After two COVID-affected years, 2022 was a bumpy year for finance markets.
A war in Ukraine, geopolitical conflicts, political changes and the rising cost of living were all big factors.
The ASX All Ordinaries index lost about 7% over the course of the year, but there were plenty of companies that bucked the trend.
In this article:
- The breakdown
- The best 10
- Sustainability gains
- And a word for other sectors
The breakdown
More than half of the list managed to double - or better - their share price over the past 12 months.
The vast majority – 82 – were resources companies, with software, retail, engineering, biotech and medical tech companies making the bulk of the rest.
The top 20 companies all at least tripled their share price over the course of the year, while the top eight all managed to increase their share price fourfold or more.
The best 10
TerraCom (ASX:TER) Resources Ltd was the year’s best-performing company, its share price gaining 489% over the past 12 months.
Mostly invested in coal mining, TerraCom (ASX:TER) has four projects in Queensland and seven in South Africa.
Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) Ltd, sitting pretty with a market cap of $9.3 billion, was the year’s third-biggest gainer, with its shares passing the $11 mark as they rose 362%.
Rare earth minerals miner Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX:LIN) was the fourth-biggest winner of the year, gaining 353%.
The company has now completed 25% of the mine development drilling at its Kangankunde Rare Earths Project in Malawi, and is well-funded, securing $16 million to aid that development last month.
“We are grateful to our new and existing investors for their support for this placement, which was heavily bid. It reflects investors’ recognition that Kangankunde has all the hallmarks of a globally significant rare earths project of considerable scale and grade,” executive chairman Asimwe Kabunga said of the support.
Back in Australia, Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX:GAL) rounded out the top five, gaining 300% this year as it made significant progress on its plentiful Western Australian-based projects.
This followed an impressive 2021, in which its shares shot up 261%.
Galileo has deposits that are prospective for a range of metals, including nickel, copper, cobalt, palladium and rhodium.
It is particularly bullish about the Callisto palladium-platinum-gold-rhodium-copper-nickel discovery within its Norseman project; in the past two months Galileo shares have risen on the back of both impressive nickel and rhodium grades.
Cardno (ASX:CDD) Ltd, an engineering and environmental services firm, was the only non-resources company in the top 10, its shares gaining 293%.
Sustainability gains
A number of companies with an interest in a greener, more sustainable future made their runs up the boards in 2022.
Latin Resources Ltd (ASX:LRS), which gained 250% this year, has just revealed the maiden mineral resource for the Colina lithium deposit in Brazil.
The MRE revealed that the resource for the Colina deposit is 13.3 million tonnes at 1.2% lithium dioxide, reported above a cut-off of 0.5% lithium dioxide with 2.08 million tonnes in the indicated category and 11.17 million tonnes inferred.
Frontier Energy Ltd (ASX:FHE), which hopes to be a leader in the development of renewable energy projects in Australia, saw its shares gain 231% this year.
The company is advancing the development of the large-scale solar energy project in the southwest of Western Australia, with its Bristol Springs Solar Project designed to initially produce 114MWdc of electricity.
The company recently completed a Pre-Front End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED) for a proposed Stage One (36.6MW) hydrogen facility to be built at the project.
Managing director Sam Lee Mohan said: “We are delighted with the outcome of the Pre-FEED as both capital and operating costs are in-line with the PFS estimates, despite the higher degree of certainty with estimates in the Pre-FEED (compared to the PFS) at a time when inflation globally is still at a record high.
Rare earth projects are resonating strongly with investors, with Kingfisher (LON:KGF) Resources Ltd (up 141%) and Parabellum Resources Ltd (ASX:PBL) (up 113%) both making significant progress in 2022.
Kingfisher’s Mick Well, Kingfisher and Arthur River Projects in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia are all prospective for rare earth elements, recently wrapping up its 2022 program of works.
“2022 was a fantastic year for the company,” executive director and CEO James Farrell said.
“In January we announced the breakthrough REE discovery at MW2 and not long after, we followed up with further high-grade monazite mineralisation intercepts with 5 metres at 3.45% TREO and from the same program, we also identified high-grade clay hosted REE mineralisation at the Mick Well prospect.
“Our understanding of the geology in the Mick Well area is steadily advancing and we certainly believe we are looking at a regional-scale REE system with potential for large-scale carbonatite intrusions.”
Parabellum, meanwhile, is targeting the first quarter of 2023 for a resource update at its Khotgor rare earth project in Mongolia.
And a word for other sectors
Anteris Technologies Ltd (ASX:AVR, OTC:AMEUF) was one of the year’s best-performing non-mining companies, gaining 188% throughout 2022.
The company received some great news last month, with its proprietary DurAVR™ transcatheter heart valve (THV) device receiving word from the US FDA that it is eligible for an investigational device exemption (IDE) application, allowing Anteris to kick off an early feasibility study (EFS).
“I am pleased and eager to begin the DurAVR™ THV EFS to further evaluate this promising novel technology,” said Dr Michael Reardon, Allison Family distinguished chair in Cardiovascular Research, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX and study chair for the DurAVR™ THV Early Feasibility Study.
“The single-piece, native-shape valve design of the DurAVR™ THV represents an advancement to existing heart valve technologies. I am excited to see the potential of the DurAVR™ THV in treating patients suffering from severe aortic stenosis.”
- Daniel Paproth
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