Top 5 Australian Mining Stocks This Week: Black Dragon Gold Climbs on Salave Update

Market and commodity price round-up

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended the week flat, opening at 8,667.00 on Monday (July 28) and closing at 8,666.70 on Friday (August 1).

As for precious metals, gold pulled back mid-week in US dollars but spiked to close the week, ultimately increasing 0.77 percent from US$3,337.33 on July 28 to US$3,362.94 by the close of precious metals trading on August 2. On the other hand, gold rose significantly in Australian dollars, up 2.2 percent from AU$5,083.06 to AU$5,194.69 over the same period.

Silver took a sharp hit in US dollars, starting the week at US$38.17 and closing at US$37.01, a 5.66 percent decrease. In Australian dollars, the metal dipped a smaller 1.69 percent, from AU$58.14 to AU$57.16.

Top ASX mining stocks this week

How did ASX mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Australian mining stocks below as we break down their operations and why these mining stocks are up this week.

Stock data for this article was retrieved at 4 p.m. AEST on July 31 using TradingView's stock screener and reflects price movements between July 28 and July 31. Only companies trading on the ASX with market capitalizations 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. Black Dragon Gold (ASX:BDG)

Weekly gain: 100 percent
Market cap: AU$10.49 million
Share price: AU$0.086

Black Dragon Gold is a junior gold exploration and development company with headquarters in West Perth, Australia. It holds a 100 percent interest in its flagship Salave gold project in Asturias, Northern Spain.

Salave is currently at the permitting and development stage and is regarded as one of the largest undeveloped gold assets in Europe. Its mineral resource estimate included in a February 2025 technical report shows 1.6 million tonnes at 3.82 grams per tonne (g/t) gold in the measured category, 11.3 million tonnes at 2.9 g/t in indicated and 4.1 million tonnes at 2.34 g/t gold in inferred.

According to the company’s March quarterly update, it has extended its Salave Investigation Permit to February 2028 and is permitted for an 18 hole infill drill program to advance resource definition and feasibility studies.

On Tuesday (July 29), the company provided an update on its application for strategic project designation for Salave, a request it submitted in December 2024 under the government’s new PIER process. The project’s application will now be available for public consultation for 20 working days, starting July 28 and ending on August 25.

“I am delighted that due process has been followed and note that the announcement of this period of public consultation is a step forward after many months of effective cooperation,” Black Dragon Executive Chairman Dominic Roberts commented.

“(We are) ready to address any comments, whether positive or negative … and we look forward to continuing to work with both the Provincial Government and the Municipal Council to ensure that the development of Salave is delivered in a manner consistent with the well-articulated expectations of the local community.”

Shares of Black Dragon rose to AU$0.08 a few hours after the announcement and continued climbing through the week.

2. Noble Helium (ASX:NHE)

Weekly gain: 42.86 percent
Market cap: AU$25.18 million
Share price: AU$0.05

Junior explorer Noble Helium is focused on discovering and appraising helium resources across Tanzania, Australia. The company’s most advanced asset is the North Rukwa project in the western Rukwa Basin, at which it finalised its first-phase drill site selection in January of this year.

On Monday, Noble Helium revealed its upgraded prospective helium resource at North Rukwa, showing 7.7 percent and 28.5 percent increases for its low billion cubic feet (BCF) estimate and mean billion cubic feet estimate, respectively. The project’s low billion cubic feet estimate increased from 19.6 BCF to 21.1 BCF, while the mean billion cubic feet estimate jumped from 175.5 BCF to 225.5 BCF.

“Crucially, this resource update has coincided with the Company’s completely revised helium charge model, which confirms the likely presence of one or more gas-forming mechanisms for each of the re-assessed leads,” the company noted.

Besides North Rukwa, Noble Helium also holds exploration permits across the North Nyasa, Eyasi and Manyara basins in Tanzania, projects that are under early-stage exploration.

Shares of Noble Helium peaked at AU$0.05 on Thursday this week, a leap from its AU$0.035 close last Friday.

3. Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC)

Weekly gain: 35 percent
Market cap: AU$20.08 million
Share price: AU$0.027

Perpetual Resources is an Australian exploration and development company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. The company has a large portfolio of projects in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Currently, its primary focuses are its Igrejinha lithium project, Raptor rare earth project and Itinga lithium-tin project.

The company announced on July 24 it completed maiden drilling at Igrejinha, comprising 11 drillholes at Target 1 and six at a recently identified anomaly.

On Thursday, the company said that plans for the next phase of drilling at its Raptor rare earth project, also located in Minas Gerais, are nearing completion. The upcoming drilling will cover all three prospects: Portão Verde, Pina Colada and Pinheirinho, and is aimed at supporting a maiden JORC resource estimate. The company is targeting deeper mineralisation at up to 30 to 40 meters compared to previous auger drilling.

After climbing through much of July, shares of Perpetual reached a one year high on Thursday, peaking at AU$0.027 compared to its AU$0.008 and AU$0.023 range over the past 12 months.

4. Highfield Resources (ASX:HFR)

Weekly gain: 34.48 percent
Market cap: AU$82.96 million
Share price: AU$0.195

Highfield Resources is a potash developer with headquarters in Pamplona, Spain, and a registered office in South Australia.

Its flagship asset is the Muga potash project in Spain’s Ebro Basin, spanning 46 square kilometres in the provinces of Navarra and Aragón in Northern Spain.

The project has governmental support, with Navarra President Maria Chivite highlighting Muga's importance as the largest mining project in Spain in a January 31 release.

The company is advancing through pre-construction after securing all key mining and plant permits, and raising funding for construction of the mine. In October 2024, it announced an equity raise of US$220 million in 2024 comprising investments from several companies, with the largest coming from Yankuang Energy (HKEX:1171).

Highfield announced on Thursday (July 31) that it has executed a second deed of amendment with Potash Investment to extend the maturity date of its issued convertible notes to August 31 at the latest to allow it more time to finalise a planned cornerstone US$300 million equity investment from Qinghai Salt Lake Industry (SZSE:000792), a company under China Minmetals.

Shares of Highfield were the highest this week on the day of the announcement, reaching AU$0.195.

5. Altair Minerals (ASX:ALR)

Weekly gain: 25 percent
Market cap: AU$ 21.48 million
Share price: AU$0.005

Altair Minerals is an Australian explorer with projects in Australia and Canada focused on the discovery of gypsum, lithium, cobalt and copper.

The company holds 80 percent ownership of the Olympic Domain assets in South Australia, namely Horse Well, Pernatti C and Lake Torrens, all of which are currently being explored by Altair, with drilling underway at Horse Well.

In a quarterly report released on Thursday, Altair underlined its June 25 announcement on the successful transient electromagnetic (TEM) simulation at Olympic Domain, which confirmed the ability to pinpoint deep, high-value copper-gold deposits at depths exceeding 1,000 metres. Based on this success, the company plans to perform a TEM survey at key targets across the property.

Altair also mentioned the Horse Well project as a strategic opportunity for Altair, being the sole project held by a junior exploration company in the vicinity of BHP’s (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) Oak Dam West discovery. Oak Dam West, which is just 2 kilometres away from Horse-Well, has an inferred resource of 1.34 billion tonnes at 0.66 percent copper and 0.33 g/t gold.

The company’s share price has been trending upwards since late June, and reached their highest point on Wednesday at AU$0.005, a day before it released its quarterly report.

A trading halt was requested by Altair on Friday pending the release of an announcement on a proposed project acquisition and capital raising. Trading is scheduled to recommence on Tuesday, August 5.