Welcome to the Investing News Network’s weekly look at the best-performing Canadian mining stocks on the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange, starting with a round-up of Canadian and US data impacting the resource sector.
The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) gained 11.62 points this week to close at 578.03. Meanwhile, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was up by 231.47 points to finish at 23,286.08.
Statistics Canada released its consumer price index (CPI) data for July on Tuesday (August 20). The agency reported that consumer inflation rose 2.5 percent on a yearly basis and 0.4 percent after falling 0.1 percent in June.
It marks the smallest increase since March 2021, when CPI saw 2.7 percent growth. The lower rate is credited to a decline in travel-related services as accommodation fell 3.7 percent and air transport was down 2.7 percent year-on-year.
Statistics Canada also released its June monthly mineral production survey on Tuesday. Copper production decreased to 39.65 million kilograms in June from 44.26 million kilograms in May, while shipments declined to 45.51 million kilograms from 53.52 million kilograms in May. Gold production was also down, falling to 17,147 kilograms in June from 18,415 kilograms in May; shipments saw an increase to 18,219 kilograms from 16,814 kilograms the previous month.
Silver, on the other hand, saw increases in both categories, with production increasing to 30,293 kilograms from 25,655 kilograms, and shipments seeing strong growth to 30,293 kilograms from 23,432 kilograms in May.
South of the border, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He took a more dovish stance, announcing the central bank is ready to cut rates; however, he didn’t share details on when or how much.
Markets were up this past week, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) registering a gain of 1.39 percent to 5,634.6 points. The Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) gained 1.02 percent to 19,720.87 points; meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) saw a 1.24 percent gain to 41,175.09 points.
Commodities were mixed, with the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) largely flat with a weekly gain of 0.07 percent to US$540.45.
Against that backdrop, which TSX- and TSXV-listed mining stocks gained the most? Read on to find out.
Weekly gain: 80 percent; market cap: C$27.67 million; share price: C$0.135
GFG is a gold exploration company working to advance its assets in the Timmins gold district in Ontario, Canada.
Shares in GFG have seen recent gains following a pair of news releases. On August 16 the company announced it had entered into a definitive agreement with Patriot Gold (OTC Pink:PGOL) for the sale of its Rattlesnake Hills gold project in Central Wyoming. In exchange for a 100 percent ownership stake, Patriot will pay GFG a total of C$3.3 million in cash and shares.
In addition, Patriot will also pay GFG a further C$1 per total mineral resource ounces in cash or common shares once it completes a NI43-101 compliant estimate demonstrating more than 3 million ounces of gold across measured, indicated and inferred categories.
Its most recent announcement came on Monday (August 19) when GFG announced results of the first hole from its completed five-hole, 1,700 meter drill program at the Aljo mine target, which is located at its Goldarm property east of Timmins.
In the release, the company said the first hole encountered grades of 13.94 grams per metric ton (g/t) of gold across 7.1 meters, which included a 6 meter intersection of 15.92 g/t gold with visible gold present. The company said it is the strongest drill result at Aljo to date and it highlights the growth potential of the project.
2. South Pacific Metals (TSXV:SPMC)
Weekly gain: 79.49 percent; market cap: C$21.3 million; share price: C$0.70
South Pacific Metals is a gold and copper exploration company working to advance its assets in Papua New Guinea.
Its four projects, Anga, Osena, Kili Teke and May River, cover approximately 3,000 square kilometers located in known gold and copper producing districts.
On July 3, South Pacific announced it would begin an aggressive exploration program across all of its properties in New Guinea with work planned at its 461 square kilometer Anga project and the 626 square kilometer Osena project in the Kainantu gold district, located near K92’s (TSX:KNT,OTCQX:KNTNF) Kainantu gold mine.
The most recent announcement from the project came on July 25 when South Pacific said it had mobilized for the first exploration program of 2024 consisting of grid soil sampling, along with structural and geological mapping focused on the Irinke prospect. The current program will follow up on a 2022 program that generated assays of 2.28 g/t gold, 9.4 g/t silver, 418 parts per million (ppm) lead and 1,254 ppm zinc.
The company has not released news in the past week.
Weekly gain: 54.84 percent; market cap: C$10.01 million; share price: C$0.240
Pantera Silver is a precious metals exploration and development company focused on its Nuevo Taxco silver-gold project located near Mexico City, Mexico.
The company signed an earn-in agreement with Impact Silver (TSX:IPT) for the 1,100 hectare property in October 2020. Though limited exploration has been carried out on the property, work done by Impact in 2013 identified 21 silver bearing veins. Of the 395 rock samples collected at that time, three contained grades of over 1,000 g/t silver. In its own drill program carried out in 2022, Pantera highlighted assay results of up to 225 g/t silver from 1.85 meters.
The most recent news from the company came on Tuesday when it provided a corporate update and was looking at various options to restart exploration work that had previously been paused at Nuevo Taxco. In the announcement Pantera said it was expecting to begin work in Q3 2024, and would be focusing on sampling and mapping the Southwest Zone of the project.
4. Lucara Diamond (TSX:LUC)
Weekly gain: 52.46 percent; market cap: C$204.39 million; share price: C$0.465
Lucara Diamond is a mining company focused on the production of large diamonds from its Karowe diamond mine in Botswana. The mine, commissioned in 2012, targets high quality diamonds that are above 10 carats.
According to Lucara’s website, the company has discovered more than 7,000 diamonds above 10.8 carats including 34 diamonds above 300 carats and 4 above 1,000 carats.
In its most recent technical report from March 2024, the company said proven and probable reserves were 6.83 million carats from 52.2 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 13.1 carats per hundred metric tons.
Shares in Lucara saw gains following an announcement on Wednesday that it had recovered a 2,492 carat diamond. The company said the stone was detected and recovered using its Mega Diamond Recovery X-ray Transmission technology, which was installed in 2017 to identify such large stones.
The stone is the second largest diamond ever recovered.
Weekly gain: 50 percent; market cap: C$29.61 million; share price: C$0.015
Jervois Global is working to advance a global portfolio of nickel and cobalt projects. It owns the Idaho Cobalt Operations in the US, at which it suspended mine construction in 2023 due to low cobalt prices.
According to Jervois, the Idaho Cobalt Operations have the largest US cobalt resource. A 2020 feasibility study shows that they have a measured and indicated resource of 50.1 million pounds of cobalt from 5.24 million metric tons grading 0.44 percent, with inferred values of 12 million pounds of cobalt from 1.57 million metric tons grading 0.35 percent.
The company announced in June 2023 that it had entered into a US$15 million agreement through the US Department of Defense’s Defense Production Act for exploration activities at its property.
In an announcement from the project released on July 31, 2024, Jervois reported that extensional drilling at the Idaho Cobalt Operations had shown positive resource growth potential, with cobalt, gold and copper mineralization at depth. In the announcement, the company provides a highlighted result of 1.1 percent cobalt, 1.18 percent gold and 0.69 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold over 1.8 meters.
The most recent news came on Wednesday when Jervois announced an extension of waiver and interest deferral on ICO bonds to August 30.
FAQs for TSXV stocks
What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?
The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, while the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.
How many companies are listed on the TSXV?
As of June 2024, there were 1,630 companies listed on the TSXV, 925 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,806 companies, with 188 of those being mining companies.
Together the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.
How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?
There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.
The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.
These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.
How do you trade on the TSXV?
Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.
Data for this 5 Top Weekly TSX and TSXV Performers article was retrieved at 1:00 p.m PST on August 23, 2024, using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals were considered.
Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
