Top 5 Canadian Silver Stocks (Updated December 2023)

Year-to-date gain 706.25 percent; market cap: C$165.81 million; current share price: C$1.29

Hercules Silver is a junior miner focused on the exploration and development of its namesake asset, which is located northwest of Cambridge, Idaho. Acquired in 2021, the Hercules property hosts a disseminated silver-lead-zinc system that was in production up until 1920. The most recent exploration at the site took place in 1988.

Shares of the company have been on the rise since October 10, when results from the first blind drill hole at the site exceeded expectations, intersecting 185.29 meters of 0.84 percent copper, 111 parts per million molybdenum and 2.6 grams per metric ton (g/t) silver from 246 to 431.2 meters, including 45.33 meters of 1.94 percent copper. The results confirmed the presence of a large system, which Hercules said is the first significant copper porphyry system in Idaho.

Hercules built on these results when it announced on November 1 that near-surface intercepts at the site had revealed a 25.14 meter interval grading 195.2 g/t silver, 0.21 percent lead, 0.33 percent zinc, 0.24 percent copper, 5.9 percent manganese and 302 parts per million antimony. CEO and Director Chris Paul stated in a press release, “What began as a primary drilling target for this season has now evolved into just the upper levels of a much larger system and the presence of critical minerals adds further encouragement from a permitting standpoint in the U.S.”

Following this news, on November 6, the company entered into a non-brokered private placement agreement with Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:GOLD) for C$23.39 million, with Barrick to receive 12.33 percent of Hercules' issued and outstanding shares on a non-diluted post-transaction basis. Hercules said the investment supports and validates the Hercules property, and will allow the company to leverage Barrick’s experience and technical expertise.

Year-to-date gain: 170 percent; market cap: C$18.9 million; current share price: C$0.135

Canuc Resources is focused on the construction of a mine at its San Javier silver-gold project in Sonora, Mexico. The site consists of 28 contiguous claims over 1,052.9 hectares, with the most recent set of claims being acquired on July 11. The company said at the time that this addition to its claim group provides it with comprehensive coverage of an area surrounding the largest magnetic-high anomaly detected during a magnetic survey in 2021.

Aside from San Javier, Canuc also owns the MidTex natural gas project in Texas. The property consists of eight producing natural gas wells that the company uses to provide steady, long-term cash flow.

Shares of the company surged during the May to June period following the May 30 release of Canuc's interim financial statement for the period ended on March 31. In it, the company notes that its assets had more than tripled compared to the preceding period — it increased them from C$145,131 to C$744,032 while decreasing liabilities.

On July 4, Canuc announced it had raised C$2 million via a private placement. The company said it intended to use the proceeds for exploration at San Javier and to develop its MidTex asset. The improvement in Canuc's financials was further reinforced through statements released on August 29 and November 29.

Year-to-date gain: 42.7 percent; market cap: C$559.66 million; current share price: C$8.02

Gatos Silver is a silver-focused production and exploration company. Its flagship asset is the Cerro Los Gatos mine and district south of Chihuahua City, Mexico. The site consists of 14 predominantly silver, lead and zinc mineralization zones.

Shares of Gatos have seen volatility this year, with the largest gains coming on March 30, when the firm released its financial results for the first three quarters of 2022. In the announcement, Gatos indicated that revenue was up 23 percent to US$218.7 million for the period, while net income grew 27 percent to US$53 million. However, the company announced on March 31 that it would be refiling those and other financials and would delay filing its 2022 annual report.

Gatos shares reached a yearly high of C$9.68 on April 10, but began to decline following an announcement on April 17 that the filing of its financial statements would be further delayed until May 15; when that day came, Gatos announced that the filing of its statements for 2021, 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 would be further delayed until May 31.

Shares began to rise again following announcements on June 26 and 27 that Gatos had completed its filings for 2021 and 2022, along with Q1 2023. The company released its financial results for Q2 on schedule on August 8, reporting a 2 percent year-on-year improvement in revenue, but substantially lower net income, down 78 percent.

The company’s share price saw another swing upward starting in late August. On September 6, Gatos released an updated mineral reserve estimate, mineral resource estimate and life-of-mine plan for the Cerro Los Gatos mine. According to the release, the asset's life was extended by 2.75 years to the end of 2030, with average lifetime annual production pegged at 6.6 million ounces of silver, 65 million pounds of zinc and 47 million pounds of lead.

In its most recent release on November 6, Gatos reported mixed financial results for Q3, including a 9 percent year-on-year decrease in revenue and a 16 percent improvement in net income. The company also said it would increase its full-year 2023 silver production guidance by 16 percent, and noted that it remains debt free with a strong cash balance.

Year-to-date gain: 12.5 percent; market cap: C$10.22 million; current share price: C$0.045

Bayhorse Silver is a silver-focused company that is currently working to bring the Bayhorse silver mine in Oregon, US, back online. The mine was originally in operation until late 1984, but shut its doors when the price of silver dropped to under US$6. Historic sampling during the 1980s identified grades of 2,146 g/t silver, and a bulk sampling program conducted by Bayhorse in 2014 found bonanza grades of 150,370 g/t silver.

Permits for operating the mine were previously rejected by Oregon’s Department of Geology and Mining Industries, which cited deficiencies in the company's application. Bayhorse said back in June that it was reviewing the baseline data in the submission and would be reapplying for the permits later in the year.

Shares of Bayhorse have been rising in recent weeks, and the company has said the surge may be tied to positive news from Hercules Silver, whose Hercules project is just 44 kilometers from the Bayhorse site.

Gains were further supported with news on November 14 that the company had begun mobilizing for an underground drilling program at Bayhorse. The initial program will test the 300 foot strike length of the Big Dog target.

Year-to-date gain: 7.41 percent; market cap: C$1.25 billion; current share price: C$10

Aya Gold & Silver is a mining, exploration and development company focusing on assets in Northwest Africa. Its flagship operation is the Zgounder silver mine located in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Morocco. As of the end of September, an expansion of the mine to boost production to 6.8 million ounces of silver a year was 60 percent complete.

Additionally, Aya has several exploration projects it has been working on this past year: its 85 percent owned Boumadine gold-silver-lead-zinc project and wholly owned Tirzzit copper-silver-gold project, both of which are also located in the Anti-Atlas mountains, and its 75 percent owned Tijirit gold project in Northwest Mauritania.

Aya’s share price saw the biggest gains following news on February 22 that construction of the Zgounder expansion was proceeding on schedule. This was followed with additional news from the site on February 28, when Aya released drill results confirming the extension of high-grade silver mineralization outside of the current resource envelope. The report highlighted an intercept of 9,234 g/t silver over 4 meters within 7.5 meters grading 4,980 g/t silver.

Aya hit a year-to-date high of C$11.28 on March 29 after sharing positive 2022 results. It reported an 11 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to C$38.2 million, and a 28 percent increase in silver sales to 1,935,154 ounces.

Despite the extension of a mineralized trend at Boumadine by 400 meters in July, along with positive exploration results from Zgounder and Tijirit, and the acquisition of the historic Tirzzit copper mine and good Q2 results, shares of Aya slumped through the middle two quarters of the year, reaching a year-to-date low of C$6.75 on October 4. The company saw a slight boost on September 12, when it was recognized by the TSX as a top performer for the third consecutive year.

Aya saw its final big gain of the season following the release of strong Q3 production and financial results on November 14. In the report, Aya said it produced 519,085 ounces of silver during the period. The company also saw a 63 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to C$11.7 million, and reported record cash flow of C$7.7 million for the quarter.