Newmont (TSX:NEM,NYSE:NEM,ASX:NEM), on the other hand, is continuing to make headlines this week with its ongoing divesting of non-core assets to hone in on its more profitable and stable tier one operations.
The company terminated its 2022 farm-in agreement with GBM Resources (ASX:GBZ), meaning GBM now holds full ownership of the Mount Coolon gold project in Queensland pursuant to Newmont’s withdrawal.
Prior to this news, Newmont also announced the sale of its Coffee project in the Yukon, Canada, to Fuerte Metals (TSXV:FMT,OTCQB:FUEMF) on Monday for potential total consideration of US$150 million.
Market and commodities price round-up
The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) posted a 1.35 percent decrease this week, opening at 8,864.90 on Monday (September 15) and closing at 8,745.20 on Thursday (September 18).
As for precious metals, the gold price spiked to a new all-time high mid-week in both US and Australian dollars. However, it ended the period largely flat in US dollars, moving from US$3,643.20 per ounce on Monday to US$3,637.44 by the close of Australian trading on Thursday. In Australian dollars, the metal moved up 0.27 percent, from AU$5,479.15 to AU$5,493.83, over the same period.
While it also spiked mid-week, the silver price fell 1.87 percent in US dollars, going from US$42.20 on Monday to US$41.41 at Thursday's close. The metal dipped in Australian dollars as well, falling 1.45 percent from AU$63.47 to AU$62.55.
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 4:00 p.m. AEST 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.
Weekly gain: 83.33 percent
Market cap: AU$76.29 million
Share price: AU$0.022
Andromeda Metals is a South Australian explorer focused on the industrial clay mineral kaolin. Its flagship asset is the Great White kaolin project on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. The project currently holds a 15.1 million tonne ore reserve and an expected 28 year mine life.
According to the company, Great White holds one of the largest underdeveloped kaolin deposits globally, with kaolin from the site having “exceptional purity, brightness and strength.”
The company is targeting ceramic and porcelain end-use sectors with its halloysite-kaolin blend product, and it also developed a solution to process its kaolin as feedstock to produce high purity alumina (HPA) for tech markets.
On Monday, research company East Coast Research released a commissioned coverage report on Andromeda, setting a share price target of AU$0.054 over a 12-month period.
East Coast said it believed Great White is on a “clear pathway” for profitability, and is significantly derisked by factors such as a AU$75 million debt facility from investment specialist Merricks Capital announced this past June, as well as binding offtake agreements at premium prices.
A few hours after the report was published, Andromeda’s shares spiked by 50 percent, going from their previous close of AU$0.012 to AU$0.018, leading to a price query from the ASX.
In the company’s response to the ASX query, Andromeda attributed the release of the report as the reason for the recent trading in its securities.
It also noted that its scoping study assessing the market opportunity for its HPA strategy was set to be published within the week, and that it’s in non-binding “advanced confidential discussions with capital providers” for potential funding to develop Great White.
Results of the scoping study were shared with the market on Thursday, highlighting that its HPA processing facility has a production capacity of 10,000 tonnes of low-carbon HPA annually using 30,000 tonnes of kaolin from the Great White project as raw material at a cost per tonne “significantly below” other reported HPA processes.
Shares of Andromeda peaked after the scoping study results were published, closing at AU$0.022 on Thursday.
Weekly gain: 73.21 percent
Market cap: AU$171.16 million
Share price: AU$0.485
Alaska-focused Felix Gold is a gold and antimony explorer with an office in Brisbane, Queensland.
The company holds assets in the Fairbanks mining district of Alaska, US, including its flagship Treasure Creek gold-antimony project near the city of Fairbanks.
Felix Gold reported new antimony drill intersections at the NW Array prospect within the Treasure Creek project on Monday, including 15.7 meters at 5.1 percent stibnite, as well as a “massive stibnite vein exposed at surface” at 25 metres open along strike and at depth.
“These results reinforce our strategy of assessing the viability of near-term antimony production targeting the fourth quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026,” Executive Director Joe Webb commented. According to the release, this accelerated production would be modular and small scale.
Early last week, Felix Gold announced it hosted senior representatives from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council at Treasure Creek. The visit was reportedly to observe the company’s antimony activities at the site.
In this week’s update, Felix said it is currently in smelting site discussions with the US government.
After trending upwards last week, this week, shares of Felix Gold gained further momentum, climbing to a high of AU$0.485 on Thursday.
Weekly gain: 53.85 percent
Market cap: AU$25.35 million
Share price: AU$0.014
Founded in 2021, Australian Mines wholly owns the feasibility-stage Sconi nickel-cobalt-scandium project in Queensland, Australia.
At Sconi, Australian Mines plans to produce mixed hydroxide precipitate containing nickel and cobalt, with commissioning expected to start in 2028. It has a binding offtake agreement with LG Chem subsidiary LG Energy Solution for 100 percent of production over at least six years.
The company is also advancing its Flemington scandium-nickel-cobalt project in New South Wales, and in July entered an earn-in agreement with GoldMining (TSX:GOLD,NYSEAMERICAN:GLDG) subsidiary Cabral Resources for an 80 percent stake in the Boa Vista gold project in Brazil.
Australian Mines commenced field activities at Boa Vista in mid-July and secured a drilling permit in August.
As for this week, on Tuesday (September 16), the company said that it is presenting at the Resources Rising Stars Conference in Queensland later in the week, at which it would provide an update on its portfolio.
The following day, Australian Mines saw a significant jump in its share price from a AU$0.012 Tuesday close to a high of AU$0.016 during trading Wednesday, prompting an ASX price query.
In its response, Australian Mines said it is not aware of any specific unreleased information that could have caused the boost, but noted public news such as the start of drilling at Boa Vista and drilling progress at Flemington.
On Thursday, Australian Mines released its conference presentation focused on Boa Vista, which highlighted its historic inferred resource of 8.47 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.23 grams per tonne gold for 336,000 contained gold ounces.
The presentation also detailed that onsite gold extraction of 4.32 kilograms of material from surface produced 0.6 grams of visible gold, which the company said confirms “the potential for higher grade oblique echelon structures within the mineralised share zone.”
Shares of the company closed at AU$0.014 on Thursday.
Weekly gain: 53.85 percent
Market cap: AU$135.04 million
Share price: AU$0.020
Orion Minerals is a base metals developer focusing on the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Its two main assets are the Prieska copper-zinc project and the Okiep copper project, which includes its Flat Mines project.
First production at Prieska is targeted for late 2026 or early 2027 through a two phase strategy, the Upper-level phase and Deeps phase.
Once Prieska is in steady production, the company aims to increase annual copper and zinc production to over 22,000 tonnes and 65,000 tonnes respectively. Flat Mines would add an additional 9,500 tonnes of copper at full production.
On Wednesday, Orion signed a non-binding term sheet with a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF) for financing ranging from US$200 million to US$250 million and concentrate offtake for Prieska.
Under the agreement, the first tranche of US$40 million will go towards the construction and startup of the Uppers phase at Prieska.
“Tranche A enables the company to move swiftly into first production and first cash flow,” Managing Director and CEO Tony Lennox commented. The remaining funding would go towards construction and startup of the Deeps phase.
Following the announcement, shares of the company jumped from AU$0.012 on Tuesday to AU$0.018 on Wednesday.
Its shares moved even higher Thursday, reaching a close of AU$0.020.
Weekly gain: 38.62 percent
Market cap: AU$619.73 million
Share price: AU$4.02
Melbourne-based Sunrise Energy Metals is currently developing its Syerston scandium project in New South Wales, a significant high-grade scandium-primary deposit. Syerston’s mineral resource estimate totals 23,554 tonnes of scandium, with 9,583 tonnes classified as measured and indicated.
The company also owns the Sunrise nickel-cobalt project in New South Wales, which it describes as the “largest cobalt deposit outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo.” It has a mineral resource of 900,000 tonnes of nickel and 170,000 tonnes of cobalt.
On Tuesday, Sunrise reported it received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank) for financing support of up to US$67 million, or AU$103 million.
In the release, Sunrise said that this funding would cover approximately half the estimated development cost for the scandium project.
A completed feasibility study for Syerston is also expected in October that will include a “substantial increase in contained metal” in the mineral resource estimate, as well as an ore reserve estimate.
Sunrise’s shares closed at a weekly high of AU$4.37 on Tuesday following the announcement, significantly up from the previous week’s close at AU$2.90.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
