S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) superstars like Droneshield Ltd (ASX: DRO) and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) have seen their share price rocket over the past year. Committed investors could now have 200-300 times the value of any stock bought 12 months ago.
The returns are impressive. But there are some much smaller, little-known ASX shares with 12-month returns that are significantly higher.
And they're earning their investors an outrageous amount of money.
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Sunrise Energy Metals Ltd (ASX: SRL)
Sunrise develops and applies ion-exchange technology for the extraction of valuable metals. It does this for the mining industry and for wastewater purification and recycling.
Its water business segment focuses on water technologies to filter, separate, and purify polluted waters for drinking, agriculture, recreation, and industrial use. Meanwhile, its metals segment provides extraction techniques for a range of resources, including base and precious metals, as well as radioactive elements such as uranium.
Last month, the company announced that its Syerston scandium deposit is currently the world's largest and highest-grade source of mineable scandium.
At the time of writing, the company's ASX share price is 10.57% higher for the year to date. But it's an outstanding 3,516.67% higher than this time 12 months ago.
The company has good growth prospects, too. Scandium, which is used in aerospace alloys, fuel cells, and advanced electronics, has a very limited global supply. If Sunrise is able to ramp up production at its Syerston site, it could well become a major global supplier. At present, the company is largely in its development stage.
African Gold Ltd (ASX: A1G)
African Gold is an exploration company focused on acquiring, exploring, and developing high-grade gold assets in West Africa. It focuses specifically on the Côte d'Ivoire and Mali.
The miner is focused on drilling and growing its resources. It also undertakes technical studies at projects like the Didievi Gold Project.
At the time of writing, the company's shares have jumped 39.39% for the year to date. They're also up an extraordinary 1,433.33% over the past 12 months.
African Gold recently announced it has entered into a binding scheme implementation deed with Canadian-based gold miner, Montage Gold Corp (TSE: MAU). Under the agreement, Montage will acquire 100% of the shares in the ASX gold stock that it does not already hold. In exchange, African Gold shareholders will receive 0.0628 new Montage shares for every African Gold share held on the record date of the share scheme.
The company is firmly focused on growth with plans to expand and ramp up exploration at its existing projects.
Elsight Ltd (ASX: ELS)
Elsight develops and commercialises a secure, AI-powered connectivity platform for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones, and robotic systems, called Halo.
Its technology enables uninterrupted, real-time command and control. It does this by aggregating multiple data links (using 5G, LTE, satellite, RF) for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations for defence, public safety, and commercial sectors.
Unsurprisingly, amid a ramp up demand for defence systems amid ongoing geopolitical tensions, the ASX defence stock's value has soared. For the year to date, Elsight shares are already up 69.01%, and they're a huge 1,600% higher than this time last year.
Elsight recently announced that it has appointed 5 senior business development leaders across key global markets. These include new appointments in the United States, Europe, Israel, and Asia. Management said it is designed to expand the company's go-to-market execution as demand for connectivity solutions in defence and unmanned systems programs grows.
