Tim Boreham
Tim Boreham is a business journalist with 35 years experience, including more than two decades at The Australian and previously the Business Review Weekly magazine. Tim is also the author of the Criterion column for Independent Investment Research.
Frontier Digital Ventures is mimicking the Carsales, REA Group, Domain online model in developing countries
In developed countries such as Australia, consumers have been long accustomed to shopping online for big-ticket items such as property and cars. As a result, companies such as Carsales (ASX: CAR), REA Group (ASX: REA) and Domain (ASX: DHG) have become ASX success stories, with multibillion-dollar valuations. These portals have helped erode the previous low […]
Legacy Minerals confirms ‘exceptional’ new discovery at Bauloora
Backed by global gold giant Newmont Corporation, Legacy Minerals (ASX: LGM) has reported an “exceptional” new precious and base metals discovery at its flagship Bauloora project on New South Wales’ rich Lachlan Fold Belt. Initial diamond drill assays have confirmed high-grade mineralisation at the Bluecap discovery, which has the potential to be a large low-sulphide […]
Challenger Exploration signs renewable energy deal to power Hualilan gold mine in Argentina
South America focused gold developer Challenger Exploration (ASX: CEL) has signed a renewable power supply deal that enhances both its green credentials and the economics of its proposed Hualilan Gold Mine in Argentina. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) is with YPF Luz, one of the country’s largest energy companies with installed capacity of 3.2 gigawatts, […]
ASX small caps eye magnesium market as demand soars
The most lightweight of metals, magnesium is in soaring demand for traditional uses such as die casting and aluminium alloys, as well as new-age applications such as magnesium batteries and bioresorbable stents. One quarter the weight of steel (but stronger) and one-third lighter than aluminium or titanium, magnesium boasts impressive eco-credentials on this attribute alone: […]
BBX Minerals secures up to $9m to accelerate bioleaching process
Brazilian-focused precious metals explorer BBX Minerals (ASX: BBX) has secured up to $9 million in funding to further its innovative bioleaching process aimed at extracting precious metals from ore in an environmentally-friendly way. In a staged private placement over 24 months, Lind Partners will subscribe for an initial $3 million of shares with additional investment […]
Astron Corporation upgrades reserves at critical Donald rare earths and mineral sands project
Astron Corporation (ASX: ATR) has upgraded the size of its reserves at its flagship Donald rare earth and mineral sands project in western Victoria, which is already one of the world’s largest undeveloped critical minerals assets. The enhanced reserve will support the planned release of a feasibility study in the June quarter, with start of […]
ASX game integration: investors gain stock market exposure to video games and esports with new ETF
Exchange trade fund (ETF) Betashares Video Games and Esports’ (ASX: GAME) is the first gaming ETF to list on the ASX, and its performance is showing the importance of video games or esports as a potential investment within a rapidly growing multi-billion-dollar industry. Noobs* who have never heard of Overwatch, Red Dead Redemption and Minecraft […]
Biotech start-ups tap into the power of AI for drug discovery and protein design
To its humanoid subordinates, artificial intelligence (AI) already has become a life saver for students who have favoured partying over essay writing, or for harried journalists with a looming deadline. AI is also emerging as a life saver in a more literal sense: as a tool to expedite the notoriously slow path of drug development […]
Inflation erodes bank deposit rates, investors look to reliable dividends
While bank deposit rates of up to 5% are welcome news to investors accustomed to derisory returns, rampaging inflation means that decent reliable dividends are more valuable than ever. The risk-free 5% return quickly gets eroded by inflation which is running at an annualised rate of more than 7%, while the taxman wants his share […]
BBX Minerals advances sustainable mineral extraction with bioleaching testing
Brazilian-focused precious metals explorer BBX Minerals (ASX: BBX) has unveiled the next steps in testing of a bioleaching process that uses natural microbial techniques to extract the minerals in a sustainable way. The company today told the ASX it was sending 200 kilograms of material from four drill holes to EcoBiome Metals LLC for further […]
Wide Open Agriculture pursues global success in a multi-billion dollar sector
A leader in the fast-growing plant-based food sector, Wide Open Agriculture (ASX: WOA) has despatched samples of its patented protein product to six targeted global customers, including ingredient distributors and food and drink companies. The lupin-based Buntine Protein was developed locally by the Western Australia Wheatfields-based Wide Open Agriculture and is claimed to be superior […]
Amid dazzling returns, is now the time to join the diamond hunt?
The local diamond exploration sector has lost its glitter in recent years, but there’s renewed interest in finding the dazzling stones ancient Greeks thought were splinters of stars that had fallen to earth. Underpinning the activity is a looming shortage of better-quality stones spurred by pandemic-related supply problems and the backlash against “blood” diamonds (those […]
Two ASX listed agriculture stocks that promise a bounteous harvest for investors
As with the miners, agricultural enterprises are driven by the whims of global commodity prices and the vagaries of the weather. In a perennial cycle, euphoric peaks are followed by soul-destroying lows. While steady earnings can never be guaranteed, performance is more assured if the producer can rise above the commodity cycle, with a competitive […]
ASX-listed e-gaming stocks show promise, but are they in the main event?
Ever been invited to a party offering unlimited merriment – back in the times when such gatherings were legal of course – but instead turned up to one organised by the equivalent of an abstemious maiden aunt? Investors in the fledgling e-gaming sector might well know the feeling. Globally, the industry is booming, with the […]
Which travel and tourism stocks look good ahead of Australia’s ‘Great Reopening’?
Ahead of The Great Reopening – terms and conditions apply – investors pre-emptively have been piling into the travel and tourism faves such as Flight Centre (ASX: FLT), Webjet (ASX: WEB) and Qantas (ASX: QAN). There’s nothing wrong with that, especially given the travel agents have a heavy presence in offshore markets where the malevolent […]
Hidden gems: the profitable small caps forging export markets
As with so many facets of human nature, it’s natural for investors to covet the next big thing wrapped in glittering paper. It’s why tech stocks have done so well in recent years, as well as anything related to battery metals or the buy now pay later (BNPL) sector. It’s also why home-grown hero Canva […]
No signs of mortgage stress – yet – as regulators tighten home lending screws
With the average Sydney home now worth more than $1 million (even with a broken drain the only water view), it’s an odds-on bet that the next financial meltdown will have something (or everything) to do with housing. Last week Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the powerful Council of Financial Regulators signalled a crackdown […]
Have iron ore miners been oversold or should investors ‘steel’ for more ferrous pain?
The pundits were right, for once: the laws of market gravity were always going to catch up with the price of iron ore, which in a matter of weeks has tumbled more than 50% from its nosebleed territory of US$220 a tonne. Still, no-one quite predicted the extent of the rout which stems from the […]
That’s the ticket: snaring a prime parking spot ahead of the post-pandemic motoring revival
As the pandemic lockdowns grind on, investing in the car parking sector looks a decidedly dead-end option given the expanses of vacant lots across the affected regions. The situation is unlikely to change until Sydney and Melbourne office workers – who account for 80% of usage – are allowed to return to their cubicles. “The […]
WAAAXing and waning tech valuations show danger of treating sector as an amorphous lump
The founder of one of the ASX’s most unusual tech companies is scathing about the business model of tech stocks with billion dollar-plus valuations, with the current climate redolent of the dot-com era. “I find it hard to understand why companies stampede into these businesses,” says David Dicker, founder, chief executive officer and chairman of […]