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West Australian
27 minutes ago
- West Australian
Runners: I Synergy, ActiveEX, Vanadium Resources & Broken Hill Mines
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. BROKEN HI LL MINES LTD (ASX: BHM) Up 145% (21c – 51.5c) Scooping up the final Runners' spot is a reborn Broken Hill Mining 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 annulally 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:
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
New South Park episode hilariously skewers Paramount over Trump settlement
Sky News host James Morrow has reacted to a hilarious clip from South Park which pokes fun at the US President and Paramount's settlement with Donald Trump. 'The South Park episode everyone is talking about, the one where South Park takes on Donald Trump,' he said. 'Here's their take on CBS's 60 Minutes reporting on Trump in the wake of their settling a lawsuit filed by the president after that whole scandalously edited Kamala Harris interview they ran. 'The whole episode is hilarious by the way; it takes the mickey out of just about everyone on all sides.'
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
South Park airs naked Trump parody as parent company Paramount merges with Skydance
Just hours after Paramount had agreed to buy the global streaming rights for South Park in a five-year deal worth $US1.5 billion ($2.27 billion), the notoriously controversial TV show kicked off its 27th season with an episode taking aim at Donald Trump. The episode also came as its parent company, Paramount, saw its multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance reach government approval. Federal regulators on Thursday approved Paramount's $US8 billion ($12.15 billion) merger, after months of turmoil revolving around Mr Trump's legal battle with 60 Minutes, the crown jewel of Paramount-owned broadcast network CBS. The Trump administration had been rumoured to block the hard-fought deal with Skydance, until Paramount earlier this month agreed to pay a $US16 million ($24 million) settlement with the president. Critics of the settlement lambasted it as a veiled bribe to appease Mr Trump, amid rising alarm over editorial independence overall. Further outrage also emerged after CBS said it was cancelling Stephen Colbert's Late Show just days after the comedian sharply criticised the parent company's settlement on air. Paramount cited financial reasons, but big names both within and outside the company have questioned those motives. In a statement accompanying the deal's approval, FCC chairman Brendan Carr hailed the merger as an opportunity to bring more balance to "once-storied" CBS. In a no-holds-barred season premiere, South Park shows the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by Mr Trump while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school. Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Mr Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars. The episode also sees the US president begging Satan for sex and threatening to bomb Canada. The season opener also departs from its bare-bones animation to feature an AI-generated short of an overweight Mr Trump staggering through the desert. The short ends with a naked Mr Trump as the narrator says: "Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large." Predictably, the White House was not amused. "This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention," spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. "President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country's history — and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump's hot streak." The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season. AP/AFP
