The words Trump and tariffs might never be uttered separately again. The leader of the free world was busy again this week inflating the prices of his country’s cars by announcing a 25 per cent tariff on all cars and parts not made in the United States. That’s a bummer for everyone involved, as most parts for US cars are still sourced internationally.
Meanwhile, just the threat of Trump's tariffs (TTs) on copper pushed the red metal to a new all-time high of US$5.37 (A$8.54) per pound this week. The copper price is up 30 per cent since the beginning of the year, joining the likes of the Chinese-controlled critical minerals and safe haven precious metals in the glory circle of the ASX’s few performers on the year.
Fortunately for the US, America produces copper and has plenty of reserves ready to tap into should the tariffs eventuate.
Silver has been on a stealthy 50 per cent tear this year, in line with gold’s glorious run, though its $34.50 peak this week is still shy of its 1980 Hunt brothers’ $50 per ounce peak. The oil inheritance siblings famously cornered the silver market, pushing a spike in the metal, which then crashed rapidly, cause the duo to go bankrupt.
A new crop of silver companies is now seeing some market love, with one even popping up on this week’s ASX Runners of the Week podium.
The unstoppable yellow beast, gold, notched yet another record high, pushing WA producer Gold Road Resources to notch a 25 per cent spike in its share price, after the company shoved off South African joint venture partner Gold Fields’ opportunistic takeover bid.
The Bulls N’ Bears Runners of the Week list features all these critical and precious metals darlings however, the podium went to an unlikely dark horse that blitzed the pack earlier this week.
Saferoads Holdings Ltd (ASX: SRH)
424% up (from 4.1c to 21.5c)
This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runner of the Week is road safety company….. Saferoads Holdings.
The company rocketed on Tuesday after pocketing a cool $10.8 million from flogging its Road Safety Rental business to equipment hire company Onsite Rentals Group.
Saferoads will pocket a handy $4.6M in profit from the sale, while simultaneously slashing its overheads. The company can now zero in on its core gig - crafting and selling road safety gear. It has a portfolio of intellectual property that is burgeoning in the industry.
The sell side must have been particularly limited as it took less than $500,000 of stock traded to move the road safety company’s share price up 424 per cent to a high of 21.5 cents from last Friday’s measly 4.1c close.
Understandably, Saferoad was valued at some $1.8M last week.
The company also revealed plans to dish out a 10c-per-share special dividend valued at $4.37M - while funnelling leftover cash into working capital and a $3M product order from Onsite.
Could the shedding of its rental arm's deadweight flip the script to profitability for the new market darling? A leaner operation built on patented barriers, signs and traffic solutions may not be exactly what got the market buzzing, but its dividend could have got the pundits drooling.
Errawarra Resources Limited (ASX: ERW)
228% up (from 2.5c to 8.2c)
Errawarra Resources strutted into silver this week - literally and figuratively. The Western Australian explorer saw market action when it acquired a 70per cent stake in its Elizabeth Hill silver project in the Pilbara.
The project, acquired from GreenTech Metals, was a serious past producer of silver, pumping out 1.2M ounces from just 16,000 tonnes of ore at a head grade of about 2194 grams per tonne (g/t) silver. GreenTech achieved the result in a single year, before low prices killed a dream run in 2000.
Historical drilling campaigns jagged a treasure trove of big hits, including 11.7 metres at a whopping 5371g/t silver from 13m, 24m at 1228 g/t silver from 64m, a lengthy 43m at 370g/t silver from surface and 24.8m section grading 915g/t silver from just 2m.
The company’s share price leapt 228 per cent, hitting 8.2c on Tuesday from last week’s 2.5c close on a modest $750,000 of stock traded across the first two days.
The silver price’s 50 per cent surge no doubt lit the fuse for Errawarra to consolidate its 180-square-kilometre package around the mine - a first for any explorer in the region – which is on a major ultramafic complex with untapped potential.
The project is in a granted mining lease, all its drilling approvals are in hand and new board heavy-hitter Robert Mosig is fast-tracking exploration.
Consultants are already dissecting the geology, drawing parallels to some global silver giants, which prompted Errawarre to foreshadow a name change to West Coast Silver that is now in the works.
The company has been touting near-mine and regional upside, with immediate drilling primed to test a high-grade silver core. In a silver market this hot, Elizabeth Hill’s glittering past could spark a dazzling future and even a wave of new silver acquisitions destined for Runners of the Week glory.
RareX Limited (ASX: REE)
219% up (from 0.8c to 2.5c)
RareX Limited stormed the gates this week with another sizeable 219 per cent surge. The company’s share price peaked at 2.5c from last week’s 0.8c close on a cracking $3.9M in trades this Tuesday, as it unveiled drill results from its flagship Cummins Range gallium project to a salivating gallium-starved market.
The stunning gallium assays were returned from a sprawling carbonatite pipe at its Cummins project in WA’s Kimberley region. Drilling at the historical prospect unearthed bonanza hits, including 74m at 123g/t gallium oxide, with a considerable 2.4 per cent total rare earth ores, and another 186g/t scandium hit from surface with a high-grade kicker of 30m at 206g/t gallium oxide.
Another hole clocked 60m at 124g/t gallium oxide, peaking at 12m of 242g/t, and an exciting 99m intercept ran 10g/t gallium oxide from just 1m deep.
One historic hit had a massive 6826 g/t (0.68 per cent) gallium oxide, which would be Australia’s richest gallium haul.
Gallium is a critical mineral used in electronics, semiconductors and solar panels and was recently banned by China for export, which doubled its price to US$575/kg.
The gallium market is tipped to balloon from US$2.45 billion to US$21.53b by 2034, and RareX says it is sitting pretty, with only 25 per cent of the project’s historical drillings assayed for gallium - none of its RareX’s own. Added to that, it is sitting in the top 80m of the carbonatite pipe.
Nearly a quarter of RareX’s share register swapped hands on the company's biggest volume since mid-2020, as day traders piled in. Management is bullish, saying Cummins Range is Australia’s most advanced gallium deposit and is already de-risked with heritage agreements, environmental studies and mine planning.
The company has re-assaying underway and a 2025 drill program is on the horizon to chase near-mine anomalies and provide plenty more catalysts to a hungry gallium market.
Belararox’s Toro–Malambo–Tambo project where promising visuals in drilling suggest a potential massive copper discovery in Argentina. Credit: File
Belararox Limited (ASX: BRX)
160% up (from 12.5c to 32.5c)
Belararox Limited rounded out the Bulls N’ Bears Runners list this week with an impressive 160 per cent share price blast that would have easily earned it a podium spot on any other edition of Runners this year.
The company flashed visuals from its mammoth copper porphyry target at its Toro-Malambo-Tambo project in Argentina’s San Juan province.
Copper porphyries are typical of very big, low-grade gold-copper deposits throughout South America and Belararox’s Tambo South target is no different.
The first hole at the project, which is sandwiched between the El Indio and Maricunga belts, was drilled to 1029m. Promising amounts of copper mineralisation were identified in early assays.
A second 729m hole, which aimed for more than 1300m, struck visual supergene chalcocite from 104m to 248m. The main geophysical target still lies ahead and is where the hole will pierce the centre of the project’s higher-grade porphyry core target.
The visuals suggest Belararox could be onto a well-mineralised porphyry discovery, sending the company’s share price flying this week, to a high of 32.5c on Friday from last week’s 12.5c close on a solid $5M in share trade over the week.
The company’s exploration director Jason Ward is already touting the results as a “strong copper system,” with all the vectors pointing to scale. Copper’s US$5.37 per pound high price, juiced by the TT tango, has punters buzzing over Belararox’s porphyry mineralisation speculation. The long-mineralised zones scream potential, but only lab assays will reveal the truth about the actual grade versus speculation about what it has observed.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
