By The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) lost more ground this past week, dropping 6.65 points to close at 530.85.
This past week marked the last meeting of the year for the US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee. In a statement to the press after the meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the committee was pleased with the overall progress they hade made so far but wasn’t willing to declare victory. He said that hikes are unlikely to continue and 2024 may see cuts, but decisions will continue to be made based on available data.
Consumer Price Index data for November showed a 3.1 percent all-items index increase over the past 12 months, down slightly from 3.2 percent year over year in October.
Markets reacted strongly to the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:DJI) reaching an all-time high, breaking through 37,000 points on Wednesday. The NASDAQ 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) also jumped to record highs, while the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:SPX) came close, closing above 4,700 points the first time since January 2022. North of the border, the TSX (INDEXTSX:TSX) registered a significant gain, jumping almost 600 points.
With markets on both sides of the border performing well this past week on good news from the Fed, where does that leave Canadian junior mining stocks? Keep reading to discover which ones performed best.
1. Bayhorse Silver (TSXV:BHS)
Weekly gain: 62.5 percent; market cap: C$11.5 million; current share price: C$0.065
Bayhorse Silver is a silver-focused company that is currently working to bring the Bayhorse silver mine in Oregon, US, back online. The mine was originally in operation until late 1984, and closed when the price of silver dropped to under US$6 per ounce. Historic sampling during the 1980s identified grades of 2,146 grams per metric ton (g/t) silver, and a bulk sampling program conducted by Bayhorse in 2014 found bonanza grades of 150,370 g/t silver.
Permits for operating the mine were previously rejected by Oregon’s Department of Geology and Mining Industries, which cited deficiencies in the company’s application. Bayhorse said back in June that it was reviewing the baseline data in the submission and would be reapplying for the permits later in the year.
The company most recent announcement on November 14 said it was mobilizing for an underground drilling program at Bayhorse. The initial program will test the 300 foot strike length of the Big Dog target.
Shares of Bayhorse have been rising since the end of October, and the company has said the surge may be tied to positive news from Hercules Silver (TSXV:BIG,OTCQB:BADEF), whose Hercules project is just 44 kilometers from the Bayhorse site.
2. P2 Gold (TSXV:PGLD)
Weekly gain: 50 percent; market cap: C$10.69 million; current share price: C$0.15
P2 Gold is a junior gold exploration and development company with projects in the US and Canada. Its US-based project is the Gabbs gold-copper project, located 233 kilometers from Reno, Nevada, which consists of 543 unpatented lode claims and one patented mining claim over 4,500 hectares.
In its preliminary economic assessment from September 11, P2 said the Gabbs project hosts indicated and inferred mineral resource estimates of 895,000 ounces of gold, 1.89 million ounces of silver and 138,000 MT copper.
The BAM gold-copper project is located within the Golden Triangle in British Columbia, Canada. It consists of 64 mineral tenures over 27,000 hectares. An initial mineral resource estimate for the site’s Monarch gold zone from January 24 reported inferred resources of 520,000 ounces of gold and 2.21 million ounces of silver.
Although the company has not released news this past week, its share price climbed significantly over the period.
3. Clean Air Metals (TSXV:AIR)
Weekly gain: 44.44 percent; market cap: C$15.67 million; current share price: C$0.065
Clean Air Metals is a junior platinum group elements (PGE) exploration company focused on its 100 percent owned Thunder Bay North critical minerals project. The site lies within a region that hosts several mining operations including the Lac Des Iles mine owned by Impala Platinum Holdings (OTCQX:IMPUF,JSE:IMP) and the Eagle mine owned by Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN,OTC Pink:LUNMF).
Its most recent mineral resource estimate for Thunder Bay North released on May 4, the company reported indicated and inferred resources of 649,100 ounces platinum, 677,700 ounces palladium, 49,100 ounces gold, 1.3 million ounces silver, 64,600 metric tons (MT) copper and 38,600 MT nickel.
Shares in Clean Air have been trending upwards since the company’s most recent news on November 27 that it had received a three-year exploration permit for Thunder Bay North from the Ontario Ministry of Mines. The permit will allow Clean Air to continue exploration of the site’s Escape and Current deposits.
4. GoldQuest Mining (TSXV:GQC)
Weekly gain: 43.75 percent; market cap: C$28.54 million; current share price: C$0.115
GoldQuest is a mineral exploration and development company focused on its assets located in the San Juan province of the Dominican Republic. Its flagship asset is the Romero project, which hosts the Romero and Romero South deposits and is located in its larger Tireo property. Mineral reserve estimates from GoldQuest’s 2016 prefeasibility study indicate mine reserves of 840,000 ounces of gold, 980,000 ounces of silver and 62,000 MT of copper.
The company has been awaiting presidential approval for its exploitation license since 2018, which has left it largely unable to proceed. GoldQuest has worked in recent years to improve local sentiment and trust towards the company and the Romero project, and earlier this year a poll showed that 67.7 percent of the local community supported the project.
Shares in GoldQuest are up 43.75 percent this past week, although the company did not release news.
5. Tsodilo Resources (TSXV:TSD)
Weekly gain: 43.4 percent; market cap: C$20.73 million; current share price: C$0.38
Tsodilo Resources is a diamond and metals exploration company operating in Botswana. Its project include the Xaudum iron project with high concentrations of iron, silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide and phosphorus.
Since June 2021, the company and its subsidiary Gcwihaba Resources have been involved in a dispute with the government of Botswana over the renewal of prospecting licenses for its Xaudum project. Of the five renewals submitted, four were approved but one was rejected as part of its area was in the buffer zone surrounding the Okavango Delta UNESCO World Heritage Property.
Tsodilo and Gcwihaba announced on November 7, 2022, the companies would be commencing legal action against the Ministry of Minerals and Energy. In their grievance, they noted the license has existed since 2008, six years prior to the establishment of the buffer zone and had since been renewed and regranted without controversy. The companies also acknowledged that activities in the area affected were permitted but subject to environmental standards and practices under Botswana Law.
Shares in the company saw gains this past week when Tsodilo announced on Friday (December 15) that the High Court of Botswana had decided in their favor stating the rejection was “illegal, unreasonable and or irrational.” The court ordered the ministry to renew the application “subject only to justifiable safeguards necessary for the protection of the heritage area.”
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 on Friday, December 15 at 1:30 PST 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 are 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.