May Winners Column: Gold is still #1 but uranium casts a warm glow

Here are the top 50 small cap stocks for May — a month defined by high flyin’ uranium explorers, lots of gold … and only one hand sanitiser company.

“The stock market is not a proxy for the real economy,” analysts say. It’s an axiom that bears repeating.

Even the US’ proverbial bin fire of an economy did not impede Wall Street’s strong back-to-back monthly gains.

Global markets more generally continued to shrug off the big macroeconomic issues and a smattering of China-US pomposity.

The ASX200 Index posted an 8.5 per cent gain over the month.

Unlike April, there were no +1000 per cent gainers in May. Still, there were plenty of good stories for investors to sink their teeth into, with 58 small cap companies post gains of 100 per cent or more.

HERE’S THE TOP 50 SMALL CAPS FOR THE MONTH OF MAY >>>

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.

CODE	NAME	TOTAL MONTHLY RETURN %	MARKET CAP
ESK	ETHERSTACK	1150	198.61M
NME	NEX METALS EXPLORATION	525	24.09M
MCT	METALICITY	362	51.68M
IMC	IMMURON	225	46.35M
RXL	ROX RESOURCES	223	167.08M
AUT	AUTECO MINERALS	220	213.72M
DW8	DIGITAL WINE VENTURES	208	25.20M
MGV	MUSGRAVE MINERALS	200	216.11M
TAR	TARUGA MINERALS	200	15.23M
AUC	AUSGOLD	200	46.46M
BPH	BPH ENERGY	187	8.58M
ICU	ISENTRIC	186	4.07M
GSM	GOLDEN STATE MINING	178	26.63M
SUH	SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE MINING	173	3.26M
KAI	KAIROS MINERALS	171	58.59M
CAD	CAENEUS MINERALS	167	13.99M
GTE	GREAT WESTERN EXPLORATION	165	10.12M
ELT	ELEMENTOS	150	12.74M
SLX	SILEX SYSTEMS	142	133.89M
AL8	ALDERAN RESOURCES	142	37.62M
AUR	AURIS MINERALS	140	19.62M
SPT	SPLITIT PAYMENTS	138	415.78M
RGL	RIVERSGOLD	136	24.40M
SUP	SUPERIOR LAKE RESOURCES	125	16.44M
SVD	SCANDIVANADIUM	125	11.75M
XTD	XTD	124	7.73M
FFR	FIREFLY RESOURCES	122	6.40M
RAC	RACE ONCOLOGY	119	81.52M
NVX	NOVONIX	112	302.94M
SCN	SCORPION MINERALS	105	9.20M
VPR	VOLT POWER GROUP	100	18.34M
MNW	MINT PAYMENTS	100	14.57M
MLS	METALS AUSTRALIA	100	6.41M
AR9	ARCHTIS	98	18.55M
AYR	ALLOY RESOURCES	92	8.38M
WWI	WEST WITS MINING	91	21.49M
KP2	KORE POTASH	91	18.04M
CAE	CANNINDAH RESOURCES	87	2.90M
HWK	HAWKSTONE MINING	86	13.83M
TYM	TYMLEZ GROUP	85	16.83M
IP1	INTEGRATED PAYMENT TECHNOLOGIES	85	6.25M
AYS	AMAYSIM AUSTRALIA	84	174.12M
HRN	HORIZON GOLD LIMITED	84	35.20M
DTM	DART MINING	83	7.06M
TLM	TALISMAN MINING	83	30.79M
ARV	ARTEMIS RESOURCES	81	59.96M
LSR	LODESTAR MINERALS	80	7.68M
MRQ	MRG METALS	80	11.11M
DLC	DELECTA	80	6.26M
REE	RAREX	77	32.63M

Uranium radiates positive energy

An existing structural supply deficit in the global uranium market, aggravated by ongoing COVID-19 supply disruptions, has sent the uranium ‘spot’ price up +33 per cent year-to-date.

Adding to an already bullish outlook for uranium, the Trump Administration has shown a strong desire to revive the domestic uranium industry.

Investors have been pouring into early stage US uranium explorers like GTI Resources (ASX:GTR) and TNT Mines (ASX:TIN). which were up 231 per cent and 259 per cent, respectively, over the month.

READ: Is this uranium’s renaissance or another false dawn?

Gold, gold… and more gold

WA gold explorers dominated the Top 50.

Minnow Metalicity (ASX:MCT) jumped 200 per cent as it kicked off new drilling at the historic, high-grade Kookynie gold project in the Eastern Goldfields.

Struggling vanadium play Sabre Resources (ASX:SBR) acquired a gold project in WA and immediately jumped 200 per cent.

Sabre’s Beacon gold project is just south of Spectrum Metals’ (ASX:SPX) high-grade Penny West project, which has now been acquired by miner Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS).

And there’s also plenty of tier 1 project opportunities for ASX-listed companies in the US and Canada, gold-rich countries which have suffered from a lack of exploration in recent years.

In May, investors rewarded US-facing gold stocks like Alderan Resources (ASX:AL8) +253 per cent, Riversgold (ASX:RGL) +237 per cent, and White Rock Minerals (ASX:WRM) +100 per cent.