The S&P/ASX 300 Metal & Mining Index (ASX: XMM) has spiked almost 5% this year to date and 10.5% over the past 12 months.

Within this buoyant sector are 2 small-cap mining shares that are outperforming their peers in the ASX resources space.

They are Siren Gold Ltd (ASX: SNG) and Firebird Metals Ltd (ASX: FRB). Take a look at their 5-day returns on the chart below.

Siren Gold Ltd (ASX: SNG) 

Shares in Siren Gold are soaring above 25% today and are currently exchanging hands at 30 cents apiece.

Investors are piling into the gold miner following a company announcement advising it has intersected gold during drilling at its Alexander River project in New Zealand.

As The Motley Fool reported earlier today, "The intercept in the drill hole returning visible gold was comprised of 2-3 metres of strong acicular arsenopyrite, followed by a 0.6 metre quartz vein with significant visible gold".

The price of gold has shot to record highs of US$2,052 per troy ounce in recent days. Traders have since pared gains so now the yellow metal is sitting at US$1,991/t.oz.

With the gold spot and futures both rallying to new heights, investors have been piling into ASX gold shares.

In the past 12 months, Siren shares have tanked by 22% but have soared by almost 15% in the past 30 days.

Siren Gold has a market capitalisation of $23.5 million.

Firebird Metals Ltd (ASX: FRB)

Shares in Firebird Metals are also surging higher today and now trade at 39 cents apiece following a company announcement.

At one point today, Firebird shares were trading more than 20% higher at 39.5 cents each before levelling off a little.

Investors are responding positively to the company advising of a "game changing resource upgrade" at its flagship Oakover project.

Firebird announced it had delivered a 170% increase in resources at the site following completion of a 233-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling program.

The Oakover resource has grown to 172 Mt @ 9.9% Mn (7% Mn cut-off) from 64 Mt @ 10% Mn", Firebird said. "Importantly 58.7 Mt at 10.4% Mn at the Sixty Sixer deposit is now in the Indicated category."

Now the company has set its next moves following the discovery. Apparently, management has made the decision to pivot the growth strategy.

From here on in, it will "focus on completing key workstreams to assess a larger long-term (20+ years) operation to create a substantial manganese hub".

After listing on the ASX in early 2021, Firebird shares have fallen 30% into the red, but have soared 28% this week.

Firebird has a market capitalisation of $17.73 million.

The post 2 tiny ASX mining shares leaping 20% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's why investors are hyped about the Firebird share price. 

Firebird Metals overview 

Firebird was initially an unlisted public company, incorporated on 4 January 2016 as Forrestania Pty Ltd. Its parent company is the listed explorer, Firefly Resources Ltd (ASX: FFR). On 18 December 2020, Firefly announced it would demerge its Oakover manganese project. The spin-out resulted in Firebird as a standalone listing on the ASX. 

Firebird holds an interest in, or has entered into agreements to acquire, several projects.

The Oakover Project comprises one granted exploration license and two exploration applications. The project is situated approximately 90 km east of Newman in Western Australia's East Pilbara Manganese Province.

The Hill 616 Project comprises one granted exploration licence, located within the Southeast Pilbara region of Western Australia approximately 85 km south-east of Newman. And finally, the Disraeli Project comprises one pending exploration licence application and is also near the Newman region. 

The company will use the IPO funds to further explore and develop the projects. This includes the completion of infill and extensional drilling at the Oakover Project, targeting resource expansion and increased definition of higher grade domains, a systematic exploration of the Hill 616 and Disraeli projects to deliver a maiden JORC resource and the pursuit of other resource and acquisition opportunities that have a strategic fit for the company. 

What's driving the Firebird share price? 

The Firebird share price got off to a stellar start on the ASX. The company's portfolio of projects is focused on manganese, often used in a variety of important alloys and batteries. Firebird highlights manganese as the fourth most utilised metal globally and the cheapest, most abundant of the nickle, manganese, cobalt (NMC) cathode materials. 

With a heightened level of global investment and commitment to renewable technology and electric vehicles, Firebird believes manganese is perfectly placed to deliver future growth opportunities.

At the time of writing, Firebird shares are trading 3.67% higher for the day at 56.5 cents with a market cap of around $28 million.

The post Firebird Metals (ASX:FRB) share price heats up on IPO appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.