Here are 5 ASX resources stocks with New Zealand projects

In this article, we’re taking a look at ASX resources stocks with New Zealand projects. It is easy for investors to disregard the country because of the basket case its economy has been, and the reputation of the country as being agriculturally-focused.

Nonetheless, New Zealand does have an industry. It is no Western Australia, but the industry contributes NZ$2.2bn to GDP and employs over 6,000 people. There are open-cast coal mines remaining active on the South Island as well as precious metal mines in both the North and South Island.

What is more is that is Aotearoa is relatively under-explored compared to major mining jurisdictions, meaning there is considerable “untapped” potential. A 2024 report from GNS Science and the New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals titled The Mineral Potential of New Zealand highlighted many deposits for gold, iron sands, and critical minerals.

And, like its peers in the West, The NZ government has identified a list of “critical minerals” (for energy transition, tech, strategic supply chains) and is revising its approach to resource development. New Zealand is ranked 12th globally on the Fraser Institute’s 2025 Investment Attractiveness Index and is expected to see initiatives in the years to come aimed at doubling mineral exports.

With all that out of the way, let’s dive into our list.

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5 ASX resources stocks with New Zealand projects

Critical Resources (ASX:CRR)

Critical is a diversified explorer focused on gold and antimony. It is good as an alloy (i.e. a hardener and strengthener of other metals) as well as a flame retardant and is one of the West’s critical metals. The company’s focus is its Amoco prospect near Armidale in NSW, but is building up a portfolio in New Zealand’s Otago region.

Critical’s Cap Burn project lies about 11 km from the OceanaGold Corporation Macraes gold mine (that has over 10 Moz) in Otago, New Zealand. This was only picked up earlier this year and so the company is at the stage of mere planning its exploration campaign.

Uvre (ASX:UVR)

Uvre stands for uranium, vanadium and rare earths; after certain legacy projects. It will be changing its name in the future because the company has just bought a portfolio of gold projects in New Zealand including the Waitekauri Gold Project. It lies in the same gold field as the Waihi Mine belonging to OceanaGold that has reaped over 12Moz. Uvre plans to commence its maiden 3,000m diamond drilling program shortly.

Siren Gold (ASX:SHG)

Siren has multiple gold and antimony projects in New Zealand. One is the Sams Creek project, South Island NZ — reported Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 824 koz @ 2.8 g/t Au at a 1.5 g/t cut-off. Clearly this is the most advanced project, and indeed, the company raised $4m in August 2025 to advance the project.

There’s also Langdons Antimony & Gold project and the Queen Charlotte Antimony & Gold project which also lie on the South Island. It also had the Reefton Goldfield project but sold it in late 2024 for A$22m in cash and shares, but has a 26% stake in the project’s new owner Rua Gold (TSXV:RUA).

Manuka Resources (ASX:MKR)

Manuka has a focus on gold and silver in the Cobar Basin of NSW. However, it also has the Taranaki VTM (Vanadium, Titanium and Magnetite) Project. The project is offshore in the South Taranaki Bight, New Zealand, about 22 km to 36 km from shore in waters 20-50 m deep – recoverable from iron-sand on the seafloor.

A March 2025 PFS showed 5Mtpa production with a US$1.2bn NPV (using a 10% discount rate) and a 39% IRR. A BFS is targeted for 2026 and it is advancing through New Zealand’s Fast Track approvals process. The NZ Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) accepted the project’s application as complete and moved it into the next stage.

We would warn investors that being offshore and involving large-scale extraction of iron sands means regulatory, environmental and community/fishery/indigenous-rights issues will be significant.

Echelon Resources (ASX:ECH)

Echelon is headquartered in Wellington and was known as New Zealand Oil and Gas until last year. Echelon still has exposure to New Zealand including in the Maari Oil Field and the Kupe Gas and Light Oil field, both in the Taranaki Basin. But the company also has assets in Australia and Indonesia.

In its most fiscal year, it made $115.3m, up 34%, albeit inflated due to the full-year impact of upping its stake in one of its fields (specifically the Mereenie). Its profit was only $6.4m on a statutory basis although the underlying figure was $16.5m, up 42% from the $11.2m made in FY24. It paid a dividend of $0.75 per share.