3 ASX stocks that thrashed the market

ASX rises 0.5%, but these three gold miners saw gains of more than 8%

Mike King

Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge. With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further. Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business. You can see all of Mikes' holdings here

Published March 11, 2013 4:20 pm AEDT

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has closed up 0.5%, extending gains since Jun 2012 to end at 5,146.9. The market has now risen over 27% since June 27 2012. On Friday, we saw both the Dow Jones index and the S&P 500 index both up 0.5%, on strong US jobs numbers.

The Australian dollar was lower against the US dollar, fetching US 102.2 cents.

These three stocks were the best performers in the top 200, rising more than 8%.

Kingsgate Consolidated Limited (ASX: KCN) saw its shares rise 9.4% to end at $4.04, after managing director Gavin Thomas suggested over the weekend that there is a good chance of the company completing an initial public offering (IPO) of its Thai subsidiary, Akara Mining this year. Mr Thomas also suggested that at current prices, the gold miner's shares were a 'steal', given the turnaround of its Challenger gold mine, and further resource discoveries at its Chatree mine in Thailand.

Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) climbed 8.7% to close at 99.5 cents, after the gold miner upgraded its resources and reserves at its Paulsens mine. The company says the mine now has more than five years of production left, and could be extended again, given high grade drilling results already achieved. Paulsens is set to produce between 100,000 and 115,000 ounces of gold in 2013, with total costs of between $850 to $950 an ounce, generating up to $85 million in surplus cash. In what is an amazing turnaround, Northern Star acquired the Paulsens mine for $40 million in July 2010. At that stage, the Paulsens mine had an expected life of around eight months.

St Barbara Limited (ASX: SBM) saw its shares rise 8.3% to close at $1.305. With gold mines in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, St Barbara is one of the largest listed gold miners on the ASX. The company is expected to produce between 175,000 to 190,000 ounces of gold in the 2013 financial year, after taking over Allied Mining in September 2012.

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The Motley Fool's purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool's free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson. Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King owns shares in Kingsgate Consolidated.

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