5 Best Gold Stocks on the ASX

It’s been a rough year for the gold price — after starting 2018 well above the $1,300-per-ounce mark it’s now struggling to stay above $1,200. 

Even so, some gold companies have managed to thrive. Below we’ve outlined the five ASX-listed gold stocks that have seen the biggest gains year-to-date. Data for this article was gathered on TradingView on September 7, 2018, and companies with market caps of over AU$10 million were considered.

Read on to learn more about these companies and what they’ve been up to this year. And if you want more information on top-gaining gold stocks, click for our lists of the biggest risers on the TSX and TSXV.

1. Aurelia Metals (ASX:AMI)

Current price: AU$0.62; year-to-date gain: 122.64 percent

Aurelia Metals is first on this list of top-gaining gold stocks on the ASX. It is focused partially on the Hera-Nymagee project in New South Wales, which includes the high-grade gold and base metals Hera deposit, as well as the Nymagee copper deposit. Aurelia also holds the Peak Mines complex in New South Wales, which it acquired from New Gold (TSX:NGD,NYSE:NGD) this past April.

Construction started at Hera in 2013, and commercial production began in 2015. The asset produces gold-silver dore and a lead–zinc concentrate. In its latest quarterly activities report, released in July, Aurelia said Hera produced 17,195 ounces of gold for the period, while Peak put out 37,552 ounces.

2. Beacon Minerals (ASX:BCN)

Current price: AU$0.023; year-to-date gain: 50 percent

Beacon Minerals is developing its Jaurdi gold project in Western Australia. The company released a prefeasibility study (PFS) for the property in August, and will now work toward moving into production.

“Beacon will work diligently on producing gold in the first half of 2019 from this new and exciting gold environment and and we will continue to explore the several ‘high priority’ exploration targets we have identified from previous high level exploration activities,” said Managing Director Graham McGarry.

The PFS shows that Jaurdi will be capable of processing an estimated 2.5 million tonnes at 1.9 g/t gold over a five-year mine life, delivering a total of 126,000 ounces of recovered gold.

3. Bligh Resources (ASX:BGH)

Current price: AU$0.039; year-to-date gain: 39.29 percent

Bligh Resources owns the Western Australia-based Bundarra gold project, which it says is in the advanced stages of exploration. It covers five mining leases, six prospecting licenses and two miscellaneous licenses for groundwater exploration for a total area of 60.5 square kilometers.

In its most recent quarterly activities report, Bligh reported a mineral resource increase for Bundarra, noting that the project now holds 580,000 contained gold ounces. The overall mineral resource grade increased to 2.2 g/t gold. The company said at the time that five deposits at the property “have potential for Mineral Resource upgrades with further drilling.”

An August update from the company indicates that a step-out drill program is underway at the Wonder North deposit. It will test extensions to high-grade gold mineralization intersected previously.

4. Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST)

Current price: AU$8.11; year-to-date gain: 34.1 percent 

Northern Star Resources bills itself as a global-scale Australian gold producer. It acquired the Paulsens mine in 2010, and since then has gone from producing 100,000 ounces of gold a year from one mine to producing 525,000 to 575,000 ounces of gold from three concentrated centers.

Its assets are currently located in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, although the company is in the process of acquiring the Pogo gold mine in Alaska from Sumitomo Metal Mining (TSE:5713) and Sumitomo (TSE:8053) in a AU$347-million transaction.

Northern Star’s June quarterly activities report shows that it achieved record gold production of 183,949 ounces during the period, with gold sales coming in at 182,856 ounces, another record.

5. Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR)

Current price: AU$0.026; year-to-date gain: 33.33 percent

Exploration company Lodestar Minerals holds a position of 1,200 square kilometers in the Capricorn Orogen, which it says is an underexplored mineralized province in Western Australia. According to the company, the Capricorn Orogen is prospective for orogenic gold deposits, volcanic-hosted massive sulfide and sediment-hosted copper deposits.

Lodestar has three main projects: Ned’s Creek, Camel Hills and Imbin; it also recently earned an 80-percent interest in Vango Mining’s (ASX:VAN) Yowereena gold project, which is adjacent to Ned’s Creek. In August, the company began a large-scale drill program at Ned’s Creek, with diamond drilling underway at Contessa and Gidgee Flat gold discoveries.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.