Top 5 ASX Gold Stocks (Updated January 2024)

Year-to-date gain: 185.71 percent; market cap: AU$204.05 million; current share price: AU$0.12

Strickland Metals is an exploration company with a portfolio of metals projects in Western Australia. Its primary focus is its Yandal East project, which hosts the Horse Well target. The company also owns the Bryah Basin gold-copper project in the Gascoyne region and the Iroquois zinc-lead-silver project in the Earaheedy Basin. Strickland sold its Millrose gold deposit to Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST,OTC Pink:NESRF) on July 25 for AU$61 million.

Shares of Strickland have soared since the September 19 release of partial results from a 40,000 metre drill program that began in August, along with the announcement of a previously unidentified gold trend at Horse Well. Dubbed the Marwari trend, it includes a high-grade interval of 5.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 31 metres.

More results from the program were released on September 27, at which time the company reported that Marwari extended at least 500 metres to the south of the initial discovery. Strickland also reported results from the Palomino prospect, with drilling revealing an interval of 39 meters grading 6.1 g/t gold, including 7 metres at 22 g/t gold. Furthermore, the company reported that a reinterpretation of datasets at Horse Well indicated the likely presence of an approximately 3 kilometre strike extension to the northwest that has not been drilled.

In an October 19 update on Marwari, Strickland reported that it had employed magnetic inversion modelling to help better define the deposit. The testing extended the strike length to 700 metres and outlined a substantial new target beneath the current drilling. The company's share price spiked after the November 3 news that it had completed the initial diamond drill hole at Marwari and extended its planned depth by 111 metres to a total depth of 291 metres.

On December 18, Strickland released results from three diamond and four reverse-circulation drill holes completed as part of its initial 19 hole program at Marwari. CEO Andrew Bray noted that among the samples was a “spectacular intersection” of 7.4 g/t gold over 19 metres, including 28 g/t gold over 5 metres. The company also reported that although the three diamond drill holes were drilled too far east of the target, they still repeatedly encountered large zones of intense alteration typically seen at the outer edge of large gold systems. Drilling plans were adjusted, and the results returned in 2024 will help Strickland refine its mineralisation model from the site.

Year-to-date gain: 178.73 percent; market cap: AU$472.26 million; current share price: AU$0.49

Spartan Resources is a gold exploration and development company whose core assets are located in Western Australia. Its flagship operation, the Dalgaranga gold project, produced 71,153 ounces of the metal in 2022 before being placed on care and maintenance as low grades reduced the mine’s viability. The company believes its discovery of the Never Never deposit will allow it to shift its focus at the site by providing higher-grade feed.

Company shares began to rise in May following the news that assay results from Never Never had revealed significant mineralisation from 110 metres below the core resource body. Exploration at the site indicated high-grade gold from near the surface to a depth of 500 metres, with one intercept hitting 35.47 g/t gold over 9.44 metres.

The high-grade assay results at Never Never were reinforced in June as continued drilling allowed Spartan to further define the depth of the resource and expand the envelope an additional 80 metres to the south.

On September 12, Spartan began a new 25,000 metre drill campaign at Dalgaranga. The plan was to cover a wide range of targets, including drilling to further extend the resource envelope for Never Never and exploring near-mine targets; the company said it would also drill the Arc prospect to the north and two new prospects to the south — called Four Pillars and West Wind, Spartan has said these new prospects are “Never Never look-alikes.”

The company released follow-up news on October 17, providing initial results from the drill program; they feature more high-grade assays from Never Never, along with samples from Arc, including a section of 8.33 g/t gold over 4 metres. Spartan also said it was targeting a new deposit located 1.6 kilometres north of Never Never, which it has named Patient Wolf; drilling at the site has revealed a highlight interval grading 19.84 g/t gold over 10 metres.

Strong assays from Never Never continued to be delivered through to the end of 2023, with the company announcing on November 14 that it had encountered a highlight intercept of 12.1 g/t gold over 11.1 metres, including 1,093 g/t gold over 0.28 metres. This was followed with further assays on December 12, including 4.14 g/t gold over 20.9 metres with an interval of 20.2 g/t gold over 2.38 metres. Spartan also provided an update on Four Pillars and West Wind, saying the targets are just starting to reveal their true identity and could add significant quantities to future mine plans.

Drilling at Never Never allowed Spartan to revise its mineral resource estimate for the site, and on December 14, it reported that the deposit now holds 5.16 million tonnes at 5.74 g/t gold for 952,900 ounces; meanwhile, the Gilbey’s complex at Dalgangara holds 15.99 million tonnes at 1.45 g/t gold for 739,800 ounces.

Year-to-date gain: 166.67 percent; market cap: AU$418.16 million; current share price: AU$0.24

Ora Banda Mining is a mid-tier gold producer operating out of the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. In 2023, much of its activity was focused on three assets: its Riverina-Mulline project, which it is targeting for production in 2025; its flagship Davyhurst project, located 44 kilometres south of Riverina, which includes the Golden Eagle underground mine, the Waihi open-pit mine and a 1.2 million tonne per year processing facility; and its Siberia project, located 37 kilometres southeast of Davyhurst, which includes the Missouri open-pit mine and the Sand King deposit.

The company's share price saw gains in the early part of the year following the February 10 release of Phase 1 drill results from Riverina, including a highlighted intersect of up to 74 g/t gold over 0.3 metres from the Murchison lode. These results were followed on February 16, when the company doubled the underground mineral resource estimate for Riverina to 303,000 ounces at 4.1 g/t gold, and released a maiden underground ore reserve for the asset.

As for Davyhurst, on April 26, Ora Banda announced it had made a lithium discovery at the property, reporting intersects of 1.28 percent lithium oxide over 11 metres. The following day, the company said in its quarterly activities report that in January and February it deployed 50 percent of its open-pit mining resources to Riverina to establish an underground portal and allow early access, which meant lower mining and ore output from Missouri during that time. Ora Banda’s share price remained rangebound between AU$0.12 and AU$0.17 in the second quarter of the year.

Despite strong quarterly results on July 25, Ora Banda declined through July to September before getting support on September 19, when it completed the sale of its Lady Ida asset. Ora Banda saw the biggest gains of the year through the last quarter of 2023, starting with the release of an updated mineral resource estimate for Davyhurst on October 26, showing 1.8 million ounces at 2.7 g/t gold. Its share price continued climbing when the company reported on October 30 that, with respect to its prior lithium discovery, it had signed a AU$26 million joint venture with Brenahan Exploration — a wholly owned company within Wesfarmers' (ASX:WES,OTC Pink:WFAFF) chemicals, energy and fertilisers division.

Ora Banda Managing Director Luke Creagh stated, “Although we have had encouraging early stage lithium results, Ora Banda is a gold focused company and given the underexplored nature and size of this belt, we expect it would take many years to do it justice for other minerals.” Not long after, on November 2, exploration at Ora Banda’s Sand King deposit provided strong assay results at greater depths than were tested by historical drilling, including a highlight intercept of 19.8 g/t gold over 8 metres. The company noted that this opens the deposit's potential to become an additional underground mine, and commenced diamond drilling at the site later that month.

The final news from its 2023 operations came on November 28, when Ora Banda announced key company milestones. It said that the first ore from Riverina's underground main lode was developed four weeks ahead of schedule, and the first stoping was expected in 2024's March quarter, with steady production of 80,000 ounces per year to start in 2025.

Year-to-date gain: 161.21 percent; market cap: AU$1.87 billion; current share price: AU$3.03

Emerald Resources is a mid-tier gold exploration and development company. Its core asset, the Okvau gold mine in Cambodia, hosts total measured, indicated and inferred resources of 990,000 ounces. The company currently has a 76.5 percent stake in Bullseye Mining and has extended the date for a complete takeover to December 29. Its stake in Bullseye Mining gives it access to an additional three mining projects in Western Australia.

Shares of Emerald have trended upward long term, gaining 922 percent in the past five years. In 2023, the company enjoyed strong gains starting in January, when it announced record quarterly gold production of 29,640 ounces from Okvau.

A higher gold price and improved output helped Emerald continue to perform. The company’s half-year report, released on March 16, shows that production at Okvau reached 52,857 ounces of gold during the period, with Emerald generating after-tax profit of AU$24.8 million; the report for its full fiscal year ended on June 30 shows that the asset produced 108,866 ounces, while the company saw record after-tax profit of AU$66.2 million.

In addition to strong business reporting, Emerald’s share price has been supported by positive exploration news. Drilling at Okvau has focused on extending the main resource, with the company's latest program including seven drill holes across 2,764 metres. According to an update on October 30, two holes revealed new high-grade gold structures outside the current underground deposit, with one containing a highlight of 28.01 g/t gold over 2 metres.

In the same announcement, Emerald detailed recent news from exploration at its other projects. The company shared high-grade drill results from its Memot gold project, located 97 kilometres north of Okvau, pointing to results of up to 1 metre grading 67.4 g/t gold within 5 metres grading 15.36 g/t gold. Drilling at the site began in January 2022, and the company has been working toward defining a maiden resource for the project. Emerald also provided highlights from the Bullseye-owned North Laverton gold project in Western Australia, including high-grade intervals such as 3.68 g/t gld over 20 metres. Emerald said current and past results will be integrated into a prospectus for the project to be released in early 2024.

Emerald released its maiden resource estimate for Memot on December 21. It includes an inferred resource estimate of 8 million tonnes at 1.84 g/t gold for 470,000 ounces of gold. The company also said it will be ramping up the second stage of its exploration efforts with a 50,000 metre drill program commencing in early 2024.

In the company’s most recent production report, released on January 8, it said it produced 29,184 ounces of gold at Okvau for the December 2023 quarter, putting it at the upper end of guidance. Emerald also said it had sold 30,447 ounces of gold and increased its cash and bullion holdings to AU$137.8 million.

Year-to-date gain: 159.62 percent; market cap: AU$58.53 million; current share price: AU$0.14

Besra Gold is an early stage gold-mining company focused on the development of the Bau Goldfield in Sarawak, East Malaysia. The project consists of 36 prospects covering 120 square kilometres, and hosts multiple deposits boasting historic production that dates back to the 1800s. In a December 2013 feasibility study, Besra reported resources exceeding 3 million ounces of gold with the potential for a further 4.9 million to 9.3 million ounces of gold.

After trading around AU$0.04 to AU$0.05 for much of Q1, Besra’s share price saw significant gains when the company secured up to US$300 million in funding on March 21. The funding package is made up of a gold pre-purchase and offtake non-binding drawdown term sheet with Quantum Metal Recovery, one Malaysia's largest gold distributors. Besra said it will use the funds to commence commercial-scale production at Bau within a period of 12 to 18 months.

Besra shares jumped from AU$0.22 to a yearly high of AU$0.455 when its deal with Quantum became a binding gold purchase agreement on May 9. The facility financing deal will be paid out over 30 months against future gold production. The release also notes that with the project moving into the development stage, Besra CEO Dr. Ray Shaw would move into the role of chief operating officer to focus on in-country development and exploration activities.

Quantum’s initial deposit of US$5 million was paid to Besra on July 26. Besra confirmed on September 20 that conditions for the facility funding had been satisfied and that Quantum would deposit US$10 million monthly beginning in October.

In its final 2023 update, Besra announced on December 22 that it had produced its first gold concentrate from the Bau Goldfield’s Jugan project site, which was required by December 31 per the agreement with Quantum. The gold was processed at a third-party facility that could mirror the planned Jugan pilot plant.