ASX 200 mining shares are leading the market on Thursday, as resources companies recover from the March sell-off.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently up 0.5%, with the materials sector today's strongest riser, up 0.8%.
After a 32% surge in CY25, the materials sector managed just a 1.1% gain over 1Q CY26.
This was largely due to the war in Iran creating an ongoing oil shock, which threatens to limit ASX miners' production and earnings.
The materials sector fell 14.1% in March, but a rebound appears underway, with the materials index reversing course last Tuesday.
Blackwattle Investment Partners discussed several ASX mining shares in its recent round of monthly newsletters.
Here's what the fund manager had to say about the market's largest diversified ASX mining share and its biggest lithium producer.
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BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)
The BHP share price is $52.88, up 0.6% today.
The market's largest ASX 200 mining share fell 11% over the past month, but is still 38% higher over 12 months.
Blackwattle holds BHP shares in its Large Cap Quality Fund.
Portfolio managers Joe Koh and Elan Miller said BHP delivered a "solid" 1H FY26 result.
Both EBITDA and NPAT were +3% ahead of consensus driven primarily by a strong performance from the Copper division which is now the largest contributor to earnings for BHP (surpassing Iron Ore).
FCF generation was also strong and led to debt repayment and better than expected capital management in the form of dividend.
The managers believe BHP will continue to outperform the market, adding:
BHP continues to extract value from its portfolio, announcing the sell down of Antamina's silver-stream for US$4.3bn while maintaining their (BHP's) exposure to the Copper, Zinc and Lead at the mine.
BHP has identified a further US$4b of potential value to be unlocked from within their portfolio which should continue to see BHP outperform the market.
BHP called out ex China, European demand picking up, US remains steady and India continues to grow, and we believe given tight supply and fundamental demand for commodities keeps BHP well placed to benefit moving forward.
PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS)
The PLS Group share price is $5.21, down 1.8% on Thursday.
The market's largest ASX 200 lithium mining share has skyrocketed 238% over the past 12 months.
PLS Group shares have risen alongside a remarkably strong recovery in lithium commodity prices since mid-2025.
The ASX 200 mining share has also benefited from changed global supply/demand dynamics since major producer, Zimbabwe, announced export limits to encourage the development of on-shore downstream processing.
Blackwattle holds PLS Group shares in its Mid Cap Quality portfolio.
Portfolio managers Tim Riordan and Michael Teran said PLS Group operates relatively low-cost, long-life lithium mines.
They note the company's strong balance sheet, which they said provides flexibility and a competitive advantage to indebted peers.
Riordan and Teran said:
We continue to see material upside for PLS as an 'improving quality' business and view PLS as the highest quality, lithium miner on the ASX.
PLS delivered a strong 1H26 result and announced the signing of a 2-year offtake agreement with strong price floors and unlimited
price upside, cementing PLS's position as the go-to lithium spodumene producer.This has allowed PLS to de-risk the restart of its higher cost Ngungaju spodumene plant, driving significant potential earnings upside in FY27.
PLS is finally seeing the benefits from the P1000 expansion, and PLS is extremely well placed to benefit from any further recovery in lithium prices, with strong operations and significant production growth optionality, allowing for continued shareholder value creation through the cycle.
