FY24 Resources Winners: REEs, niobium and gold explorers vie for the podium

You were asking for the top small cap resources gainers for FY24? Say no more.

Three commodities stood out last financial year. Pic: Getty Images.

• Rare earths hunters in Brazil make huge gains in FY24 and niobium juniors ride WA1 Resources' Luni euphoria, but a scandium junior steals top spot

• Wildcat and Raiden rise to the top of an average lithium market

• Spartan soars on Never Never find and gold's all-time highs

It was a big FY24 for ASX small caps in certain commodities – with WA1’s huge niobium find growing in West Arunta, bringing with it a pack of explorers to the region. Juniors also led the way in Brazil’s emerging rare earths economy and gold hunters rode all-time highs.

In a tough market that saw most explorers struggle and trail large caps, a handful of companies posted outsized gains in the past financial year.

Here, we lay down our Top 100 resources that made the gains for FY24.

Who stood out amongst the pack?

Our list contains resources companies that were active over the full year and excludes other top performers that IPO’d after the start of FY24 or left the market before its completion.

FY24 Small Cap Resources Winners

Here are the best performing ASX resources small caps for the last financial year.

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Code	Company	Price	FY24 % Change	Market Cap
RIM	Rimfire Pacific	0.03	460	$67,458,032
VMM	Viridismining	1.165	459.1	$74,469,092
SPR	Spartan Resources	0.945	437.7	$1,045,980,702
GHY	Gold Hydrogen	1.475	417.7	$113,077,959
AWJ	Auric Mining	0.23	400	$34,167,275
AKM	Aspire Mining Ltd	0.35	400	$177,672,945
SXG	Southern Cross Gold	2.56	385	$500,940,641
TCG	Turaco Gold Limited	0.215	316.6	$160,925,112
CE1	Calima Energy	0.009	307.4	$5,700,924
CXU	Cauldron Energy Ltd	0.025	247.8	$30,663,266
WA1	Wa1Resourcesltd	21.15	235.6	$1,297,264,099
RDN	Raiden Resources Ltd	0.031	220	$84,284,737
MAUCA	Magnetic Resources	1	192	$20,418,862
EQN	Equinoxresources	0.335	190.9	$41,372,501
WIA	WIA Gold Limited	0.09	188.5	$101,264,470
YRL	Yandal Resources	0.135	187	$37,493,066
STK	Strickland Metals	0.11	168.3	$240,835,622
WC8	Wildcat Resources	0.305	162.5	$361,969,289
HYT	Hyterra Ltd	0.046	154.5	$42,600,651
MCT	Metalicity Limited	0.002	150	$8,971,705
SIH	Sihayo Gold Limited	0.002	150	$24,408,512
CND	Condor Energy Ltd	0.036	146.1	$20,808,012
MMI	Metro Mining Ltd	0.053	145.4	$314,804,602
TM1	Terra Metals Limited	0.078	144.8	$28,421,538
RCR	Rincon	0.145	144.6	$41,804,324
RDM	Red Metal Limited	0.16	144.1	$47,921,390
OBM	Ora Banda Mining Ltd	0.335	140	$622,126,387
SUM	Summitminerals	0.295	137.9	$18,354,292
SUH	Southern Hem Min	0.035	137.5	$25,768,402
MAU	Magnetic Resources	1.225	136	$316,050,726
MRM	MMAOffShor	2.68	130.4	$1,015,777,960
TGM	Theta Gold Mines Ltd	0.18	127.2	$128,077,171
CUE	CUE Energy Resource	0.11	126.9	$76,820,951
LGM	Legacy Minerals	0.315	118.1	$33,218,324
AUE	Aurumresources	0.355	116.6	$40,411,371
KP2	Kore Potash PLC	0.028	115.3	$19,885,597
WCN	White Cliff Min Ltd	0.014	114.2	$22,741,424
ARR	American Rare Earths	0.29	106.8	$143,092,757
FFM	Firefly Metals Ltd	0.845	105.5	$406,198,228
CBY	Canterbury Resources	0.046	104.5	$7,900,081
AMI	Aurelia Metals Ltd	0.21	104.3	$355,228,562
AUQ	Alara Resources Ltd	0.056	103.5	$41,649,077
KRR	King River Resources	0.013	100	$19,866,870
PNX	PNX Metals Limited	0.005	100	$23,880,859
RC1	Redcastle Resources	0.018	100	$5,909,115
JAT	Jatcorp Limited	0.625	100	$52,041,511
KIN	KIN Min NL	0.057	100	$67,154,581
SMI	Santana Minerals Ltd	1.165	98	$240,525,824
BMN	Bannerman Energy Ltd	3.12	96.9	$555,445,037
IPX	Iperionx Limited	2.32	95.5	$596,807,841
ADY	Admiralty Resources.	0.012	83.3	$19,553,687
PCL	Pancontinental Energ	0.022	83.3	$178,894,889
ACP	Audalia Res Ltd	0.021	81.8	$14,534,860
IDA	Indiana Resources	0.085	81.4	$53,921,558
AX8	Accelerate Resources	0.027	80	$16,760,356
LOT	Lotus Resources Ltd	0.33	78.3	$622,613,476
DYL	Deep Yellow Limited	1.405	76.1	$1,371,410,141
FRB	Firebird Metals	0.14	75.8	$20,642,403
BSE	Base Res Limited	0.26	73.5	$306,283,081
RHK	Red Hawk Mining Ltd	0.87	73.3	$173,835,987
ENR	Encounter Resources	0.73	71.4	$329,104,479
ARD	Argent Minerals	0.015	70	$21,501,385
WGX	Westgold Resources.	2.63	69.4	$1,190,250,175
SRZ	Stellar Resources	0.02	69.2	$38,835,036
TG6	Tgmetalslimited	0.19	68.1	$13,510,433
CZR	CZR Resources Ltd	0.28	62.8	$64,827,028
G11	G11 Resources Ltd	0.026	62.5	$19,477,175
ALR	Altairminerals	0.004	60	$19,334,599
JMS	Jupiter Mines.	0.27	58.9	$529,201,436
FHS	Freehill Mining Ltd.	0.006	56.5	$17,999,067
TLM	Talisman Mining	0.255	55.8	$48,021,689
BTR	Brightstar Resources	0.018	54.5	$82,259,724
HZN	Horizon Oil Limited	0.19	53.5	$308,372,783
NTL	New Talisman Gold	0.023	53.3	$10,155,180
LAM	Laramide Res Ltd	0.79	52.8	$16,080,389
RHI	Red Hill Minerals	7.8	52.8	$498,784,299
PAC	Pacific Grp Ltd	10.76	50.3	$561,643,798
ICN	Icon Energy Limited	0.006	50	$4,608,082
MRQ	Mrg Metals Limited	0.004	50	$10,100,475
OAU	Ora Gold Limited	0.005	50	$35,705,798
OLH	Oldfields Holdings	0.089	50	$17,778,279
PUA	Peak Minerals Ltd	0.005	50	$5,206,883
WEL	Winchester Energy	0.003	50	$3,745,266
ADX	ADX Energy Ltd	0.1	50	$56,795,045
AGE	Alligator Energy	0.052	50	$201,228,967
CYL	Catalyst Metals	1.18	49.3	$265,007,402
MLX	Metals X Limited	0.43	47.3	$389,672,909
MRL	Mayur Resources Ltd	0.24	47	$94,824,287
COE	Cooper Energy Ltd	0.215	46.6	$528,007,646
CVN	Carnarvon Energy Ltd	0.2	46.1	$357,749,322
NXG	Nexgenenergycanada	10.55	46	$830,250,061
USL	Unico Silver Limited	0.16	42.8	$47,848,255
VMS	Venture Minerals	0.019	42.8	$43,066,914
SVM	Sovereign Metals	0.7	41.4	$394,102,381
ARL	Ardea Resources Ltd	0.47	40.8	$93,850,970
BMR	Ballymore Resources	0.16	39.1	$28,276,894
TRM	Truscott Mining Corp	0.06	37.7	$10,470,960
MEU	Marmota Limited	0.045	36.7	$48,896,026
CAV	Carnavale Resources	0.004	33.3	$13,694,207
MTL	Mantle Minerals Ltd	0.002	33.3	$15,493,615

Top of the table

Right at the top, those who bought Rimfire Pacific Mining (ASX:RIM) on July 1, 2023 saw 460% gains for the minnow, but at 3cps, a market cap of ~$68m and 2.25 billion shares on issue, longer term holders have seen plenty of dilution.

The East Lachlan Fold Belt explorer has been rising on scandium hits at its Fifield project 70km north-west of Parkes in New South Wales. All a bit weird, but there is the chance a handy scandium resource puts Rimfire under the microscope of $170 billion market giant Rio Tinto.

A critical mineral used in lightweight, high-strength aluminium alloys in aviation, baseball bats, lacrosse sticks, bicycle frames and metal halide lamps, Rio paid $21 million for a project just 10km to the north in April last year which could eventually become the world's largest standalone scandium mine.

A big discovery from Rimfire could present the opportunity for Rio to expand its control of the precious but lightly traded material.

Rio entered the scandium market by accident, a curio alongside its massive multi-billion buck iron ore, aluminium and copper divisions, because it generates scandium oxide as a waste stream of its titanium dioxide operations in Canada.

Rio became the first North American producer of scandium oxide at its RTIT Quebec operations in Sorel-Tracy in May 2022.

REE winners

One of those of note not on the list, is Gina Rinehart-backed Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE) with its 510Mt Rocha da Rocha REE portfolio of projects in Brazil, missing out cut-off by only listing in December. It still made a handy 93% gain.

With adjacent tenements and coming in at #14 on the FY24 winners list, Equinox Resources (ASX:EQN) saw a 71% rise in value as it proves up its own Campo Grande REE project in the region.

However the gold medal for FY24 gains goes to another ASX-listed Brazilian rare earther, Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX:VMM), which has skyrocketed 459% while proving up its colossal 201Mt at 2590ppm TREO Colossus project. Most of that gain was realised in November last year, when VMM announced major discoveries at Colossus, before a pullback this calendar year.

New mining and exploration licenses for its Cupim South and Centro Sul target areas were recently granted and results from the area to be incorporated into the next resource upgrade.

WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) was #11 on the list, with another smashing 12 months on the back of high-grades of niobium that culminated in a maiden resource of 200Mt at 1% Nb for its Luni discovery – making it the largest niobium find on the planet for the last 70 years.

In December last year, Canaccord Genuity lifted its price target on the niobium hopeful from $11.50 to $17.50.

This sent the market into a frenzy and WA1 up 25% in a day to an all-time high of $12.15 and a market cap of over $516m before Christmas. It's kept climbing on new discoveries and now the Luni resource estimate.

That’s helped the stock price post a 235% increase across FY24.

Argonaut now hold a $25.45 price target on the stock, with analyst George Ross (early days though they are) thinking the mine could run for 17 years and generate $400m in NPAT a year. Again, early days.

The market darling has gone from strength to strength, rising 7816% in just two years from a $9m market-capped minnow to a >$1.3bn heavyweight.

It also sent a flurry of ASX juniors into the West Arunta, including Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR), which came in at #63 with a 71% stock rise during the period.

Gold gainers

With new management leading the way, the company formerly known as Gascoyne Resources – now Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) – has turned the once cursed Dalgaranga gold project in WA's Mid-West into one of the most exciting gold plays on the ASX. It has consistently showed high-grade gold seemingly every time the team gets the drillbit out.

Since a recapitalisation in early 2023 the explorer hasn't looked back, as the Never Never gold discovery has grown to 953,000oz at 5.74g/t with a exploration target suggesting SPR could touch 1.6-1.9Moz at the future underground mine. The nearby Peppers discovery has added to the intrigue.

Investors backed the gold hunter to a 437% gain in FY24, sitting at #4 on our winners list as it continues expanding the endowment ahead of an expected resource update. And understandably $2.2 billion capped mid-tier miner Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS), owner of the nearby Mount Magnet gold project, has taken a keen interest as well, building a stake of almost 18%.

Southern Cross Gold (ASX:SXG) recently agreed to merge with Canadian miner Mawson Gold which will see it list on the TSX as well. The move comes after months of proving up bonanza gold at its Sunday Creek project north of Melbourne which has thick, high grades of gold-antimony mineralisation.

The $500m market-capped gold digger rose 385% over the course of the last financial year on the back of well-received results.

READ: Around the world and back – why this geo returned home in search of Victoria's next major gold discovery

African gold developer WIA Gold (ASX:WIA) was up 189% on enthusiasm around its Kokoseb project, with Magnetic Resources (ASX:MAU) also more than doubling after posting a 1Moz+ resource for its Lady Julie North deposit near Leonora.

Shoutouts go to Strickland Metals (ASX:STK), Turaco Gold (ASX:TCG) and Auric Mining (ASX:AWJ),who all made the top 20 with gold on their minds.

Mid-tier Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) was also an interesting inclusion on the list, the $1.25bn miner up ~69% after cancelling its hedges, returning to profitability and paying dividends for the first time since 2021, along with announcing a $2bn merger with TSX-listed Beta Hunt gold mine owner Karora Resources.

Lithium gainers

Backed by Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN), Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) is proving up the Tabba Tabba lithium project in WA’s Pilbara.

Looked over by previous companies including Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), the project is one of many former tantalum deposits being retooled for the electric vehicle age, following in the footsteps of Pilgangoora, Wodgina, Greenbushes and Bald Hill.

WC8 had a wild ride in FY24, rising from 12c per share and peaking at 92c in late November 2023 before dropping sharply – yet was still one of the best performing lithium stocks with a 162% increase in a market year explorers of the battery metal would rather forget.

Raiden Resources (ASX:RDN) saw improvement too, with exploration at its Andover North-South project – adjacent to one of the most prolific hard rock Li2O discoveries on the planet, Andover.

That was bought from Azure Minerals by Chilean lithium major SQM and Gina's Hancock Prospecting for a cool $1.7b, with Azure a certain inclusion on our list had it not been taken over by the mining giants.

Energy winners

On its way to commercial production of natural hydrogen and up to 17.5% helium from its Ramsay project on South Australia’s York Peninsula, Gold Hydrogen (ASX:GHY) took its share price along for the ride, gaining over 417% over the last fiscal period.

Testing showed some of the highest purity levels seen globally and Stage 2 well work will inform flow rates and future well designs.

Penny stock Condor Energy (ASX:CND) (previously Global Oil and Gas) soared in the 12 months to July after reviewing its Piedra Redonda gas field off the coast of Peru to contain a best estimate of 404 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas from the existing C-18X and C-13X appraisal wells.

There’s multiple proven plays and more than 20 prospects and leads already mapped in the prolific Talara Basin, where to the south, 1.6 billion barrels of oil have been produced to-date.

Other interesting gainers

While most of the biggest gains come at the bottom end of the market, some larger players also made the gains in FY24.

Uranium prices hit a 16-year-high in January, and while they've since cooled from US$107/lb to ~US$85/lb, last year's second half rally brought joy for a number of yellowcake plays such as dual-listed NexGen Energy (ASX:NXG), Lotus Resources (ASX:LOT), Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL), and the top uranium gainer, WA uranium hopeful  Cauldron Energy (ASX:CXU) (+247%).

$390m capped Tasmanian tin miner Metals X (ASX:MLX) rode the spice metal's 2024 rise onto the list, while the manganese price bump seen when South32's GEMCO project was wiped out by a cyclone did the same for South African producer Jupiter Mines (ASX:JMS).

Just snagging a spot in the top five was one of the most unique stocks on the list, Aspire Mining (ASX:AKM), up 400% after releasing a number of announcements boasting of the high quality of metallurgical coal at its Ovoot deposit in Mongolia.

The country is now one of China's top suppliers of steelmaking coal imports, with its 'fat' coking coal expected to contain lower ash and sulphur than Chinese domestic products.

At Stockhead we tell it like is is. While Viridis Mining & Minerals, Raiden Resources, Strickland Metals, Spartan Resources, Magnetic Resources, Brazilian Rare Earths and Equinox Resources are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as FY24 Resources Winners: REEs, niobium and gold explorers vie for the podium