Initially fuelled by the spectre of rising inflation and more recently by Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, gold has soared from US$1,829 at the beginning of the year to US$1,929 today.

That 5.5% boost has helped propel the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) to a 4.4% year-to-date gain, even as the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has fallen 5.7%.

While not all ASX gold shares have matched those gains, some have done much better.

Below we take a look at 3 little-known junior gold miners whose share prices are going gangbusters.

ASX gold share nears first gold pour

Our first outperforming junior gold miner is Calidus Resources Ltd (ASX: CAI).

The Calidus share price has leapt 23.9% since the opening bell on 4 January. That gives Calidus a market cap of $326 million.

Investors have rewarded the miner following a series of positive exploration and production announcements this year.

The most recent boost came on 28 February, when the ASX gold share reported it was on track for its first gold pour, approximately 10 weeks down the road.

Junior gold miner with a foothold in lithium

Our second booming ASX gold share is Castle Minerals Limited (ASX: CDT), which also has exposure to lithium.

The Castle Minerals share price has leapt 42.5% this year, giving the miner a market cap of $52 million.

Castle Minerals has released a number of positive announcements in 2022, including exploration license approvals and the identification of 4 high priority gold and lithium targets at its Beasley Creek project in Western Australia.

This ASX gold share leads the pack

Leading the pack of the 3 ASX gold shares under our spotlight today is West Wits Mining Limited (ASX: WWI).

The West Wits share price has surged 50% since the opening bell on 4 January. It now has a market cap of $81 million.

In February, West Wits reported that its Witwatersrand Basin Project in South Africa had successfully produced its first ore. The company said the project "is enroute to becoming a large gold mine in South Africa, ultimately targeting production of up to 95,000 ounces" of gold per year.

The post 3 ASX junior gold mining shares going gangbusters in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Up 3.33% at time of writing today, Castle Minerals shares have soared an eye-popping 77.78% in a week.

Below, we look at the lithium exploration update that seems to be driving investor interest in the ASX resource minnow.

What lithium exploration update did Castle announce?

The Castle Minerals share price has been surging at such a rate the ASX issued a price query last Friday.

The miner responded to its fast-rising share price. Castle Minerals said it wasn't aware of any announced information to the market which, if known by some, may explain the gains.

The company did note that various stock market trading forums "created a large amount of speculation around the company's general value" last Thursday and Friday.

Today Castle Minerals reported that it has applied for 2 exploration licences. The licences are prospective for lithium-bearing pegmatites at its Woodcutters prospect in Western Australia.

The licences, located in the Bald Hill pegmatite field, would extend the company's lithium footprint by 242 square kilometres. This would complement its Wilgee Springs lithium and Kambale graphite battery metals sector projects.

Commenting on the exploration licence applications, Castle Minerals' managing director Stephen Stone said:

We are very pleased to have applied for open ground at Woodcutters in the renowned 'Western Australian lithium corridor' which is also host to the Mt Marion and Bald Hill deposits

The 2 applications… encompass some 10 kilometres of the same prospective belt where GSWA mapping has confirmed the presence of numerous pegmatites but where it did not specifically sample for lithium. What is encouraging is there are elevated levels of lithium recorded in multi-element geochemical data obtained from regolith sampling during exploration for gold in 2011.

Castle Minerals share price snapshot

So far in 2021, the Castle Minerals share price is up 220%. That compares to a year-to-date gain of 11% posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Over the past month Castle Minerals' shares are also up 220%.

The post The Castle Minerals (ASX:CDT) share price has surged 78% in a week. Here's why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.