S&P/ASX All Ordinaries (ASX: XAO) shares are up 0.47% to 7,866.1 points on the first trading day of 2024.
Let's look back and see which ASX All Ords shares shone more brightly than the rest in 2023 based on share price growth, according to CommSec data.
Best ASX All Ords shares of last year
Wildcat Resources Ltd (ASX: WC8)
It's no surprise to see Wildcat at the top of this list. What a year it was for the junior ASX lithium explorer. It recorded absolutely explosive share price growth of 2,796%. Wow! The ASX All Ords share hit a 15-year high of $1.01 in November. That was due to assay results from its Tabba Tabba lithium-tantalum project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Management said the company was "uncovering a tier-1 lithium deposit at Tabba Tabba". ASX 200 mining giant Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) built a 19.85% stake in the company last year. The Wildcat share price is currently 69 cents, down 1.44% at the time of writing.
Azure Minerals Ltd (ASX: AZS)
Fellow ASX All Ords lithium share Azure also knocked it out of the park in 2023, with a 1,544% gain. Azure also attracted major new investment, with Hancock Prospecting and Mineral Resources both building stakes. This followed Azure accepting a $3.52 per share takeover offer from Chilean giant Sociedad Quimica y Minr de Chile SA (NYSE: SQM). Hancock and SQM eventually joined forces with a renewed bid of $3.70 via a scheme of arrangement or $3.65 if the scheme proposal failed and an off-market takeover ensued. Azure shares are currently $3.70 and steady for the day. They reached a 52-week high in November at $4.37 apiece.
WA1 Resources Ltd (ASX: WA1)
WA1 Resources shares skyrocketed by 789% in 2023. The niobium explorer booked a strong finish to the year. The company announced positive drilling results from its West Arunta Project in Western Australia in late December. In the following week, the WA1 share price rose to a new 52-week high of $13.13. Ferroniobium is a steelmaking micro-alloy that adds strength as well as heat and corrosion resistance. It is used in the manufacture of wind turbines and oil and gas pipelines. The ASX All Ords mining share is changing hands today for $12.71, up 2.5% so far.
Meteoric Resources NL (ASX: MEI)
This ASX All Ords mining share lived up to its name in 2023 with a 391% capital gain. Novus Capital stock broker and Meteoric investor John Edwards explains that the company acquired a tier-1 ionic clay rare earth element project in Brazil last year. It's called Caldeira, and Edwards reckons the tenements "are among the biggest and richest in the world". He says the company is now a potential takeover target. He has a 12-month share price target of up to 50 cents a share on the All Ords stock. The Meteoric Resources share price is currently steady at 26 cents. It hit a 52-week high of 28 cents in July.
Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: NEU)
The Neuren Pharmaceuticals share price was the best performer of the ASX 200 in 2023 and the fifth-best member of the ASX All Ords, which incorporates the top 500 companies. A big driver of the healthcare stock's 214% gain in 2023 was US FDA approval of its Rett syndrome treatment, Daybue. Another was the top-line results from Neuren's Phase 2 clinical trial of NNZ-2591 in kids with Phelan-McDermid syndrome. The ASX All Ords share is trading for $24.88, down 0.36% on Tuesday. Its 52-week high is $25.95.
