The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) dropped 24.85 points last week to close at 550.9.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released February inflation figures this past Tuesday (March 12). They show that the consumer price index saw a year-on-year increase of 3.2 percent that month, 0.1 percent higher than analysts expected.
The unexpected rise means more market watchers now believe that the US Federal Reserve may continue to hold interest rates at the current 5.25 to 5.5 percent level at its March, April/May and June meetings.
The gold price lost 1 percent on the back of the inflation data, marking its first weekly decline in four weeks. The yellow metal fell to US$2,154.92 per ounce this past Friday (March 15), a week after it reached a record high of US$2,194.99.
Meanwhile, copper prices surged, with the three month futures rising to US$8,887.50 per metric ton (MT) on the London Metal Exchange on Friday. The spike followed Wednesday’s (March 13) news that Chinese copper smelters have agreed to cut production on the back of a copper concentrate shortage that has impacted treatment and refining charges.
Against that backdrop, these five mining and energy stocks performed the best on the TSXV last week.
1. PPX Mining (TSXV:PPX)
Weekly gain: 66.67 percent; market cap: C$34.98 million; current share price: C$0.05
PPX Mining is a precious metals company that is focused on its Igor project, which contains the operating Callanquitas underground mine, located in the Otuzco province of Northern Peru.
In a prefeasibility study for Igor, which was amended in January 2022, the company indicates that the 1,300 hectare site previously hosted small-scale mining operations and hosts a 50 MT per day gold-processing plant from the 1980s. PPX is currently working to upscale processing at the site through the construction of a 350 MT per day carbon-in-leach and flotation plant that will be used to process oxide and sulfide ore from Callanquitas.
An updated resource estimate for Callanquitas released by the company this past January shows measured and indicated amounts as oxides of 81,090 ounces of gold and 2.9 million ounces of silver. The inferred resource as sulfides stands at 34,450 gold equivalent ounces at 4.63 grams per MT (g/t) gold equivalent.
Shares of PPX saw gains this past week following Tuesday’s news that the firm has signed a letter of intent with Silver Crown Royalties for US$2.5 million in funding in exchange for a 15 percent silver royalty from Igor. Under the terms of the arrangement, which can be expanded, the royalty is currently set to expire upon the delivery of 250,000 ounces of silver, or after five years, whichever comes later. This funding will be put toward a new processing plant.
2. Arras Minerals (TSXV:ARK)
Weekly gain: 54.29 percent; market cap: C$17.13 million; current share price: C$0.27
Arras Minerals is a copper and gold exploration company working to develop assets in Northeast Kazakhstan.
Its flagship property is the Beskauga project, which is situated within the Central Asian Orogenic belt, 300 kilometers from the capital city of Astana. The property consists of three mineral licenses covering an area of over 900 square kilometers with deposits originally identified in the 1980s during Soviet-era drill programs.
The company also has a strategic alliance with Canada’s Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A,TECK.B, NYSE:TECK) to focus on further exploration projects in Kazakhstan. This initiative, announced in December 2023, will see Teck fund exploration through 2025 across a 1,736 square kilometer land package, and will give it the option to select up to four properties totalling 120 square kilometers, earning a 75 percent interest in each project.
The uptrend in Arras’ share price this past week could be tied to the strengthening in copper prices. The company’s only news came on Friday, when the company granted 1,495,484 restricted share units to Arras officers as part of its 2023 annual performance awards. The shares have a vestment date of February 27, 2024.
3. Hannan Metals (TSXV:HAN)
Weekly gain: 38.89 percent; market cap: C$29.54 million; current share price: C$0.25
Explorer Hannan Metals is focused on advancing gold, silver and copper deposits in Latin America.
The San Martin project is a joint venture with the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), a Japanese government agency established in 2004 to secure stable resources and fuel supplies. Under the terms of the agreement, JOGMEC can earn up to a 75 percent stake in the project if all its funding goals are met.
The site is located northeast of Tarapoto, Peru, and hosts a copper and silver system with 120 kilometers of combined strike. Exploration has shown grades at the Tabalosos target of 4.9 percent copper and 62 g/t silver over 2 meters.
In addition to the JOGMEC joint venture, Hannan owns a separate copper and silver project in the San Martin region that consists of 27 mining concessions over 267 square kilometers. The company’s third project, located 300 kilometers from the San Martin sites, is the Valiente project, which hosts a previously unknown porphyry and epithermal mineralized belt within a 140 kilometer by 50 kilometer area containing copper, gold, molybdenum and silver.
Hannan didn’t release any news this past week, but may have risen alongside higher copper prices.
4. Labrador Gold (TSXV:LAB)
Weekly gain: 38.46 percent; market cap: C$32.3 million; current share price: C$0.18
Labrador Gold is an explorer focused on the advancement of its assets in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Its Kingsway project, located near the town of Gander, Newfoundland, is comprised of 264 claims, with three licenses covering an area of 77 square kilometers. The company is currently completing a 100,000 meter drill program, with the most recent update coming on March 4, when it announced it had encountered intersects containing 10.63 g/t gold over 5.9 meters, including an interval of 46.72 g/t gold over 1 meter at its Big Vein target.
The company also owns the Hopedale project in Eastern Labrador. The site hosts 998 claims and five licenses covering an area of 249 square kilometers. The property covers a large portion of the Florence Lake greenstone belt. In an announcement on February 8, the company reported high-grade gold from rock samples at the Fire Ant target, with grades of up to 106 g/t gold and 20.4 g/t silver. Additional rock and soil samples from other targets at Hopedale show grades of up to 0.28 percent nickel, 0.97 percent zinc and 3,493 parts per million copper.
The company did not release news this week.
5. Oroco Resource (TSXV:OCO)
Weekly gain: 37.5 percent; market cap: C$109.89 million; current share price: C$0.495
Oroco Resource is a copper explorer that is developing its flagship Santo Tomas project in Sinaloa, Mexico.
The site is comprised of 1,172.9 hectares of concessions and hosts porphyry copper mineralization with significant amounts of molybdenum, gold and silver. A November 2023 technical report and preliminary economic assessment shows a mineral resource estimate with indicated and inferred quantities of 7.81 billion pounds of copper, 187 million pounds of molybdenum, 863,200 ounces of gold and 72.2 million ounces of silver.
Shares in Oroco saw modest gains this week, but the company did not release any news.
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 September 2023, there were 1,713 companies listed on the TSXV, 953 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,789 companies, with 190 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 TSXV Performers article was retrieved at 1:00 p.m. PST on March 8, 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.
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.