Australian mining stocks experienced a dynamic week, with copper and gold explorer CGN Resources (ASX:CGR) leading the charge with a remarkable 58.18 percent gain. This surge followed the company’s announcement of heritage clearance for high-priority drill targets at its Leonora gold project, paving the way for a maiden 4,000-metre reverse circulation drilling campaign. The broader S&P/ASX 200 index experienced a modest uptick, while gold and silver prices faced declines, highlighting the company-specific catalysts driving investor interest in select mineral plays.
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Market and Commodities Overview
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The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) opened the week on Monday, July 13, at 8,797.00 and closed on Thursday, July 16, at 8,840.70, reflecting a 0.5 percent increase over the period. However, this positive market sentiment did not extend to precious metals. Gold prices decreased by 2.21 percent in US dollars, moving from US$4,120.69 on Monday to US$4,029.63 by Thursday. In Australian dollars, the decline was more pronounced, with gold falling 2.86 percent from AU$5,926.46 to AU$5,756.74.
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Silver experienced even larger dips, decreasing 4.69 percent in US dollars from US$59.89 to US$57.08. In Australian dollar terms, the metal fell by 5.33 percent, from AU$86.14 to AU$81.55. Despite these commodity price headwinds, several mining companies focused on gold, helium, and critical minerals delivered strong performances, as detailed by the Investing News Network’s weekly round-up. The data for this analysis was retrieved using TradingView’s stock screener, reflecting price movements between the first trading day of the week and Thursday, and includes companies trading on the ASX with market capitalisations greater than AU$10 million within relevant mineral sectors.
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Top-Performing ASX Mining Stocks
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1. CGN Resources (ASX:CGR)
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Weekly gain: 58.18 percent
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Market cap: AU$10.6 million
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Share price: AU$0.087
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CGN Resources, an exploration company targeting copper, gold, nickel, and critical metals in Western Australia, secured the top spot this week. The company’s share price rocketed upwards on Monday from its prior week’s close of AU$0.055, continuing to a peak of AU$0.087 on Thursday. This significant movement followed Monday’s announcement that CGN had completed heritage surveys and received clearance from the Darlot Traditional Owner group for five high-priority drill targets at its Christmas Well and Panhandle assets, part of the newly expanded Leonora gold project.
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This clearance paves the way for a maiden 4,000-metre reverse circulation drilling campaign targeting areas named Ox Tongue, Lambs Fry, Sweetbread, Rocky Mountain Oyster, and Pelican. Impact drilling at Christmas Well is scheduled to commence on Friday, June 17. Managing Director Stan Wholley commented, “This is a major milestone for CGN and marks the transition from project generation to drill testing some exceptionally compelling gold targets.” He added, “We are particularly encouraged that our first pass targets received heritage clearance, allowing us to systematically commence testing our portfolio of high-quality opportunities ranging from some high-grade historical prospects to completely untested greenfield targets.” The company’s quarterly activities report on Thursday further highlighted these completed surveys and the acquisition of the Desdemona gold project, which expanded the Leonora project by 142 square kilometres to approximately 386 square kilometres.
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2. Kaili Resources (ASX:KLR)
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Weekly gain: 52.78 percent
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Market cap: AU$10.32 million
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Share price: AU$0.110
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Sydney-based Kaili Resources, focused on gold, base metals, and critical minerals, saw its shares spike to AU$0.110 on Thursday, up from AU$0.072 at the close of the prior week. The catalyst was the company’s Thursday announcement that a drilling crew is scheduled to mobilize next week to its Coodalya tenement in South Australia to kick off a targeted rare earth elements (REE) drilling campaign. This program will consist of 16 holes, averaging 18 metres deep, for up to 288 metres of shallow drilling, designed to infill previous exploration and identify further prospective REE areas. Kaili’s principal geologist, Mark Derriman, stated, “This focussed drilling program will build on previous drilling in 2025 and earlier this year and allow the company to consider more extensive drilling programs within adjacent private land.”
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3. Laramide Resources (ASX:LAM)
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Weekly gain: 47.52 percent
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Market cap: AU$144.27 million
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Share price: AU$0.745
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Toronto-based Laramide Resources, a uranium exploration and development company dual-listed on the ASX and TSX, saw its shares close last week at AU$0.505 before spiking from AU$0.53 to AU$0.745 on Wednesday. While no new updates were released by the company this July, its last project update on June 16 detailed that the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) had advanced the application for the Crownpoint-Churchrock groundwater discharge permit to the public notice phase. This permit is crucial for supporting in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium extraction at Churchrock Section 8. President and CEO Marc Henderson noted that this “demonstrates continued progress through the state permitting process and represents another important step toward the potential development of one of the largest uranium resources in the United States.” Laramide plans ongoing collaboration with NMED, local communities, and Tribal governments.
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4. Blue Star Helium (ASX:BNL)
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Weekly gain: 40 percent
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Market cap: AU$36.92 million
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Share price: AU$0.007
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Subiaco-based Blue Star Helium, an independent helium exploration and production company, saw its shares rise to a peak of AU$0.007 on Thursday, up from AU$0.005 last week. The company announced a significant commercial milestone on Tuesday, July 14, with the first sale of helium from its Pinon Canyon plant, marking the end of its commissioning and optimisation phase. This initial delivery is under a recently secured three-month fixed-price offtake agreement. Managing Director and CEO Trent Spry highlighted that this “first sale” milestone “establishes Blue Star as an active supplier into the US domestic helium market at a time when reliable, in-country supply commands a premium for US users.” The joint venture plans to drill three new development wells in the second half of 2026 to further ramp up production.
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5. Pivotal Metals (ASX:PVT)
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Weekly gain: 30.77 percent
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Market cap: AU$21.01 million
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Share price: AU$0.017
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Brisbane-headquartered Pivotal Metals, an explorer and developer with copper, nickel, and platinum group metals projects in Québec, Canada, experienced a 30.77 percent gain this week, with its share price reaching AU$0.017. While the company did not release new project updates this week, its shares have been on the rise since a major resource upgrade at its flagship Horden Lake project was announced on July 7. This update delivered a substantial 42 percent growth, increasing the total resource to 52.4 million tonnes of ore at 1.05 percent copper equivalent, totaling 549,000 tonnes copper equivalent. An investor presentation on the same day indicated a scoping study for Horden Lake is targeted for the third quarter of 2026, with expansion drilling to follow in Q1 2027.
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The performances of these top Australian mining stocks underscore the market’s responsiveness to specific project milestones and resource advancements, even amidst broader commodity price fluctuations. From maiden drilling campaigns to first helium sales and significant resource upgrades, these companies demonstrated compelling individual narratives that captured investor attention this week.
