Best Junior Gold Stocks on the TSXV

1. Arizona Metals

Year-to-date gain: 409.8 percent; current share price: C$5.20

As its name suggests, exploration company Arizona Metals (TSXV:AMC) has 100 percent ownership of two key projects in the Grand Canyon state: the Kay mine project and the Sugarloaf Peak gold project.

In May, the company discovered a new gold-rich zone at Kay with open-ended mineralization. This area had previously been untested by historic drilling or exploration. Drilling at Kay also intersected massive sulfide mineralization in all seven holes completed.

Arizona Metals kicked off June with an announcement that metallurgical testing at its Sugarloaf Peak project saw gold recoveries averaging 76 percent from surface to approximately 111 meters. Oxidized zones tested even higher, reaching recoveries up to 95 percent.

Company shares rose from the C$1 level in January to peak at C$5.55 on June 23.

2. Cerrado Gold

Year-to-date gain: 285.08 percent; current share price: C$1.60

Cerrado Gold (TSXV:CERT) is not only a gold explorer, but also a gold producer. Its Minera Don Nicolas mine is located in Argentina's Santa Cruz province, and its exploration assets include the Monte do Carmo project in Brazil.

In August, Cerrado had plenty of positive news. At the start of the month, the company reported a new mineral resource for the Serra Alto deposit at Monte do Carmo. Later in the month, it announced an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Monte do Carmo. The PEA highlights an after-tax net present value of US$617 million at a 5 percent discount with an internal rate of return of 94.8 percent.

The company closed out the month by reporting significantly increased grades and throughput for Q2 production at Minera Don Nicolas, resulting in the highest gold production levels at the operation since its acquisition. Shares of Cerrado hit a high of C$1.78 on August 30.

3. Laurion Mineral Exploration

Year-to-date gain: 260 percent; current share price: C$0.72

Gold explorer and developer Laurion Mineral Exploration's (TSXV:LME) flagship asset is the brownfield Ishkoday gold-polymetallic project located in Ontario. It hosts the past-producing Sturgeon River and Brenbar mines.

Shares of the company hit a peak of C$0.75 on April 28. Laurion’s most recent work on the property has centered on the strike continuity between the A-Zone and McLeod mineralized areas. In September, the company shared highlighted assay results, including 0.71 grams per tonne gold, 13.29 grams per tonne silver, 0.17 percent copper and 2.22 percent zinc over 13.5 meters.

4. North Peak Resources

Year-to-date gain: 200 percent; current share price: C$1.65

North Peak Resources (TSXV:NPR) is focused on acquiring low-cost, long-life mining operations in politically safe jurisdictions. Formerly known as Interbit, the company changed its business focus in mid-2020.

North Peak’s share price reached a peak of C$1.65 on December 6, the day the company announced a binding definitive agreement for the option to acquire the 2,733 acre Black Horse gold-silver property located 50 miles east of Ely within the Black Horse mining district in White Pine County, Nevada.

5. Solstice Gold

Year-to-date gain: 135.71 percent; current share price: C$0.165

Gold-focused explorer Solstice Gold (TSXV:SGC) has a pipeline of projects in Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut.

The company’s Red Lake Extension, Taillon, Moreau, KGP and Berens projects are at the north end of Ontario’s prolific Red Lake gold district. Its district-scale Qaiqtuq project in Nunavut is located only 26 kilometers from Rankin Inlet and approximately 15 kilometers from Agnico Eagle Mines' (TSX:AEM,NYSE:AEM) Meliadine gold mine.

In mid-September, the company announced the acquisition of a portfolio of royalty and property interests in Ontario and Quebec from vendors including prospector Perry English.

Company shares reached a peak of C$0.18 on November 1.