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Top 5 Junior Gold Stocks on the TSXV (Updated March 2023)
Mar. 20, 2023 01:35PM PST
Which TSXV-listed junior gold stocks have performed the best so far this year? Our list includes the five biggest gainers.
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After multiple banks failed in March, causing fear in global markets, gold has rallied from US$1,811 per ounce on March 7 to as high as US$2,003 on March 20, breaking the important US$2,000 mark.
Last year's highest price, US$2,069 per ounce, came in the weeks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, the metal spent much of the rest of the year declining before moving up in December to start 2023 at US$1,823.
Earlier this month, the Investing News Network heard from experts about gold and mining companies at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention, speaking with Adrian Day, Randy Smallwood and Thom Calandra.
Expert Brian Leni, founder of Junior Stock Review, also shared his positive outlook for the resource space and gave advice for investors looking to decide which companies to invest in — and when to sell them.
This list shows the TSXV-listed gold companies with the biggest year-to-date share price gains. It was generated on March 16, 2023, using TradingView’s stock screener, and all stocks included had market caps above C$10 million at that time.
1. Satori Resources (TSXV:BUD)
Year-to-date gain: 357.14 percent; market capitalization: C$14.91 million; current share price: C$0.16
Satori Resources is working to fast track development of a past-producing gold mine: the Tartan Lake gold mine project in the Flin Flon greenstone belt of Manitoba, Canada. The mine operated in the late 1980s and produced 47,000 ounces of gold.
Satori’s only news in 2023 came on February 6, when it announced that Rob McEwen, the founder and former chairman and CEO of Goldcorp, has acquired 37.6 percent of the company, becoming its largest shareholder. Satori is proposing to acquire McEwen's exploration company Apollo Exploration, which has exploration projects near significant gold mines and projects across Canada.
Satori is planning to change its name and ticker symbol once the deal closes, and also shared other next steps in the release, including a deep follow-up drill program at Tartan Lake’s Hanging Wall zone, the completion of a preliminary economic assessment for the project and the advancement of permit updates. The news led to continued gains for the company’s share price, which had moved between C$0.04 to C$0.05 before the announcement. After spiking to C$0.08 that day and C$0.18 on February 15, Satori has since reached a year-to-date high of C$0.19 on March 8.
2. Delta Resources (TSXV:DLTA)
Year-to-date gain: 191.67 percent; market capitalization: C$21.3 million; current share price: C$0.75
Delta Resources is another Canada-focused gold company. Its projects are the Delta-1 gold-nickel-copper project in Ontario and the Delta-2 gold-copper project in Quebec. Delta kicked off the first phase of its two phase 2023 drilling program at Delta-1 in mid-January.
Delta’s share price performed relatively flatly during the first month and a half of the year, hovering around C$0.11. On February 2, the company shared an exploration update for its two projects — in addition to its ongoing drill program at Delta-1, it will perform a 3,000 meter drill program at Delta-2, with follow-up exploration based on the results. A week later, the company announced the final assays from 2022 drilling at Delta-1, which extended a new gold zone.
The company’s share price began to gain upward momentum with the February 16 announcement that Delta had acquired the exclusive rights to a 47 hectare property contiguous to Delta-1.
The momentum only picked up pace with the March 1 announcement that recent drilling, which was testing the extension of high-grade gold discoveries made in February, was continuing to intersect visible gold over multiple drill holes. Delta’s share price climbed to a year-to-date high of C$0.35 on March 13, which it matched on March 16.
3. Gowest Gold (TSXV:GWA)
Year-to-date gain: 166.67 percent; market capitalization: C$38.46 million; current share price: C$0.16
Gowest Gold is a gold explorer and developer with its North Timmins gold project in the Timmins, Ontario, gold camp. The project contains Gowest’s Bradshaw property, which the company is focused on advancing towards a restart of gold production.
On January 26, Gowest secured C$25 million in financing from two investment partners, and said the funds would be going towards restarting mining at Bradshaw. The company’s share price climbed over the weeks following that announcement, ultimately reaching a year-to-date high of C$0.19 on February 14, which it maintained over the next 10 days.
On February 23, Gowest engaged Dumas Contracting, a company that specializes in mine construction, for a four year contract to assist with mining operations. Dumas has “already begun moving equipment to the site and is rapidly ramping up the mobilization process.” Underground work is expected to resume in April. The company’s most recent news came on March 9, when it closed on C$10 million of its previously announced financing.
4. Tower Resources (TSXV:TWR)
Year-to-date gain: 160 percent; market capitalization: C$57.32 million; current share price: C$0.39
Tower Resources is a copper and precious metals exploration company with projects located in BC, Canada. In 2023, Tower is conducting a diamond drill program at the Rabbit North copper-gold project; the company's other assets are the Nechako gold-silver-copper and More Creek gold-silver projects.
On February 2, Tower announced it would be resuming diamond drilling at Rabbit North in the second week of February, with plans for 2,000 meters of drilling. As of February 23, the company had completed the program’s till sampling and gold grain testing.
The company’s share price spiked on March 1, when Tower Resources shared that its inaugural drill test at Rabbit North discovered a new shear-hosted gold zone, which the company has named the Thunder zone. This new discovery is similar to the project's already discovered Lightning zone, but "more strongly mineralized" and "blossoms with depth."
The news sent the company's share price from C$0.22 to C$0.38 over the course of the trading day, and it has moved higher since.
5. Lahontan Gold (TSXV:LG)
Year-to-date gain: 153.85 percent; market capitalization: C$15.75 million; current share price: C$0.165
Lahontan Gold has three gold and silver projects in the Walker Lane area of Nevada, US. Its flagship asset is the Santa Fe mine gold-silver project, which is 100 percent owned by Lahontan and hosts four past-producing open pits.
On January 17, the company released a maiden mineral resource estimate for Santa Fe, reporting an indicated resource of 1.1 million gold equivalent ounces and an inferred resource of 547,000 ounces. The news led to an early jump for Lahontan’s share price, which moved from C$0.07 to C$0.13 over the course of the week.
Two weeks later, the gold company commenced metallurgical testing at the project with the aim of verifying historic gold and silver recoveries and determining baseline metallurgical data. February 8 saw Lahontan announce a C$1.5 million private placement, which it went on to upsize and later close on February 28. The company’s share price has consistently trended higher through March, during which time it filed the technical report for its mineral resource estimate.
Most recently, Lahontan announced the appointment of Brian Maher as vice president of exploration. Maher was a founder of Lahontan and has 45 years of experience in the industry. Company shares reached a year-to-date high of C$0.22 on March 20.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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