Best Copper Stocks of 2020 on the TSX

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Copper has had a turbulent year so far. The coronavirus’ full impact on demand remains to be seen, and supply disruptions continue to hit the market. 

The trend in copper prices was downward for most of Q1, with the red metal breaking several marks to the downside. Copper prices kicked off the year at US$6,165 per tonne, hitting their lowest point on March 23 at US$4,617.50. The red metal has been trading above the US$5,000 level since mid-April.

Despite the current volatile environment, many analysts and companies expect copper to boom in the coming years, with electrification and electric vehicles growing in popularity and subsequently increasing the world’s appetite for copper.

Some of the top copper stocks on the TSX have seen over 100 percent year-to-date gains, as shown on the list below. The list was generated on April 23, 2020, using TradingView’s stock screener, and includes only companies with market capitalizations greater than C$50 million at that time.

1. Aura Minerals (TSX:ORA)

Current price: C$56, year-to-date gain: 117.22 percent 

Focused on copper and gold, Aura Minerals is a mid-tier producer working on multiple projects in Mexico, where its Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine is located, as well as Honduras, Colombia and Brazil.

On March 3, Aura released an update on resource and reserve estimates for its projects. Aranzazu currently holds total proven reserves of 1,494,000 tonnes of copper grading 1.6 percent, and measured resources of 3,249,000 copper at a 1.71 percent grade.

Earlier this year, the company announced an initial public offering in Brazil, but plans have been postponed due to the impact of COVID-19 on market conditions.

2. Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX:NDM)

Current price: C$0.82, year-to-date gain: 46.43 percent

Northern Dynasty Minerals is focused on developing the Pebble project in Alaska, where according to the company, the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold-molybdenum-silver resource is located.

In February, the company made headlines when a draft environmental impact statement for the project started to circulate. The company said the information it has seen in a leaked copy of the executive summary is positive and it believes it will support the issuance of a permit for construction.

On March 26, Northern Dynasty released a statement saying it has been able to continue to advance its project despite taking COVID-19 precautions. The company also received positive news for its project on April 20, when a court rejected litigation filed by Pebble opponents.

3. Katanga Mining (TSX:KAT)

Current price: C$0.15, year-to-date gain: 19.23 percent

Katanga Mining operates a large-scale copper-cobalt mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo through two joint ventures — Kamoto Copper Company and DRC Copper and Cobalt Project.

Shares of the company were trading on a downtrend by the end of Q1, but jumped on April 22, when Katanga, which is majority owned by Glencore (LSE:GLEN), outlined plans to go private. On April 23, the company released results for Q1, saying its copper cathode production increased to 67,298 tonnes in Q1 2020 from 65,402 tonnes in Q4 2019.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.