5 Best-performing ASX Gold Stocks (Updated October 3, 2024)

Year-to-date gain: 428.57 percent
Market cap: AU$122.45 million
Share price: AU$0.37

Larvotto Resources is a gold exploration and development company working to advance its flagship Hillgrove gold-antimony project in New South Wales, which it acquired in late 2023.

Hillgrove is currently in the pre-development stage, and Larvotto released the pre-feasibility study for the project on August 5. In the release, the company reported total resources of gold at 1.04 million ounces of gold from 7.26 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 4.4 grams per tonne (g/t). In addition to gold, the company also reports 93,000 tonnes of antimony on site with an average grade of 1.3 percent.

The study also included a maiden ore reserve estimate, with 3.15 million tonnes of ore grading 3.2 g/t gold and 1.2 percent antimony for 320,000 ounces and 39,000 tonnes of contained metal respectively.

The company indicated a post-tax net present value of AU$157 million and an internal rate of return of 50 percent with a payback period of 2 years, contingent on prices of US$2,000 per ounce of gold and US$15,000 per tonne of antimony.

Shares in Larvotto saw significant gains following news in August that China had decided to ban antimony exports. China is the world’s largest exporter of antimony, which is used in the production of solar panels, military applications and electronics. The mineral is commonly found within gold-bearing quartz veins.

On August 21, the company reported that it had received the final drilling permits for the second drill program at Hillgrove and would commence 5,250 metres of drilling on August 26.

Shares in Larvotto reached a year-to-date high of AU$0.445 on September 12.

Year-to-date gain: 262.73 percent
Market cap: AU$641.22 million
Share price: AU$2.92

Catalyst Metals is a gold development and production company focused on its Plutonic mine in Western Australia and Henty mine in Tasmania.

The company acquired Plutonic as part of a takeover of Vango Mining in 2023. On March 28, the company announced it had repaid the first tranche of an AU$12.1 million convertible note that it inherited as part of the purchase.

Since the takeover, Catalyst has been working to increase production at the mine, and the company announced in its March quarterly report that performance had improved. Production for the quarter reached 21,252 ounces of gold, a slight increase over the previous quarter despite equipment breakdowns.

In the company’s fiscal year-end update released on July 10, the company said it continued to make improvements at Plutonic, with annual production at the mine reaching 85,000 ounces under its ownership versus only 60,000 ounces in the previous year, which was prior to its acquisition.

As for its Henty mine, Catalyst said Henty achieved record quarterly production of 6,926 ounces in its fiscal Q4 and produced 24,982 ounces during the year. According to the company, the mine is on its way to annual production of 30,000 ounces.

On August 29, Catalyst released in-depth year-end results. During the period, the company said it achieved its first profit, with a net profit after tax and impairments of AU$23.56 million versus a loss of AU$15.63 million in the previous year.

Catalyst released updated ore reserves and guidance on September 11, sharing that its ore reserves had grown by 105 percent over the past year to 1 million ounces and that in the next three years it planned to increase its annual production from 100,000 ounces to 200,000 ounces.

Shares in Catalyst reached a year-to-date high of AU$2.92 on October 2.

Year-to-date gain: 260.29 percent
Market cap: AU$65.43 million
Share price: AU$0.25

Australian Gold and Copper is an exploration company that has spent 2024 focused on advancing the Achilles gold-silver discovery at its South Cobar project in New South Wales, Australia.

The company has made several advancements at the project through its exploration programs this year, including the identification of new targets at Achilles, as reported on April 23.

A subsequent announcement on May 15 caused shares to soar when the company reported follow-up drill results from Achilles with a highlighted assay of 2.2 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 43 metres, including 16.9 g/t gold over 5 metres.

On August 5, Australian Gold and Copper reported that its recently commenced geophysical survey, which was designed to test for targets at Achilles, revealed the potential for a second zone west of Achilles that will be the target for future drilling programs.

The company also provided an update on RC drilling, including that assays for the first five holes showed gold, silver and base mineralization extending to the north, south and at depth. It said it would be commencing diamond core drilling in mid-August to help identify higher-grade zones at the project.

Shares of the firm reached a year-to-date high of AU$0.56 on May 22 alongside a rally in the gold price.

Year-to-date gain: 209.52 percent
Market cap: AU$156.23 million
Share price: AU$0.13

WIA Gold is an exploration company focused on developing projects in Africa. The company's primary goal is to advance the Kokoseb deposit at its Damaran gold project.

Kokoseb is located on WIA's Okombahe exploration licence, which consists of 12 tenements across a 2,700 square kilometre area within the Damaran Belt in Northwest Namibia. WIA Gold holds an 80 percent stake in the exploration licence, with the remaining 20 percent being held by Namibian state-owned mining company Epangelo.

On April 16, the company released an updated resource estimate for Kokoseb, reporting 2.12 million ounces of gold from 66 million tonnes at 1 g/t gold with a cut off of 0.5 g/t gold.

The company reported drill results from the project on August 20 that identified high-grade mineralization below the current resource as well as new mineralization in the Eastern zone. WIA reported a highlighted intercept from the new area grading 4.95 g/t gold over 4 metres.

WIA Gold also owns the early stage Bouafle project, which is located in Côte d'Ivoire and has been granted two exploration permits, with a third under application. On May 27, WIA reported that it had commenced reverse-circulation drilling at the site with the intention to test 10 previously identified trends.

In an update on September 2, the company reported results from the first phase of reconnaissance drilling at Bouafle. Highlighted assays from the 5,682 metre drill campaign included 4.54 g/t over 10 metres and 87.43 g/t over 4 metres. The company plans to follow it with a second phase of 2,000 metres in October.

Shares in WIA Gold reached a year-to-date high of AU$0.16 on September 19 alongside a surging gold price.

Year-to-date gain: 158.33 percent
Market cap: AU$1.15 billion
Share price: AU$0.62

Ora Banda Mining is a gold producer operating out of the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. Its flagship Davyhurst asset is composed of 92 tenements covering approximately 1,200 square kilometres with multiple significant zones.

As of June 30, 2024, Davyhurst hosted total mineral resources of 1.95 million ounces of contained gold, from 23.3 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 2.6 g/t gold. The site hosts pre-existing infrastructure, including a 1.2 million tonne per annum processing facility.

Ora Banda completed gold mining operations at its Missouri and Sand King open pit mines in January and April 2024, respectively. The company's Riverina underground gold mine entered commercial production in August, and it is now developing the Sand King underground mine.

In Ora Banda’s annual report released on September 26, the company said its fiscal year 2024 has been a significant one as it ramped up production at the Riverina underground mine and delivered record gold production at Davyhurst of 69,900 ounces of gold, a 46 percent increase over the prior year.

The Missouri and Sand King open pits contributed a combined 56,574 ounces during the period before they ceased operations.

Looking forward, the company has set increasing guidance figures over the next two years, expecting production in the 100,000 to 110,000 ounce range in its fiscal year 2025 and in the 140,000 to 160,000 ounce range in fiscal 2026. The bulk of the increase over the two years is attributed to new production from the planned Sand King underground mine once it comes online in fiscal 2025.

Shares in Ora Banda reached a year-to-date high of AU$0.69 on September 25.