Australian mining services company Mineral Resources Limited's (ASX: MIN) share price rocketed 21.6% in July. The increase in the Mineral Resources share price put it in the top five gainers on the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO), which itself gained 0.5% for the month.
Notwithstanding these gains, the company's share price wasn't immune to the COVID-19 selloff. The Mineral Resources share price dropped 36% from 20 February through 23 March, almost in line with the losses incurred by the ASX 200.
Since then, the company's shares have trended steadily higher, ending July up 104% from their 23 March low at $25.74 per share.
Year-to-date, Mineral Resources' shares are up 69.9%. At its current price of $28.06 per share, the company has a market capitalisation of $5.3 billion.
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What does Mineral Resources do?
Mineral Resources is a mining services company with a portfolio of operations across multiple commodities. Services are provided to clients in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, with the company operating mine sites in the Pilbara and Goldfields, and shipping through Utah Point and Esperance.
Mineral Resources has a portfolio of subsidiary businesses comprised of industry leading brands. These include Process Minerals International Pty Ltd, Energy Resources Limited, and Mining Wear Parts.
Why did the Mineral Resources share price rocket 22% in July?
Although this wasn't reflected in the 36% share price drop from late February into late March, Mineral Resources' operations weren't negatively impacted by the COVID-19 shutdowns hampering so many other companies.
In fact, the company reported a record breaking June quarter for its iron ore business with total iron ore production reaching 4.2 million wet metric tonnes (wmt). That was up 22% on the previous quarter. Its full year shipments of 6.7 million wmt were in line with guidance.
Additionally, the company hit record production levels at its Mt Marion Lithium Project.
Mineral Resources also sold its non-core manganese assets to Resource Development Group Ltd (ASX: RDG) for equity equivalent to a 75% shareholding in RDG.
High iron ore prices — currently US$105.59 per dry metric ton — have helped support Australia's iron ore miners' share prices across the board. Mineral Resources is no exception.
In late afternoon trading, the Mineral Resources share price is at $28.06 putting the company's shares up another 9% since 31 July.
