Top Australian Mining Stocks This Week: Apollo Minerals Triples on Tungsten Exploration Permit Decision

Market and commodities price round-up

The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) ended the shortened trading week largely flat, opening at 8,921.90 on Tuesday (January 27) and closing at 8,927.5 on Thursday (January 29).

The gold price continued to shine this week, reaching new all-time high prices. In US dollars, gold showed a large 11.48 percent increase from US$4,983.29 on Monday to US$5,555.56 by Thursday's close of Australian markets. In Australian dollars, the gold increased 8.4 percent, moving from AU$7,225.94 to AU$7,832.63.

Silver also set new all-time highs, and its gains were even larger than gold's. The silver price jumped 14.58 percent in US dollars from US$103.15 on Monday to US$118.19 on Thursday. In Australian dollars, silver climbed 11.41 percent, rising from AU$149.58 to AU$166.64.

While both countries saw huge gains in gold and silver prices, US gains were magnified by a falling US dollar during the week.

Top ASX mining stocks this week

How did ASX mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s best-performing Australian mining stocks below as the Investing News Network breaks down their operations and why these companies are up this week.

Stocks data for this article was retrieved at 4:10 p.m. ADST on Thursday using TradingView's stock screener and reflects price movements between Monday and Thursday. Only companies trading on the ASX with market capitalisations greater than AU$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. Apollo Minerals (ASX:AON)

Weekly gain: 200 percent
Market cap: AU$27.85 million
Share price: AU$0.030

Apollo Minerals is a gold, copper and tungsten explorer with projects in Africa and Europe.

Its three core projects are the Salanie gold and Kroussou zinc-lead projects in Gabon, and the Belgrade copper project in Serbia, all of which are currently undergoing exploration activities.

This week, the company had investors and the market in anticipation, resuming trading Tuesday (January 27) after a pause starting January 23, then announcing yet another trading halt on Wednesday (January 28).

On Tuesday, Apollo revealed that its Couflens exploration permit in Southern France has been reinstated for a five-year term.

Couflens is a tungsten gold project that hosts the historic Salau mine, which has a production record of approximately 930,000 tonnes at 1.5 percent tungsten oxide (WO3) for around 13,950 tonnes of WO3 in concentrate. It operated between 1971 and 1986.

The permit was previously annulled in 2019 on procedural and financial grounds, a decision that has been legally contested at multiple levels of court. Most recently, the French State appealed to the country’s highest court, the Conseil d'Etat, which decided the original permit was valid and reinstated the exploration licence to Apollo’s subsidiary.

“We look forward to unlocking the incredible exploration potential of both the high-grade Salau tungsten mine and the wider regional gold and tungsten opportunities,” Managing Director Neil Inwood said. “The Couflens Project once again has the potential to become a major strategic supplier of tungsten, one of Europe’s most critical metals, to French and European industries.”

The company noted that it is seeking compensation for the original ruling, and that a third-party mining company has lodged an appeal of the reinstatement.

Apollo said in its Wednesday trading halt request that it intends to resume trading on Friday (January 30), or when its announcement, which it says regards a proposed capital raising, is released to the market.

Shares of the company closed at AU$0.030 on Tuesday, its sole trading day of the week.

2. VBX (ASX:VBX)

Weekly gain: 42.86 percent
Market cap: AU$52.36 million
Share price: AU$0.800

Headquartered in Western Australia, VBX is working on becoming a producer of high-quality, low-silica Australian bauxite.

The company’s portfolio is formed by two major projects: the Wuudagu operation in Western Australia and the Takapinga project in the Northern Territory.

Based on the project’s pre-feasibility study, production at Wuudagu is anticipated to average a 6 million tonne per year mining rate over an initial 10 year mine life. With a mass recovery of 59.5 percent, it would produce 3.6 million tonnes of bauxite per year grading 45.4 percent alumina and 3.6 percent silica.

Takapinga remains a promising exploration opportunity, measuring approximately 314 square kilometres of lateritic bauxite target areas, about nine times larger than at Wuudagu.

Recently, the company completed metallurgical testwork as part of its definitive feasibility study for Wuudagu. On Tuesday, it reported improved beneficiation results, including significant increases to product mass recovery. The company added that further scrubbing, screening and filtration test work programs at Wuudagu are in progress.

Material improvements to the DFS scope were later reported on Thursday, highlighting that the study will incorporate an increased mining rate of between 8 million and 9 million tonnes per year compared to the PFS’s 6 million tonnes per year. This is based on the beneficiation results and increases to the mineral resource estimate.

The company is aiming to complete the DFS by the end of H1.

“To allow us to progress the changes in the DFS scope immediately and to provide additional working capital while the DFS is completed, I am pleased to provide $2 million in funding on favourable terms to the company,” VBX Founder and Managing Director Ryan de Franck said, adding that the company is seeing strong interest from groups who want to buy or market Wuudagu bauxite and are willing to provide funding solutions to secure these rights.

After ending the prior trading week at AU$0.580, shares of VBX climbed to a Tuesday close of AU$0.625 and a Thursday peak of AU$0.850 during trading this week.

3. Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN)

Weekly gain: 41.38 percent
Market cap: AU$74.75 million
Share price: AU$0.041

Queensland-based Sunshine Metals is focused on the discovery and development of gold and silver in North Queensland.

The company is advancing to production at its flagship asset, the Ravenswood consolidated project, in 2026.

It is currently finishing a mining study for the project’s Liontown area, which hosts shallow precious metals. A resource of 108,000 ounces gold at 4.37 g/t gold and 803,000 ounces silver at 31.6 g/t silver is being considered under the initial mining study, which is on track for delivery in February.

On Wednesday, the company reported high-grade results from its 121 hole grade control drilling program at Liontown. One highlighted interval was 30 metres grading 6.68 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 396 g/t silver from a depth of 17 metres, including 3 metres grading 52.12 g/t gold and 2,932 g/t silver.

“You do not see results like this every day and our grade control drilling is often outperforming the underlying resource model in terms of thickness and grade,” Managing Director Damien Keys said. Over the coming weeks, he said, the company plans to release an initial mining study and further drill results.

This week, Sunshine Metals also shared its quarterly and cash flow reports, both published on Tuesday.

Shares of the company rose from a close of AU$0.029 last week to a AU$0.042 peak during trading on Thursday.

4. Tungsten Mining (ASX:TGN)

Weekly gain: 37.78 percent
Market cap: AU$329.63 million
Share price: AU$0.310

West Perth-based Tungsten Mining is focused on developing tungsten assets in Australia.

Its flagship project is the Mount Mulgine project in Western Australia, and it also has the Watershed project in Queensland and Hatches Creek project in the Northern Territory.

Tungsten Mining is currently advancing development of Mount Mulgine.

A trading halt was requested by the company on January 23, pending the release of an announcement.

The announcement was made on Tuesday, revealing it secured an AU$53 million placement for the advancement of the company’s Australian tungsten assets.

“Proceeds will be applied primarily to Mt Mulgine Project study activities, (and) exploration at the Mt Mulgine project,” Tungsten Mining wrote, with the goal of increasing the project’s “already globally significant” resource.

Further study activities will also be funded to fasttrack the works-approved Watershed project.

“The strong support for this capital raising is a clear endorsement of Tungsten Mining’s strategy, the quality of our tungsten project portfolio, and the growing importance of tungsten and associated critical minerals in global supply chains,”Chairman Gary Lyons shared.

“With a significantly strengthened balance sheet, the company is now positioned to move forward as we progress our critical mineral projects toward key milestones.”

Shares of Tungsten Mining spiked on Tuesday, going from a AU$0.225 close last week to an AU$0.310 high during trading that day.

5. Tyranna Resources (ASX:TYX)

Weekly gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: AU$15.15 million
Share price: AU$0.004

Tyranna Resources is a Perth-based company focused on lithium and gold exploration in Angola.

It holds a 72 percent interest in the Namibe lithium-cesium project through its 80 percent acquisition of Angolan Minerals in 2022.

The company’s latest update is a quarterly activities report published on January 21. The update highlighted its 75 percent acquisition of the Chinguar gold project in Angola’s Huambo Province last October.

Results of the orientation stream sediment sampling program at Chinguar are due in the first quarter of 2026. Additionally, it plans to target mixed spodumene-pollucite mineralisation at the Namibe project’s Muvero prospect in the future.

“At the end of the December quarter the Company has cash reserves of $1.73 million and no debt,” Tyranna wrote in the activity report.

Shares of the company peaked at AU$0.0045 Tuesday.