Top Australian Mining Stocks This Week: NiCo Resources Jumps on Surging Nickel Price

Market and commodities price round-up

The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) opened at 8,738.9 on Monday (January 12) and closed at 8,861.7 on Thursday (January 15), reflecting a 1.41 percent decrease over the period.

Gold and silver both continued to shine this week, but silver took the lead. The gold price increased 2.44 percent, falling from US$4,509.62 per ounce on Monday to US$4,619.79 by the close of Australian markets on Thursday. In Australian dollars, gold rose 2.29 percent, from AU$6,743.81 to AU$6,898.25.

The silver price rocketed upward this week.

It soared 14.23 percent in US dollars, starting the week at US$79.92 per ounce and closing at US$91.29. In Australian dollars, silver jumped from AU$119.52 to AU$136.31, a 14.05 percent increase.

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. NiCo Resources (ASX:NC1)

Weekly gain: 94.12 percent
Market cap: AU$30.47 million
Share price: AU$0.33

NiCo Resources is a Perth-based nickel and cobalt developer focused on its Central Musgrave Project (CMP) in Australia, a significant undeveloped nickel-cobalt resource. The project is located around the intersection of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia.

CMP contains the large Wingellina deposit, which was awarded major project status by the government in November 2024. Wingellina hosts an ore reserve of approximately 1.56 million tonnes of nickel and 123,000 tonnes of cobalt.

NiCo notes that the deposit is “one of the largest nickeliferous ‘pure oxide’ limonite accumulations in the world,” with high iron grades and low magnesium content, which it says makes it suited to high-pressure acid leaching.

The company also owns the Claude Hills project, located around 30 kilometres east of Wingellina, making it a potential source to increase the reserves and mine life of Wingellina.

No project updates have been shared by NiCo in 2026, with the only release of the year being a January 12 notification that a director purchased AU$18,500 in shares on the market the prior week.

However, surging nickel prices since late December have provided tailwinds for NiCo, as have rising nickel prices. Additionally, rising interest in critical minerals globally may also be boosting investor interest.

Shares of NiCo Resources rose significantly this week and closed at AU$0.33 on Thursday.

2. Richmond Vanadium Technology (ASX:RVT)

Weekly gain: 73.61 percent
Market cap: AU$18.07 million
Share price: AU$0.125

Richmond Vanadium Technology is advancing the Richmond-Julia Creek vanadium project in North Queensland with plans for a mine-to-battery operation to supply the vanadium redox flow battery market for energy storage.

The company began trading on the ASX in December 2022.

The Richmond-Julia Creek project hosts 1.8 billion tonnes of vanadium and is the first critical minerals project to be awarded coordinated project status by the Queensland government.

In its annual report, shared at the end of September, recently appointed Executive Chair Brendon Grylls said the company delivered a net loss of AU$1.87 million, an improvement on the prior year. He commented, “With a solid cash balance of $8.9 million at 30 June 2025, and net assets of $41.0 million, we are well-funded to continue advancing the Richmond — Julia Creek vanadium project without the need for immediate capital raising."

The company is targeting completion of the project’s bankable feasibility study in late 2026 and a final investment decision in early 2027. No updates had been shared in 2026 at the time of this writing.

While they climbed slowly early in the week, shares of the company rocketed upward from an AU$0.089 close on Wednesday (January 14) to AU$0.125 on Thursday.

3. Highfield Resources (ASX:HFR)

Weekly gain: 53.49 percent
Market cap: AU$22.28 million
Share price: AU$0.066

Highfield Resources is a potash developer with headquarters in Pamplona, Spain, and a registered office in South Australia. The company's flagship asset is the Muga potash project in Spain’s Ebro Basin, spanning 46 square kilometres in the provinces of Navarra and Aragón in the country’s north. Muga is construction ready, with planned Phase 1 production of 500,000 tonnes of muriate of potash per year.

According to Navarra President Maria Chivite, the project is the largest in Spain, with an investment of 150 million euros to its name. Muga is currently stalled awaiting a decision from the Spanish Supreme Court on an administrative matter with the Goyo permit. The company anticipates a decision in the near future.

While no updates on Muga have been shared in 2026, in October Highfield raised AU$10 million. It plans to use the funds in part to address the legal situation and to reengage with strategic partners connected to the project.

An investment of 700 million euros is also being planned to complete the project’s construction, and Highfield said that it is now advancing through pre-construction after securing all key mining and plant permits.

Shares of Highfield rose from a Monday close of AU$0.042 to AU$0.066 on Thursday.

4. Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML)

Weekly gain: 46 percent
Market cap: AU$113.09 million
Share price: AU$0.073

Resolution Minerals is an antimony-focused explorer based in South Australia. It is currently focused on the Horse Heaven gold-antimony-tungsten project in Idaho, US, aiming to provide an end-to-end solution for domestic critical minerals supply to the US defence industry. The company acquired the project in mid-2025.

On Wednesday, the company shared high-grade antimony, silver and gold results from five massive stibnite samples taken from Horse Heaven’s historical Antimony Ridge mine area.

According to the company, the five results confirm widespread high-grade antimony, with one sample grading 48.7 percent stibnite, 270 grams per tonne silver and 0.69 grams per tonne gold.

“Antimony grades of this magnitude are rarely reported globally, particularly exposed at surface, and the consistent association with strong silver and gold values materially enhances the projects overall value proposition,” said Craig Lindsay, CEO of US operations at Resolution Minerals.

“With metallurgical test work underway and permitting progressing toward drilling and bulk sampling, we believe Horse Heaven is rapidly advancing toward becoming a highly strategic U.S critical minerals asset.” Following the announcement, Resolution’s shares climbed to AU$0.073 on Thursday from a Monday close of AU$0.052.