Top 5 Australian Mining Stocks This Week: White Energy Soars on Tinkler Coal Acquisitions

Market and commodities price round-up

The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) opened at 8,660.4 on Monday (May 25) and closed at 8,592.9 on Thursday (May 28), reflecting a 0.78 percent decrease over the period.

Gold and silver prices were down as of the close of Australian markets on Thursday. In US dollars, gold decreased 3 percent, falling from US$4,509.64 per ounce on Monday to US$4,374.32 by Thursday. A 2.74 percent decrease was seen in Australian dollars, with gold moving from AU$6,327.72 to AU$6,154.42.

Silver declined by 4.89 percent in US dollars, going from US$75.67 per ounce on Monday to US$71.97 on Thursday. In Australian dollars, the metal recorded a 4.62 percent decrease, moving from AU$106.17 to AU$101.26.

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 using TradingView's stock screener and reflects price movements between the first trading day of the week 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. White Energy Company (ASX:WEC)

Weekly gain: 134.85 percent
Market cap: AU$68.43 million
Share price: AU$0.155

White Energy Company is a mining exploration and coal technology company with Australian projects spread across the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia. Its most advanced asset is the Specimen Hill copper-gold project in Queensland, in which it currently holds a 51 percent stake as part of a farm-in agreement.

On May 21, White Energy announced a non-binding term sheet for the proposed acquisition of two coal assets from companies owned by Australian coal investor Nathan Tinkler, who approached White Energy with the deal.

Identified in the announcement are the Lolley No. 1 underground metallurgical coal project in Alabama, US, and the Tin Hut Creek project and associated assets in Queensland’s Surat Basin. White Energy is proposing recommissioning the Lolley No. 1 asset, which is currently on care and maintenance.

The transactions are conditional on White Energy completing a AU$15 million raising. If the acquisitions are completed, the company plans to bring on Tinkler, who proposed the Lolley No. 1 acquisition, as executive chair.

No further updates have been shared by White Energy this week, yet shares climbed from a close of AU$0.04 on May 20, the day before the release, to a weekly peak of AU$0.17 on Monday.

2. Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ)

Weekly gain: 41.51 percent
Market cap: AU$118.88 million
Share price: AU$0.075

Invictus Energy is an Australia-based upstream oil and gas company focused on developing energy assets in Sub-Saharan Africa, with its flagship Cabora Bassa project located in Zimbabwe.

The company holds an 80 percent interest in the 360,000 hectare project, which includes the Mukuyu gas field discovery, alongside multiple exploration targets, through its subsidiary Geo Associates. According to Invictus, the Cabora Bassa basin is considered “one of the last untested large frontier rift basins in onshore Africa.”

On Wednesday (May 27), the company announced a trading halt. Then, on Thursday, Invictus announced that a petroleum production sharing agreement was executed between Geo Associates and the Republic of Zimbabwe.

“Execution of the Petroleum Production Sharing Agreement represents a landmark milestone for both the Cabora Bassa Project and the broader development of Zimbabwe’s oil and gas industry,” CEO and Managing Director Scott Macmillan said. “With this critical framework now in place, the Company is firmly focused on advancing the next phase of exploration, appraisal and development activities, including the upcoming high impact Musuma-1 exploration well.”

Shares of Invictus rose from last week’s close of AU$0.053 to a weekly high close of AU$0.075 on Thursday; they peaked as high as AU$0.098 soon after trading opened following the announcement.

3. Tasman Resources (ASX:TAS)

Weekly gain: 41.46 percent
Market cap: AU$27.31 million
Share price: AU$0.058

Tasman Resources is a Perth-based polymetallic exploration company focusing on projects with a variety of metals, including gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, nickel and uranium.

The company’s key assets include the Lake Torrens iron-oxide-copper-gold project and its wholly owned Parkinson Dam epithermal gold-silver project, both located in South Australia.

On Monday, Tasman announced it has received firm commitments to raise AU$4.05 million through a company-led private share placement with zero broker or third-party fees. The company said the placement was to sophisticated investors at AU$0.041 per share, the market price at the prior trading day's close.

The placement funds will finance an expanded 2026 drilling program targeting six high-priority gold, silver and copper prospects at the Parkinson Dam project. Alongside the capital raise, the company announced the resignation of Director Doug Solomon, who had been with the company for over 25 years, and the appointment of Adam Turnbull as a non-executive director ahead of this highly active exploration phase.

After closing last week at AU$0.041, shares of Tasman climbed through the week following the Monday corporate update and reached a weekly high of AU$0.065 on Tuesday (May 26).

4. International Graphite (ASX:IG6)

Weekly gain: 40.48 percent
Market cap: AU$11.3 million
Share price: AU$0.059

International Graphite is an Australian critical minerals developer building high-performance graphite-processing capacity in two world-class jurisdictions, Western Australia and Europe.

It is currently focused on the Collie processing facility in Western Australia, a multi-faceted downstream processing operation that aims to “meet global demand for graphite products and maximise the value of its graphite resource.”

The company halted trading last week pending an announcement. On Wednesday, International Graphite signed a binding joint venture and shareholders' agreement with Italian chemical group Alkeemia to build a European graphite-processing hub in Porto Marghera, Italy. Under the agreement, the joint venture will be owned 51 percent by Alkeemia and 49 percent by International Graphite, with profits shared on a 50/50 basis.

The facility will be co-located at Alkeemia's large-scale hydrofluoric acid production facility and will target initial production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year before expanding to 15,000 tonnes per year. Pending a final investment decision, construction is anticipated to begin in Q3 2026, with first production in the second half of 2027.

The company highlighted further construction momentum on Thursday with the news that it has secured a building permit for its Collie graphite facility in Western Australia from the Shire of Collie.

“As Collie has progressed toward production, customer engagement has expanded with strong interest from Australian and north Asian customers and trading groups seeking new supply sources for graphite products,” the company wrote.

“The Collie Micronising Facility will be Australia’s first commercial graphite micronising operation and its development has been instrumental in being able to fast-track progress at the IG6-Alkeemia Joint Venture in Porto Marghera.”

After closing last week at AU$0.042 before its trading halt, shares of International Graphite jumped to a close of AU$0.055 on Wednesday before reaching the week’s high of AU$0.059 on Thursday.

5. Ecograf (ASX:EGR)

Weekly gain: 35.09 percent
Market cap: AU$175.39 million
Share price: AU$0.385

EcoGraf is a vertically integrated Australian battery materials company focused on engineering high-purity graphite products to supply the lithium-ion battery and advanced manufacturing markets.

Its flagship asset is the Epanko graphite project in Tanzania, which provides a long-term, scalable supply of feedstock. The company is also planning a mechanical shaping facility in Tanzania to process natural flake graphite into spherical graphite before upgrading it to 99.95 percent high-performance battery anode material.

Its most recent news came on May 11, when the company announced that the Indian government's Patent Office granted EcoGraf an Indian patent for its first EcoGraf HFfree purification patent. It has already received patents from six other countries, including Australia, the US and Tanzania. According to EcoGraf, the patent means its HFfree purification technology can be used across applications such as manufacturing battery anode material and high-purity graphite products, as well as recycling lithium-ion battery anodes.

The company said that it also recently submitted its third patent application for further coverage and protection.

Shares of EcoGraf closed last week at AU$0.285 and rose to AU$0.385 this week.