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5 Best-performing Junior Copper Stocks on the TSXV in 2024
Explore the best-performing Canadian junior copper-mining companies in 2024, including Koryx Copper and Sandfire Resources.
Copper supply and demand have tightened in recent years, creating price volatility.
In 2024, copper prices reached record levels, breaking through the US$5 per pound mark for the first time.
Copper is one of the most important metals for the emerging green economy. It is essential for transmitting electricity, and is needed to produce wind turbines, electric cars and a wide array of electronic devices.
Even though demand continues to increase yearly, supply is failing to keep up. This has been a primary factor in copper’s record-breaking 2024, but what does that mean for small-cap mining companies on the TSX Venture Exchange?
Below are the five best-performing junior copper stocks since the start of 2024. Data for this article was gathered on December 18, using TradingView's stock screener, and all companies had market caps of over C$10 million at that time.
1. Koryx Copper (TSXV:KRY)
Year-to-date gain: 317.78 percent
Market cap: C$66.49 million
Share price: C$0.94
Koryx Copper is focused on the advancement of copper exploration projects in Namibia and Zambia. Its flagship asset is the Haib copper-molybdenum project located in Southern Namibia near the border with South Africa.
In an amended preliminary economic assessment (PEA) filed on January 8, the company indicated 20 million metric tons (MT) per year of ore processing with 85 percent copper recovery for a yearly production rate of 38,337 MT of London Metal Exchange copper metal and an additional 51,081 MT of copper sulfate.
The company is currently working toward releasing an enhanced PEA in mid-2025.
Since the start of 2024, Koryx has published various assay results from exploration at Haib, including on August 8, when the company provided final results from a Phase 1 drill program. The company highlighted near-surface grades of 0.3 percent copper over 44 meters, including an intersection of 0.5 percent copper over 8 meters.
President and CEO Pierre Léveillé said the program shows the deposit can deliver grades of over 0.3 percent copper for substantial widths in the project area, as well as above-average grades in the outer limits of the deposit.
Following the final results, Koryx released an updated resource estimate for Haib on September 10. Haib hosts an indicated resource of 1.46 million MT of contained copper from 414 million MT of ore at an average grade of 0.35 percent copper, plus an inferred resource of 1.14 million MT of copper from 345 million MT of ore at 0.33 percent copper.
On November 15, Koryx closed the third and final tranche of a non-brokered private placement, raising C$18 million. In the release, the company also noted it had begun an 8,200 meter Phase 2 drilling program at Haib. Additionally, it reported the start of Phase 2 metallurgical testwork as it works to de-risk its metallurgical processing plan.
Shares of Koryx reached a year-to-date high of C$1.24 on September 24.
2. Hannan Metals (TSXV:HAN)
Year-to-date gain: 305.56 percent
Market cap: C$92.75 million
Share price: C$0.73
Explorer Hannan Metals is focused on advancing gold, silver and copper deposits in Latin America.
The San Martin project is a joint venture with the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), a Japanese government agency established in 2004 to secure stable resources and fuel supplies. Under the terms of the agreement, JOGMEC can earn up to a 75 percent stake in the project if all its funding goals are met.
The site is located northeast of Tarapoto, Peru, and hosts a copper and silver system with 120 kilometers of combined strike. The Tabalosos target has shown grades of 4.9 percent copper and 62 grams per MT (g/t) silver over 2 meters.
Hannan also wholly owns the Valiente project, which hosts a previously unknown porphyry and epithermal mineralized belt within a 140 kilometer by 50 kilometer area containing copper, gold, molybdenum and silver.
Results from two channel samples were reported in early August, and they confirmed extensive leached copper mineralization at the Previsto Central prospect. The two channels, separated by 700 meters, had grades of 0.22 percent copper over 126 meters and 0.16 percent copper over 192 meters.
Hannan said the results continue to further the company's understanding of the mineralization system, with gold-rich areas at higher elevations that transition into copper-rich areas at lower elevations.
This was followed by news on October 8 that the company completed the first stage of an induced polarization (IP) geophysical survey at the Previsto prospect. Combined with its other data, the results confirmed a 6 kilometer by 6 kilometer copper-gold porphyry epithermal mineralization system and identified seven high-priority targets.
In the most recent update on the analysis of the IP survey on December 5, the company singled out two significant types of anomalies. There is a high-chargeability, low-resistivity zone covering 2.4 kilometers of strike up to a depth of 500 meters, with soil containing up to 0.23 parts per million gold, as well as high-chargeability, high-resistivity zones along 1 kilometer of strike that host boulders containing up to 1.98 g/t gold and 29 g/t silver.
Hannan announced on November 25 that it had received approval from the Peruvian government for a maiden drill program at Valiente’s Belen permit area. The approval allows 40 drill platforms over 702 hectares across three prospects.
Before drilling commences in the second quarter of 2025, the company said its next steps are to reapply for a certificate of non-existence of archaeological remains, which it expects before the end of 2024. It must also submit a permit application to initiate activities, which is expected in the first quarter of 2025.
Shares of Hannan reached a year-to-date high of C$0.87 on December 9.
3. Sandfire Resources America (TSXV:SFR)
Year-to-date gain: 227.78 percent
Market cap: C$301.89 million
Share price: C$0.295
Sandfire Resources America is a copper development company focused on its Black Butte copper project, which is located east of Helena, Montana, in the US. In 2021, a state district court revoked the company's mine operating permit for Black Butte, halting construction activities for the underground mine.
Sandfire describes the property as one of the highest-grade undeveloped copper deposits in the world. According to a 2020 resource estimate, the project's Johnny Lee deposit holds measured and indicated resources of 10.9 million MT grading 2.9 percent copper for a total of 311,000 MT of contained copper.
Shares of Sandfire soared following a February 26 decision by the Montana Supreme Court to reinstate the company's mine operating permit. The win was a crucial step for construction of the mine to continue.
In its management discussion and analysis for the quarter ended on September 30, the company said that since December 2023 it had completed 10,000 meters of a planned 20,000 meters of drilling. Additionally, Sandfire said its main focus at the site was expanding the resource at the Johnny Lee lower copper zone. The latest measured and indicated estimations put grading at the zone at 6.8 percent copper from 1.2 million MT.
Sandfire is focused on improving Black Butte's economics as it works towards a final investment decision. The most recent update from the project came on December 18, when the company released an exploration update highlighting a high-grade copper intercept of 19.46 percent copper over 3.19 meters from a depth of 471.86 meters.
Although much of Sandfire’s focus in 2024 has been on the exploration and development of Black Butte, the company’s parent company, Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR), also has two copper-producing assets: Motheo in the Kalahari Copper Belt in Botswana and MATSA in the Iberian Pyrite Belt in Spain.
Shares of Sandfire reached a year-to-date high of C$0.395 on May 13.
4. Awalé Resources (TSXV:ARIC)
Year-to-date gain: 203.57 percent
Market cap: C$36.89 million
Share price: C$0.425
Awalé Resources is a copper and gold explorer focused on its Odienné project in Côte D’Ivoire.
The site, located in the West African country’s northwest region, covers an area of 2,462 square kilometers across two granted permits and five under application; two are being advanced as part of an earn-in joint venture with major gold miner Newmont (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM). Newmont has the chance to earn up to 65 percent ownership of the permits via exploration expenditures of US$15 million and the delivery of a minimum 2 million ounce gold resource.
On May 15, Newmont advanced to the second phase of its earn-in agreement. The completion of Phase 1 of the agreement came after drilling at the Charger and BBM targets during early 2024 exploration.
For the final 14 percent of the earn-in agreement, Newmont is required to fund an additional US$10 million toward exploration of the project. Company CEO Andrew Chubb said that Awalé is on good footing to deliver exploration success between the funding from Newmont and Awalé's C$11.5 million bought-deal equity financing, closed on May 8.
Awalé has actively explored the project area throughout 2024. On December 5, it announced it had commenced a 4,000 meter diamond drill program at Odienné, which will focus on the BBM and Charger zones.
In the first update from the program on December 18, the company reported that it had expanded the trend at BBM to over 15 kilometers from the Fremen target in the south to the newly defined targets Boba and Fett in the north.
Awalé plans to complete a large IP survey in January 2025 on the entire BBM trend to help refine targets for a 7,000 meter reverse-circulation drill campaign set to begin in February.
Shares of Awalé reached a year-to-date high of C$0.98 on March 26.
5. Lara Exploration (TSXV:LRA)
Year-to-date gain: 180 percent
Market cap: C$67.73 million
Share price: C$1.40
Lara Exploration is a copper miner, explorer and royalty generator focused on South America.
For 2024, its primary asset has been the Planalto copper project in the Carajas Mineral Province in Pará, Brazil. The property comprises five mineral tenements covering a total area of 3,867 hectares. More than 23,000 meters of drilling have been conducted, and three primary deposits — Homestead, Cupuzeiro and Planalto — have been identified.
The most recent news from the project came on October 17, when Lara filed the technical report for its maiden resource estimate, which outlines a total indicated resource of 252,800 MT of copper from 47.7 million MT of ore with an average grade of 0.53 percent copper. The report also outlines an inferred resource for Planalto of 548,900 MT of copper from 154 million MT of ore with an average grade of 0.36 percent copper.
Lara also owns a 5 percent net profit interest, along with a 2 percent net smelter return royalty, in the Celesta copper mine in Brazil. Its partners are private companies Tessarema Resources and North Extração de Minério.
On November 12, Lara announced that operations had restarted at the mine after it had been placed on care and maintenance while Tessarema worked to reinstate permits to the property. In the release, Lara said that mining and ore processing from stockpiles began in October and is expected to ramp up gradually over the coming months.
Shares of Lara reached a year-to-date high of C$1.60 on October 24.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Awalé Resources is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.
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Dean has been writing in one form or another since penning stage plays in his youth. He is a graduate of both Emily Carr University and Simon Fraser University, with a BFA in photography and a BA in communications.
As a writer, Dean has traveled throughout BC and the Pacific Northwest covering cultural events, interviewing small business owners and working alongside fellow writers and photographers from publications like Rolling Stone Magazine, Spin and the Georgia Straight.
Dean has a keen interest in investing, and enjoys learning about the mining industry and better understanding the technical aspects of trading. In his spare time, Dean is an avid home chef, ponders the space-time continuum and makes his own cider. On weekends he can be found cycling the Seawall, exploring farmers markets or sampling the city’s local craft breweries.
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Dean has been writing in one form or another since penning stage plays in his youth. He is a graduate of both Emily Carr University and Simon Fraser University, with a BFA in photography and a BA in communications.
As a writer, Dean has traveled throughout BC and the Pacific Northwest covering cultural events, interviewing small business owners and working alongside fellow writers and photographers from publications like Rolling Stone Magazine, Spin and the Georgia Straight.
Dean has a keen interest in investing, and enjoys learning about the mining industry and better understanding the technical aspects of trading. In his spare time, Dean is an avid home chef, ponders the space-time continuum and makes his own cider. On weekends he can be found cycling the Seawall, exploring farmers markets or sampling the city’s local craft breweries.
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