World's 100 hottest mining stocks - up by an average of 367% in six months

Commodity prices are often a correlation, but investors now increasingly chase potential acquisition targets.

JOHANNESBURG - 

A selection of 100 of the world's best performing mining stocks shows an aggregate value of USD 33bn, and a weighted average gain of 367% over the past six months, vastly outperforming any other known grouping of equities. There are multiple themes that emerge from the names on the list, but the presence of gold and silver miners and developers is close to overwhelming. 

Sub-themes include clear evidence that investors are chasing potential acquisitions, companies with proven treasures in the ground, but lacking broader access to the substantial funds required to build big mines, and, in many cases, infrastructure as well. There are also names that were brutally sold down, and are simply bouncing back to perceived fair value, especially with something of a thaw in broader credit markets. 

Canada listed Century Mining, as a sampling, was sold down to a cent a share, and then recovered to well above 15 cents on news that it had secured a substantial non-bank loan.

As a rule, Russian stocks rank as the most brutally oversold as all. The bounce back from some of these stocks, especially those with gold and/or silver in the equation, has been huge; JSC Polymetal, a silver and gold digger, is up 600% from lows. London listed Fresnillo, the world's biggest primary silver miner, is up more than 400%. 

Among the top ten or so "hottest" global mining stocks sit a number of gold names that rank as clear acquisition targets: Novagold (for its huge Donlin Creek project in Alaska, where Barrick, world's No 1 gold name, is already a partner); Greystar (for its huge Angostura gold discovery in Colombia); San Anton Resources (for its superb Cerro del Gallo project); Guyana Goldfields (for its very neat Aurora project), and Moto Goldmines, for outlining more than 20m ounces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Further top gold names include La Mancha Resources, for fast-growing production and demonstrable entrepreneurial flair,  Regis Resources, for its Duketon project, and Tanami Gold, which dramatically returned from a low stock price of, basically, zero, and also highly rated and highly valued Osisko. Another supporting sub-theme factor for gold stocks has been the strong generally rise in Chinese stocks; Zhaojin has cashed in on both fronts with a stock price that has bounced by nearly 500%. While gold stocks, in particular, remain well supported by underlying commodity prices, the connection is not as clear with other favoured sectors such as silver and uranium. 

Gold bullion currently trades 9% off its dollar highs, while silver is far further out, at 33% below. Uranium prices have done little if anything for months. First Uranium (market value: USD 810m) ranks as one of the hottest in the mining field, along with Extract Resources, a Namibian uranium name that has come under the very close attention of mining major Rio Tinto and most recently by Polo Resources.

Another top performer, Niger Uranium, represents the far smaller exploration sector, but with management that has an enviable record. Then there is Ivanhoe Australia - part of the wider Robert Friedland clan - which continues to announce fan-gathering drill results from its molybdenum-rhenium Merlin project, but retains gold, of course, as one of its main broader targets. Ivanhoe itself ranks as a top 100 performing mining stock. 

Corporate action, real or imagined, is always a theme; in the case of top-performer Aricom, it's very real, in the form of Peter Hambro.   Investors are also prepared to chase certain stocks among the least generally favoured sectors; in diamonds, examples include Mano River Resources, Tsodilo Resources, Kopane Diamonds, Pangea Diamondfields, and Peregrine Diamonds, and in coal, Evergreen Energy, Homeland Energy, and Waratah Coal. 

Copper stocks generally have run the hardest, after gold and silver names, but individual performances have been relatively subdued. Northern Dynasty stands out, however, with its huge copper-gold Pebble project in Alaska, where mining major Anglo American is the joint venture partner. Copper-gold is also a dominant theme for Ivanhoe, with Oyu Tolgoi, where major miner Rio Tinto is a partner.

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responses to this article

Good article thanks by KEvin on April 02 2009, 12:53 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Resource Stocks ResourceBubble.com is getting back into the game, site looks like its having an overhaul. Starting to look good. They featured a few of the stocks on the above list and have made plenty of good calls in their tenure. by JC on April 02 2009, 12:54 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

G U Y F Y I--one of 100 companies that had great stock market performance. by GRACIEJ@ROGERS.COM on April 03 2009, 06:35 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

One Dollar is better than 1 Cent About half of the list has not retrraced the 50% mark some are still over 90% off their High. One Dollar is better than one Cent, but what is that Dollar invested in? by Coco Pan on April 03 2009, 13:34 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

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