Three ASX mining shares defied the sell-off in the materials sector on Tuesday.
The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) was today's second-worst-performing sector index, losing 1.01% by market close. ASX 200 lithium shares were hit particularly hard, with the Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price dumping a massive 15.82% by the day's end.
But back to our big-moving little miners, which also outperformed the broader market by a large margin. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) didn't move much at all today, finishing the session with a 0.07% loss.
Let's uncover why these mining shares were off to the races on Monday.
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Victory Goldfields Ltd (ASX: 1VG)
The Victory Goldfields share price finished Tuesday's trade up by a sizeable 30.56%.
Earlier in the session, shares of the gold junior exploded over 70% after the company posted news regarding a new discovery of not gold, but rare earths (REE).
Victory Goldfields revealed the drilling results from its North Stanmore REE project located in Western Australia, which included high-grade heavy rare earth oxide (HREO) yields.
The discovery was described as being 'significant' as it's up to 350% more valuable than previously reported deposits.
Victory Goldfields executive director Brendan Clark commented that the discovered grades and ratios "potentially make the discovery one of the most valuable ionic clay hosted rare earth systems compared to our peers based on our high basket price."
Lycaon Resources Ltd (ASX: LYN)
The Lycaon Resources share price also gained an impressive 32.26% on Tuesday.
The mineral explorer announced this morning it had entered into a binding heads of agreement to acquire the Stansmore Carbonatite Project located northwest of Alice Springs.
Elements explored at the site are niobium and rare earths.
The company's technical director, Thomas Langley, described the news as "an exciting opportunity for Lycaon".
Lycaon Resources is a microcap ASX mining share with a market cap of just $14.5 million.
BBX Minerals Ltd (ASX: BBX)
Finally, BBX Minerals ended Tuesday's trade up by 23.68%.
There was no news from the company today, but shares could be surging higher on the euphoria of yesterday's announcement.
The mineral explorer reported that recent bioleaching test work had delivered impressive results. BBX Minerals reported that there was a "significant increase in reported precious metals following [the] bioleaching process".
Further studies are underway that will include assay results using a larger sample size.
The technology will reportedly help with "metal extraction from low-grade ores and mineral concentrates".
