The Meteoric Resources (ASX: MEI) share price has surged a remarkable 352% so far in 2023.
The aptly named ASX mining share closed on 30 December trading for 5.3 cents per share. In late afternoon trade on Thursday, shares are swapping hands for 24 cents per share.
You won't hear any recent shareholders complaining about that.
As for the slightly longer term, the Meteoric Resources share price is up an eye-watering 2,036% over the past 12 months.
What's driving ASX investor interest in 2023?
Focusing back on 2023, the Meteoric Resources share price really began to take off in late December, and shares have continued to charge higher throughout the first half of the year.
On 16 December the miner announced it had acquired the Caldeira Project, a potential "world-class" ionic clay rare earth element project, located in Brazil.
Many rare earth elements play a critical role in the global energy transition, not to mention most all high-end tech.
Hence, investor sentiment lit up when the company said the advanced nature of Caldeira meant it was ready to "move rapidly towards becoming a significant participant in the global rare earth industry".
In an update on the project, the company noted that early testwork was "very encouraging".
What else has sent the Meteoric Resources share price flying in 2023?
ASX investor interest has been maintained throughout the year amid a series of positive announcements from the miner.
Atop its REE project in Caldeira, the company is prospecting for gold at its Palm Springs Gold Project, located in Western Australia.
On 23 February, the miner reported on promising assay results from its exploratory reverse circulation drill campaign at Palm Springs. Investors reacted by sending the Meteoric Resources share price up 4% on the day and up another 8% on the following day.
And the supportive news continued into May, with the miner announcing a maiden mineral resource at Caldeira on the first of the month. Though that may have fallen shy of expectations, with shares ending the day down 11% on the day.
The last price-sensitive news announced by Meteoric Resources came out on 8 May.
That's when the miner reported that eight of 11 new diamond holes drilled at Caldeira revealed a "significant depth extension of the target clay zone beneath the historic auger holes".
The Meteoric Resources share price is up 96% since that announcement.
