Top 5 ASX Gold Stocks (Updated July 2023)

1. Wildcat Resources

Year-to-date gain: 462.5 percent; market cap: AU$89.85 million; current share price: AU$0.135

Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) is an explorer with an eye on Australia’s top mining provinces. The company has three main projects: the Mount Adrah gold project in New South Wales, along with the Bolt Cutter gold-lithium and Tabba Tabba lithium-tantalum projects, both of which are in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

Wildcat finished a drilling program at Mount Adrah in April, which it said encompassed 16 holes over two phases. The company also completed a 30 square kilometre drone aeromagnetic survey at the project. In mid-June, Wildcat reported its progress from this work, with assay results confirming a large gold system with significant gold mineralisation.

Wildcat's share price has also benefitted from its acquisition of the aforementioned Tabba Tabba project; the company recently commenced field work at the site.

2. Besra Gold

Year-to-date gain: 391.23 percent; market cap: AU$111.92 million; current share price: AU$0.28

Besra Gold (ASX:BEZ) is exploring and developing its flagship Bau gold project in East Malaysia. Its landholdings encompass nearly all of the Bau goldfield, which has a gold-mining history that dates back to the 1800s.

Besra is currently working on two deposits within Bau: Bekajang and Jugan. In March, the company published drill results from a 2022 program at Bekajang, saying that they confirm "consistent, extensive gold mineralisation." Besra will be following these results up with further drilling this year.

With regards to Jugan, the company is planning to construct a pilot plant processing facility and mine pit at the site, and recently received approval for an environmental impact assessment. Besra plans to fund this through a US$300 million gold purchase agreement signed in May with shareholder Quantum Metal Recovery; it will be paid over 30 months.

3. Resolute Mining

Year-to-date gain: 116 percent; market cap: AU$936.74 million; current share price: AU$0.425

Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) is a gold mining, development and exploration company focused on mining projects in Africa. Over the years, Resolute Mining has operated over 10 gold mines and has produced more than 9 million ounces of gold.

Presently, the company fully owns and runs two gold operations: Syama and Mako. The Syama operation is made up of the Syama underground mine, the Tabakoroni open-pit operation, several satellite open pits and an oxide processing plant. The Mako mine in Senegal was acquired in 2019 and is an open-pit mine with a carbon-in-leach processing plant. The company also runs exploration and drilling programs in Guinea, Mali and Senegal.

In its latest annual report, Resolute Mining reported yearly gold production of 353,069 ounces, with 357,447 ounces sold at an average price of US$1,819 per ounce. More recently, the company entered into a joint venture agreement with Marvel Gold (ASX:MVL) that will allow Marvel to earn a 51 percent interest in the Kolondieba gold project in Mali.

4. Gascoyne Resources

Year-to-date gain: 115 percent; market cap: AU$171.01 million; current share price: AU$0.22

Western Australia-focused gold exploration and development company Gascoyne Resources' (ASX:GCY) main focus is bringing its wholly owned Dalgaranga gold project back into production. The asset produced over 70,000 ounces of gold in the company's 2022 fiscal year before being placed on care and maintenance in November 2022.

Last year, Gascoyne published drill results confirming a new discovery at Dalgaranga. It is called the Never Never deposit, and since then the company has released further drill results from the area, highlighting a number of high-grade intercepts. The results will be incorporated into a mineral resource estimate upgrade for Dalgaranga that is expected out at the end of July.

5. Emerald Resources

Year-to-date gain: 92.41 percent; market cap: AU$1.36 billion; current share price: AU$2.30

Emerald Resources (ASX:EMR) is a gold miner and explorer with projects in Cambodia. Its main asset is the Okvau gold mine, which has produced over 7,000 kilograms of gold doré since commercial production began in September 2021. The company also has a 60 percent interest in Bullseye Mining, an unlisted Australian public company with three gold projects in Western Australia.

In July, Emerald Resources made a few important announcements. First, it released an update on exploration programs at its Memot gold project and Okvau gold mine, as well as its Bullseye Mining projects. According to the update, the company is currently working on reserve expansion at Okvau, and it expects to release a maiden resource for the Memot project this year.

Soon after, Emerald published Okvau's gold production figures for the 2023 fiscal year, showing it achieved its full-year guidance with output of 108,866 ounces of gold.