Top 5 Australian Mining Stocks This Week: Killi Resources Shines on Queensland Grant

Market and commodities price round-up

The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) opened at 8,262.4 on Monday (March 23) and closed at 8,525.7 on Thursday (March 26), reflecting a 3.19 percent increase over the period.

The gold price increased 0.43 percent, rising from US$4,491.16 per ounce on Monday to US$4,510.39 by Thursday in US dollars, and increasing 1.44 percent in Australian dollars, moving from AU$6,394.01 to AU$6,486.36.

Silver posted larger increases, rising 4.93 percent in US dollars. The metal went from US$67.95 per ounce on Monday to US$71.30 on Thursday. In Australian dollars, the metal saw a 5.99 percent rise from AU$96.74 to AU$102.53.

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 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. AEDT 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. Killi Resources (ASX:KLI)

Weekly gain: 265.38 percent
Market cap: AU$19.64 million
Share price: AU$0.19

Killi Resources is a Perth-based exploration company focused on gold and copper projects in Australia. The company was listed on the ASX in 2022.

Its primary focus is the Mount Rawdon West gold-copper project in Queensland, and it also holds the West Tanami project in Western Australia and Ravenswood North in Queensland.

Last Friday, Killi paused trading pending the release of an announcement. Come Monday, Killi announced the appointment of Nev Power, a former Fortescue Metals Group CEO, as non-executive chair. Resource executives Steve Parsons and Michael Naylor and geologist Hamish Halliday are also joining the company as consultants.

In the same announcement, the company said it has received firm commitments for AU$1.4 million in a share placement backed by Power, Parsons and Naylor.

Proceeds will be used in part for exploration activities at its Mount Rawdon West project.

Killi previously identified drill targets at the Mount Rawdon Fault prospect and applied to Round 10 of the Queensland Government’s Collaborative Exploration Initiative.

The company announced on Thursday that the grant application was approved, providing funding for drilling at Mount Rawdon’s Baloo prospect, which hosts a 1.4 kilometre anomaly. Due to the current “extreme wet conditions” it expects drilling to commence in the winter.

After closing at AU$0.052 last week, shares of Killi Resources reached AU$0.120 on Monday and climbed to a peak of AU$0.190 on Thursday.

2. EMC Gold (ASX:EM3)

Weekly gain: 66.67 percent
Market cap: AU$63.91 million
Share price: AU$0.25

Headquartered in West Perth and Sydney, EMC Gold is an exploration company focused on its 100 percent owned Salave gold project in the Asturias principality in Northern Spain.

EMC was formerly known as Black Dragon Gold, with the name change effective in December 2025.

Salave is one of Europe’s largest undeveloped gold deposits, currently hosting a JORC-compliant total resource of 17.1 million tonnes at a grade of 2.85 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for a total of 1.56 million ounces contained gold.

It is planned to be an underground mine with a 14 year mine life and average annual production of 99,462 ounces of gold.

Salave’s environmental impact assessment process is currently suspended, a decision made by the principality’s Department of Environment after the municipal council chose not to rezone the area.

In February, a Spanish court ruled that the suspension was lawful.

While no announcements were shared this week, the company said in the February release that it is pursuing the administrative conditions necessary to advance the project. This includes continuing to increase its Asturian shareholder base and pursuing strategic project designation.

It also plans to research the possibility of using mining residue for other applications to reduce the mine’s footprint. It will be undertaking a core drilling campaign to provide samples for that research, enhance geological understanding and assess the potential of mineral extension of the project.

Shares of EMC Gold closed last Friday and this Monday at AU$0.15, then moved to this week’s peak of AU$0.25 on Thursday.

3. Athena Resources (ASX:AHN)

Weekly gain: 66.67 percent
Market cap: AU$11.33 million
Share price: AU$0.005

Headquartered in West Perth, Athena Resources is an iron ore company aiming to produce end products that solve challenges in different industries from high-purity magnetite.

The company’s flagship project is the Byro magnetite project, located in Western Australia approximately 340 kilometres from the Port of Geraldton. The project’s FE1 deposit currently has a resource of 29.3 million tonnes at 24.7 percent iron.

On Wednesday, Athena announced a strategic joint venture with Terra Mining and Fenix Resources (ASX:FEX,OTCPL:FEXRF) to advance the Byro project’s Narryer prospect.

Under the joint venture, Athena will receive 40 percent of profits, while the two companies will hold 30 percent each. Athena will maintain 100 percent ownership of Narryer, but the partners will provide all capital, equipment and infrastructure.

“By combining our high-quality magnetite resource with Terra Mining's proven dry-processing capability and Fenix's established logistics network, we have assembled a partnership that can take Narryer from prospect to potential production with major mining, processing, and logistics capital provided by Athena's JV partners,” said Managing Director and CEO Peter Jones.

“We are building a platform to supply premium magnetite into some of the world's most important growth markets, from green steel to battery technology. This JV is the first step in making that vision a reality.”

The company also published a copy of its presentation at the Global Iron Ore and Steel Conference, which highlighted that metallurgical testwork at Byro confirms it can produce concentrate with over 70 percent iron and only 1.2 percent silica content.

Shares of Athena closed last week and Monday at AU$0.003, then rose to a close of AU$0.005 on Thursday following both updates.

4. Volt Resources (ASX:VRC)

Weekly gain: 40 percent
Market cap: AU$31.42 million
Share price: AU$0.007

Also headquartered in Perth is Volt Resources, a company with operations at multiple stages of the graphite supply chain in Tanzania, Ukraine and the US.

The company’s flagship asset is the Bunyu graphite project, located in Southeast Tanzania. Bunyu is currently regarded as one of the largest graphite deposits in the world, with an estimated 461 million tonnes of mineral resource at approximately 4.9 percent total graphitic carbon.

Volt was previously targeting Stage 1 production of 24,780 tonnes per annum (tpa) of graphite concentrate. However, following a significant investment from the Unbounded Opportunities Fund last year, a revised feasibility study targeting 40,000 tpa is being prepared by the UOF.

The investment resulted in the UOF gaining a 62 percent interest in Volt’s Tanzanian subsidiary.

In 2021, the company acquired a 70 percent interest in the Zavalievsky Graphite business in Ukraine, including a mine and processing facilities.

On March 17, the company completed its current graphite production campaign at the Zavalievsky graphite operation, producing 19.14 tonnes of high-purity graphite using third-party flake graphite feed from an operation in Africa.

No further project updates were shared by Volt Resources this week.

After closing at AU$0.005 last week, shares of the company reached AU$0.006 Monday, then climbed to AU$0.007 on Thursday.

5. SQX Resources (ASX:SQX)

Weekly gain: 37.04 percent
Market cap: AU$13.54 million
Share price: AU$0.185

Subiaco-based SQX Resources is a gold explorer with targets across the US states of Arizona and Montana.

Central to the project’s precious metals focus are the Red Bird gold project in Arizona and the Williams gold-silver project in Montana. Also in its portfolio are Queensland, Australia, assets Scrub Paddock and Ollenburgs, both of which are prospective for gold-copper porphyry.

On Tuesday, SQX released sampling assays from the Red Bird project. These included underground chip samples grading 16 g/t gold at a depth of 16.7 metres, 18.3 g/t gold at 6.7 metres and 6.4 g/t at 16.1 metres.

"These results demonstrate excellent grade continuity and confirm the historical sampling methodology used across the project. With our maiden drilling program now concluded, we look forward to the assay results to further define the potential at Red Bird,” Executive Director Julian Stephens said in the Tuesday announcement.

After closing at AU$0.135 last week, shares of the company rose to AU$0.185 by Thursday.