As such, I've had a look through the research reports from Bell Potter this week and selected three that profile companies that, if they meet their potential, could deliver substantial returns.

Let's see who they like.

Maronan Metals Ltd (ASX: MMA)

This ASX-listed mineral exploration company is developing a high-grade, polymetallic deposit 60km east of Cloncurry in Queensland, an established mining district.

Bell Potter said the company's most recent resource update was dated in June last year and included 122 million ounces of silver, 2 million tonnes of lead, 271,000 tonnes of copper, 760,000 ounces of gold, and 18,000 tonnes of zinc.

The broker added:

An ongoing 40,000m diamond drill program is targeting Resource conversion and material for met test work with an updated mineral resource estimate expected late 2026. In March 2026, MMA was awarded a Mineral Development Licence, enabling development of a box cut and exploration decline to de-risk the Resource and provide key infrastructure ahead of production. A Pre-Feasibility Study and maiden Ore Reserve are scheduled for mid-2027. Permitting activities are at an advanced stage, with a Mining Lease application expected to be submitted in late 2026.

Bell Potter has a price target of 76 cents per share on the company, compared with 38.5 cents currently.

Alpha HPA Ltd (A4N)

Alpha HPA produces ultra-high-purity aluminium products that are vital to the semiconductor industry.

Its stage one HPA facility is producing the full range of products for supply to its customers, "in support of the Company's customer qualification process with over 100 end-users''.

Stage 2, the company says, "will be the world's largest, single-site facility for the manufacture of high-purity aluminium materials''.

Bell Potter said that the company recently reiterated that the stage two build was on schedule and on budget.

They added:

A4N's recent commentary relating to potential volume expansions beyond Stage 2 give us further comfort on the long-term adoption of HPA by the semiconductor sector and therefore product demand.

Bell Potter has a price target of $1.50 on the company, compared with the current price of 52 cents.

Santana Minerals Ltd (ASX: SMI)

Santana Minerals recently released results from an infill drilling program at its Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project (BOGP) in New Zealand. Results included 24.4m at 10.9 grams per tonne of gold.

Bell Potter said the project already had "compelling" financial metrics, and the infill drilling was adding to this.

The broker added:

The BOGP is one of the most advanced and highest margin greenfield gold projects on the ASX. Despite the technical progress, the share price has traded lower on perceived risk around the pending fast track approvals determination. In our view, the project is technically robust, designed to exacting standards and operating conditions that stand up to intense scrutiny.

Bell Potter has a price target of $1.70 on the stock, compared with the current price of 43 cents.

The post Bell Potter is tipping these 3 ASX materials stocks to return better than 100% each appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The ASX 200 materials sector, dominated by miners, was the best of the 11 market sectors, rising 47% and returning 52% in total.

The S&P/ASX 300 Metals & Mining Index (ASX: XMM), which captures more of the explorers than the ASX 200, did even better.  

ASX 300 mining shares rose 53%, and delivered a total return of 59%.

Australia is in the midst of a new mining boom driven by five key elements.

Many commodities rose in value in FY26, which boosted the earnings of the 5 best ASX 200 mining shares of the year.

Here, we look at three ASX mining shares that brokers recommend buying now for FY27.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The BHP share price is up 2.6% to $58.35 today, and up 52% over 12 months.

BHP was one of the best performers for capital growth amongst the ASX 200 large-cap shares last year.

Blake Halligan from Catapult Wealth explains his buy rating on BHP shares:  

The global miner holds dominant positions in iron ore and copper and is leveraged to increasing demand during the energy transition.

Despite the Jansen impairment and the risk of industrial action at iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, near term earnings momentum remains strong.

The balance sheet remains robust with low net debt, while a recent dividend yield above 3 per cent adds income appeal.

Read more about what the experts anticipate for BHP shares over the next 12 months.

Nickel Industries Ltd (ASX: NIC)

The Nickel Industries share price is 89 cents, up 2.3% today and up 21% over 12 months.

Bell Potter has a buy rating with a 12-month price target of $1.55 on this ASX 300 nickel share.

This implies potential capital growth of almost 75% over the next 12 months.

The broker said:

NIC offers nickel price leverage and diversified margin exposure across an integrated value chain.

The HPAL expansion transactions will further balance NIC's earnings into downstream higher-margin operations and preserve earnings through the nickel price cycle.

Maronan Metals Ltd (ASX: MMA)

The Maronan Metals share price is 43 cents, down 1.2% today and up 93% over 12 months.

Maronan is developing a silver-lead and copper-gold deposit in Queensland's Cloncurry region.

The mine is one of Australia's largest undeveloped silver-lead and copper-gold deposits.

Morgans initiated coverage on this ASX silver share with a speculative buy call and a 66-cent target this month.

This implies a potential 53% upside over the next 12 months.

The broker said:

The wholly-owned Maronan Mineral Development Lease (MDL 2028) was approved in September 2025, after the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) evaluated a 10-year underground mine life based on 22% of the total resource.

The resource to JORC Code (2012) standards contains 122Moz silver, 2Mt lead, 271kt copper and 0.76Moz gold, with yearly production 5.4Moz silver equivalent (AgEq) at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of A$30.18/oz (~US$20/oz) AgEq.

While the PEA is robust, MMA is yet to deliver a feasibility study, secure development finance, receive grant of a Mining Lease, and commence the path from construction to production.

With 40-45% exposure to silver and 20-25% to lead, commodity prices are also the key to the level of profitability.

The post 3 ASX mining shares to buy now: experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This compares to a 1.6% decline for the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in the calendar year to date (YTD).

The ASX 200 materials sector rose by 32% last year, largely due to soaring share prices for mining companies. 

This year, ASX mining shares have fluctuated due to a metals sell-off in late January and today's continuing global oil shock.

The long-term picture is that Australia is in the midst of a new mining boom powered by a new commodities super cycle.

If you're looking for investment opportunities, here are 2 ASX mining shares recommended by experts this week.

Maronan Metals Ltd (ASX: MMA)

The Maronan Metals share price is 37 cents, up 2.8% today and down 15% YTD.

The company is developing the Maronan silver-lead and copper-gold deposit in the Cloncurry region of northwest Queensland.

The mine is one of Australia's largest undeveloped silver-lead-copper and gold deposits.

On The Bull this week, Tony Locantro from Alto Capital has a speculative buy rating on this ASX mining share. 

Locantro explains: 

The company recently secured about $22 million in strategic funding, strengthening its balance sheet and supporting an expanded drilling program. A second drill rig has now been deployed to accelerate resource growth and improve confidence in the starter zone.

The recent separation from Red Metal Ltd (ASX: RDM) has also simplified the investment case and increased market visibility.

While development stage projects carry funding and execution risk, the combination of a high quality resource, strong financial backing and upcoming catalysts support a speculative buy recommendation.

Deterra Royalties Ltd (ASX: DRR)

The Deterra Royalties share price is $4.35, down 0.1% today and up 5.2% YTD. 

Deterra has a portfolio of 14 royalties and royalty-like offtake assets in 7 countries.

It is invested in iron ore, lithium, mineral sands, copper, molybdenum, and gold.

Mining royalties are agreements in which a third party provides financing to a miner in exchange for a portion of future revenues or production.

One of Deterra's royalty assets is Mining Area C (MAC) in the Pilbara, owned by BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).

Investing in Deterra Royalties is an alternative to directly buying ASX mining shares.

Damien Nguyen from Morgans recommends buying Deterra Royalties shares.

Here's why:

DRR's royalty structure provides highly leveraged, low cost exposure to iron ore volumes with no operational risk, capital expenditure, or direct commodity price hedging.

As production ramps up further at Mining Area C (MAC) and BHP Group continues to invest in expanding capacity, Deterra's royalty stream is set to grow over the medium term.

The balance sheet is conservatively managed, and the company has a strong track record of returning capital to shareholders through fully franked dividends.

The market appears to be discounting near term iron ore price softness more heavily than the long term volume growth story warrants.

We see the recent share price as an attractive entry point.

The post 2 ASX mining shares to buy: experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Meantime, the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) is up 0.3%.

On The Bull this week, market analysts revealed buy ratings on two mining shares at opposite ends of the market in terms of size.

One is the biggest ASX mining share on the market, the other is a micro-cap stock.

Let's take a look.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The BHP share price is $42.96 on Thursday, up 1.5% today and up 7.5% in the year to date.

Remo Greco from Sanlam Private Wealth has a buy rating on the ASX large-cap mining share.

Greco said the Sanlam team has been "lukewarm" on BHP shares for some time, but fundamental changes are now underway.

The analyst commented:

The new chairman Ross McEwan appears to be driving positive change, and the prize is a better balanced business with the copper division becoming more prominent.

As we've reported, the 'Big Australian' is now the world's largest copper producer.

In FY25, the red metal represented 45% of BHP's total underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA).

Greco said BHP dividends would likely stay around current levels as the miner reinvests more of its profits.

We're not overly concerned about dividends if the global miner generates share price growth.

This will depend on the company allocating its capital expenditure in a responsible and profitable manner.

We believe BHP can achieve this and suggest it's a worthy addition to portfolios at current levels.

BHP has a market capitalisation of $215 billion.

Maronan Metals Ltd (ASX: MMA)

Maronan Metals is a mineral explorer that owns the Maronan lead-silver and copper-gold deposit in Cloncurry, in Queensland's northwest.

At the time of writing, this ASX micro-cap mining share is 32 cents, up 5% today and up 43% in the year to date.

Tony Locantro of Alto Capital has a buy rating on Maronan Metals shares.

He says the miner's Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) study for the Starter Zone of its Maronan deposit, released in September, indicated potential for a long-life and diversified polymetallic operation.

Locantro commented:

A strong economic case to develop the starter zone of the Maronan underground project in North Queensland has been delivered.

Both onsite processing and toll treating options were provided, with standalone life-of-mine (LOM) free cash flow of $683 million and pre-production capital expenditure of $266 million.

A regional toll treatment option assumes LOM cash flow of $595 million and pre-production capital expenditure of $98 million.

Maronan Metals says the starter zone represents approximately 22% of the deposit's silver-lead mineral resource estimates and less than 10% of its copper-gold estimates.

On the company website, Maronan says:

The team at Maronan are working hard to "turn a discovery into a mine".

Since IPO in 2022, over 27,000m of new drilling has been completed which has fed into the recently announced 2025 updates to the project's mineral resource estimates.

The inferred and indicated silver-lead mineral resource estimate at Maronan is 33.1Mt at 6% lead (Pb) and 108g/t silver.

The starter zone has an indicated 5.3Mt at 5.2% lead and 116g/t silver, and an inferred 6.9Mt at 4.8% lead and 109g/t silver.

The inferred and indicated copper-gold mineral resource at Maronan is 32Mt at 0.85% copper, 0.63g/t Gold, and 7g/t silver.

Looking ahead, Locantro concluded: "We see strong resource growth and conversion from inferred to indicated as a key driver."

Maronan Metals has a market capitalisation of $75.5 million.

The post 1 large-cap and 1 micro-cap ASX mining share to buy: experts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Motley Fool chats with the best in the industry so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In this edition, Alto Capital investment advisor Tony Locantro discusses two ASX shares that are ready to break out.

Hottest ASX shares

The Motley Fool: What are the two best stock buys right now?

Tony Locantro: Proteomics International Laboratories Ltd (ASX: PIQ), they're in the mid-eighties [cents]. They have developed the PromarkerD test which can pick up a diabetic kidney disease before it happens, well in advance. The science is proven. 

They just need to roll that out, [and] look at reimbursements. They've been able to manufacture 50,000 components to get that test out. 

They've announced some licensing of an esophageal cancer test as well. They're working on that. And recently, they came out with some positive biomarkers for endometriosis, which affects one in nine women, and this could lead to the world's first non-invasive test because it does take years to diagnose.

The company has some laboratory services which it provides, and the revenue matches the cash burn but you think that their expenditure will increase. The market cap is undemanding at around $85 million. Solid management that owns a lot of the company and I think it has outstanding growth. 

It's an outstanding growth opportunity in the biotech sector. 

The second stock I'm buying is a company called Maronan Metals Limited (ASX: MMA). I should disclose that I was heavily involved in the initial public offering (IPO) at 20 cents. The stock is now trading at 34 cents.

​​So, they're about to drill at the Maronan lead, silver and copper gold resource in the Cloncurry region of North Queensland. It is already a sizable resource that requires deeper drilling to expand on the 30 million tonnes at 6.5% lead. That includes a hundred million ounces of silver. They also have a separate copper gold resource that's around 11 million tonnes for 300,000 ounces of gold and some copper.

It's in that vicinity of other major mines, and it could be part of a consolidation play in North Queensland. And the company's capped around $50 million and has recently raised $15 million in its IPO. 

Again, we have extensive holdings, but it's one of these companies that has an existing resource. The grades do get better with depth, so they're trying to basically drill and increase the resource. There was a mining study completed in 2016, which showed favourable mining optics. 

So, highly speculative, but those are my two best buys on the market at the moment.

MF: With these minerals companies, are you ever worried about the cyclical nature of commodity prices?

TL: No.

MF: Because they're mainly exploratory companies that you're looking at?

TL: Yeah. 

At the moment, a lot of these mining companies are being hit with COVID issues. They've been hit with cost blowouts. A lot of the gold producers are now having to add dollars to their all-in sustaining cost. 

But my theory is that a good resource will override any commodity price or cycle. And even though they're higher risk, you're still in that exploration phase where you've got to move through DFS [definitive feasibility studies] really to get towards production.

So a big resource, I think it's going to be valued, and it should be noted that around 80% of the mines in Australia are discoveries made around 1980 or [before] that, so there hasn't been a lot of major discoveries and those that are made are rewarded with good re-ratings.

The post 2 'outstanding' small-cap ASX shares that could explode: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.