Fortescue Metals Group came in third place with a market capitalisation of $17.3 billion, followed by Iluka Resources at $7 billion and Atlas Iron at $2.8 billion.

Thanks to a hike in oil prices, Woodside Petroleum reclaimed the top spot from Wesfarmers, which came in second.

The movers and shakers for the period in market cap terms were Papillon Resources, which jumped 56.4% or $96 million to close at $267 million. Deloitte said this was driven by positive drilling results at its Fekola project in Mali.

Buru Energy’s market cap rose 42% while Alkane Resources jumped 32% to close for the month with a market cap of $336 million.

Deloitte national mining leader Tim Richards said confidence grew in global markets through February as the European Central Bank took steps took steps to contain the sovereign debt crisis with the approval of the 130 billion euro bailout fund.

“The optimistic sentiment was mirrored by the Reserve Bank of Australia with the cash rate unchanged at 4.25 per cent after the February meeting,” Richards said.

“The RBA reasoned that with growth close to trend, inflation tracking close to target and above measures being taken to stabilise the European sovereigns and banks there was strength enough in the Australian economy to keep rates on hold.”

Deloitte said nickel supply was at an all-time high, creating nickel prices to slump 4.5% for February.

Precious metals have begun to stabilise following January’s rapid growth with silver gaining 4.3% and palladium up 5.7%.

Deloitte said the Nikkei recorded its highest monthly growth since December 2009, adding 10.5% for the month while the S&P 500 recorded a 4.6% increase due to US factories hitting their highest production levels since 2009.