The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) gained more than 5 percent last week to close at 566.41. Meanwhile, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was up by 743.31 points to finish at 23,054.61.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released July’s consumer price index (CPI) data this past Wednesday (August 14). The agency indicates that CPI increased 2.9 percent year-on-year, down from the 3 percent recorded in June.
The headline datapoint, however, was a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent monthly increase. Most market watchers are now anticipating a 25 basis point cut when the US Federal Reserve meets in September.
The gold price gold a boost on Friday (August 16) after the Chinese government issued new gold import quotas for banks in the country following a two month pause. Central bank buying has provided the yellow metal with critical support through the year, and has helped drive bullish sentiment among Asian and emerging market investors.
Markets were positive this week, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) gaining 3.78 percent to 5,554.26 points, and the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) surging 5.18 percent to end the week at 19,508.52.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) nudged up 2.79 percent to 40,659.77.
Commodities were mixed, with the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) remaining flat with a 0.27 percent loss to finish the week at US$540.07. Gold fell following the release of CPI data on Wednesday, but hit a new record high on Friday, ultimately gaining 3.19 percent during the week to US$2,508.14 per ounce. Silver also saw large price gains on Friday, jumping 5.54 percent on the week to reach US$29.02 per ounce at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Friday.
Which TSXV-listed companies rose the most against that backdrop? Here are the five top gainers.
1. Westhaven Gold (TSXV:WHN)
Weekly gain: 50 percent; market cap: C$31.04 million; share price: C$0.195
Westhaven Gold is working to advance four gold projects along the Spences Bridge Gold Belt located near Kamloops, BC. The four projects, Prospect Valley, Shovelnose, Skoonka Creek and Skoonka North, cover 37,000 hectares along the belt, which hosts similar geology to others that host epithermal style gold-silver mineralization.
The most advanced of its projects, Shovelnose, is located on the northern end of the trend. To date, the company has drilled 465 holes covering 161,597 meters and completed a preliminary economic assessment in July 2023.
In the assessment, the company reported a base case after-tax net present value of C$222 million, with an internal rate of return of 32.3 percent and a payback period of 2.6 years following the start of production.
The included mineral resource estimate for the project reports indicated resources of 612,000 ounces of contained gold and 3.27 million ounces of contained silver from 2.98 million metric tons (MT) of ore with average grades of 6.38 g/t gold and 34.1 g/t silver. The project also hosted inferred resources of 166,000 ounces of gold and 725,000 ounces silver from 1.33 million MT with average grades of 3.89 g/t gold and 16.9 g/t silver.
The company did not release news last week but has seen gains in its share price alongside the price of gold.
2. Lithium Ionic (TSXV:LTH)
Weekly gain: 46.67 percent; market cap: C$99.24 million; share price: C$0.66
Lithium Ionic is an exploration and development company that is acquiring lithium properties in Brazil. It has grouped its assets into two main groups: the Itinga and Salinas properties.
Itinga hosts the company’s flagship Bandeira lithium project. A feasibility study completed in May outlines an after-tax net present value of US$1.3 billion at an 8 percent discount, and an after-tax internal rate of return of 40 percent at an average price of US$2,277 per MT for spodumene concentrate grading 5.5 percent Li2O.
The feasibility study also points to a 14 year mine life for Bandeira, during which an underground mining operation will put out an average of 178,000 MT of spodumene concentrate grading 5.5 percent Li2O.
Lithium Ionic has not released news in August.
3. Scorpio Gold (TSXV:SGN)
Weekly gain: 45 percent; market cap: C$12.65 million; share price: C$0.145
Scorpio Gold is an exploration and development company focused on the advancement of its Manhattan District in the Walker Lane Trend in Nevada, US. The district is composed of the 4,300 acre Manhattan project, which hosts two past-producing open pit mines. Scorpio acquired the project from Kinross Gold (TSX:K,NYSE:KGC) in 2021.
Adjacent to Manhattan is Scorpio’s Goldwedge project, a 1,795 acre site that includes a fully permitted underground mine and a 400 MT per day mill facility and gravity circuit.
The company’s most recent news came on August 1 when Scorpio completed the first phase of its 2024 exploration program at the Manhattan project, which consisted of five holes across 1,178 meters. The company also said it had commenced an expanded second phase that will see diamond drilling of 13 holes across 3,109 meters.
The 2024 program is being performed to support the completion of a NI 43-101 technical report with a metallurgical study later in the year.
4. Arras Minerals (TSXV:ARK)
Weekly gain: 42.86 percent; market cap: C$29.63 million; share price: C$0.45
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 company has not released news in the past week.
5. Falco Resources (TSXV:FPC)
Weekly gain: 42.86 percent; market cap: C$77.04 million; share price: C$0.30
Falco Resources is an exploration and development company operating within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Québec, Canada. Its flagship asset is the Horne 5 polymetallic gold project, which consists of 67,000 hectares of land in the Noranda mining camp and includes 13 historic gold and base metals mining sites, including the historic Horne mine.
A 2021 feasibility study estimates that the project’s measured and indicated resources stand at 4.89 million ounces of gold, 48.63 million ounces of silver, 176,982 MT of copper and 839,937 MT of zinc.
The most recent news from Falco came on July 25 when it announced that the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks would be holding public hearings about the Horne 5 project. The company says this is an important milestone for the project and will allow the company to respond to questions from the public about Horne 5. The hearings will last a maximum of four months.
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 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 Weekly TSXV Performers article was retrieved at 12:30 pm PST on August 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.