Welcome to the Investing News Network's weekly round-up of the top-performing mining stocks on the ASX.
Big news hit the gold sector on June 22 (Monday) as Pan African Resources (LSE:PAF,ASX:PAF) officially completed its GBP 163 million acquisition of joint venture partner Emmerson Resources.
Under the finalized transaction, Emmerson shareholders received 0.1493 new Pan African CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs) for each Emmerson share held. Emmerson shares were delisted from the ASX at the close of trading Monday, and the Pan African CDIs are now trading on the ASX.
As for this week's top shares, companies focused on energy, copper and gold stood out as the top performers of the week.
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 8,800.10 on Monday and closed at 8,748.70 on Thursday (June 25), reflecting a 0.58 percent decrease over the period.
Gold and silver prices were down this week as of the close of the Australian stock market Thursday. Gold showed a 4 percent decrease from US$4,158.74 on Monday to US$3,992.44 in US dollars. A smaller 2.42 percent fall was seen in Australian dollars, moving from AU$5,930.50 to AU$5,787.10.
Silver saw larger drops. In US dollars, it decreased 11.55 percent from US$64.87 to US$57.38 on Thursday. In Australian dollars, the metal recorded an 10.08 percent decrease, moving from AU$92.50 to AU$83.18.
Top ASX mining stocks this week
How did ASX mining stocks perform against this backdrop?
Take a look at this week’s 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. Lakes Blue Energy (ASX:LKO)
Weekly gain: 69.12 percent
Market cap: AU$37.45 million
Share price: AU$0.575
Sydney-based Lakes Blue Energy is an oil and gas company operating exploration projects across onshore basins in Australia and offshore in Papua New Guinea.
Its flagship asset is the Wombat Gas Field in Victoria’s Gippsland Basin, which hosts a certified 2C contingent resource of 329 billion cubic feet (BCF). Together with the adjacent Trifon and Gangell fields, the combined resource totals 719 BCF.
As of June 9, Lakes Blue said that production testing is progressing, with data supporting the presence of a gas-charged reservoir, and that it had identified a minimum of 237 metres of high-quality gas-bearing sands.
Additionally, Lakes Blue Energy added that a 3D seismic data reprocessing program is advancing on schedule. The company expects delivery of the final time and depth datasets to come in August.
“The insights gained from this reprocessing will be instrumental in defining the design parameters of a planned Wombat 3D seismic acquisition program across the Wombat and Trifon fields and will assist in the design of the Full Field Development Plan,” the company wrote in the release.
Delays and drilling incidents during the program also led to a legal dispute between the company and two unrelated suppliers. In a separate June 9 update, Lakes Blue Energy said that a settlement on “favorable commercial terms” has been reached with one of the two parties. However, mediation with the other party was unsuccessful, so the dispute is moving to litigation.
Shares of the company closed last week at AU$0.340, then jumped to this week’s peak of AU$0.575 on Thursday.
2. Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE)
Weekly gain: 37.84 percent
Market cap: AU$199.67 million
Share price: AU$0.051
Uranium-focused explorer and developer Alligator Energy is an Australian resource company aiming to transition into a mid-tier energy metal producer.
The company’s flagship asset is its 100 percent owned Samphire uranium project, located south of Whyalla in South Australia. The project is being advanced as a potential low-cost in-situ recovery (ISR) operation. Alligator’s portfolio also includes the Big Lake uranium project in South Australia’s Cooper Basin.
On Monday, Alligator updated the market, confirming that all conditions have been satisfied for its AU$7.5 million divestment of its non-core Northern Territory uranium assets to DevEx Resources (ASX:DEV,OTCPL:UREQF).
Under the asset sale agreement, Alligator will receive AU$5.75 million upfront in a mix of cash and DevEx shares, with the remaining AU$1.75 million held in third-party escrow pending exploration access renewals.
“We are now very close to completing this transaction with the satisfaction of conditions precedent,” CEO and Managing Director Andrea Marsland-Smith commented. “This as forecasted, strengthens Alligators’ cash balance to fund planned exploration and development activities while reducing near-term funding requirements as we accelerate work at Samphire.”
Following this, Alligator announced a leadership transition on Thursday with the resignation of Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary Joe Sutanto, who will be with the company until August 31 to manage a smooth handover.
Alligator has appointed Blayney Morgan as interim CFO and Jake van der Hoek as Company Secretary.
Shares of Alligator Energy were at a peak of AU$0.052 last Thursday before going down to AU$0.037 during Friday’s close and this week’s open. The numbers climbed to AU$0.051 on Thursday following both announcements.
3. Unity Metals (ASX:UM1)
Weekly gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: AU$20.38 million
Share price: AU$0.100
Unity Metals is a Western Australia-based company focused on copper and gold exploration in Cambodia and Thailand. It completed an initial public offering to list on the ASX in January of this year.
Three out of the company’s four projects are located in Cambodia: the Ngot and O’Phlay gold projects and the Ta Vaeng copper-gold project. In Thailand, the company has applied for 14 special prospecting licenses to form the Loei copper-gold project in the Loei Fold Belt.
Unity has been granted exploration licences for Ngot and O’Phlay, with an application in place for Ta Vaeng.
Unity Metals shared its response to an ASX price query Tuesday (June 23) after the company’s share price climbed that day from a close of AU$0.068 on Monday to an intraday high of AU$0.17.
The company said it was “not aware of any information concerning it that has not been announced to the market which, if known by some in the market, could explain the recent trading in its securities.”
On Thursday, Unity announced that trenching is underway at four prospects in its Ngot gold project, aiming to expose mineralised veins near the surface. Samples will be sent to the ALS Laboratory Services, with assays expected in July.
Following the trading activity Tuesday, the company’s share price shot to an intra-day peak of AU$0.205 Wednesday (June 24), before closing at AU$0.135 that day, its highest close this week.
4. Antilles Gold (ASX:AAU)
Weekly gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: AU$26.23 million
Share price: AU$0.008
Headquartered in New South Wales, Antilles Gold is currently focused on construction of its Nueva Sabana gold-copper mine in Cuba, with production expected in early 2027.
The company’s portfolio is operated by Minera La Victoria, a 50/50 joint venture with state-owned GeoMinera, and also includes the advanced La Demajagua gold-silver-antimony project and multiple exploration-stage projects.
The estimated mine construction cost for Nueva Sabana is US$35 million, including contingencies and interest during construction.
In May, Antilles Gold provided an update on construction at Nueva Sabana, noting that Minera La Victoria is conducting “earthworks for the access road, pads for structures, haul roads, tailings dam, waste dump (and more),” with this work expected to continue until November. Xinhai Mining is performing all other aspects of constructing the mine, including fabrication of the mine’s concentrator.
Its most recent update came on June 4. The company shared that the first inspection by international consultants confirmed “the high standard of work” by Xinhai Mining on the concentrator fabrication. Shipment of the concentrator’s components is expected to start in July.
Shares of Antilles Gold closed last week at AU$0.006, climbing this week to AU$0.007 on Monday before it went to AU$0.008 on Thursday.
5. King River Resources (ASX:KRR)
Weekly gain: 31.58 percent
Market cap: AU$71.15 million
Share price: AU$0.050
West Perth-based King River Resources is an Australian exploration and development company primarily focused on gold and copper assets.
Its portfolio includes the Mount Remarkable gold project in Western Australia’s Kimberley region and the Tennant Creek gold-copper project in the Northern Territory.
The company recently focused its operational attention on the Murchison province of Western Australia following its strategic acquisition of the historic Mindoolah gold project in March.
King River took second place on last week’s top ASX stocks list after it announced a drone-borne aeromagnetic survey across the central Mindoolah mining centre scheduled to begin June 25.
As for this week, on Monday, King River shared that a reverse circulation (RC) drill rig was mobilizing to Mindoolah to commence a 167 hole, 1,690 metre drilling campaign across three targets.
The program will include a systematic evaluation of historical near-surface waste dumps and stockpiles, as well as testing beneath historical pit floors to validate this geological data and define primary lode geometry.
Managing Director Graham Gadsby commented, “By advancing this drill program and bulk density characterisation alongside the concurrent aeromagnetic survey, we are efficiently aggregating the physical and structural datasets required to guide the next phase of evaluation across the Mindoolah Mining Centre.”
Shares of King River Resources closed at AU$0.038 last week and spiked to a weekly peak of AU$0.051 on Wednesday.
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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.
