Rare earths hunters in Brazil make huge gains in FY24 and niobium juniors ride WA1 Resources’ Luni euphoria, but a scandium junior steals top spot
Wildcat and Raiden rise to the top of an average lithium market
Spartan soars on Never Never find and gold’s all-time highs
It was a big FY24 for ASX small caps in certain commodities – with WA1’s huge niobium find growing in West Arunta, bringing with it a pack of explorers to the region. Juniors also led the way in Brazil’s emerging rare earths economy and gold hunters rode all-time highs.
In a tough market that saw most explorers struggle and trail large caps, a handful of companies posted outsized gains in the past financial year.
Here, we lay down our Top 100 resources that made the gains for FY24.
Who stood out amongst the pack?
Our list contains resources companies that were active over the full year and excludes other top performers that IPO’d after the start of FY24 or left the market before its completion.
FY24 Small Cap Resources Winners
Here are the best performing ASX resources small caps for the last financial year.
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
Code Company Price FY24 % Change Market Cap RIM Rimfire Pacific 0.03 460 $67,458,032 VMM Viridismining 1.165 459.1 $74,469,092 SPR Spartan Resources 0.945 437.7 $1,045,980,702 GHY Gold Hydrogen 1.475 417.7 $113,077,959 AWJ Auric Mining 0.23 400 $34,167,275 AKM Aspire Mining Ltd 0.35 400 $177,672,945 SXG Southern Cross Gold 2.56 385 $500,940,641 TCG Turaco Gold Limited 0.215 316.6 $160,925,112 CE1 Calima Energy 0.009 307.4 $5,700,924 CXU Cauldron Energy Ltd 0.025 247.8 $30,663,266 WA1 Wa1Resourcesltd 21.15 235.6 $1,297,264,099 RDN Raiden Resources Ltd 0.031 220 $84,284,737 MAUCA Magnetic Resources 1 192 $20,418,862 EQN Equinoxresources 0.335 190.9 $41,372,501 WIA WIA Gold Limited 0.09 188.5 $101,264,470 YRL Yandal Resources 0.135 187 $37,493,066 STK Strickland Metals 0.11 168.3 $240,835,622 WC8 Wildcat Resources 0.305 162.5 $361,969,289 HYT Hyterra Ltd 0.046 154.5 $42,600,651 MCT Metalicity Limited 0.002 150 $8,971,705 SIH Sihayo Gold Limited 0.002 150 $24,408,512 CND Condor Energy Ltd 0.036 146.1 $20,808,012 MMI Metro Mining Ltd 0.053 145.4 $314,804,602 TM1 Terra Metals Limited 0.078 144.8 $28,421,538 RCR Rincon 0.145 144.6 $41,804,324 RDM Red Metal Limited 0.16 144.1 $47,921,390 OBM Ora Banda Mining Ltd 0.335 140 $622,126,387 SUM Summitminerals 0.295 137.9 $18,354,292 SUH Southern Hem Min 0.035 137.5 $25,768,402 MAU Magnetic Resources 1.225 136 $316,050,726 MRM MMAOffShor 2.68 130.4 $1,015,777,960 TGM Theta Gold Mines Ltd 0.18 127.2 $128,077,171 CUE CUE Energy Resource 0.11 126.9 $76,820,951 LGM Legacy Minerals 0.315 118.1 $33,218,324 AUE Aurumresources 0.355 116.6 $40,411,371 KP2 Kore Potash PLC 0.028 115.3 $19,885,597 WCN White Cliff Min Ltd 0.014 114.2 $22,741,424 ARR American Rare Earths 0.29 106.8 $143,092,757 FFM Firefly Metals Ltd 0.845 105.5 $406,198,228 CBY Canterbury Resources 0.046 104.5 $7,900,081 AMI Aurelia Metals Ltd 0.21 104.3 $355,228,562 AUQ Alara Resources Ltd 0.056 103.5 $41,649,077 KRR King River Resources 0.013 100 $19,866,870 PNX PNX Metals Limited 0.005 100 $23,880,859 RC1 Redcastle Resources 0.018 100 $5,909,115 JAT Jatcorp Limited 0.625 100 $52,041,511 KIN KIN Min NL 0.057 100 $67,154,581 SMI Santana Minerals Ltd 1.165 98 $240,525,824 BMN Bannerman Energy Ltd 3.12 96.9 $555,445,037 IPX Iperionx Limited 2.32 95.5 $596,807,841 ADY Admiralty Resources. 0.012 83.3 $19,553,687 PCL Pancontinental Energ 0.022 83.3 $178,894,889 ACP Audalia Res Ltd 0.021 81.8 $14,534,860 IDA Indiana Resources 0.085 81.4 $53,921,558 AX8 Accelerate Resources 0.027 80 $16,760,356 LOT Lotus Resources Ltd 0.33 78.3 $622,613,476 DYL Deep Yellow Limited 1.405 76.1 $1,371,410,141 FRB Firebird Metals 0.14 75.8 $20,642,403 BSE Base Res Limited 0.26 73.5 $306,283,081 RHK Red Hawk Mining Ltd 0.87 73.3 $173,835,987 ENR Encounter Resources 0.73 71.4 $329,104,479 ARD Argent Minerals 0.015 70 $21,501,385 WGX Westgold Resources. 2.63 69.4 $1,190,250,175 SRZ Stellar Resources 0.02 69.2 $38,835,036 TG6 Tgmetalslimited 0.19 68.1 $13,510,433 CZR CZR Resources Ltd 0.28 62.8 $64,827,028 G11 G11 Resources Ltd 0.026 62.5 $19,477,175 ALR Altairminerals 0.004 60 $19,334,599 JMS Jupiter Mines. 0.27 58.9 $529,201,436 FHS Freehill Mining Ltd. 0.006 56.5 $17,999,067 TLM Talisman Mining 0.255 55.8 $48,021,689 BTR Brightstar Resources 0.018 54.5 $82,259,724 HZN Horizon Oil Limited 0.19 53.5 $308,372,783 NTL New Talisman Gold 0.023 53.3 $10,155,180 LAM Laramide Res Ltd 0.79 52.8 $16,080,389 RHI Red Hill Minerals 7.8 52.8 $498,784,299 PAC Pacific Grp Ltd 10.76 50.3 $561,643,798 ICN Icon Energy Limited 0.006 50 $4,608,082 MRQ Mrg Metals Limited 0.004 50 $10,100,475 OAU Ora Gold Limited 0.005 50 $35,705,798 OLH Oldfields Holdings 0.089 50 $17,778,279 PUA Peak Minerals Ltd 0.005 50 $5,206,883 WEL Winchester Energy 0.003 50 $3,745,266 ADX ADX Energy Ltd 0.1 50 $56,795,045 AGE Alligator Energy 0.052 50 $201,228,967 CYL Catalyst Metals 1.18 49.3 $265,007,402 MLX Metals X Limited 0.43 47.3 $389,672,909 MRL Mayur Resources Ltd 0.24 47 $94,824,287 COE Cooper Energy Ltd 0.215 46.6 $528,007,646 CVN Carnarvon Energy Ltd 0.2 46.1 $357,749,322 NXG Nexgenenergycanada 10.55 46 $830,250,061 USL Unico Silver Limited 0.16 42.8 $47,848,255 VMS Venture Minerals 0.019 42.8 $43,066,914 SVM Sovereign Metals 0.7 41.4 $394,102,381 ARL Ardea Resources Ltd 0.47 40.8 $93,850,970 BMR Ballymore Resources 0.16 39.1 $28,276,894 TRM Truscott Mining Corp 0.06 37.7 $10,470,960 MEU Marmota Limited 0.045 36.7 $48,896,026 CAV Carnavale Resources 0.004 33.3 $13,694,207 MTL Mantle Minerals Ltd 0.002 33.3 $15,493,615
Top of the table
Right at the top, those who bought Rimfire Pacific Mining (ASX:RIM) on July 1, 2023 saw 460% gains for the minnow, but at 3cps, a market cap of ~$68m and 2.25 billion shares on issue, longer term holders have seen plenty of dilution.
The East Lachlan Fold Belt explorer has been rising on scandium hits at its Fifield project 70km north-west of Parkes in New South Wales. All a bit weird, but there is the chance a handy scandium resource puts Rimfire under the microscope of $170 billion market giant Rio Tinto.
A critical mineral used in lightweight, high-strength aluminium alloys in aviation, baseball bats, lacrosse sticks, bicycle frames and metal halide lamps, Rio paid $21 million for a project just 10km to the north in April last year which could eventually become the world’s largest standalone scandium mine.
A big discovery from Rimfire could present the opportunity for Rio to expand its control of the precious but lightly traded material.
Rio entered the scandium market by accident, a curio alongside its massive multi-billion buck iron ore, aluminium and copper divisions, because it generates scandium oxide as a waste stream of its titanium dioxide operations in Canada.
Rio became the first North American producer of scandium oxide at its RTIT Quebec operations in Sorel-Tracy in May 2022.
REE winners
One of those of note not on the list, is Gina Rinehart-backed Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE) with its 510Mt Rocha da Rocha REE portfolio of projects in Brazil, missing out cut-off by only listing in December. It still made a handy 93% gain.
With adjacent tenements and coming in at #14 on the FY24 winners list, Equinox Resources (ASX:EQN) saw a 71% rise in value as it proves up its own Campo Grande REE project in the region.
However the gold medal for FY24 gains goes to another ASX-listed Brazilian rare earther, Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX:VMM), which has skyrocketed 459% while proving up its colossal 201Mt at 2590ppm TREO Colossus project. Most of that gain was realised in November last year, when VMM announced major discoveries at Colossus, before a pullback this calendar year.
New mining and exploration licenses for its Cupim South and Centro Sul target areas were recently granted and results from the area to be incorporated into the next resource upgrade.
WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) was #11 on the list, with another smashing 12 months on the back of high-grades of niobium that culminated in a maiden resource of 200Mt at 1% Nb for its Luni discovery – making it the largest niobium find on the planet for the last 70 years.
In December last year, Canaccord Genuity lifted its price target on the niobium hopeful from $11.50 to $17.50.
This sent the market into a frenzy and WA1 up 25% in a day to an all-time high of $12.15 and a market cap of over $516m before Christmas. It’s kept climbing on new discoveries and now the Luni resource estimate.
That’s helped the stock price post a 235% increase across FY24.
Argonaut now hold a $25.45 price target on the stock, with analyst George Ross (early days though they are) thinking the mine could run for 17 years and generate $400m in NPAT a year. Again, early days.
The market darling has gone from strength to strength, rising 7816% in just two years from a $9m market-capped minnow to a >$1.3bn heavyweight.
It also sent a flurry of ASX juniors into the West Arunta, including Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR), which came in at #63 with a 71% stock rise during the period.
Gold gainers
With new management leading the way, the company formerly known as Gascoyne Resources – now Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) – has turned the once cursed Dalgaranga gold project in WA’s Mid-West into one of the most exciting gold plays on the ASX. It has consistently showed high-grade gold seemingly every time the team gets the drillbit out.
Since a recapitalisation in early 2023 the explorer hasn’t looked back, as the Never Never gold discovery has grown to 953,000oz at 5.74g/t with a exploration target suggesting SPR could touch 1.6-1.9Moz at the future underground mine. The nearby Peppers discovery has added to the intrigue.
Investors backed the gold hunter to a 437% gain in FY24, sitting at #4 on our winners list as it continues expanding the endowment ahead of an expected resource update. And understandably $2.2 billion capped mid-tier miner Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS), owner of the nearby Mount Magnet gold project, has taken a keen interest as well, building a stake of almost 18%.
Southern Cross Gold (ASX:SXG) recently agreed to merge with Canadian miner Mawson Gold which will see it list on the TSX as well. The move comes after months of proving up bonanza gold at its Sunday Creek project north of Melbourne which has thick, high grades of gold-antimony mineralisation.
The $500m market-capped gold digger rose 385% over the course of the last financial year on the back of well-received results.
African gold developer WIA Gold (ASX:WIA) was up 189% on enthusiasm around its Kokoseb project, with Magnetic Resources (ASX:MAU) also more than doubling after posting a 1Moz+ resource for its Lady Julie North deposit near Leonora.
Shoutouts go to Strickland Metals (ASX:STK), Turaco Gold (ASX:TCG) and Auric Mining (ASX:AWJ),who all made the top 20 with gold on their minds.
Mid-tier Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) was also an interesting inclusion on the list, the $1.25bn miner up ~69% after cancelling its hedges, returning to profitability and paying dividends for the first time since 2021, along with announcing a $2bn merger with TSX-listed Beta Hunt gold mine owner Karora Resources.
Lithium gainers
Backed by Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN), Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) is proving up the Tabba Tabba lithium project in WA’s Pilbara.
Looked over by previous companies including Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), the project is one of many former tantalum deposits being retooled for the electric vehicle age, following in the footsteps of Pilgangoora, Wodgina, Greenbushes and Bald Hill.
WC8 had a wild ride in FY24, rising from 12c per share and peaking at 92c in late November 2023 before dropping sharply – yet was still one of the best performing lithium stocks with a 162% increase in a market year explorers of the battery metal would rather forget.
Raiden Resources (ASX:RDN) saw improvement too, with exploration at its Andover North-South project – adjacent to one of the most prolific hard rock Li2O discoveries on the planet, Andover.
That was bought from Azure Minerals by Chilean lithium major SQM and Gina’s Hancock Prospecting for a cool $1.7b, with Azure a certain inclusion on our list had it not been taken over by the mining giants.
Energy winners
On its way to commercial production of natural hydrogen and up to 17.5% helium from its Ramsay project on South Australia’s York Peninsula, Gold Hydrogen (ASX:GHY) took its share price along for the ride, gaining over 417% over the last fiscal period.
Testing showed some of the highest purity levels seen globally and Stage 2 well work will inform flow rates and future well designs.Cauldron Energy (ASX:CXU)
Penny stock Condor Energy (ASX:CND) (previously Global Oil and Gas) soared in the 12 months to July after reviewing its Piedra Redonda gas field off the coast of Peru to contain a best estimate of 404 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas from the existing C-18X and C-13X appraisal wells.
There’s multiple proven plays and more than 20 prospects and leads already mapped in the prolific Talara Basin, where to the south, 1.6 billion barrels of oil have been produced to-date.
Other interesting gainers
While most of the biggest gains come at the bottom end of the market, some larger players also made the gains in FY24.
Uranium prices hit a 16-year-high in January, and while they’ve since cooled from US$107/lb to ~US$85/lb, last year’s second half rally brought joy for a number of yellowcake plays such as dual-listed NexGen Energy (ASX:NXG), Lotus Resources (ASX:LOT), Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL), and the top uranium gainer, WA uranium hopeful Cauldron Energy (ASX:CXU) (+247%).
$390m capped Tasmanian tin miner Metals X (ASX:MLX) rode the spice metal’s 2024 rise onto the list, while the manganese price bump seen when South32’s GEMCO project was wiped out by a cyclone did the same for South African producer Jupiter Mines (ASX:JMS).
Just snagging a spot in the top five was one of the most unique stocks on the list, Aspire Mining (ASX:AKM), up 400% after releasing a number of announcements boasting of the high quality of metallurgical coal at its Ovoot deposit in Mongolia.
The country is now one of China’s top suppliers of steelmaking coal imports, with its ‘fat’ coking coal expected to contain lower ash and sulphur than Chinese domestic products.
At Stockhead we tell it like is is. While Viridis Mining & Minerals, Raiden Resources, Strickland Metals, Spartan Resources, Magnetic Resources, Brazilian Rare Earths and Equinox Resources are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
The post FY24 Resources Winners: REEs, niobium and gold explorers vie for the podium appeared first on Stockhead.
