Best Copper Stocks on the TSX

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Copper had a stellar first half of 2021, with prices rallying to their all-time highest level on record during Q2.

Unlike the first half of 2020, the trend in copper prices was upward for most of the first half of this year, with the red metal hitting an all-time high in May.

Nearing the end of the third quarter, copper prices are facing downward pressure brought on by a stronger US dollar and news of Chinese property developer Evergrande’s (HKEX:3333) debt crisis.

However, there is plenty of optimism that the red metal is in bullish territory. 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 the vital base metal.

Some of the top copper stocks on the TSX so far have seen significant gains year-to-date, as shown on the list below. The list was generated on September 20, 2021, using TradingView’s stock screener, and only companies with market capitalizations greater than C$50 million at that time were included.

1. Solaris Resources (TSX:SLS)

Current share price: C$11.93, year-to-date gain: 101.7 percent 

Solaris Resources has a portfolio of copper and gold projects in the Latin American region, including in Ecuador, Chile, Peru and Mexico. The company has established a high-grade resource with expansion and additional discovery potential at the Warintza copper-gold project in Ecuador.

Solaris has had steady flow of news in 2021 from its drilling program at Warintza. In September, the company reported 1,184 meters of 0.68 percent copper equivalent from surface at the Warintza Central zone. The company’s drilling program continues to expand the footprint of this zone toward defining a large, high-grade open-pit resource.

2. Copper Mountain Mining (TSX:CMMC)

Current share price: C$2.88, year-to-date gain: 56.95 percent

Copper Mountain Mining’s flagship asset is the Copper Mountain mine, located in British Columbia near the town of Princeton. It produces about 100 million pounds of copper equivalent per year.

In Q2, Copper Mountain’s production was 29.6 million pounds of copper equivalent. The company has raised its 2021 production guidance to a range of 90 million to 100 million pounds.

3. Amerigo Resources (TSX:ARG)

Current share price: C$1.17, year-to-date gain: 46.88 percent

Amerigo Resources has a long-term relationship with the world’s largest copper producer, Chilean state-owned Codelco. Through this relationship, Amerigo produces copper concentrate and molybdenum concentrate as a by-product by processing fresh and historic tailings from the world’s largest underground copper mine, Codelco’s El Teniente operation.

Amerigo’s Q2 production figures from its Minera Valle Central tailings processing facility in Chile include 15 million pounds of copper, of which 7.4 million pounds were from fresh tailings. The company posted net income of US$11.6 million, earnings per share of US$0.06 (C$0.08), EBITDA of US$23.4 million and quarterly operating cash flow before changes in working capital of US$17.1 million.

4. Josemaria Resources (TSX:JOSE)

Current share price: C$, year-to-date gain: 29.87 percent

Josemaria Resources is advancing its wholly owned namesake Josemaria copper-gold-silver project in Argentina’s San Juan province. According to the company, the asset is one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold projects in the world, with a proven and probable reserve profile of 6.7 billion pounds of copper, 7 million ounces of gold and 31 million ounces of silver.

An October 2020 feasibility study shows an open-pit operation and a 152,000 tonne per day conventional process plant with a 19 year mine life. Highlights from the study include a US$1.53 billion after-tax net present value at a discount of 8 percent, and a 15.4 percent internal rate or return; figures are based on metal prices of US$3 per pound copper, US$1,500 per ounce gold and US$18 per ounce silver.

5. Western Copper and Gold (TSX:WRN)

Current share price: C$1.97, year-to-date gain: 25.48 percent

Western Copper and Gold is developing its Casino copper-gold project in Canada’s mining-friendly Yukon Territory. The company also holds the Canadian Creek project, which is located adjacent to both Casino and Newmont’s (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM) Coffee project.

In June of this year, the company released a preliminary economic assessment for Casino looking at an open-pit mine with a concentrator processing nominally 120,000 tonnes per day, along with a gold heap-leach facility processing nominally 25,000 tonnes per day. The report highlights a C$2.3 billion after-tax net present value at an 8 percent discount, and an internal rate of return of 19.5 percent; cash flow over the first four years is set at C$$965 million per year at base-case metal prices of US$3.35 copper, US$1,600 gold, US$24 silver and US$12 per pound molybdenum.

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

Editorial Disclosure: Western Copper and Gold is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.