TSR has some names I’ve covered for years and others that remain relatively unknown. Will 2024 be their year? Let’s dive in.
One of my favourite activities is taking part in a Podcast. Not for the sound of my own voice — all our voices sound worse when recorded. What I love about podcasts is that I don’t have to type out every thought and then rearrange them into a coherent piece.
My semi-regular appearances through 2024 will be with The Sunday Roast, StockBox’s Market Musings, and Investing Reviews.
All three services offer something different — TSR attempts to pick high growth stocks before they strike gold, StockBox operates as an information service, and IR is about interviewing some of the biggest names in trading (last year we interviewed Steve Sanders and Richard Flynn of Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab fame respectively).
As such, it’s important to draw a clear distinction — StockBox and Investing Reviews are information investment-agnostic platforms — and will happily chat to most CEOs across the investing spectrum.
TSR are selectively picking companies they think will do well. Let’s dive into them.
In no particular order:
TSR’s 12 stocks for 2024
1. Technology Minerals (LON: TM1)
TM1 is further ahead of the recycling curve than various competitors — indeed, the recent UK Battery Strategy named investment Recyclus as ‘the country’s first and only industrial-scale recycling facility. It is licenced to turn 22,000 tonnes of spent lithium-ion batteries, taken from a range of sources including electric cars, each year into black mass without using water, and has a low carbon footprint.’
TM1 plans to up its holding in Recyclus from the current 48.35% to 100% — with the prospectus for shareholder approval due in this quarter. Commercial operations at the Wolverhampton lithium-ion battery recycling plant started in September, with plans to ramp up to 22,000 tonnes by 2025.
A strong pick, especially given its political importance.
2. Celadon Pharmaceuticals (LON: CEL)
Celadon Pharmaceuticals is not a cannabis stock. It’s a biotech company. This is a critical piece of information to digest before making an investment decision — yes they grow cannabis, but it is specifically for the medicinal market. And CEL is also working a cannabis-based pain management trial that could solve the inaccessibility problem.
For context, 89,239 prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis medicines were issued between November 2018 and July 2022 in England, and only five of these were issued by the NHS. The problem is that while the NHS has licensed 11,000 products, patients can only get access to the actually useful unlicensed products through private doctors on the GMC’s specialist register.
An NHS approved treatment could be explosive.
3. Aterian (LON: ATN)
Aterian is probably best-known for its JV with Rio Tinto worth a potential $7.5 million to explore its lithium holdings in Rwanda. Rio entered the country for this one asset, but perhaps the Moroccan copper exploration will yield even better results over the longer term — 17 projects covering nearly 900 square kilometres need to be evaluated.
The business model is also interesting, as the company is developing a metal trading entity in Rwanda — which in theory will allow it to generate revenue to fund project developments.
A decent pick, but as always, at the mercy of the drill bit.
4. African Pioneer (LON: AFP)
Speaking of drilling JVs, African Pioneer is making progress across its portfolio alongside partner First Quantum Minerals in Zambia. The jurisdiction is the place to be for copper exploration — you can name the others in the space, but the general idea is that the President has made copper production a political priority — and AFP stands to benefit.
The company’s agreement with First Quantum has continued to advance, and first movers in this space should do well.
As a caveat, you can diversify Zambian risk by also investing in ARCM, TYM, Jubilee, Castillo etc.
5. Chill Brands (LON: CHLL)
Chill saw several ‘material purchase orders’ during the last quarter, and expects to deliver initial inventory this month. Purchasers include Morrisons, WH Smith Travel, and various petrol forecourt retail shops — and the company also plans to roll out its vapes into Smoker Friendly shops in nine US states. Then there’s the independent shop distribution, Chill.com, plans to expand into Europe…
The no-nicotine approach is novel, and majors suffering from weakening traditional product sales will be watching. However, initial capex is expensive, and proof will be in the pudding — reorder rates and revenue.
Reorder rates should be reported soon, though revenue/profits may be some time. This is neither positive nor negative — industry reporting standard is about six months.
6. Sovereign Metals (LON: SVML)
If you have the world’s largest undeveloped rutile deposit and second largest graphite deposit, and exceptionally positive PFS numbers, and Rio Tinto as a major investor, which will almost certainly buy out the asset at some point soon for a solid premium, and you’re backed by a team with a string of successes…
Read my edit on SVML here. This one is a no-brainer.
7. Conroy Gold (LON: CGNR)
If Conroy’s gold was located in Western Australia, the market capitalisation would be several times higher than today. Alas, it’s in Ireland — and this presents a problem and an opportunity.
The problem is that Scotgold has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many investors, and whether fair or not, CGNR is being affected by geographical distaste. The opportunity is that they own the rights to shedloads of gold — and gold is worth the same whether in Ireland or Australia.
8. Acuity RM (LON: ACRM)
Acuity RM’s Stream risk management software is now being used in various public sector contracts — and there are two reasons to be cheerful about this. First, even though getting into the public sector is difficult, once in, contracts tend to snowball. Indeed, these smaller contracts are essentially dry runs for larger contracts. Second, the contract renewal rate is exceptionally high.
Undervalued and widely unknown — and a solid diversification stock for those overinvested into mining or biotechs.
9. Greatland Gold (LON: GGP)
I covered the Greatland Gold investment case in depth a few months ago — and the company has delivered a sizeable MRE upgrade since. The stock is hovering around 8-9p at present, reflecting uncertainty regarding Newmont, and even the asset’s value.
But this gold will be mined in the relatively near future; for those with the patience to reap the rewards, the stock could rise substantially higher in 2024, particularly when Newmont makes a decision to either stick, twist, or double down.
The key factor that is often discounted is the jurisdiction — Havieron and the various exploratory projects are arguably in the best mining area in the world.
10. Jubilee Metals (LON: JLP)
Another Zambia copper stock. Quel surprise! Jubilee’s now got around 350 million tonnes of waste rock material to sift through using $50 million of mining equipment, to be paid for by IRH. The grade looks good, and the idea is to process 20,000 tonnes of copper each year at a cost of below $4,000 per tonne.
The copper supply gap is already well documented, but this deal and asset seems excellent — and the entry point is attractive.
11. Golden Metal Resources (LON: GMET)
Golden Metal’s flagship Pilot Mountain remains the largest undeveloped tungsten deposit in the USA, and I am confident for various reasons (Chinese potential export ban, max capacity Japanese production, reduced stockpiles) that GMET will gain grant funding to start developing the asset in the very near future.
Tungsten in an irreplaceable critical mineral — the investment case is obvious. Also, Oliver oozes confidence.
12. Prospex Energy (LON: PXEN)
Prospex Energy has no debt. It’s in production and generating revenues from Selva — and updates on three funded wells are expected in this quarter. Shares were converted at 6.35p in December and the stock is sitting at circa 4.6p.
Hard to see how PXEN has fallen so fast in 2023 — but this appears to be a classic mismatch between the business and the market cap.
Further contenders?
First Class Metals — excellent assets and management. Zigzag drill results are arriving soon and could be excellent. The big question is how the company funds further exploration; a JV will be needed, but there’s no shortage of potential partners in the area. Or a full buyout of the lithium asset to fund the gold projects?
Panther Metals — too many interests to name, but work undertaken at the Obonga Project (we love copper) looks promising, as does work at the Manitou Lakes Project for gold. Panther is operating in the right spot, but the next step is translating this into share price movement.
Energy Pathways — Marram Project in the East Irish Sea, a fully appraised gas resource (circa 40BCF) apparently ‘ready to go.’ This asset seems like it should be profitable in the long run though doubtless there will be volatility along the way.
Galileo Resources — plenty of assets, acquired cheaply having been abandoned by majors for strategic reasons not reflective of asset potential. Investors will know a game changing RNS may be incoming, but for balance, shares have been essentially flat over the past year.
The bottom line
TSR has made some strong picks, though weighted towards the junior resource sector — which is often at the mercy of the drill bit. It makes sense to invest in a selection of miners rather than any one at a time — and companies like Celadon, Acuity or Chill provide some much-needed diversification.
I’ll review the list a year from now and see how they got on.
This article has been prepared for information purposes only by Charles Archer. It does not constitute advice, and no party accepts any liability for either accuracy or for investing decisions made using the information provided.
Further, it is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.
