The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) was up 2.68 percent on the week to close at 621.67 on Friday (October 18). Meanwhile, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was up 1.44 percent to 24,822.54 points over the same period.
Statistics Canada released its September consumer price index (CPI) figures on Tuesday (October 15). The data indicated that inflation continued to ease, gaining just 1.6 percent on a year-over-year basis, well below the 2 percent target rate originally set by the Bank of Canada when it started increasing interest rates in March 2022.
The slowing pace of inflation is largely attributable to lower costs at the pumps, with gasoline prices falling 10.7 percent on a yearly basis, which follows a 5.1 percent decline in prices in August. However, the deceleration was offset by an 8.2 percent rise in rent and 2.4 percent increase in food.
South of the border, the US Dollar Index (INDEXUSD:DXY) fell slightly on Friday after investors began to move back into Chinese equities. The shift came after the Chinese government announced new funding initiatives aimed at helping out the beleaguered capital markets in that country. Even with a retreat on Friday, the US dollar posted its third consecutive week of gains, rising 0.58 percent over the past five days.
Its recent strong performance is owed to a shift in the US Federal Reserve policy following a 50 point cut at its September meeting.
Despite the rise in the US dollar, gold set new record highs during Friday’s trading session climbing to US$2,721.27 per ounce at 4:30 p.m. EDT to end the week up by 2.42 percent. Silver also saw strong momentum as it surged 6.88 percent on the week to US$33.67 per ounce.
A rally on Friday did little to ease copper’s woes, which extended its fall, dropping 2.67 percent to US$4.39 per pound on the COMEX. More broadly, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) sank 4.94 percent to close at 531.98 points.
Markets were mixed this week with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) adding 0.6 percent to 5,864.68, the Nasdaq 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) declining 0.21 percent to 20,324.04 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) climbing 1.11 percent to reach 42,275.90.
Against that backdrop, how did TSX- and TSXV-listed resource stocks perform? Here are the top five best-performing Canadian resource stocks this week.
1. Cerrado Gold (TSXV:CERT)
Weekly gain: 75.51 percent
Market cap: C$33.52 million
Share price: C$0.43
Cerrado Gold is a junior gold production and development company focused on its assets in South America, including two producing mines in Santa Cruz, Argentina.
Its flagship Minera Don Nicolas mine consists of a 333,400 hectare concession package and has been in operation since 2018. Mining feed is derived from the La Paloma and Martinetas open pits and processed at the centralized carbon-in-leach gold plant, which has a capacity of 1,000 metric tons per day.
Cerrado has been working on exploration efforts to expand the mineral resource at Minera Don Nicolas with the intent of extending the life of the mine. On September 19, the company released a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the expansion, which showed that measured and indicated mineral resources at the property totalled 490,340 ounces of gold and 6.59 million ounces of silver, the majority of which is found in the Calandrias Sur open pit.
The PEA demonstrates an after-tax net present value of US$111 million at a gold price of US$2,100 per ounce, and estimates a mine life of five years, with an annual production target of 56,000 ounces of gold equivalent per year.
The most recent news from Cerrado came on October 16 when the company announced its Q3 production results for Minera Don Nicolas. In the release, the company reported it produced 37,108 gold equivalent ounces during the first nine months of 2024 with 13,201 gold equivalent ounces ounces produced in Q3.
2. Metallis Resources (TSXV:MTS)
Weekly gain: 56.67 percent
Market cap: C$14.38 million
Share price: C$0.235
Metallis Resources is an exploration company that has spent much of 2024 advancing work at its Greyhound property in Central Idaho, US.
The company acquired the 124 hectare property, which hosts the past producing Greyhound and Bulldog silver-gold mines, in February from Greyhound Mining and Milling.
Since then, Metallis has completed the first phase of its exploration program. The company announced on September 4 that initial assay results showed elevated levels of antimony, with rock samples collected at Bulldog hosting grades of up to 4.54 percent of the critical mineral. The company said three contiguous samples over a 3 meter length returned 0.61 percent antimony, further validating strong mineralization at surface. The company added that none of the areas with the best antimony results have ever been drilled.
In a follow-up release on September 17, the company reported that surface rock samples from the site returned high-grade gold assays of up to 67.02 grams per metric ton gold equivalent with multiple grab samples with more than 10 g/t gold equivalent. Additionally, the company reported that it had identified a new mineralized showing, which it named Akita, that produced two rock samples with 8.0 and 8.5 g/t gold equivalent.
The most recent news from Metallis came on October 14, when it announced it had closed a C$890,500 private placement following the sale of 6.85 million shares at a value of C$0.13 per unit. Proceeds will be used for field exploration work at Greyhound and its Kirkham property in British Columbia, Canada’s Golden Triangle.
3. Gabriel Resources (TSXV:GBU)
Weekly gain: 50 percent
Market cap: C$18.84 million
Share price: C$0.015
Gabriel Resources is a precious metals explorer and developer focused on advancing its Rosia Montana gold project. Based in Transylvania, Romania, Rosia Montana is in a region that has seen significant historic mining. Covering 2,388 hectares, the site is host to a mid-to-shallow epithermal system containing deposits of gold and silver.
The most recent mineral resource estimate from a 2012 technical report shows proven and probable quantities of 10.1 million ounces of gold and 47.6 million ounces of silver.
Gabriel has invested more than US$760 million into Rosia Montana, but has undertaken little development at the site since the early 2010s, as Romania blocked further development.
In 2015, the company entered into arbitration through the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) over permitting at the site and suggested that Romania was in violation of bilateral investment treaties. On March 8, Gabriel issued a press release with an update saying that its case against Romania had been dismissed by the ICSID, which also awarded Romania US$10 million in legal fees and expenses. Gabriel has said it will review the decision with its legal team and plans to evaluate its options.
While news of that decision caused Gabriel’s share price to plummet in March, it saw gains after closing the initial tranche of a US$5.58 million private placement on May 17.
The most recent update about the arbitration came on July 8, when the company announced it would be seeking an annulment of the ICSID award. The company said that the original decision was fatally flawed in multiple respects including the disregarding of applicable law and multiple departures from fundamental rules and procedures.
4. Northern Graphite (TSXV:NGC)
Weekly gain: 46.67 percent
Market cap: C$13.11 million
Share price: C$0.11
Northern Graphite is a production and development company and the only producer of flake graphite in North America.
The company owns the Lac des Iles mine in Quebec, Canada, which hosts an indicated amount of 213,000 metric tons of graphitic carbon, with additional inferred amounts of 106,000 metric tons.
In the company’s second-quarter results, Northern reported it had increased production at Lac des Illes to 4,0982 metric tons, up 59 percent from the 2,574 metric tons of graphitic carbon produced in the first quarter. The increase comes as the company is working to increase production at the site to the 25,000 nameplate capacity.
Additionally, the company said it is working on operational scenarios to begin operation at a new open pit by the end of 2024 or early 2025.
On October 9, the company announced it had entered into an agreement with Rain Carbon to on a joint operation to develop and commercialize advanced battery anode materials for electric vehicle batteries.
5. 1911 Gold (TSXV:AUMB)
Weekly gain: 46.43 percent
Market cap: C$25.6 million
Share price: C$0.205
1911 Gold is a gold exploration company working to advance its Rice Lake properties in Eastern Manitoba.
The properties cover more than 58,000 hectares along the Rice Lake greenstone belt in an area that has been explored since gold was discovered in 1911. The exploration properties include two prospective claim blocks, Rice Lake and Central Manitoba, and host the past-producing True North, Central Manitoba, Gunnar and Ogama-Rockland mines.
The most recent update from the site came on October 3, when the company announced it had mobilized a rig for its 2024 surface drill program set to commence in mid-October. The 6,000 meters will be focusing on near-surface targets at the True North mine to test the San Antonio West, San Antonio Southeast and Cohiba East targets.
1911 said the targets show significant potential for high-grade gold and can be easily upgraded to mineral resources due to close proximity to existing infrastructure and historic underground mine workings.
FAQs for Canadian Mining 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, and 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 Canadian Mining Stocks article was retrieved at 12:00 p.m. EDT on October 18, 2024, using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX and TSXVwith market capitalizations greater than C$10 million are included. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals sectors were considered.
Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.
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.