Who made the gains? Here are July’s top 50 small cap miners and explorers

What happened to the most talked about commodities in July?

Gold bounced back from recent lows to record a solid 2.54% gain (that’s +4.12% in Aussie dollar terms).

The base metals suite – aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin and zinc – all finished higher.

Battery metals, led by lithium, are absolutely flying.

The only downside in July was iron ore, which happily bounced between $US210/t and $220/t for most of the month, before plummeting to ~$US180/t when China dusted off ‘straight-from-the-playbook’ rhetoric about cutting steel production in efforts to dampen prices.

It worked – just like its similar tactics worked on copper and nickel markets — but will it cause FUD for long?

Experts are divided on whether significantly cutting steel production is even possible.

The same ploy definitely didn’t work for coal, which was the biggest gainer last month.

What were the top 50 resources winners for July searching for, and where?

Here are the top 50 ASX resources stocks for the month of July >>>

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort. Best viewed on a laptop

CODE	COMPANY	JULY RETURN %	SHARE PRICE	MARKET CAP	LOOKING FOR	WHERE
AR3	Australian Rare Earths	155	0.765	$ 34,259,245.16	RARE EARTHS	SOUTH AUSTRALIA, VIC
OKR	Okapi Resources	120	0.44	$ 23,473,397.64	URANIUM, GOLD	NSW, NORTH AMERICA
CNJ	Conico	104	0.057	$ 52,232,921.34	COPPER, NICKEL, COBALT, PGE, GOLD	EUROPE
KOR	Korab Resources	100	0.024	$ 7,979,831.54	MAGNESIUM, GOLD	NORTHERN TERRITORY
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	100	0.004	$ 20,060,494.29	RARE EARTHS	WA
PDI	Predictive Discovery	95	0.15	$ 202,510,782.30	GOLD	AFRICA
ATU	Atrum Coal	79	0.052	$ 30,260,445.96	COAL	NORTH AMERICA
FEL	Fe Limited	73	0.088	$ 66,119,888.12	IRON ORE	WA
CKA	Cokal	67	0.1	$ 92,458,231.30	COAL	INDONESIA
NME	Nex Metals Exploration	62	0.042	$ 11,214,992.21	GOLD	WA
AUR	Auris Minerals	54	0.074	$ 35,270,320.82	COPPER, GOLD	WA
ARN	Aldoro Resources	54	0.47	$ 38,049,968.13	LITHIUM, NICKEL, PGE	WA
CY5	Cygnus Gold	52	0.16	$ 17,347,215.68	NICKEL, COPPER, GOLD, PGE	WA
PSC	Prospect Resources	52	0.32	$ 122,727,531.20	LITHIUM	AFRICA
POS	Poseidon Nickel	52	0.135	$ 379,271,005.02	NICKEL	WA
LPD	Lepidico	50	0.015	$ 92,281,236.69	LITHIUM	AFRICA
GTE	Great Western Exploration	50	0.165	$ 22,472,689.31	POTASH, COPPER, GOLD	WA
ESS	Essential Metals	47	0.14	$ 28,114,422.00	LITHIUM, GOLD	WA
LPI	Lithium Power International	46	0.27	$ 81,290,935.53	LITHIUM	SOUTH AMERICA, WA
GSN	Great Southern Mining	45	0.061	$ 27,756,245.62	GOLD	WA, QLD
BRL	Bathurst Resources	45	0.66	$ 112,828,071.18	COAL	NEW ZEALAND
AZY	Antipa Minerals	44	0.059	$ 184,751,907.46	COPPER, GOLD	WA
GRR	Grange Resources	42	0.845	$ 977,951,199.81	IRON ORE	TAS, WA
REE	Rarex	39	0.1	$ 43,534,320.40	RARE EARTHS, COPPER, GOLD	WA, NSW
LKE	Lake Resources	39	0.465	$ 493,028,957.06	LITHIUM	SOUTH AMERICA
NSM	North Stawell	38	0.36	$ 14,400,000.00	GOLD	VIC
LNY	Laneway Resources	38	0.0055	$ 21,472,362.63	GOLD	QLD, NEW ZEALAND
AUT	Auteco Minerals	38	0.11	$ 183,389,682.96	GOLD	NORTH AMERICA
NMT	Neometals	38	0.66	$ 361,928,421.36	VANADIUM, LITHIUM, NICKEL	EUROPE, WA
CXX	Cradle Resources	37	0.081	$ 15,364,224.42	NIOBIUM	AFRICA
SYR	Syrah Resources	36	1.405	$ 699,987,119.57	GRAPHITE, VANADIUM	AFRICA, NORTH AMERICA
PVW	PVW Resources	36	0.19	$ 12,816,585.85	GOLD, RARE EARTHS, NICKEL, COPPER, PGE	WA
JAL	Jameson Resources	35	0.115	$ 34,883,167.35	COAL	NORTH AMERICA
SMI	Santana Minerals	34	0.11	$ 12,543,589.96	GOLD	NEW ZEALAND
NTL	New Talisman Gold	33	0.004	$ 11,168,901.45	GOLD, SILVER, COPPER	VANUATU, NEW ZEALAND
STM	Sunstone Metals	33	0.02	$ 44,199,752.92	GOLD, COPPER	SOUTH AMERICA
FTZ	Fertoz	33	0.22	$ 44,904,791.58	PHOSPHATE	NORTH AMERICA
ATC	Altech Chemicals	33	0.057	$ 73,329,481.58	HIGH PURITY ALUMINA	EUROPE, MALAYSIA
LEL	Lithium Energy	32	0.49	$ 22,050,000.00	LITHIUM, GRPAHITE	SOUTH AMERICA, QLD
IXR	Ionic Rare Earths	30	0.03	$ 101,771,985.42	RARE EARTHS	AFRICA
COY	Coppermoly	30	0.013	$ 27,653,781.86	COPPER, GOLD	PAPUA NEW GUINEA
VKA	Viking Mines	29	0.022	$ 22,467,685.48	GOLD	WA
MNB	Minbos Resources	29	0.084	$ 38,978,763.35	PHOSPHATE	AFRICA
AX8	Accelerate Resources	29	0.04	$ 6,273,911.76	KAOLIN, MANGANESE, IRON ORE	WA
ADT	Adriatic Metals	29	3.07	$ 571,165,825.00	SILVER, ZINC	EUROPE
LIN	Lindian Resources	29	0.027	$ 20,194,265.82	BAUXITE	AFRICA
CZN	Corazon	29	0.045	$ 9,137,436.48	NICKEL, COBALT	NORTH AMERICA, NSW
LYC	Lynas Rare Earths	29	7.34	$ 6,613,916,769.86	RARE EARTHS	WA, MALAYSIA, NORTH AMERICA
MLX	Metals X	28	0.275	$ 249,498,168.43	TIN	TAS
ORE	Orocobre	28	8.25	$ 2,840,934,706.50	LITHIUM	SOUTH AMERICA

Battery metals blowout

The battery metals shortfall is coming sooner than expected, experts say.

A predicted 2023-2024 demand-supply pinch point for lithium appears to be happening right now, with the inaugural Battery Material Exchange auction for spodumene from Pilbara Mineral’s (ASX:PLS) Pilgangoora operation settling at a record-high $US1,250/tonne for a 10,000/t cargo.

That’s well above prevailing market price, and streets ahead of the ~$US380/t spod producers were accepting last year.

Stocks – from early-stage explorers and project developers, through to veteran producers — are reaping the benefits.

Just check out this list of lithium-facing stocks in July’s top 50:

Aldoro Resources (ASX:ARN) +54%
Prospect Resources (ASX:PSC) +52%
Lepidico (ASX:LPD) +50%
Essential Metals (ASX:ESS) +47%
Lithium Power International (ASX:LPD) +46%
Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) +39%
Neometals (ASX:NMT) +38%
Lithium Energy (ASX:LEL) +32%
Orocobre (ASX:ORE) +28%

Revenge: a dish best served coaled

A coal shortage in China – the world largest user by a significant margin — has been aggravated by lower global production and an ‘officially unofficial’ ban on Aussie imports.

Prices for Australian coking and thermal coal have recovered this year but are well short of the crazy prices China is paying after cutting off Australian imports, which have been redirected to other markets.

A bunch of non-Australia-based ASX stocks are benefitting.

In Atrum Coal’s (ASX:ATU) case, its gains over July were really just a partial recovery from early 2021 losses.

The Canada based coking coal stock plunged in Feb when its neighbour — Gina Rinehart’s Riversdale Resources, — copped a call from authorities that its $800 million Grassy Mountain mine was not in the public interest.

Cokal (ASX:CKA) has a bunch of coking coal projects in Indonesia.

Its focus is the Bumi Barito Mineral (BBM) coal project (CKA 60%), which is being developed into a 2mtpa open cut mine as we speak.

Last month, Cokal made its first drawdown of $US2 million from a $US20 million facility which will fund development of BBM “through to first production and sales, which is anticipated to occur in Q4 2021”.

New Zealand-focused producer Bathurst Resources (ASX:BRL) won an appeal in New Zealand’s Supreme Court that prevented a US$40 million payout to NZ based royalty holder L&M Coal Holdings.

It was the second lot of good news for Bathurst in as many months, after announcing in June it would exceed its revised EBITDA guidance of $55.4m just months after knocking it down on the back of a stunning recovery in coal prices.