The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) gained 20.94 points last week to close at 584.33.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released March employment numbers this past Friday (April 5). The report indicates that 303,000 nonfarm jobs were added to the economy through the month; meanwhile, the unemployment rate declined slightly to 3.8 percent, although it remains within the 3.7 percent to 3.9 percent range it’s held since last August. The increase in jobs surprised economists, who had forecast that approximately 200,000 jobs would be added for the month.
There was a different story north of the border. Statistics Canada released its March Labor Force Survey this past Friday, and it shows that the country’s unemployment rate rose 0.3 percent to come in at 6.1 percent. Canada’s employment remained largely unchanged, posting a slight contraction of 2,200 jobs.
In the resource sector, gold continued to trade at record-high levels. The yellow metal’s price found resistance around the US$2,300 per ounce mark for most of the week, but broke through on Friday, climbing to US$2,327.
While off its record highs, silver has also seen gains, jumping nearly 10 percent over the past five days to break US$27 per ounce. This upward momentum has outpaced gold’s rise of just under 4.5 percent over the same time.
Have strong gains in silver and gold prices translated into share price increases for small-cap resource stocks? Here’s a look at the top five gainers on the TSX Venture Exchange this past week.
1. Rackla Metals (TSXV:RAK)
Weekly gain: 90.48 percent; market cap: C$11.78 million; current share price: C$0.20
Rackla Metals is a gold exploration company with a significant land package covering 59,000 hectares in the Eastern Yukon and Western Northwest Territories, Canada. The firm is specifically targeting properties within the Tombstone Gold Belt, which hosts a gold system that tends to produce deposits in clusters.
Rackla is currently focused on its Astro plutonic complex in the Northwest Territories, which is in close proximity to significant discoveries at Snowline Gold’s (TSXV:SGD,OTCQB:SNWGF) Rogue plutonic complex and Fireweed Metals’ (TSXV:FWZ,OTCQX:FWEDF) Macmillan Pass project.
The company’s most recent news came this past Monday (April 1), when it announced the results of a 2023 exploration program at Kelvin Stock’s Peak target within Astro. The company has defined a new reduced intrusion-related gold system at the target, and said that 49 out of 237 rock samples taken from the site graded greater than 1 gram per metric ton (g/t) gold. The company said it will start a maiden drill program at the target in the summer of 2024.
2. Taranis Resources (TSXV:TRO)
Weekly gain: 87.5 percent; market cap: C$32.16 million; current share price: C$0.30
Taranis Resources is a copper explorer focused on advancing work at its Thor project in Southeast BC.
The site has seen previous mining dating back to the early 1900s and hosts at least seven different epithermal zones. In a February mineral resource estimate update, the company reported an indicated resource of 27,400 ounces of gold, 5.58 million ounces of silver, 3.1 million pounds of copper, 47.8 million pounds of lead and 77.9 million pounds of zinc.
In its most recent news release, which came on March 26, Taranis announced the receipt of permits to begin deep drilling at Thor following a 19 month process. It had to bring legal action through the Supreme Court of BC to resolve a delay.
3. Silver One Resources (TSXV:SVE)
Weekly gain: 76.32 percent; market cap: C$78.33 million; current share price: C$0.335
Silver One Resources is a silver explorer and developer with a focus on assets in the Western US.
Its flagship past-producing Candelaria silver project in Nevada is located in one of the richest silver districts in the state. According to the company, past mining operations produced 68 million ounces of silver, and the site hosts a large unexploited silver equivalent resource of 44.6 million ounces in the measured and indicated category and 84.8 million ounces in the inferred category based on a historic technical report from May 2001.
The most recent news from the company came this past Tuesday (April 2), when it said that metallurgical test results from Candelaria reveal the potential to double the recovery of silver to 49 percent using a non-toxic, cyanide-free leaching technology with additional short-term milling recoveries of up to 64.4 percent.
4. Zacatecas Silver (TSXV:ZAC)
Weekly gain: 76 percent; market cap: C$20.65 million; current share price: C$0.22
Zacatecas Silver is a precious metals exploration and development company focused on advancing its Zacatecas silver project and Esperanza gold project, which are located in Central Mexico.
Esperanza is an advanced-stage project that the company plans to develop to the mining stage. In a January 2023 mineral resource estimate, the company reported measured and indicated amounts of 913,000 ounces of gold and 8.5 million ounces of silver from 30.54 million metric tons (MT) of ore grading 0.93 g/t gold and 8.7 g/t silver.
Its Zacatecas project is a district-scale site located within the Fresnillo Silver Belt, which to date has produced more than 6.2 billion ounces of silver. In a January 2022 mineral resource estimate, the company reported inferred amounts of 15 million ounces silver and 15,000 ounces of gold from 2.73 million MT at 171 g/t silver and 0.17 g/t gold.
The company did not release news last week, but shares climbed along with gold and silver prices.
5. Tier One Silver (TSXV:TSLV)
Weekly gain: 75 percent; market cap: C$21.76 million; current share price: C$0.140
Tier One Silver is a silver and copper exploration company with assets located in Southern Peru.
The firm is currently focused on discovery efforts at its flagship Curibaya property, which is situated within a copper porphyry belt hosting some of the largest deposits in Peru. The most recent exploration update at the site came in September 2023, when Tier One identified a new 1.5 kilometer long corridor named Sambalay Chico. Exploration returned values of up to 139 g/t silver and 2.56 g/t gold from a combination of rock chip and channel samples.
The company has not released news in 2024, but its share price has been on the rise since the end of March.
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 April 5 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.