Sunrise Energy Metals (SRL) $19.98

SRL is the $3.4bn Melbourne based company developing the Sunrise Project in New South Wales, a large-scale critical-minerals project focused primarily on scandium, a scarce metal used to produce lightweight, high-strength aluminium alloys for aerospace, defence and other advanced applications. The project has gained increasing strategic importance as western governments seek non-Chinese sources of critical minerals, although SRL remains a developer rather than a producing miner.

Sunrise entered the ASX 200 in September following an extraordinary re-rating that transformed it from a micro-cap into a multi-billion-dollar company in just 18 months. Its market capitalisation surged from roughly $20m in February 2025 to almost $4bn at its September 2026 peak, driven by growing recognition of the strategic value of its Syerston Scandium project in NSW. The rally has been turbocharged by the US push to secure critical-mineral supply chains outside China, culminating in a A$400m US Department of Defence loan commitment to help develop the project.

• NSW mine approval, increased attention on the scarcity of non-Chinese scandium supply and broader US government support for critical minerals has provided a big tailwind for the stock.

This is a textbook example of how an emerging investment theme can rapidly propel a company through the ASX ranks, although after such an enormous re-rating, expectations are clearly now far higher for a company that still losses money, around $15mn in FY26. On the current schedule, SRL could begin generating first revenue in 2028 at the earliest, following commissioning of the Syerston plant. Profitability would depend on ramp-up pace, scandium oxide pricing, and the final cost structure, none of which have been publicly guided at this stage.

• We have to call SRL “too hard” with the company’s current valuation pricing in future earnings potential rather than current profits, but it is an interesting area.