ASX Runners of the Week: Whitehawk, OzAurum, | Australian Markets

The useless cat bounce is finished and the ache returned as the ASX shed practically 3 per cent this week. A reprieve from chat round both United States President Donald Trump or his trade tariffs was by no means going to eventuate and our favorite orange character introduced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on Wednesday. The tariffs weren’t primarily based on as elaborate a formulation as anticipated – Trump whacked payback tariffs on all the nations which have a trade deficit with the US. Australia copped a baseline 10 per cent imports levy – matching what we already impose on the US – however China and a choose few South East Asian nations reliant on the US for exports copped some of the largest retaliatory charges.

Beef appears more likely to be Australia’s worst hit industry. The US is Australia’s largest beef importer, and American customers wolfed down $3 billion value of our premium product final yr. Australia doesn’t import US beef on account of a trade ban in drive since 2003 to guard the nation’s cattle herd from a actual risk of importing mad cow illness – a issue which has long irritated US trade officers.

US insanity might come up elsewhere – but it surely nonetheless appears rampant.

Lithium and vitality stocks took the largest hit this week, with a seemingly unending surplus of lithium, tariff fears and OPEC mountaineering up oil manufacturing obliterating each sectors.

Australia’s largest laborious rock lithium miner, Pilbara Minerals, shed more than 25 per cent of its market cap on the week as analysts raised eyebrows over its doubtlessly conservative annual manufacturing downgrades amid continued weakening lithium sentiment.

Languishing iron ore and lithium main Mineral Resources extremely dropped a additional 25 per cent off its share price on the week. MinRes share price is now more than 80 per cent beneath its all-time highs of two years in the past. The company and its ex-billionaire founder had been in more bother this week as its ‘marginally profitable’ lithium operations approached changing into simply ‘marginal’ and founder Chris Ellison was hit with a class motion lawsuit from the company’s beforehand unwavering shareholders.

The lawsuit accuses Ellison’ of deceptive and misleading conduct, together with over a decade-long gear and tax abuse scheme in the British Virgin Islands, which triggerer the company’s main share price downfall when it was lastly revealed. The powerhouse mining main’s market valuation is getting whacked and is now effectively beneath $4 billion, whereas its $5b debt no doubt balloons.

If there was an upside this week, Trump’s tariffs and international uncertainty introduced more glory for gold, as the yellow steel hit a document price of a staggering $5050 an ounce this week.

As you can anticipate, this week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runners of the Week record is understandably a bit gentle on – though a few inexperienced shoots could possibly be present in a sea of pink. A cybersecurity supplier completed leagues forward of the pack to take out first place, whereas a notable lithium hopeful took a uncommon point out regardless of widespread bloodshed throughout their sector.

WHITEHAWK LTD (ASX: WHK)

up 300% (0.8c – 3.2c)

This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runner of the Week is Cybersecurity firm Whitehawk Limited, which noticed its share price skyrocket to a high of 3.2 cents on Wednesday up 300 per cent from a close of 0.8c final week.

The company’s share price went ballistic after it bagged a main spot as the core cyber accomplice in a huge US$920M (A$1474M) United States authorities contract, with industry leaders Knexus Research, Babel Street and Dun & Bradstreet.

WhiteHawk says it will likely be the sole cyber resolution accomplice to ship AI-powered instruments for managing cyber dangers in federal provide chains during the 10-year deal, which may herald substantial recurring income for the micro-cap company as activity orders are regularly launched.

The contract is backed by a 2025 White House government order and can streamline authorities procurement, doubtlessly opening up even more alternatives for WhiteHawk.

The dimension of the contract, mixed with WhiteHawk’s pivotal function, probably triggered traders to pile into the stock after its announcement on Tuesday morning.

Whitehawk skilled a huge $6M in quantity on the week with its market cap lastly settling at a little over $12M on Friday.

WhiteHawk is delivering its AI-powered instruments for provide chain cyber risk management for the US authorities amid a growing international emphasis on cybersecurity and technological innovation. The company might need the inside monitor to many more contracts having been tapped as a premium US authorities supplier.

OZAURUM RESOURCES LTD (ASX: OZM)

Up 94% (6.7c – 13c)

OzAurum Resources took out second place on this week’s ASX Runner of the Week record after the token gold junior’s share price peaked up 94 per cent to complete at 13c. Well over $7M of the company’s stock traded palms.

The company unveiled reverse circulation discovery drill outcomes from its Mulgabbie North gold project in Western Australia on the identical day the gold price ripped to a contemporary all-time high. The discovery at its Cross Fault prospect featured spectacular thick hits, together with 48 metres at 1.66 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from floor and 12m grading some 4.26g/t from 18m.

OzAurum will waste no time beginning a follow-up drill program, together with diamond drill testing, as quickly as subsequent week. The company’s short-term focus is to broaden its 260,000-ounce gold useful resource throughout its project.

This week’s drill program efficiently confirmed the presence of high-grade gold mineralisation over a substantial 400m strike.

OzAurum seems to have jagged a high-grade and sandstone-hosted discovery, with gold mineralisation and in depth quartz veining alongside pyrite and arsenopyrite mineralisation. Wide zones of sulphides had been additionally intersected, indicating the potential for vital gold endowment, OzAurum says.

Sandstones are a brittle host rock and are the hallmark of the massive gold deposits being mined at the extraordinarily profitably 4M-ounce Carosue Dam basin, simply 2km from Mulgabbie North.

The company believes its new cross fault goal is on the Relief Shear some 2km south of the present 260,000-ounce Mulgabbie North mineral useful resource alongside the identical shear.

Assays stay to be processed for a additional seven reverse circulation holes drilled for 745m, leaving a lot of meat on the bone for shareholders chomping at the bit for gold assays of any form, in an in any other case loveless stock market.

ARGENT BIOPHARMA LTD (ASX: RGT)

up 69% (16c – 27c)

Runners’ last podium end goes to biotech developer Argent BioPharma Limited after the company revealed its flagship cannabinoid-based remedy CannEpil had been authorised for prescription in Germany below a particular entry scheme.

Argent’s share price shot up on Thursday touching 27c at one level, which was up 69 per cent from final week’s close of 16c per share. The price surged on simply $110,000 of stock traded in a tightly held register, through which paper hardly ever adjustments palms.

Argent’s flagship CannEpil remedy has a high-CBD, low-THC liquid formulation delivered orally to sufferers affected by a kind of drug-resistant epilepsy.

CBD in hashish is more and more being thought-about to deal with a vary of medical circumstances, whereas TBA is the molecule chargeable for its hallucinogenic results.

Argent says about 816,000 people in Germany are recognized with epilepsy yearly and a substantial portion of these sufferers can have a drug-resistant kind of the illness. It believes CannEpil will offer life-changing remedy for sufferers who’ve no present enticing different.

By strengthening its presence in Germany – a key pharmaceutical hub – Argent has penetrated a substantial barrier to entry to the high precedence European market.

With an growing quantity of cannabinoid-based medicines gaining international acceptance, the breakthrough marks Argent’s first cannabis-based remedy to be recognised for its central nervous system purposes. The company appears assured this feat gained’t be its final.

GALAN LITHIUM (ASX: GLN)

up 45% (11c – 16c)

Lithium developer Galan Lithium will get a notable point out on this week’s ASX Runners record, having bucked the development in a disastrous week for lithium because of its low-cost Argentinian lithium project in the world-class Lithium Triangle.

The company sneakily turned down a US$150M (A$240M) money offer from China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co and France’s Renault Group to amass its Hombre Muerto West (HMW) and Candelas lithium brine initiatives in Argentina, labelling the proposal “opportunistic” and “undervalued”.

The offer rejection was hidden within a secondary trading discover on Thursday morning, which noticed the company’s share price open unchanged.

The market rapidly cottoned on, with Galan’s share price charging up practically 50 per cent to a high of 16c per share from a market cap of $92M the week earlier than a high of $134M intraday.

This degree was effectively short of the proposed $240M money takeover.

The surge defied a broader market downturn.

The unsolicited, conditional and non-binding proposal from battery supplies giant Zhejiang Huayou and EV producer Renault was the second such unsolicited offer acquired by Galan in below a yr.

Last August, Galan additionally acquired an unsolicited, confidential, conditional, non-binding indicative proposal from Energy Exploration Technologies to amass the Argentinian belongings for US$100M in money and scrip, which the company rapidly batted away.

Galan believes that finishing offtake and financing preparations for section one of HMW will happen shortly, resulting in a more sure and superior takeover final result than the $240M offer that was ‘just’ 2.6 instances the company’s prior market cap.

Galan’s HMW and Candelas initiatives have a 9.5M-tonne lithium carbonate equal (LCE) useful resource at a high-grade 841 milligrams per litre (mg/L) and the company is more than midway in direction of section one manufacturing.

The project is simply 100km south of Rio Tinto’s Rincon project, additionally within Argentina’s outstanding Lithium Triangle. Rincon’s non-JORC 5.8Mt LCE useful resource was acquired by the mining giant in 2022 for a little over $1 billion in a time of more buoyant lithium costs. Importantly, Galan’s Hombre Muerto salar options lithium grades double that of the Rincon project, which is available in at about 420mg/L.

Galan’s choice to bat away takers for its low-cost lithium development appears a puzzling one, however management appears intent on securing the proper price for its expansive project. Perhaps at a time of stronger lithium costs or as soon as it ‘shortly’ secures an offtake accomplice and financing.

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