1955: Body-builder Leo Robert, holder of the Mr Universe title, and his young son Norman, aged four and a half, flexing their muscles beside some dumb-bells. (Photo by Alan Oxley/BIPs/Getty Images)
Mining
When something is running hot, like lithium, any dog stock can have its day.
Our theory is this. For a long-term hold, it pays to look at companies that have good projects in unpopular (but essential) commodities because one day that commodity/ metal/mineral may be the Next Big Thing.
It’s called contrarian investing, and Rick Rule is a big fan.
Gold was unloved until recently, but in March it threatened the psychologically significant US$2000/oz level several times before ending on US$1980 for an 8% monthly gain.
At one point the price of bullion surged to an Australian dollar record in excess of $3000/oz.
Silver, gold’s awkward cousin, also enjoyed a strong month.
Punters got onboard with the story, and guess which precious metals stocks made the biggest gains last month? That’s right – the oversold producers and advanced project developers.
Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort. Best viewed on a laptop.
| CODE | COMPANY | MARCH 2023 RETURN % | PRICE | MARKET CAP | COMMODITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGL | Bellevue Gold | 20% | 1.28 | $1,383,194,148 | GOLD |
| RMS | Ramelius Resources | 42% | 1.27 | $1,074,095,865 | GOLD |
| ADT | Adriatic Metals | 23% | 3.8 | $843,858,668 | SILVER |
| RSG | Resolute Mining | 71% | 0.42 | $830,312,562 | GOLD |
| A4N | Alpha Hpa | 26% | 0.88 | $711,916,796 | HPA |
| WGX | Westgold Resources. | 38% | 1.31 | $606,237,094 | GOLD |
| AGG | AngloGold Ashanti | 47% | 7.01 | $588,771,249 | GOLD |
| SBM | St Barbara Limited | 23% | 0.67 | $538,917,486 | GOLD |
| SVL | Silver Mines Limited | 43% | 0.2 | $266,763,732 | SILVER |
| LIN | Lindian Resources | 23% | 0.27 | $249,839,264 | REE |
| MDX | Mindax Limited | 120% | 0.13 | $249,132,335 | GOLD, IRON ORE |
| QPM | Queensland Pacific | 20% | 0.11 | $192,098,271 | NICKEL, COBALT |
| OBM | Ora Banda Mining | 20% | 0.12 | $171,095,068 | GOLD |
| BRB | Breaker Res NL | 56% | 0.43 | $137,273,146 | GOLD |
| MNB | Minbos Resources | 27% | 0.165 | $127,079,803 | PHOSPHATE |
| DEV | Devex Resources | 20% | 0.3 | $101,964,108 | URANIUM, NICKEL, COPPER, GOLD |
| AUT | Auteco Minerals | 20% | 0.048 | $97,139,125 | GOLD |
| TGN | Tungsten Min NL | 30% | 0.13 | $86,505,570 | TUNGSTEN |
| MI6 | Minerals260Limited | 34% | 0.415 | $82,855,000 | COPPER, GOLD, REE, LITHIUM |
| INF | Infinity Lithium | 41% | 0.155 | $76,327,695 | LITHIUM |
| HMX | Hammer Metals | 37% | 0.089 | $63,248,366 | COPPER, GOLD |
| RXL | Rox Resources | 90% | 0.275 | $62,819,193 | GOLD |
| SXG | Southern Cross Gold | 22% | 0.675 | $61,081,656 | GOLD |
| BEZ | Besragold | 210% | 0.13 | $49,540,664 | GOLD |
| GBE | Globe Metals &Mining | 24% | 0.082 | $46,115,951 | NIOBIUM |
| COD | Coda Minerals | 23% | 0.27 | $38,994,382 | COPPER, COBALT |
| VR8 | Vanadium Resources | 38% | 0.083 | $37,784,165 | VANADIUM |
| MAG | Magmatic Resrce | 29% | 0.1175 | $33,626,208 | COPPER, GOLD |
| FBM | Future Battery | 31% | 0.076 | $32,516,230 | NICKEL, LITHIUM, COPPER |
| SRN | Surefire Rescs NL | 50% | 0.021 | $31,627,270 | GOLD, VANADIUM, IRON ORE, HPA |
| GWR | GWR Group | 56% | 0.095 | $31,479,232 | IRON ORE, MAGNESIUM |
| VMC | Venus Metals Cor | 30% | 0.175 | $25,821,409 | GOLD, RARE EARTHS, LITHIUM |
| STN | Saturn Metals | 24% | 0.18 | $25,763,249 | GOLD |
| AR3 | Austrare | 30% | 0.2475 | $24,752,404 | REE |
| RNX | Renegade Exploration | 150% | 0.02 | $19,565,359 | COPPER, GOLD |
| RIM | Rimfire Pacific | 33% | 0.008 | $15,815,291 | COPPER, GOLD, COBALT |
| CHR | Charger Metals | 33% | 0.38 | $14,862,885 | LITHIUM |
| GPR | Geopacific Resources | 63% | 0.026 | $13,550,969 | GOLD |
| MM1 | Midasminerals | 23% | 0.185 | $11,140,694 | GOLD, LITHIUM |
| CHK | Cohiba Min | 25% | 0.005 | $8,866,221 | ZINC, GOLD, COPPER, SILVER |
| POL | Polymetals Resources | 24% | 0.21 | $8,810,625 | ZINC, LEAD, SILVER |
| MBK | Metal Bank | 58% | 0.03 | $8,294,566 | COPPER, COBALT, GOLD |
| CAV | Carnavale Resources | 20% | 0.003 | $8,200,655 | GOLD |
| AUR | Auris Minerals | 21% | 0.017 | $8,102,641 | GOLD, ZINC, LEAD |
| M4M | Macro Metals Limited | 25% | 0.005 | $7,828,311 | LITHIUM, IRON ORE, COPPER, ZINC |
| LRD | Lordresourceslimited | 23% | 0.19 | $7,427,585 | LITHIUM |
| VAR | Variscan Mines | 40% | 0.021 | $6,680,539 | ZINC, LEAD |
| CMG | Criticalmineralgrp | 19% | 0.185 | $6,107,115 | VANADIUM |
| AYM | Australia United Min | 33% | 0.004 | $5,527,732 | GOLD |
| FAU | First Au | 25% | 0.005 | $5,473,916 | LITHIUM, GOLD, COPPER |
The heavily sold down gold mining cohort enjoyed a month of recovery, led by Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS), Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX), Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG), AngloGold Ashanti (ASX:AGG) and St Barbara (ASX:SBM).
Just look at these charts:
The biggest news came from ounce-hungry RMS, which has moved to add scale with the acquisition of Breaker Resources (ASX:BRB) and its Lake Roe gold project (32Mt at 1.6g/t for 1.7Moz) east of Kalgoorlie.
As for the (until recently) beaten down African miner RSG, Katana Asset Management portfolio manager Romano Sala Tenna sees value.
“This is speculative but if investors like the gold price and think it is going to kick from here, Resolute is a high-risk and potentially high return play because they are producing 350,000 ounces and their market capitalisation is only $800 million,” he said late March.
“They’ve got a lot of leverage for that market capitalisation producing 350,000 ounces per annum.”
Advanced precious metals project developers like Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) and Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT) are also enjoying strong prices and positive sentiment at just the right time.
ASX 200 listed BGL has designs on being one of the cheapest gold producers on the ASX when its eponymous mine near Leinster in WA opens later this year.
The 200,000ozpa mine is slated to open in the second half of 2023, with life of mine all in sustaining costs of $1014/oz according to a 2021 feasibility study, as low as $922/oz over its first five years of production.
That would place BGL far into the lowest 10% of the cost curve.
Meanwhile emerging silver producer and recent ASX 300 addition ADT has bucked the trend by making solid and consistent gains (~$2 to $3.80/sh) since October last year.
Construction at its flagship Vares project in Bosnia and Herzegovina is well advanced ahead of a September 2023 commercial start.
Silver will account for around a third of ADT’s revenue at current prices, with base metals like zinc and lead making up a third and gold and copper comprising another third of the polymetallic mine’s expected income.
Annual silver equivalent production will average 15moz at an operating cost of US$7.30/oz.
