WA gold miners the kings of the ASX as 2026 draws to a close

WA gold stocks have dominated the share market’s best performers in 2025, delivering outsized gains off the back of bullion’s golden year. With just six trading days left in the year, gold miners account for eight of top-10 best performers on the S&P-ASX200 index. Six of those are headquartered in WA. The companies have delivered an average gain of 159.5 per cent since January 1, easily outperforming the broader market’s modest 5.75 per cent growth. The ASX200’s top honours, however, seem almost certain to be claimed by defence stock DroneShield, barring a sharp reversal by month’s end. While nearly 60 per cent off its year high, the drone maker is still well clear of other contenders and tracking towards a gain of 250 per cent for what has been a rollercoaster year marked both by contract successes and corporate governance concerns. Others in the broader market have done better though. Consider Dateline Resources, a Sydney-based gold play with ambitions to develop a gold and rare earths project in California. Listed in the All Ordinaries index, Dateline shares have leapt nearly 5800 per cent in value, according to Bloomberg data, soaring from well under 1¢ to 20.5¢. That’s generated an enviable return for the unnamed US investor who took up 100 million shares in a Dateline placement at just 0.7¢ a share in mid-April. The $700,000 investment is now worth $20.5m. Gold has had a stellar year and remains on track to record its best annual gain since 1979, up 65 per cent to $US4319 an ounce as of late Friday. The metal has been boosted by geopolitical tensions that have enhanced its safe haven appeal, buying by central banks and investors seeking diversification. Its outlook for 2026 is supportive of more gains, with Goldman Sachs this week tipping the metal will hit a record $US4900/oz by December next year. Its run over the past 12 months, through the chaos of US Donald Trump’s tariffs and falling global interest rates, has swelled coffers at gold companies selling into rising prices and generated hefty profits for bosses on the receiving end of generous stock grants when bullion was lower. Having hit a record high of $7.71 this week, Regis Resources is just pipping Catalyst Metals in the top-10, with Genesis Minerals, Evolution Mining, Vault Metals, Newmont, Capricorn Metals and Westgold Resources in their wake. The gold bunching is only interrupted by lithium miner Liontown Resources, which has put on more than 170 per cent in 2025 after weak prices for the battery metal torched lithium plays last year. The bigger losers in 2025 include prominent stocks rocked by scandal or poor financial performance. WiseTech is down more than 40 per cent for since January after 18 months of turmoil linked to allegations against its founder and chief executive Richard White. Mexican fastfood company Guzman Y Gomez has lost some of its shine as it struggles to grow at previous rates, while IDP Education has been hurt by tougher visa regulations for international students. Treasury Wine Estates has nearly halved since August on persistent problems with its long-suffering US business, and asset manager HMC is dealing with a string of problems with its investments that have eroded shareholder confidence.