PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The market capitalisation of Western Australia-listed companies, which comprise the Deloitte Western Australian Index, increased by 9.6% in January to a close of A$168.9-billion, the advisory firm reported on Tuesday.

Deloitte noted that the Australian market continued to mirror the performance of commodities, with the energy and resources sector boosted by strong precious metal and commodity prices, combined with positive production results.

“Strong economic growth in China continues to fortify base commodity prices and provides protection for Australian resource-linked companies against global debt concerns,” said Deloitte’s national mining leader Tim Richards.

He noted that iron-ore miner Fortescue Metals experienced significant growth of 18.3% on the back of higher iron-ore prices, caused by supply disruptions owing to severe weather, and the announcement of an ambitious outlook for 2013 iron-ore production.

The share price of ASX-listed Woodside Petroleum also rallied after a disappointing year in 2011, rising 11.7% during the month after speculation that the energy giant is looking to sell a portion of its interest in the A$30-billion Browse liquefied natural gas joint venture.

Richards said that the strength of the Western Australian resources sector continued to be a driving force for the ‘movers and shakers’ in the month of January, with Resolute Mining, Range Resources and Azimuth Resources increasing their market capitalisation by 68.8%, 59.5% and 54.5% respectively.

Gold producer Resolute Mining cemented its position as a key player in the resource industry, closing the month of January with a market capitalisation of A$1.3-billion, up A$548-million.

The exercise of listed options and conversion of convertible notes, combined with an increase in share price of 25% for the month has allowed Resolute to gain 15 places on the Western Australian Index, to close the month as the fourteenth-largest company on the Deloitte Western Australian Index.

Range Resources issued more than 289.2-million shares in the month of January to raise around A$22-million. This growth, compounded by a 33.3% increase in share price, lead to an increase in market capitalisation of A$119-million, to close the month at A$319-million.

Deloitte noted that the company benefited from recent announcements of an upgrade of its proved reserves in the company’s project interests in Trinidad and Texas. The company has also commenced spudding of the Shabeel-1 well in Puntland, Somalia.

Azimuth Resources also increased its market capitalisation by A$103-million to A$292-million at the end of January. The company announced significant positive results from drilling activity at its Smarts prospect, bolstering the company’s share price by 54.5% to A$0.77 a share.

Azimuth was also nearing the final stages of its upcoming dual listing on the TSX, which will help to increase liquidity and promote the status of the company. Azimuth expects to achieve its listing on the TSX by the end of March.

Meanwhile, Richards added that the All Ordinaries also benefited from strong performances by miners with a strong rise of 5.2% in January, while the US S&P 500 surged 3.9% on the back of a strong retail sector driven by accelerated consumer spending and positive financial results announced by banking giants.

Successful debt raisings in Europe led to an improvement in investor sentiment towards risk, with the FTSE 100 posting a 2.1% increase, despite looming worries of an impending recession, while the Nikkei also benefited from renewed optimism in global markets and manufacturing growth in the United States to increase 4.1%.

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