drilling slated for next quarter and stream sediment sampling all locked in, Trump’s policy could make Mojave a domestic supply darling.
If drill rigs hit paydirt, Mojave could be a black swan for investors and even echo the likes of its surging billionaire neighbours.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Andrew Todd
