It doesn\u2019t get much more compelling than \u201cone of the most compelling base metal plays listed on ASX\u2026 and TSX-V for that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guy Le Page has been a fan of American West Metals (ASX:AW1 \u2013 13c, $66m MC)<\/a><\/strong> for some time, hailing it as \u201can emerging copper explorer with district scale potential\u201d at its 80% owned Storm Project in Nunavut, northern Canada.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d hooked onto it at just under 5 cents prior to the 2023 field season last year, there were 600 per cent gains to be had by August after it announced a couple of significant hits at Storm.<\/p>\n That helped it to an impressive maiden MRE of 17.5Mt @ 1.2% copper reported earlier this year, but the stock has since dropped away to 13c. Meanwhile, the 2024 field season has been supersized from 10,000 metres of drilling to around 20,000 metres+. Read \u201cpotential significant resource upgrade\u201d.<\/p>\n But Le Page reckons there\u2019s a district scale play to be had, with exploration success at Blizzard\/Tornado (10km southeast of Storm) and Tempest (around 40km southeast of Storm). It\u2019s a region with \u201cgood provenance for delivering high grade base metal mines\u201d, he notes.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a bunch of other 2023 copper discoveries at Thunder, Lightning Ridge and Cyclone North yet to be included in the MRE. Add in the fact that only 5% of the 100km of prospective strike has so far been explored, and you can see where Guy\u2019s going with this.<\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely potential to find resources that rival giant deposits found in the Zambian Copper belt in terms of both scale and grade if exploration pans out the way I think it will,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Excellent logistics, access, 100% success rate from the follow up of EM anomalies returning copper sulphides? Check, check and check.<\/p>\n The whole shebang is also cashed up after a recent $10m capital raising earlier this year (managed by the gang of three, namely \u2013 disclosure time \u2013 Le Page\u2019s RM Capital, Ord Minnet and Bell Potter), and at an undiluted market capitalisation of just under $58 million, based on an 11.5 cent share price. Managing director, Barclay Pearce Capital Asset Management<\/em><\/p>\n First of all, Whelan\u2019s getting shorter on Boeing by the minute, as bits of their planes keep falling off. Or at least \u201cthere\u2019s a better chance that BA heads south before heading north\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBut,\u201d he says, if you \u201ckeep in mind that around a third of its revenue comes from defence, space and security\u201d, you might want to go long again on US election night. Because, well, Trump and defence\u2026<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a smokey though \u2013 JW is a fan of Wellnex Life (ASX:WNX \u2013 2.6c, $29m MC)<\/strong><\/a>, formerly known as Wattle Health, the provider of natural energy products, sleep aid products, teeth whitening products, over-the-counter medicines and pain relief products.<\/p>\n That last category includes the recently acquired Pain Away. At last report, that acquisition has resulted in efficiencies in the business, with circa $1.5 million per annum in savings identified.<\/p>\n Overall, WNX February sales came in at a record $1.3 million at an average margin of 41%, compared to FY23 historical margin of circa 20%.<\/p>\n \u201cCould be the value buy of the year here,\u201d Whelan told Stockhead.<\/p>\n Buy of the year? WNX took a bit of a tumble from 5.6c this time last year to be trading between 2.2c and 2.6c since Christmas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s now a profitable company,\u201d Whelan notes. \u201cCouldn\u2019t be happier.\u201d \nFounder and chief investment officer, Datt Capital<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a couple of quick ones from Datt, who says local IT stocks are \u201ca hot sector for M&A\u201d with companies such as Altium, Ansarada and Whispir receiving recent takeover bids.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect to see more consolidation in this space,\u201d he told Stockhead.<\/p>\n ClearView (ASX:CVW \u2013 60c, $396m MC)<\/strong><\/a>, he says, \u201cis a life insurer that experienced improvements across all its financial metrics; the most important being an 11% increase in gross premiums received\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cClearview also improved its competitive position capturing 11% of new business written; a disproportionate amount relative to its market share of 4% of the life insurance market.\u201d<\/p>\n Datt adds that the company is \u201csimplifying its operations which should work to its benefit\u201d, going forward.<\/p>\n Origin Energy (ASX:ORG \u2013 $8.98, $15.4bn MC)<\/strong><\/a> is an integrated Australian energy business which was recently subject to a takeover offer by Brookfield at $9.40.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe the latest set of results justifies the rejection of the offer by shareholders,\u201d Datt says. \u201cORG achieved a statutory profit of $995 million for the half year, a cool 250% rise versus PCP.<\/p>\n \u201cAll divisions performed very favourably, whilst its 23% equity stake in fast growing Octopus Energy, is worth $2.8 billion in its own right.<\/p>\n \u201cOrigin should benefit from Australia\u2019s increasing demand for energy, driven by long-term population trends; and we believe it\u2019s an attractive long-term asset.\u201d<\/p>\n The views, information, or opinions expressed in the interviews in this article are solely those of the interviewees and do not represent the views of Stockhead. Stockhead does not provide, endorse or otherwise assume responsibility for any financial product advice contained in this article.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post SUNDAY ROAST: The stocks that lit a fire under our experts this week<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\n<\/strong><\/p>\nJames Whelan<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/strong><\/p>\nEmanuel Datt <\/h2>\n