I tipped this gold stock a year ago and it's already up 60%: Here are three to invest in now: MIDAS SHARE TIPS

Gold is on a roll. The precious metal is flirting with record highs of more than $3,500 (£2,608) an ounce, having soared 40 per cent in the past year alone.

These rising prices have not just benefited gold investors but also shareholders in mining companies, including Thor Explorations, whose share price has more than doubled since Midas tipped the stock in 2023. 

Golden Prospect Metals has had a fabulous run too, with its shares up 60 per cent since this column recommended them less than a year ago.

For new and existing investors, gold’s meteoric run raises two big questions: does gold have further to go and will gold mining stocks be carried along in its wake?

Many pundits believe the answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes.

Investors buy gold when times are uncertain, and right now the global outlook is pretty ropey.

Russia and Ukraine are still at war, the situation in the Middle East remains tense and US debt levels are so high that annual interest alone is around $900 billion. 

It all makes for a potent cocktail, which is probably why central banks, the most cautious investors around, have bought more than 3,000 tons of gold in the past three years. 

Last week, President Trump gave another boost to the market, slapping massive tariffs on Swiss gold bars and sending prices still higher.

Investors in gold clearly benefit from this environment but so do gold miners, particularly those run by experienced hands with clear plans for growth.

Thor Explorations

Segun Lawson is one such man. A geologist by training, he runs Thor Explorations, which is listed on Aim, the London Stock Exchange’s market for smaller growing companies.

The firm has developed Nigeria’s first and only large-scale gold mine, Segilola, some 75 miles from Lagos.

Nigeria is often associated with turmoil and strife, but Lawson brought Segilola into production four years ago, has never had any problems with the site and now delivers around 90,000 ounces of gold a year, generating healthy profits along the way.

When Midas recommended Thor, the shares were trading at 17.5p. Today the price is 42p and should continue to spike from here.

Half-year results are due this week and should inspire confidence, with rising sales and profits, as well as plans to deliver further growth at Segilola and move a second larger mine in Senegal towards production.

The Nigerian site has a current mine life of just three years but this is likely to be extended, with more news expected over the coming months. At the same time, with work under way in Senegal, Lawson hopes to start producing gold in the country by 2027.

There is also a third mine site in Ivory Coast, where early signs are highly encouraging.

Thor Exploration profits soared to $91 million (£67.9 million) last year and should more than double this to $190 million (£141.7 million). The group pays a dividend too – small right now but likely to increase. At 42p, Thor shares have proved a rewarding investment, but there should be more upside from here as Lawson has shown he can deliver the goods.

• Traded on: AIM 
• Ticker: THX
• Contact: thorexpl.com

Golden Prospect Precious Metals

Golden Prospect invests in about 50 precious metal miners from around the world, including Thor Explorations.

Run by gold experts Keith Watson and Robert Crayfourd, Golden Prospect shares have soared from 34p to 58p in less than a year but, like Thor, there should be more to come. Watson and Crayfourd are canny investors, focusing on companies that aim to generate long-term gains even if the gold price falters. The duo’s biggest holding is Greatland Resources, once a stock market tiddler, now worth £2.7 billion.

Most other firms are listed on the US, Australian and Canadian stock markets, giving shareholders access to a broad sweep of mining companies, from multi-billion-dollar giants to junior explorers.

Recent calculations show that Golden Prospects investments are worth 65p a share, yet the shares are trading at 58p, a material discount. The group is also offering shareholders one new share at 48p for every five held. The offer runs until the end of November but seems like a bargain at current prices.

Golden Prospect offers investors exposure to an impressive collection of mining companies, carefully curated by Watson and Crayfourd. At 58p, the shares remain attractive.

• Traded on: Main market Ticker: GPM
• Contact: ncim.co.uk/
• golden-prospect-precious-metals-ltd

First Development Resources 

First Development is a tiny UK company with big ambitions – and the chance to deliver outsize returns.

The business has secured a selection of mining licences in top-producing parts of Australia, including a 220-square-mile plot in Western Australia’s Paterson Province, close to some of the biggest gold discoveries of recent times.

The firm joined the Aim market last month and intends to move full steam ahead within weeks, using a sophisticated diamond drill to bore deep into the earth, extract ore and analyse it for gold.

Initial results should be released by the end of the year, and chief executive Tristan Pottas believes there are solid grounds for optimism.

Before joining Aim, Pottas and his team spent three years analysing First Development’s acreage, using advanced geophysical tests to assess whether the land might prove rewarding.

Their investigations suggest that First Development’s land has similar properties to nearby acreage owned by Greatland Resources, already producing some 200,000 ounces of gold a year, with millions more coming down the line.

Pottas has also secured environmental and social permits so drilling can take place almost straight away. 

This is unusual among small mining firms, many of which suffer lengthy delays as they battle with regulators, green lobbyists and local communities.

First Development has two further parcels of land in Western Australia and three licences in the Northern Territory, covering more than 600 square miles, in an area rich in lithium and rare earth minerals. Geologists have been hard at work here, too, and Pottas hopes to start drilling in the next few months.

Born and raised in Yorkshire, Pottas trained as a mining engineer and spent several years working in Australia before returning home as a geologist for Whitby-based fertiliser group Sirius Minerals.

Many investors have terrible memories of Sirius, whose shares sank like a stone before the firm was acquired by mining giant Anglo American. Pottas had no executive role at the business but has learnt valuable lessons from its demise, particularly around management and funding. First Development’s chairman, Michael Moore, adds valuable experience as well. A seasoned mining engineer, Moore has spent more than 20 years on the Australian mining scene, chaired the prestigious Camborne School of Mines and is based Down Under full time.

First Development Resources is a small exploration firm which could deliver fabulous results – or not. But the shares are just 5.6p, the group has completed extensive tests on its land and there are high hopes of success. That makes this stock a tempting punt for the adventurous investor.

• Traded on Aim 
• Ticker: FDR
• Contact: firstdevelopmentresources.com