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Mining
After a really strong start to the year, March was a mixed bag for commodities.
Copper prices hit two month highs, but gold and nickel lost some shine and uranium prices dropped to year lows (but don’t worry just yet, the overall trend is still upwards).
And despite the tsunami of electric vehicle/ battery-related news, battery metals had a disappointing month — vanadium is down, cobalt is still in the dumps, while lithium and graphite look pretty flat… for now anyway.
Our top 50 mining stocks for March are, once again, dominated by gold. In fact, stocks in our top 50 with a gold focus jumped another 6 per cent on last month.
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In other words, quality gold and copper plays are the place to be right now.
Small gold explorer Spectrum (ASX:SPX) acquired the historic Penny West gold mine in December last year.
Up to that point Spectrum had been spinning its wheels in a sort of exploration purgatory.
Spectrum had a diminutive $5.3 million market cap when it kicked off the maiden drill program at Penny West on February 20.
It immediately hit high grades about 150m north of the historic high-grade Penny West open pit, which had been mined in 1991/1992 for 85,000 ounces.
These results included 4m at 105.2 g/t gold from 151m, including 1m at 292.8 g/t gold from 153m. That’s bonanza grade (which is a made up term meaning ‘super high grade’, just fyi)
By the end of March, Spectrum’s market cap was $26.3 million.
An explorer to keep your eye on.
It was a nice little recovery month for Australian heavy rare earths producer Northern Minerals (ASX:NTU).
The share price surged 107 per cent after Northern Minerals unveiled a maiden resource for the (appropriately-named) Dazzler deposit, which boasted grades three times higher than the Browns Range project average.
And Westfarmers’ failed $1.5 billion takeover play for global rare earths heavyweight Lynas (ASX:LYC) didn’t hurt.
That news sent a bunch of junior rare earths players, including Northern Minerals, on a bit of a late-month run.
Before it jumped 100 per cent for March, gold and copper explorer Ausmex Group (ASX:AMG) was well and truly flying under the radar.
Ausmex has a solid plan; start by mining its extensive, shallow high-grade gold and copper deposits by the end of the year using spare third-party processing in Cloncurry, Queensland.
This early cashflow will help fund its main game – discovering gigantic iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits.
The kicker here is that mining giant Newcrest is right next door, currently drilling a massive IOCG target, Ausmex MD Matt Morgan told Stockhead in early March.
“I saw all the action. They drilled 8 holes, over 850m deep each from April to August and they have not released an assay,” he says.
“Newcrest drilled 850m diamond core holes. They cost a fortune.
“They had whole camps there. It was 24-hour drilling. If there was four dud drill holes I don’t think they would’ve kept going to eight.”
Here are the top 50 mining small caps for the month of March:
Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort. Best viewed on a laptop
| Ticker | Name | One Month Price Change % | One Year Price Change % | Share Price [01/03] | Market Cap [Million $AU] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPX | SPECTRUM METALS | 525.00 | 72.41 | 0.027 | $26,279,546.00 |
| VRM | VERDANT MINERALS | 114.29 | 3.45 | 0.030 | $33,112,844.00 |
| NTU | NORTHERN MINERALS | 107.50 | 0.00 | 0.083 | $127,809,240.00 |
| BMT | BERKUT MINERALS | 101.30 | -6.06 | 0.155 | $8,419,083.00 |
| GBG | GINDALBIE METALS | 100.00 | 30.00 | 0.026 | $38,990,564.00 |
| AMG | AUSMEX MINING GROUP | 100.00 | 133.33 | 0.140 | $57,737,736.00 |
| NCR | NUCOAL RESOURCES | 100.00 | 33.33 | 0.026 | $21,521,148.00 |
| SRK | STRIKE RESOURCES | 97.62 | 38.33 | 0.079 | $12,062,744.00 |
| CMC | CHINA MAGNESIUM CORP | 95.00 | 95.00 | 0.039 | $18,035,104.00 |
| TIE | TIETTO MINERALS | 80.95 | 2.70 | 0.180 | $43,555,780.00 |
| AWV | ANOVA METALS | 77.78 | -70.91 | 0.016 | $10,226,116.00 |
| PKO | PEAKO | 66.67 | 25.00 | 0.025 | $1,800,517.00 |
| RES | RESOURCE GENERATION | 57.89 | 55.84 | 0.110 | $69,765,640.00 |
| AGD | AUSTRAL GOLD | 57.14 | 4.76 | 0.110 | $58,759,032.00 |
| HOR | HORSESHOE METALS | 55.56 | -30.00 | 0.013 | $2,725,130.75 |
| EMU | EMU NL | 54.55 | -23.60 | 0.070 | $8,925,322.00 |
| N27 | NORTHERN COBALT | 50.00 | -81.82 | 0.063 | $3,228,804.25 |
| VAR | VARISCAN MINES | 50.00 | -70.54 | 0.002 | $1,906,610.38 |
| SHK | STONE RESOURCES AUSTRALIA | 50.00 | -25.00 | 0.003 | $2,434,938.50 |
| POD | PODIUM MINERALS | 48.21 | -17.00 | 0.083 | $7,940,192.50 |
| RND | RAND MINING | 47.20 | 47.06 | 2.495 | $150,070,448.00 |
| EUR | EUROPEAN LITHIUM | 46.07 | -42.22 | 0.130 | $72,632,896.00 |
| AHQ | ALLEGIANCE COAL | 45.24 | 12.96 | 0.061 | $31,181,092.00 |
| BBX | BBX MINERALS | 43.75 | 31.43 | 0.300 | $92,983,752.00 |
| PEN | PENINSULA ENERGY | 43.18 | 34.04 | 0.305 | $77,164,664.00 |
| KZR | KALAMAZOO RESOURCES | 42.86 | 51.16 | 0.130 | $11,633,515.00 |
| KCN | KINGSGATE CONSOLIDATED | 40.62 | -31.82 | 0.228 | $50,900,836.00 |
| STM | SUNSTONE METALS | 40.62 | 28.57 | 0.045 | $54,669,456.00 |
| WKT | WALKABOUT RESOURCES | 36.36 | 68.54 | 0.150 | $45,637,464.00 |
| AUQ | ALARA RESOURCES | 36.36 | 20.00 | 0.030 | $18,870,528.00 |
| TSL | TITANIUM SANDS | 35.71 | -9.52 | 0.019 | $12,071,007.00 |
| KOR | KORAB RESOURCES | 34.48 | -15.22 | 0.035 | $12,045,383.00 |
| MEI | METEORIC RESOURCES | 33.33 | -65.71 | 0.011 | $7,997,469.00 |
| LNY | LANEWAY RESOURCES | 33.33 | 166.67 | 0.008 | $29,440,528.00 |
| DHR | DARK HORSE RESOURCES | 33.33 | -77.78 | 0.005 | $7,904,346.50 |
| AKM | ASPIRE MINING | 31.58 | 257.14 | 0.026 | $83,163,528.00 |
| HAS | HASTINGS TECHNOLOGY METALS | 31.03 | -38.71 | 0.190 | $147,834,384.00 |
| CHZ | CHESSER RESOURCES | 30.00 | -5.45 | 0.052 | $11,669,069.00 |
| RMI | RESOURCE MINING | 28.57 | -40.00 | 0.009 | $2,666,406.00 |
| TLG | TALGA RESOURCES | 26.53 | -25.30 | 0.652 | $135,356,192.00 |
| DRM | DORAY MINERALS | 25.29 | 87.93 | 0.535 | $244,940,288.00 |
| CYL | CATALYST METALS | 25.13 | 90.24 | 2.340 | $184,608,320.00 |
| LI3 | LITHIUM CONSOLIDATED | 25.00 | -25.00 | 0.075 | $6,811,659.00 |
| ARX | ARC EXPLORATION | 25.00 | -34.43 | 0.200 | $5,050,146.50 |
| E2M | E2 METALS | 25.00 | 110.53 | 0.190 | $15,141,588.00 |
| AOP | APOLLO CONSOLIDATED | 25.00 | 0.00 | 0.265 | $47,869,136.00 |
| EFE | EASTERN IRON | 25.00 | -54.55 | 0.005 | $2,059,501.88 |
| AUL | AUSTAR GOLD | 25.00 | -37.50 | 0.004 | $16,951,552.00 |
| KGM | KALNORTH GOLD MINES | 25.00 | -28.57 | 0.005 | $4,471,200.50 |
| MHC | MANHATTAN CORP | 25.00 | -80.77 | 0.005 | $3,706,393.50 |
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