Top 5 Australian Mining Stocks This Week: Latrobe Gains 111 Percent on US Site Advancement

Market and commodities price round-up

The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) opened at 8,746.5 on Monday (September 14) and closed at 8,732.4 on Thursday (September 17), ending the period down 0.16 percent.

The gold price was down this week, falling 0.65 percent in US dollars, from US$4,432.75 per ounce on Monday to US$4,304.44 as of the close of Australian stock markets Thursday. Meanwhile, a 0.04 percent decrease was seen in Australian dollars, with gold moving from AU$6,058.23 to AU$6,055.75 per ounce.

The silver price ended the period decreasing 0.20 percent in US dollars from US$63.90 per ounce to US$63.77. In Australian dollars, the metal increased 0.37 percent from AU$89.31 to AU$89.64.

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. Latrobe Magnesium (ASX:LMG)

Weekly gain: 111.11 percent
Market cap: AU$47.81 million
Share price: AU$0.019

Latrobe Magnesium is focused on developing magnesium extraction and processing in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia, and is looking to expand into South Carolina, United States.

On Tuesday (September 15), Latrobe announced its intention to develop a 50,000 tonne per year magnesium plant in South Carolina. In the release, the company indicated that it signed letters of intent for 32,000 tonnes of annual demand and had received backing from the Government of South Carolina.

Feedstock has been secured through a 20 year binding memorandum of understanding with Société Le Nickel, a nickel miner in New Caledonia that is majority owned by French mining company Eramet (EPA:ERA,OTCPL:ERMAF). The company will provide ferronickel slag with magnesium oxide content of about 33 percent.

Latrobe estimates project economics with a net present value of US$1.4 billion to US$2.7 billion and an internal rate of return of 18 to 26 percent, at a magnesium price range of US$5,000 to US$7,000 per tonne.

Then, on Thursday, the company announced it had received a non-binding letter of support (LOS) from an unidentified US-based financial institution for US$15 million in equity funding to carry out a feasibility study for the magnesium plant.

The support is contingent on a financing commitment of US$15 million from a separate US-based entity. Latrobe said it would continue negotiating with other parties to fund the study, land acquisition and working capital.

Latrobe is also continuing work to advance its demonstration plant at its Victoria property. On September 1, the company announced it was ready to begin staged commissioning after successful site acceptance testing of the plant’s major equipment. It also said construction at the site was 70 percent complete and that it was working toward first magnesium production in the second half of 2026.

2. Arrow Minerals (ASX:AMD)

Weekly gain: 42.86 percent
Market cap: AU$28.87 million
Share price: AU$0.02

Arrow Minerals is an exploration company with copper, iron and bauxite projects in Western Australia and Guinea.

Its Yarraloola copper project is located in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia. Mineralisation at the site was first identified in 1907, and the site hosts historic copper mine operations.

On Thursday, Arrow announced that it secured an application for a new iron ore tenement adjoining its Yarraloola tenements, and adjacent to the Robe River operation, owned by a 53/33/14 joint venture of Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO), Mitsui & Co. (TSE:8031,OTCPL:MITSF) and Nippon Steel (TSE:5401) .

At its closest point, the new property is located just 2 kilometres from the open-pit mine at Robe River, which produces between 20 million and 23 million tonnes per year. The acquisition will increase Arrow’s landholdings by 30 percent to 415 square kilometres.

“Our team is well aware of the tonnage and cash flow generating potential of channel iron deposits, such as those in this part of the Pilbara,” Managing Director David Flanagan said. “As proven by Rio, they often have very favourable deposit geometry and low impurities, meaning they can be low-cost, high-profit operations. Our team knows this because we have mined them in the past.”

3. Venari Minerals (ASX:VMS)

Weekly gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: AU$19.53 million
Share price: AU$0.16

Venari Minerals is a mineral exploration company advancing a portfolio of projects in the United States and Western Australia.

The company’s primary focus is its Red Mountain lithium project in Nevada, US. The discovery of mineralisation at the property was a result of Venari’s in-house exploration programs carried out in 2023. The site hosts large-scale lithium anomalies over 8 kilometres of strike.

On February 1, the company announced an inferred maiden mineral resource of 3.03 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent contained in 500 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 1,139 parts per million lithium.

Venari commenced a 12 hole, 3,360 metre diamond drill program at the property on August 2, with work intended to support a scoping study.

Its most recent news came on September 2, when Venari announced it would expand its exploration plans for the property from 5 to 35 acres, and fast-track expansion and upgrades for the mineral resource.

This is the second week in a row that Venari has been on the top five gainers list. Venari shares gained strongly last week; however, when queried by the ASX, the company said on September 9 it was unaware of any information that would explain the recent trading activity.

4. AuKing Mining (ASX:AKN)

Weekly gain: 33.33 percent
Market cap: AU$49.88 million
Share price: AU$0.02

AuKing Mining is an exploration company advancing its Tundulu rare earth project in Malawi.

The property consists of one exploration license covering a 91.5 square kilometre land package in Malawi’s Phalombe District. The project includes a 7.5 kilometre carbonatite ring complex that hosts rare earth and phosphate mineralisation.

Two historic drill programs were carried out at Tundulu, one in 1987 and another between 2014 to 2015, for a total of 82 holes over 8,207 metres.

This year company has now completed a 31 hole, 4,300 metre reverse circulation (RC) drill program, followed by ongoing diamond drilling.

On Monday, AuKing released assay results from the first four RC holes of its maiden drill program at the property, several of which encountered intervals featuring high grades of total rare earth oxides (TREO). One highlighted result from showed an average grade of 1.54 percent TREO over 80 metres starting from surface, which included one interval of 4.33 percent TREO over 11 metres. AuKing stated that the initial assays exceeded intersections from historic exploration at the property.

The company is now prioritising assays for two diamond drill holes that contained carbonatite lithology throughout their 510 metres and 400 metres lengths, including at the ends of the holes.

It followed the news on Tuesday, announcing that it was planning for an additional diamond drill hole at Tundulu targeting a depth of 1,000 metres in order to test the mineralised system at greater depth.

5. White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN)

Weekly gain: 29.41 percent
Market cap: AU$76.01 million
Share price: AU$0.022

White Cliff Minerals is an exploration company focused on its Rae copper-silver project in Nunavut, Canada, west of the town and deepwater port of Kugluktuk.

The property, which covers an area of approximately 2,000 square kilometres, hosts two copper systems being advanced separately: Danvers and Hulk.

The most recent exploration update from Rae came on September 1, when White Cliff released results from step-out drilling at Danvers. The drillhole intersected 23 metres with an average grade of 6.18 percent copper and 13 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, starting at a depth of 161 metres, and included a 3.9 metre interval of 16.45 percent copper and 31 g/t silver.

The company said the mineralised zone remains open at surface and depth, and is untested between this hole and the next drill hole 248 metres to the southwest.

On Tuesday (September 15), White Cliff announced it entered into a strategic investment agreement with Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting for AU$8.77 million through a private placement. Once the transaction is completed, Hancock will hold a 13.5 percent interest in White Cliff.

That same day, the company announced it would consolidate shares on a 20:1 basis, effective October 29, 2026.