The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) dropped 7.03 points last week to close at 549.73.
Statistics Canada released consumer price index figures this past Tuesday (February 20), indicating inflation growth slowed in January, seeing a gain of 2.9 percent on a year-over-year basis compared to 3.4 percent for December.
This was led by gasoline prices, which fell 4 percent from January 2023. Additionally, the pace at which retail food prices rose continued to ease, with a 3.4 percent rise versus 4 percent in December on an annualized basis.
Analysts reacted positively to the CPI data, which came in below what was widely expected. However, even with inflation coming closer to the target 2 percent rate, analysts and economists believe the Bank of Canada won’t begin to cut interest rates until the US Federal Reserve does so.
Meanwhile, south of the border, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its January meeting of the Federal Open Markets Committee this past Wednesday (February 21). In the notes, the Fed revealed it wanted more data indicating inflation was on a path back to the 2 percent target and stated it was committed to pushing quantitative tightening as far as it could without sending the economy into a recession.
In mining news, Newmont (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM) announced this past Thursday (February 22) its plan to divest six mining assets and two projects it has deemed non-core, including the Éléonore, Musselwhite and Porcupine gold mines and Coffee gold project in Canada, as well as the Cripple Creek and Victor gold mine in Nevada, United States.
Against that backdrop, how have small-cap mining stocks on the TSX Venture exchange fared this past week? Here are the top 5 gainers.
1. Spruce Ridge Resources (TSXV:SHL)
Weekly gain: 45.45 percent; market cap: C$12.62 million; current share price: C$0.08
Spruce Ridge Resources is an exploration company working on several projects in North America. Its flagship asset is the Great Burnt copper-gold project, which consists of four primary zones: the Great Burnt copper zone, the South Pond A copper-gold zone, the South Pond B gold zone and the End Zone copper zone.
Spruce Ridge announced in November that it entered into a share purchase agreement with RAB capital holdings to acquire an 80 percent interest in Homeland Nickel and its portfolio of nickel claims including the Red Flat and Cleopatra properties. These acquisitions give Spruce Ridge access to the US critical minerals market and provide the company with resources equivalent to over 1 billion pounds of nickel.
Spruce Ridge’s share price increased significantly last week, but the company has not released news since January 10, when it appointed Errol Farr as corporate secretary.
2. Tsodilo Resources (TSXV:TSD)
Weekly gain: 42.5 percent; market cap: C$13.29 million; current share price: C$0.285
Tsodilo Resources is a diamond and metals exploration company operating in Botswana. Its subsidiary Gcwihaba Resources owns the Xaudum iron project, which has high concentrations of iron, silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide and phosphorus.
Since June 2021, the company and Gcwihaba have been involved in a dispute with Botswana over the renewal of prospecting licenses for Xaudum. Of the five renewals submitted, four were approved, but one was rejected as part of it was in the buffer zone around the Okavango Delta UNESCO World Heritage Property.
Tsodilo and Gcwihaba commenced legal action against Botswana’s Ministry of Minerals and Energy in November 2022, arguing that the license has existed since 2008, six years prior to the establishment of the buffer zone, and has since been renewed and regranted without controversy.
On December 15, 2023, the company announced that the court had ruled in its favor and ordered the ministry to renew the licenses in question.
Shares in Tsodilo were up this past week following news released on Monday (February 19) that the company had collected the mining licenses from the Department of Mines following the lapse of the deadline for the ministry to file an appeal. Additionally, Tsodilo said it had withdrawn the contempt motion it filed against the ministry on January 23.
3. Century Lithium (TSXV:LCE)
Weekly gain: 38.5 percent; market cap: C$70.92 million; current share price: C$0.54
Century Lithium is an advanced-stage lithium exploration company focused on the development of its flagship Clayton Valley claystone lithium project located in Esmeralda County, Nevada, US. The company is also developing a direct lithium extraction pilot plant, where it is testing material from its project.
Clayton Valley comprises a 5,585 acre land package with mineralization occurring throughout the sediments to a depth of 45. A pre-feasibility study for the site from 2021 showed indicated mineral reserves of 1.18 million metric tons of contained lithium at an average grade of 1,129 parts per million.
The company did not release any news in the past week, but shares gained more than 35 percent.
4. Gratomic (TSXV:GRAT)
Weekly gain: 37.04 percent; market cap: C$32.04 million; current share price: C$0.185
Gratomic is a junior graphite exploration company with assets located in Canada and Namibia. Its primary projects are the Buckingham graphite property located near Buckingham in Québec, Canada. It covers an area of 480 hectares and consists of eight claim blocks.
The company’s Aukam graphite project is located near the port of Luderitz, in Southern Namibia covering an area of 141,500 hectares and has been granted four prospecting licenses.
The company did not release news last week.
5. Emerita Resources (TSXV:EMO)
Weekly gain: 25.92 percent; market cap: C$112.71 million; current share price: C$0.495
Emerita is a mineral resource exploration company focused on the development of base and precious metals assets in the Iberian Pyrite Belt in Spain.
Its flagship project is the Iberian West Belt project within a region that has hosted past mining activity dating to the Roman era. The project hosts three polymetallic deposits: Infanta, El Cura and Romanera. Mineral resource estimates released in May 2023, show indicated and inferred values of 685,000 MT of zinc, 334,000 MT of lead, 91,000 MT of copper, 44,993 ounces of silver and 763,000 ounces of gold.
The company also owns the Nuevo Tintillo concessions in the Seville province of Spain, covering an area of 6,875 hectares and an additional 7,625 pending, and hosts previous artisanal mining dating back to the 1800s.
The company most recent news came at the end of January when it released drill results from the El Cura deposit.
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 February 16, 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.