Markets have come ripping back on this short post-Easter week. A long-awaited truce between the United States, Israel and Iran briefly gave traders permission to stop panic-buying oil and return markets to “risk on” again.
News of the ceasefire dropped just moments before the ASX opened on Wednesday and money flowed back into the market like hot, flowing crude through the Strait of Hormuz.
In classic volatile fashion, the peace rally barely had time to pour itself a drink before missiles landed in Israel and retaliatory fire threatened to ruin the party all over again.
The word ceasefire apparently didn’t fully land with all parties involved, reminding markets that “stability” is often just a 24-hour concept.
Israel unleashed the biggest bombardment on Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon since the war began on Thursday. The IDF reported striking almost 100 targets in little more than 10 minutes, stating that its beef with the Iran-backed militia wasn't in the fine print of any agreements. Suddenly, hopes of Hormuz being back on started to look tenuous at best.
Oil has consequently delivered the week's wildest chart, whiplashing on every update.
While good old Dr Copper popped back nearly four per cent on the good news, closer to home, Canberra quietly began to rejoice, insisting there was no more fuel crisis. It’s becoming an increasingly brave line for Albo’s army to hold as more servos run dry and energy costs keep chewing through wallets and business margins alike.
Tensions erupted at a press conference for Energy Minister Chris Bowen when he was asked whether the war had shown that the government's obsession with renewables would lead to a full-blown economic crisis.
He insisted that the sun cannot be interrupted – despite going down just before the most energy intense period of everyday – and that 'not a single (oil) ship imminently due for arrival in Australia, has been interrupted'. Political speak for it takes around 30 days - or more with cyclones - for oil tankers to get from Hormuz to Australia.
At the same time, the government is doubling down on renewables, even as households and industry are being reminded that Australia runs on hydrocarbons – I'd hate to see how much a Tesla tractor goes for these days.
Unsurprisingly, with all this market whiplash going on, punters were justifiably cautious about running headlong into a volatile small-caps market. As such, the Bulls N' Bears runners of the week were few and far between, all sporting a distinct US critical minerals flavour, apart from our top spot and Runner of the Week.
SPARC TECHNOLOGIES LTD (ASX: SPN)
Up 106% (17.5c – 36c)
This week's Bulls N' Bears Runner of the Week is Australian future technology hopeful Sparc Technologies.
It's not often a simple podcast appearance sends a company's share price parabolic. However, that appears to be exactly the case for this techie, after its stock surged more than 100 per cent on word getting out over its novel technologies.
As is always the case with excitement and speculation, the market overlords down at the ASX were not having any of it on Tuesday and issued a please explain to Sparc.
The company said there was no new news in the market and instead, it pointed to a podcast interview with its managing director, Nick O'Loughlin, as the likely catalyst for the surge.
According to Sparc, the podcast covered how it has spent more than six years developing graphene additive coatings for industry, particularly for steel assets such as bridges, boats, jetties and infrastructure.
The one-atom-thick layer of carbon can apparently "drop-in" as an additive to any existing paint manufacturing and application processes, creating a superior corrosion protection to extend service life and improve the properties of the structures.
In March, Sparc signed a letter of intent with HydroGraph Clean Power, a high-purity fractal graphene producer with a market cap of C$3 billion (A$3.3 billion).
The deal gives Sparc access to a consistent, high-quality North American graphene supply, allowing it to target the massive global protective coatings market, estimated at more than US$30 billion (A$42.4 billion).
In the marine space, the goal is to create products that not only limit corrosion but also reduce drag on ships' hulls, leading to substantial fuel savings and lower emissions.
The technology could also provide a non-toxic, anti-fouling solution to prevent marine life from attaching to hulls, a major headache for the global shipping industry.
The global marine coatings market is a behemoth, estimated at well over US$10 billion (A$14.1 billion) annually. Fuel-saving solutions could be an even higher order of magnitude.
It's not every day a podcast appearance gets the market this excited. Still, when you're talking about possibly disrupting multi-billion-dollar industries, it’s no wonder the punters came in droves.
RESOLUTION MINERALS LTD (ASX: RML)
Up 76% (4.6c – 8.1c)
Snagging silver on the week is US critical minerals explorer Resolution Minerals, after its flagship Antimony Ridge project in Idaho was included in the US government FAST-41 program for strategic projects.
FAST-41 is a special permitting framework used by the Trump Administration to accelerate the permitting and development of major US infrastructure projects and provide solutions for US national security.
According to Resolution, only three ASX companies have been selected for this coveted program, one that is likely to fast-track permitting and enhance investor visibility for a project crucial to domestic supply.
Management said the granting of FAST-41 highlights Antimony Ridge as a serious domestic source of - you guessed it - antimony.
It also believes that FAST-41 status bodes well for the group's upcoming listing on the NASDAQ, which has taken a considerable liking to critical minerals projects since FAST-41 came about.
Antimony is a critical metal with applications spanning the defence, energy and industrial sectors. Notably, Antimony Ridge was once a steady supplier to the United States through World War I, World War II and the Korean War. The project understandably carries a pedigree that speaks directly to national security at a time when supply chains are anything but secure.
Set within the broader Horse Heaven project, Antimony Ridge is also prospective for gold and tungsten. This mix of commodities potentially opens the door to an integrated development play stretching from exploration through to metallurgy and even downstream processing – a rarity for a junior, unlocking far more value than a single-commodity punt.
The timing, as they say, is everything. US supplies of both antimony and tungsten are running perilously thin, squeezed by geopolitical tensions and tightening Chinese export controls.
Against that backdrop, Resolution’s Fast-41 Transparency status lands the company in a club with very few members – surprisingly including our next runner – and one that could prove pivotal as Washington scrambles to secure critical metals.
JINDALEE LITHIUM LTD (ASX: JLL)
Up 74% (42c – 73c)
Taking out the final podium spot is comeback story Jindalee Lithium, which has roared back into relevance. The company has entered into a binding Business Combination Agreement this week to merge with a cashed-up Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) to create US Elemental Inc.
The combined entity is slated to list on the Nasdaq in the second half of 2026, valuing it at roughly US$570M (A$ 810M).
Jindalee isn’t cashing out either – it’s rolling its entire stake in the McDermitt lithium project into the new vehicle and is expected to keep majority control, alongside a planned US$20–30 million capital raise to get things moving.
The McDermitt project is widely regarded as one of the largest lithium deposits in the US, with a resource of 21.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. It was designated a 'transparency project' under the FAST-41 framework last year, putting it in an elite group of projects deemed of national strategic importance.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Jindalee, having worn the scars of a battered lithium market over the past couple of years, but the tide has clearly turned.
A rebound in the white metal, coupled with this US pivot, has thrust the company back into the spotlight – at one point delivering a fivefold surge in share price compared to this time last year.
OD6 METALS LTD (ASX: OD6)
Up 70% (10c – 17c)
Rounding out our Runners is Bulls N’ Bears regular and critical minerals dynamo OD6 Metals, which has been on a tear of late after it staked claim to a high-grade fluorspar project in Nevada’s tier-one mining jurisdiction.
The company's shiny new Quinn fluorspar project lies 220km north of Las Vegas and is OD6's latest weapon in tackling Western supply concerns, with the US currently fully reliant on imported fluorine.
Fluorspar is the main source of fluorine and has been designated a critical mineral by the US, EU, Australia, Canada and Japan.
It is an essential component in the manufacturing of semiconductors, advanced batteries, aerospace and defence materials, and even nuclear fuel processing.
The company says that its recently acquired Mammoth prospect has never been properly explored or even drilled, a surprise considering it has returned surface rock samples up to 80 per cent fluorspar.
OD6 announced initial channel samples from the prospect this week, delivering continuous, high-grade fluorspar mineralisation of up to 12m thick, grading a whopping 40.8 per cent calcium fluoride.
For a commodity that rarely gets its moment in the spotlight, fluorspar is starting to look like one of the more strategic pieces on the US critical minerals chessboard – and OD6 Metals may have landed on something with real bite.
An outcropping breccia system running at an average grade north of 40 per cent calcium fluoride across 12 metres is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, it puts the project firmly in the upper echelon of global fluorspar deposits. On the face of it, these early signs look outstanding and are likely to get downstream users and policymakers sitting up and taking notice.
Of course, grade is only half the story. If OD6 can stitch together a resource of meaningful scale, this could quickly shift from an interesting geological curiosity to a strategically significant US asset.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Andrew Todd
