Welcome to the Investing News Network’s weekly round-up of the top-performing mining stocks on the ASX.
The top stocks are led by a natural gas company for the second week in a row, joined by those focused on a mix of copper, rare earth elements and critical metals.
Read on to discover this week’s top gaining Australian mining stocks on the ASX and what drove their share prices.
Market and commodities price round-up
The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) opened at 8,791.10 on Monday (June 29) and closed at 8,724.50 on Thursday (July 2), reflecting a 0.76 percent decrease over the period.
Gold and silver prices were mixed this week as of the close of the Australian stock market Thursday. Gold decreased 0.76 percent from US$4,089.55 on Monday to US$4,058.66 by Thursday in US dollars. Meanwhile, it saw a 0.75 percent dip in Australian dollars, going from AU$5,930.62 to AU$5,886.37.
Silver increased in both US and Australian dollars this week. It rose 1.66 percent in US dollars, moving from US$59.19 on Monday to US$59.88 on Thursday. In Australian dollars, silver recorded a 1.17 percent increase from AU$85.84 to AU$86.84.
Top ASX mining stocks this week
How did ASX mining stocks perform against this backdrop?
Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Australian mining stocks below as the Investing News Network breaks down their operations and why these companies are up this week.
Stocks data for this article was retrieved using TradingView’s stock screener and reflects price movements between the first trading day of the week and Thursday. Only companies trading on the ASX with market capitalisations greater than AU$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.
1. NuEnergy Gas (ASX:NGY)
Weekly gain: 75 percent
Market cap: AU$53.73 million
Share price: AU$0.049
NuEnergy Gas is an independent clean energy company advancing its three coal bed methane production sharing contracts (PSC) in South Sumatra, Indonesia. According to the company, it aims to integrate the three into a hub.
The company is currently executing its early gas sales initiative, which aims for an initial production of 1 million standard cubic feet per day from a series of four coal bed methane wells at its Tanjung Enim PSC.
On Tuesday (June 30), the company announced that it has executed a fully funded field service contract with PT Beijing Energy Linking for the coal bed methane wells at Tanjung Enim. The contract has a value of approximately US$88 million, which will be repaid from future gas sales.
It states that PT BEL shall drill, construct, test and complete the wells, before ramping up to a production level of 24 million standard cubic feet per day.
Conditions that must be met by NuEnergy before PT BEL can commence work include completion of front-end engineering design study and finalisation of the work program and surface facilities contract price.
Shares of NuEnergy jumped from a close of AU$0.028 last week to AU$0.041 Wednesday following the update, moving even higher to this week’s peak of AU$0.049 Thursday.
2. Celsius Resources (ASX:CLA)
Weekly gain: 40 percent
Market cap: AU$29.78 million
Share price: AU$0.007
Celsius Resources is a Perth-based company dual listed on the ASX and AIM. It holds a portfolio of copper and gold projects in the Philippines.
Its flagship project, the Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog (MCB) copper-gold project, is situated on the country’s main island, Luzon, 320 kilometres north of Manila.
On Tuesday, Celsius shared that it has entered into a binding agreement to divest its non-core 95 percent interest in the Opuwo cobalt-copper project in Namibia to a subsidiary of the Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco), named Chinalco (Xiong’an) Mining, for total consideration of US$15 million. This includes an upfront, non-refundable commitment of a combined US$1 million for exploration and testwork.
“Celsius is delighted to have concluded an agreement with an entity of Chinalco (Xiong’an) Mining’s international standing and reputation,” Managing Director Bardin Davis said. “We believe (the company) is well positioned to progress the Opuwo Project, which will deliver substantial benefits to Namibia and the local community.”
The company added that, subject to the conclusion of arbitration proceedings with Makilala Mining Company, it plans to use funds from the sale to support the development of the MCB copper-gold project.
After closing last week and opening this week at AU$0.005, shares of Celsius spiked to a peak close of AU$0.008 Tuesday.
3. MRG Metals (ASX:MRQ)
Weekly gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: AU$11.94 million
Share price: AU$0.004
Ballarat-based MRG Metals is an Australian exploration company focused on developing a diverse portfolio of heavy mineral sands, rare earth elements (REEs) and critical mineral assets across Southern Africa.
The company’s primary flagship asset is its 100 percent owned corridor of rare earth and heavy mineral sands projects in Mozambique, which includes the adjacent Adriano and Fotinho projects spanning a combined 396.42 square kilometres.
Beyond its primary Mozambican assets, MRG’s portfolio includes the high-grade Garies rare earth project located in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province.
On Wednesday, MRG shared results from its target generation hand auger drilling program at the Fotinho project, with laboratory assays from 26 of 57 holes reporting grades above 3 percent total heavy minerals.
MRG stated that, combined with previous auger holes from Fotinho and Adriano, the results confirm significant alluvial heavy mineral potential across the combined Adriano and Fotinho projects.
Following that update, MRG announced on Thursday that metallurgical testing of mineralisation from its Garies rare earths project uncovered a significant critical mineral discovery, with 85 drill samples from magnetite veins averaging 290 parts per million gallium oxide.
MRG Chairman Andrew van der Zwan said, “While the Company’s primary focus remains the development of the Rare Earth opportunity, these initial results support further metallurgical work to determine whether Gallium has the potential to be recovered as a by-product of future processing.”
Shares of MRG closed last week at AU$0.003, climbing to a weekly peak of AU$0.004 both Tuesday and Thursday.
4. Iondrive (ASX:ION)
Weekly gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: AU$36.29 million
Share price: AU$0.032
Adelaide-based Iondrive is an Australian critical minerals processing technology company primarily focused on commercialising its proprietary IONSolv metal extraction platform.
According to the company, IONSolv is a low-emissions metal extraction platform engineered for the selective recovery of critical minerals such as neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), lithium, cobalt, copper and more.
Operating at low temperatures while avoiding aggressive acids, the platform utilizes tuneable chemistry to enable efficient, closed-loop urban mining and processing. The technology is currently being applied to battery materials, but is planned for mineral processing and electronic waste as well.
The company is exploring advancing a commercial critical metals recycling module in Oklahoma, US.
On Monday, Iondrive shared that it has received a formal Letter of Support from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce (ODOC) for its proposed US rare earth recycling initiative.
The state department informed Iondrive of incentive programs that could combine for as much as US$5.2 million in support for the company’s first commercial module. If it deploys two further modules, the ODOC said this could scale to more than US$15 million.
“This is the commercial roll-out of our IONSolv™ platform, with each module designed to be replicated as demand grows,” CEO Lewis Utting said. “Oklahoma has put together a compelling case, with the workforce, infrastructure, energy resources and performance-based support needed to underpin our first commercial deployment.”
Shares of Iondrive closed at AU$0.028 on Monday, following last week’s AU$0.024 close. The company’s shares rose further to a peak of AU$0.032 on Thursday.
5. Buxton Resources (ASX:BUX)
Weekly gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: AU$17.36 million
Share price: AU$0.056
West Perth-based Buxton Resources is an Australian resource exploration and development company primarily focused on discovering major copper, gold, nickel and iron ore systems in Western Australia.
Its flagship assets include its 100 percent owned Centurion and Madman projects, both located in Western Australia and targeting large-scale copper-gold mineralisation. Madman is situated in the Paterson Province, while Centurion is targeting discovery of an iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) system in the Great Sandy Desert.
The company also retains a strategic 100 percent interest in prospective copper ground in Arizona, US.
It was a productive week for Buxton, which shared back-to-back updates regarding its finances, portfolio restructuring and field operations.
On Monday, the company said it received commitments to raise AU$1.14 million through a placement priced at AU$0.035 per share.
On Tuesday, the company announced it completed the sale of its 49 percent interest in the Copper Wolf project in Arizona to IGO (ASX:IGO,OTCPL:IPGDF) for total consideration of approximately AU$6.15 million. The deal also terminates IGO’s right of first refusal, giving Buxton full autonomy at its copper projects in Arizona, including the Wolverine, Sun Devil and Aztecs targets.
The next day, Buxton shared that it has officially kick-started its maiden diamond drilling campaign at the Madman project to test a major gold-copper magnetic anomaly with two deep diamond drill holes.
“Commencing the Madman drilling program is a landmark and exciting moment for Buxton shareholders, who will be the first to test this target – a compelling geophysical anomaly with the hallmarks of a Havieron-style gold-copper system,” Managing Director Martin Moloney wrote.
Shares of Buxton closed at AU$0.044 last week and climbed starting Wednesday to a peak of AU$0.056 on Thursday.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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