The resource space was resilient to the turbulence and uncertainty of 2020, with companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) able to raise more money than in the last five years. 

In 2020, capital raisings on the ASX brought in north of AU$50 billion, the highest level since 2015, with resource-focused stocks responsible for AU$7.7 billion of that amount.

Companies with initial public offerings (IPOs) raised more than AU$5 billion in total. Some stocks listed last year are now up more than 300 percent since debuting, and with that in mind it’s worth looking at the top-performing ASX-listed resource companies that had IPOs in 2020.

This list was created using data from the ASX, and was accurate as of January 26, 2021. Only companies listed in 2020 on the ASX under the materials and energy sectors are included.

1. Australian Strategic Metals (ASX:ASM)

Share price: AU$5.61; gain since IPO: 300.71 percent; year-to-date move: -14.87 percent

Australian Strategic Materials is an integrated materials business and describes itself as an emerging “mine to manufacturer” producer of critical metals. The company’s cornerstone Dubbo project hosts rare earths, zirconium, niobium and hafnium and is located in Central-Western New South Wales, Australia.

The company, a spinoff of Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK), has also patented a metallisation process that produces high-purity metals from oxides using up to 70 percent less energy than conventional methods. Following the success of a pilot plant, the company acquired 95 percent of South Korean Ziron Tech — including 100 percent of its pilot plant, patents and related intellectual property and technology.

Listed since July 30, 2020, and with a market cap of AU$577.39 million, Australian Strategic Metals continues to work on Dubbo’s optimisation feasibility study, with delivery targeted for the end of Q1.

2. Caspin Resources (ASX:CPN)

Share price: AU$0.70; gain since IPO: 54.35 percent; year-to-date move: +24.56 percent

Based in Perth, Western Australia, Caspin Resources is focused on exploration at the Yarawindah Brook nickel-copper-platinum-group elements project and at the Mount Squires project, where the company has identified a 50 kilometre structural corridor with significant gold mineralisation.

After completing an AU$8 million oversubscribed IPO, Caspin started to trade on the ASX on November 25, 2020, and has a current market cap of AU$38.68 million. The company is well funded to evaluate its current projects in 2021.

3. Manuka Resources (ASX:MKR)

Share price: AU$0.40; gain since IPO: 53.87 percent; year-to-date move: -6.98 percent

Listed since mid-July 2020, Manuka Resources owns two fully permitted projects, the Mount Boppy gold project and the Wonawinta silver project. After acquiring Mount Boppy in mid-2019, the company began processing its remaining gold ore in April 2020, becoming Australia’s newest precious metals producer.

The company expects to continue mining and producing gold from Mount Boppy until June 2021, after which it will transition to processing silver stockpiles at Wonawinta. The Wonawinta processing plant has a nameplate capacity of 850,000 tonnes per year

Following a AU$7 million IPO, Manuka Resources currently has a market cap of AU$136.02 million.

4. Siren Gold (ASX:SNG)

Share price: AU$0.68; gain since IPO: 51.11 percent; year-to-date move: -4.23 percent

After raising AU$10 million, explorer Siren Gold started trading on the ASX on October 7, 2020. Siren, which now has a market cap of AU$51.81 million, is focused on the high-grade Reefton goldfield in New Zealand, which consists of four key projects: Alexander River, Big River, Reefton South and Lyell.

The Reefton goldfield has been explored and mined for both hard-rock and alluvial gold since the first discovery of gold in 1870, and most recently at the Globe-Progress mine held by OceanaGold (ASX:OGC,TSX:OGC,OTC Pink:OCANF), which closed in 2015.

The company kicked off drilling at Big River at the end of last October, and to date eight holes have been completed.

5. Native Mineral Resources (ASX:NMR)

Share price: AU$0.32; gain since IPO: 47.72 percent; year-to-date move: -24.41 percent

Copper and gold company Native Mineral Resources listed on the ASX on November 16, 2020. The company’s portfolio includes the Palmerville copper-zinc project and the Mount Morgan copper-gold project in Queensland, and the Eastern Goldfields gold project in Western Australia.

Following an IPO of AU$5.7 million, Native Mineral Resources has a drilling program underway at Palmerville, and has also secured two key exploration assets in the Eastern Goldfields project; they are called Music Well and Arcoona.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.