The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) gained 2.71 points this week to close at 583.14. Meanwhile, the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was up 388.17 points to finish the period at 23,956.82.
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis released personal consumption expenditures price index data on Friday (September 27). It shows that the pace of inflation slowed, gaining just 0.1 percent on a monthly basis.
That’s down from the 0.2 percent increase recorded in July. Year-on-year the increase came in at 2.2 percent, down from 2.5 percent the previous month and the lowest since February 2021, when it came in at 1.9 percent.
The index is a favored inflationary measure of the US Federal Reserve when making it interest rate decisions. The current data shows inflation has consistently been tracking toward the 2 percent target set by the central bank.
North of the border, Statistics Canada released July gross domestic product (GDP) figures on Friday. In the report, the agency states that GDP saw 0.2 percent growth over June, which is essentially flat. Despite the small increase, GDP was negatively affected by wildfires, which impacted transportation, warehousing and accommodation services.
The report also notes that several iron ore mines were forced to temporarily shut due to wildfires that affected operations in Labrador and Northern Québec, leading to a 4.8 percent decline in iron ore production. Overall, the mining sector saw a 0.4 percent gain in July, headlined by a 7.1 percent increase in copper, nickel, lead and zinc mining.
Markets saw gains this week, despite a pullback in trading on Friday. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) gained 0.46 percent to 5,738.16, while the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) was up 0.81 percent to 20,008.62. For its part, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) increased by 0.6 percent to reach 42,313.01.
Gold and silver saw gains over the week, with gold climbing 1.22 percent to US$2,652 per ounce, and silver seeing a gain of 1.53 percent to hit US$31.64 per ounce as of 4:30 p.m. EDT on Friday. More broadly, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) was flat by the end of the week, losing just 0.09 percent to 532.94 points.
Against that backdrop, how did TSX- and TSXV-listed resource stocks perform? Here are the top five gainers.
1. Silver Elephant Mining (TSX:ELEF)
Weekly gain: 63.64 percent
Market cap: C$17.71 million
Share price: C$0.81
Silver Elephant Mining is a development and production company focused on its flagship Pulacayo-Paca silver, zinc and lead property, which is located in Southern Bolivia’s Potosi silver district.
An October 2020 resource estimate for the asset, which contains the Pulacayo and Paca deposits, demonstrates indicated quantities of 106.7 million ounces of silver, 1.38 billion pounds of zinc and 690.2 million pounds of lead, with additional inferred values of 13.1 million ounces of silver, 122.8 million pounds of zinc and 61.9 million pounds of lead.
In September 2023, the company announced the first sale of up to 800,000 metric tons (MT) of silver oxide material from Paca to Andean Precious Metals (TSXV:APM,OTCQX:ANPMF). Silver Elephant released a subsequent announcement in November saying had shipped the first 4,500 MT of material to the Andean Precious Metals.
The most recent announcement from the project came on September 19, when the company reported the delivery of an additional 22,669 MT of material to Andean Precious Metals in August.
In total, Silver Elephant has shipped 176,803 MT of silver-bearing oxide material with an average grade of 180 grams per MT (g/t) for a total of 965,531 ounces of silver since the start of production in October 2023.
2. American Lithium (TSXV:LI)
Weekly gain: 54 percent
Market cap: C$189.28 million
Share price: C$0.77
American Lithium is an exploration and development company working to advance its advanced-stage Falchani project in Southern Peru. An updated resource estimate for the property, released in October 2023, shows indicated values of 670,000 MT of lithium oxide from 40.58 million MT with an average grade of 3,104 parts per million (ppm).
Inferred values stand at 1.76 million MT of lithium oxide from 121.7 million MT with an average grade of 2,724 ppm.
A preliminary economic assessment for Falchani, released in February, outlines an after-tax net present value of US$5.11 billion and an after-tax internal rate of return of 32 percent with a payback period of three years.
On June 27, the company announced it was working to optimize the flow sheet for the project, and said that due to the low impurity content it would resemble a more conventional mining and processing flow sheet. Additionally, American Lithium said it was intending to commence piloting work during the second half of 2024.
The company has not released an update on progress at Falchani since then.
3. Pacific Booker Minerals (TSXV:BKM)
Weekly gain: 47.54 percent
Market cap: C$14.63 million
Share price: C$0.90
Pacific Booker Minerals is a exploration and development company focused on its Morrison property, located in Central BC, Canada. The site is in the advanced stages of development and hosts copper, gold and molybdenum mineralization. The company has been working on development plans since 2004, and completed a feasibility study in 2009. However, work hasn’t been able to proceed as it needs approval from the nearby Lake Babine Nation.
On May 13, Pacific Booker announced it would be seeking legal recourse after communications between itself and Lake Babine Nation broke down. The company indicated it had received a memorandum of understanding from Lake Babine Nation in 2012, but legal counsel for the nation has refuted that the understanding was in existence and an environmental assessment certificate for Morrison was refused in 2012.
Shares of Pacific Booker saw gains this week, but the company has not released further news.
4. Panoro Minerals (TSXV:PML)
Weekly gain: 42.5 percent
Market cap: C$68.74 million
Share price: C$0.285
Panoro Minerals is a copper explorer focused on advancing its flagship Cotabambas project in the Apurimac region of Southern Peru. Consisting of two primary mineralized zones, exploration at the property dates back to the mid-1990s and has largely been focused on an 18 square kilometer area in the northeast portion of the property.
The most recent resource estimate for the project was published in January, and outlines indicated values of 3.75 billion pounds of copper, 3.29 million ounces of gold, 39.45 million ounces of silver and 24.02 million pounds of molybdenum from 507.3 million MT, with average grades of 0.33 percent copper, 0.2 g/t gold, 2.42 g/t silver and 0.002 percent molybdenum.
The company saw gains this past week, but has not published a news release.
5. Bedford Metals (TSXV:BFM)
Weekly gain: 40.63 percent
Market cap: C$65.38 million
Share price: C$0.90
Bedford Metals is a uranium exploration company focused several projects within the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. Its three projects, Close Lake, Ubiquity Lake and Sheppard Lake, represent a combined land package of 3,877 hectares and are located near claims owned by Cameco( TSX:CCO,NYSE:CCJ).
The company’s most prospective project is Ubiquity Lake, where it said on August 19 that it has identified several radioactive zones following a Phase 1 prospecting survey.
Bedford’s most recent news came on September 2, when it said it would be advancing exploration at Ubiquity Lake. The company said the plans come amid increased demand for energy due to the global artificial intelligence boom. Final details are to be determined pending assay results of samples recently submitted for analysis.
Data for this 5 Top Canadian Mining Stocks article was retrieved at 1:00 p.m PST on September 27, 2024, using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX and TSXV with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million are included. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals sectors 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.
