Who made the gains in October? Here are the top ASX resources winners

• Critical minerals back on the investment menu in October
• Mount Ridley top resources gainer after releasing maiden gallium resource
• Litchfield Minerals, Cufe take silver and bronze

With gold prices taking a breather after reaching an all time high of about US$4230/oz towards the latter half of October and suffering a pullback, it is unsurprising that punters have cast their eyes elsewhere for gains.

This wandering eye has proved to be a boon for gallium explorer Mount Ridley Mines (ASX:MRD), which was the biggest gainer on our list of Top 50 resources stocks (and on the ASX generally) in October.

Shares in the company skyrocketed a massive 967% after it dropped a maiden gallium resource of 838.7Mt grading 29.3ppm at its namesake project in WA’s Esperance region.

Typically produced as a byproduct of bauxite and zinc processing, gallium is prized for its use in semiconductors, optical-electronic devices, solar panels and several military applications.

Growing demand and China’s imposition of a total export ban in December 2024 has seen prices surge up to 56% to US$375/kg by October 2025.

While the Mount Ridley project was initially known for its rare earths mineralisation, the new gallium resource hosted in the same clay and saprolitic horizons represents a valuable secondary revenue stream.

The company is now investigating potential innovative metallurgical solution programs targeting a mixed rare earth carbonate product with gallium and other critical elements as secondary recoveries.

Litchfield Minerals (ASX:LMS) was second on our list with a 454% gain after reporting the intersection of over 100m of disseminated copper-zinc sulphide mineralisation in hole OGRC010 at the Oonagalabi project in the Northern Territory.

Geological logging and handheld XRF indicated the presence of several broad, higher-grade zones within a strongly mineralised stratigraphic sequence.

Support for Oonagalabi’s potential came from the intersection of disseminated copper–iron sulphides in hole OGRC012 at the VT1 conductor where a rock chip taken directly above it had returned gold, silver, copper and tellurium.

Assays are currently pending from the laboratory.

Tony Sage sitting on high perch

With two of the companies that he chairs in the third and fifth positions, veteran mining executive Tony Sage enjoyed an enviable position during the month.

CuFe (ASX:CUF) earned its third-place rank with a 317% gain after a technical review of historical drilling highlighted high-grade bismuth intersections at the Orlando deposit in the Northern Territory.

Having reported previously overlooked bismuth resources in an update of its Gecko deposit, the review found the critical mineral – production of which is also dominated by China – could also be found at the Orlando deposit.

In previous drilling by the company, the review found significant intercepts such as 10m at 1.52% bismuth from 100m in 220RC10.

This hole is immediately adjacent to historical holes that contain intercepts of 8m at 3.78% bismuth from 87m (ORL98), including 4m at 5.5% bismuth from 89m and 8.8m at 2.45% bismuth from 85.4m (D58), including 4.9m at 4.42% bismuth from 88.1m.

CuFe is now on the lookout for areas with higher bismuth grades and is now expecting an update on the Orlando resource.

Meanwhile, fifth placed European Lithium (ASX:EUR)  rose 186% in October.

The company and Critical Minerals Corp (NASDAQ:CRML) secured a 100% controlling interest in the potentially massive Tanbreez rare earths project in Greenland at the beginning of the month, with EUR holding 7.5% and CRML the remaining 92.5%.

This was followed by CRML signing an offtake letter of intent with REalloys a little more than a week later for the potential supply of up to 6.75Mt of REE concentrate from Tanbreez.

During the month, EUR also sold US$121m worth of CRML shares, giving it over US$190m in cash reserves.

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

Small Cap Standouts

Pivotal Metals (ASX:PVT)

Fourth placed gainer PVT out on 188% after electromagnetic surveying at its Midrim project within the Belleterre project area in Quebec found a new, untested conductor below the Alotta high-grade deposit.

The large conductive plate is directly below the known zone of massive magmatic sulphide mineralisation at Alotta which hosts very high-grade copper, nickel, platinum and palladium values from surface to about 90m depth.

Importantly, it extends the deposit’s potential by an additional 150m down-plunge with the plate remaining open to the east due to seasonal limitations in survey coverage.

It also highlights that drilling from the northeast is the optimal drill orientation as the plate was not intersected by previous drilling completed from the southwest.

Tambourah Metals (ASX:TMB)

While the focus has stepped aside from gold for now, it hasn’t stopped small cap plays from benefitting when the make notable finds.

This is certainly the case for Tambourah Minerals which reported at the beginning of October the intersection of high-grade gold in follow-up drilling at Beatty Park Sth prospect about 160km north of Meekatharra, WA.

Results from the drilling topped up at 24m at 18.8g/t gold from 20m including 4m at 92.2g/t gold from 24m.

The results highlight the Beatty Park Sth prospect as an emerging gold system with significant potential for growth through drilling of both oxide and fresh rock targets.

It remains open along strike and at depth with just 25% of the 500m long soil anomaly tested to date.

Ark Mines (ASX:AHK)

The interest in rare earths is further demonstrated by Ark Mines, which closed up 113% in October after securing the important environmental authorisation approval from the Queensland state government for its Sandy Mitchell project.

It paves the way for the company to secure a mining licence for the project with the only remaining regulatory obstacle being the completion of a security self-assessment.

AHK has also completed a 219 hole resource expansion drill program totalling 2324m with samples collected and sent for processing.

Results from this drill program will be incorporated into a forthcoming comprehensive pre-feasibility study.

Environmental baseline studies for the project are also nearing completion.

Austral Gold (ASX:AGD)

Another gold play sailing strongly is Austral Gold, which has restarted production at the Casposo mine in Argentina following successful refurbishment of the processing plant.

Initial production is being sourced from existing stockpiles with plans to transition to open pit mining through a collaborative operating arrangement.

AGD is in negotiations with a local contractor for the provision of mining services under its supervision and expects to finalise an agreement soon.

During commissioning, about 230 gold equivalent ounces of doré was smelted from residual plant material and historical samples that had been returned to Casposo by Argentine customs authorities.

Production guidance for the remainder of 2025 from Casposo is forecasted at 4000-6000 gold equivalent ounces.

Hawk Resources (ASX:HWK)

Another small cap making big waves in October is Hawk Resources which secured a binding option to earn up to 80% of the Olympus scandium project in WA’s West Musgrave region.

The project hosts a large 7km by 4km +500ppm scandium in soil anomaly that was defined by historical portable XRF analyses.

This is supported by select rotary air blast intersections of up to 11m at 934ppm scandium from surface.

Scandium is a strategic high value rare earth metal with critical applications in lightweight aluminium alloys, fuel cells and advanced technologies.

HWK has also raised $5m through a placement to advance drilling at its existing Cactus project in Utah and de-risk Olympus.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Mount Ridley Mines, Cufe, Pivotal Metals, European Lithium and Ark Mines are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.