The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) increased 1.74 percent on the week to close at 606.17 on Friday (November 8). Meanwhile, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was up 2.16 percent to 25,444.28 and the CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) fell 6.17 percent to 138.03.
Statistics Canada released October consumer price index (CPI) numbers on Tuesday (November 19). The data showed that year-on-year inflation came in at 2 percent, up from the 1.6 percent recorded in September and slightly hotter than the 1.9 percent expected by economists.
While prices for goods were up just 0.1 percent, the largest contributing factor was a 6 percent rise in property taxes, the highest yearly increase since 1992.
The data may dull the prospect of a 50-point cut to the Bank of Canada’s benchmark rate some analysts were hoping for when it holds its last policy meeting of the year on December 11.
Across the Atlantic, tensions dramatically increased in the war between Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a change to the country’s nuclear doctrine. Now, a conventional attack on Russia by any country supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack, allowing Russia to respond to either country with nuclear strikes.
Although this isn’t the first time the Russian President has issued nuclear threats, Russia followed the announcement by launching an experimental nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile on targets in Ukraine on Thursday (November 20).
The moves come after the US and UK authorized Ukraine to use ATACMS and Storm Shadow long-range missiles to strike military targets deeper into Russian territory.
The escalating tensions pushed investors to safe-haven assets, helping gold recover from post-election losses. It surged 5.78 percent this week to US$2,711.35 on Friday at 4:00 p.m. EST, while silver jumped 3.46 percent to US$31.30. Copper was also up, gaining 0.73 percent to US$4.13 per pound on the COMEX. More broadly, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) climbed 3.79 percent to close the week at 547.18.
Equity markets posted gains this week as well. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) moved up 1.62 percent to end Friday at 5,969.33, the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) saw a 1.59 percent boost to 20,776.23 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) increased 1.99 percent to 44,296.52.
Find out how the five best-performing Canadian mining stocks performed against that backdrop.
Data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. EST on November 22, 2024, using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million are included. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals sectors were considered.
1. Baru Gold (TSXV:BARU)
Weekly gain: 125 percent
Market cap: C$11.35 million
Share price: C$0.045
Baru Gold is a development company working to advance its Sangihe gold project in Indonesia.
The company holds a 70 percent stake in the 42,000 hectare project with the remaining 30 percent interest being held by three Indonesian-based companies.
A mineral resource estimate contained in a 2017 technical report demonstrates an indicated resource of 114,700 ounces of gold and 1.97 million ounces of silver from 3.16 million metric tons of ore with grades of 1.13 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold and 19.4 g/t silver. It also hosts an inferred resource of 105,000 ounces of gold and 1.06 million ounces of silver.
Shares in Baru gained this week following a pair of news releases.
The first came on Tuesday when the company announced it had signed a letter of intent with Indonesian company PT Arsari Tambang, which will become a strategic equity partner and investor with a 10 percent stake in Baru Gold subsidiary PT Tambang Mas Sangihe.
The initial 10 percent stake is being purchased from one of Baru’s private partners, meaning it will not affect Baru’s interest in its Sangihe project. However, PT Arsari will also be granted a five-year option for an additional 15 percent stake in the company; if exercised, Baru’s interest will lower from 70 to 59.5 percent.
The second announcement came on Thursday when Baru Gold announced it had retained the services of a specialist advisory firm to lead fundraising operations. The move comes after Baru received several unsolicited inquiries from investors looking to invest in the Indonesian gold sector, including from companies looking for diversification opportunities.
2. i-80 Gold (TSX:IAU)
Weekly gain: 85.71 percent
Market cap: C$380.5 million
Share price: C$0.91
I-80 Gold is a gold mining company working on expanding its operational footprint in Nevada, US.
The company owns three producing assets, Granite Creek, Ruby Hill and Lone Tree. While Granite Creek is a mining operation, the other two are processing material from heap leach pads. It is also developing its McCoy-Cove project. Construction at Ruby Hill’s Archimedes underground deposit is anticipated in H1 2025.
I-80 has been working to advance exploration and development work at all its properties to expand its production capacity. To this end, the company is refurbishing the autoclave at Lone Tree, which is planned to be the hub of its operations, processing sulfide ore from Granite Creek, Archimedes at Ruby Hill and McCoy-Cove.
In its Q3 report released on November 12, i-80 indicated it sold a lackluster 7,186 ounces of gold from its assets through the first nine months of the year, a steep decline from the 11,263 ounces sold during the same period in 2023. This was in part due to declining recovery from the heap leach pads and increased groundwater in the underground operations at Granite Creek.
However, the company, which changed leadership during the quarter, also outlined an extensive new plan that will focus on the development of assets with the goal of constructing five gold mines by the end of the decade with combined annual production of 400,000 to 500,000 ounces of gold.
While i-80’s share price dropped sharply after the release, it rebounded 85 percent last week.
3. CopperCorp Resources (TSXV:CPER)
Weekly gain: 83.33 percent
Market cap: C$10.46 million
Share price: C$0.165
CopperCorp Resources is an exploration and development company working to advance projects in Western Tasmania.
Its primary work over the past several months has been exploration of the 171 square kilometer Razorback prospect. Razorback hosted a historic mining operation and is home to mineralized deposits of copper, gold and rare earth elements.
The company has identified three high-priority target zones: Jukes, Hyde and Darwin.
The share price of CopperCorp climbed this week following an announcement on Monday (November 18) in which the company reported that it encountered broad zones of visible copper from the Jukes zone.
The company is currently awaiting assay results but said it was encouraged by the results, which include 24.4 meters of visual copper sulphide from 400 meters downhole and 88.7 meters of visual copper sulphide from 463.3 meters downhole. This comes after CopperCorp reported 0.35 percent copper and 0.19 g/t gold over 132 meters from an adjacent hole on October 15.
4. Northcliff Resources (TSX:NCF)
Weekly gain: 60 percent
Market cap: C$21.24 million
Share price: C$0.04
Northcliff Resources is a development and exploration company working to advance its Sisson tungsten and molybdenum project in New Brunswick, Canada.
The 14,140 hectare property has seen extensive exploration dating back to the early 1980s. A 2013 mineral resource estimate demonstrated measured and indicated quantities of 25.7 million metric tons of tungsten oxide and 178 million pounds of molybdenum from 387 million metric tons of ore with average grades of 0.07 percent tungsten oxide and 0.02 percent molybdenum.
The project is currently in the development stage and in 2022 was granted an extension to the construction commencement timeline by New Brunswick’s Department of Environment and Climate Change. Construction is now anticipated to begin in December 2025.
The company has not released news in the past week.
5. Rusoro Mining (TSXV:RML)
Weekly gain: 41.67 percent
Market cap: C$510.91 million
Share price: C$0.87
Rusoro Mining is a gold-mining company that had interests in Venezuela. Up until 2012, the company was operating two mines and two mills in the country, along with two additional projects that were nearing the production stage.
In March 2012, the company announced that the Venezuelan government had nationalized Rusoro’s operations without compensation. Following the appropriation of the company’s operations, Rusoro entered into arbitration proceedings before the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes; in August 2016, Rusoro was awarded US$967.77 million, plus pre- and post-award interest to total more than US$1.2 billion.
After protracted legal battles to receive payment from the Venezuelan government, Rusoro filed a claim to enforce actions against assets of state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and in April 2023, the US District Court for Delaware found in favor of Rusoro. Venezuela’s appeal of the decision was rejected by a three judge appellate panel in July 2023.
Venezuela appealed to the Supreme Court of the US, but on January 8, Rusoro announced that the court refused to hear the appeal, making the July 2023 ruling the final hearing on the case.
In its press release, Rusoro noted that the Delaware court designated Rusoro as an “additional judgment creditor,” meaning the company will be entitled to a share of the sale of PDVSA assets when they go to auction.
The auction was supposed to take place earlier in the year but was pushed back in August after a US court agreed to delay the selection of finalists until October. The auction was then further delayed as Venezuelan bondholders put the auction in jeopardy as they filed a parallel claim for a portion of the assets.
Shares in Rusoro climbed this week after the Delaware judge overseeing the auction proposed major procedural changes and wanted the auction opened up to new bidders.
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.
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.