Top 5 Copper Stocks on the TSXV (Updated March 2022)

1. Bell Copper (TSXV:BCU)

Year-to-date gain: 258.82 percent; current share price: C$0.61

Bell Copper is a copper explorer working out of Arizona, US. The US is the fifth largest copper-producing country in the world, and Arizona is responsible for 71 percent of its output. The company is currently focused on exploring two copper prospects in the state — Big Sandy and Perseverance — which are within 30 kilometers of each other.

At the beginning of February, the company shot up 100 percent when it released news that its drill program discovered copper sulfide in quartz porphyry. It jumped again in early March after a further update on the drilling.

2. Max Resources (TSXV:MXR)

Year-to-date gain: 71.43 percent; current share price: C$0.42

Max Resources is a copper and gold exploration company that describes itself as “one of the true mineral explorers.” Its Cesar copper-silver project in Colombia is part of the Andean belt, and the company made three high-grade discoveries as part of its 2020/2021 exploration at the property. The company will continue exploration at the property into 2022. Max also has the right to acquire 100 percent of the RT gold project in Peru.

After starting 2022 at C$0.24, Max has been slowly ascending throughout the year. At the beginning of February, the company announced that it had identified a new drill target area at Cesar. Highlights of drilling at this area include 4.34 percent copper over widths of 10 meters.

The company saw a share price spike on the news of a cooperation and financing agreement with Endeavour Silver (TSX:EDR,NYSE:EXK) for Cesar. Endeavour will assist Max in “significantly expanding its landholdings.”

3. Los Andes Copper (TSXV:LA)

Year-to-date gain: 49.13 percent; current share price: C$17.15

Chile-focused Los Andes Copper describes its 100 percent owned Vizcachitas open-pit copper-molybdenum project as “one of the most advanced copper deposits in the Americas.” The project has a measured and indicated resource of 1,284 million tonnes at a copper grade of 0.4 percent, including 13 billion pounds of copper equivalent. A prefeasibility study for the project is in progress.

Another copper company that has seen a slow positive build in its share price over the course of 2022, Los Andes started the year at C$11.60. At the end of January, it shared results for its 2021 financial year, which ended on September 30; during the period, it spent C$3.8 million on Vizcachitas. The company went on to report new drill results from its exploration in February and March.

4. NGEx Minerals (TSXV:NGEX)

Year-to-date gain: 29.73 percent; current share price: C$2.40

NGEx Minerals is an explorer focused on copper and gold. Its primary asset is the Los Helados copper-gold project in Chile, and it also has a portfolio of exploration properties in Argentina, including the Valle Ancho gold project. NGEx owns 64 percent of Los Helados, sharing ownership with Nippon Caserones Resources. The project is close to the Caserones mine operated by Nippon Caserones, allowing Los Helados access to that mining infrastructure.

NGEx’s share price hit a year-to-date high of C$2.96 on February 22 after starting the year at C$1.76. NGEx began that month by announcing a new 16,000 meter diamond drill program at Los Helados with the goal of defining and possibly extending the resource. Additionally, after commencing a drill program in January at Valle Ancho, NGEx announced initial drill results, including 1.05 grams per tonne gold over 150 meters.

5. Panoro Minerals (TSXV:PML)

Year-to-date gain: 29.03 percent; current share price: C$0.20

Copper company Panoro Minerals is focused on advancing its Cotabambas copper-gold-silver project in Southern Peru. It also holds a portfolio of predominantly copper projects in the country.

So far in 2022, Panoro has been working on a prefeasibility study for Cotabambas. In early January, the company announced an additional C$3 million in funding towards the study, resulting in a total of C$17.7 million available for it. The company then announced the official commencement of the study on February 7. First will be step-out and infill drilling programs, as well as technical and environmental studies.