ASX 200 gold stock Minerals 260 Ltd (ASX: MI6) is down around 2% to 92 cents a piece at the time of writing.
Despite the latest decline, the shares are still up a huge 114% year to date and have jumped 319% since September 2025.
For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 1% today and around 1% for the year-to-date.
This rally in the ASX 200 gold stock means that $3,000 invested in Minerals 260 Ltd 12 months ago is already worth over $12,500 today!
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What has caused the ASX 200 gold stock to rally higher?
There have been a few factors driving up Minerals 260's shares over the past year. These include the company's huge resource growth and substantial capital.
The company has rapidly expanded its gold resource base at Bullabulling following aggressive and successful drilling programs. Bullabulling, which is located in Western Australia, is reported to be one of Australia's largest undeveloped gold projects.
The site has now surpassed 6.2 million ounces, up significantly from the company's December 2025 resource estimate of 4.5 million ounces. The company has more drilling programs planned later this year and into 2027, focusing on upgrading existing resources and exploring for new zones.
Elsewhere, in February this year, Minerals 260 also announced it had signed a $220 million strategic funding package with Canadian gold royalties and streaming giant Franco-Nevada Corp (NYSE: FNV) to accelerate and de-risk the development of the Bullabulling gold project. The update saw its share price quickly jump higher.
Minerals 260 got another boost in June when it was added to the ASX 200 index amid a quarterly rebalance.
Most recently, the company announced that it has been granted an expanded Mining Lease at its Bullabulling Gold Project and has acquired additional regional tenements, expanding its total project area to 1,527 km². The move broadens its exploration potential and underpins the scale of the Bullabulling Gold Project.
Can Mineral 260's shares keep climbing higher?
If analyst forecasts are anything to go by, there is still plenty more upside to come out of Minerals 260's shares over the next 12 months.
According to TradingView data, all six brokers have a buy/strong buy rating on the shares. The average $1.355 target price implies a potential 47% upside at the time of writing. Some are even more bullish and expect the shares could climb 74% higher to $1.60 over the next 12 months.
