The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) fell last week, ending down 3.57 percent to close the five-day period at 15,660.04 points.

The index sank in early trade on Friday (February 2) as weakness in commodities prices hit the share prices of companies in the resource sector.

On Friday, gold and silver prices fell after US jobs data pushed the dollar higher. Base metals were up for the week, with LME lead touching a more than six-year high and LME copper trading up at $7,177.50 per tonne.

Against that backdrop, a number of TSX-listed stocks in the mining sector saw significant share price increases. Last week’s five top-gaining stocks were:

• LeadFX (TSX:LFX)
• NGEx Resources (TSX:NGQ)
• Imperial Metals (TSX:III)
• PolyMet Mining (TSX:POM)
• Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS)

Here’s a look at those companies and the factors that moved their share prices last week.

1. LeadFX

LeadFX is focused on the development of lead-silver projects located in Australia and North America. Its flagship asset is the Paroo Station lead mine, located 30 kilometers west of the town of Wiluna in Western Australia. The company also owns an 83.5-percent interest in the Burin mines and surrounding land claims in the Tintic mining district, situated 60 miles southeast of Salt Lake City in Utah.

Over the course of last week, LeadFX gained 20.44 percent to reach $1.65. The company has not released any news that would explain the increase in its share price. 

2. NGEx Resources

NGEx Resources is focused on advancing its Constellation project, which includes two large copper-gold deposits, Los Helados and Josemaria. They are located in Chile’s Region III and are adjacent to San Juan Province in Argentina.

Last week, NGEx Resources saw a share price spike of 13.64 percent to close the five-day period at $1.25. It did not put out any news that would account for the increase. 

3. Imperial Metals

Middle of the pack is Imperial Metals. Imperial is an exploration, mine development and operating company. Through its subsidiaries, it owns the Red Chris, Mount Polley and Huckleberry copper mines in BC. Imperial holds a 50-percent interest in the Ruddock Creek lead-zinc property as well.

Last week, the company’s share price saw an increase of 10.79 percent to close at $2.67. It may have been buoyed by the news that a private citizen’s legal action against Mount Polley Mining, a division of Imperial, will not proceed.

4. PolyMet Mining

PolyMet Mining is a mine development company focused on permitting, building and operating its NorthMet copper-nickel–cobalt–precious metals project. The company expects the project to produce an annual 72 million pounds of copper, 15.4 million pounds of nickel, 720,000 pounds of cobalt and 106,000 troy ounces of precious metals.

The company’s share price increased 10.16 percent last week to close the five-day period at $1.41. PolyMet said on Wednesday (January 31) that it was “not aware of any material undisclosed development that would cause today’s upward movement in the company’s share price.” 

5. Nautilus Minerals

Last but not least is Nautilus Minerals, which is the first company to commercially explore the seafloor for massive sulfide systems, a potential source of high-grade copper, gold, zinc and silver. Nautilus is developing a production system to commercially extract these systems using existing technologies adapted from the offshore oil and gas industry, and from the dredging and mining industries.

Over the course of last week, Nautilus saw a share price jump of 6.06 percent to close the period at $0.17. It did not put out any news during that time.

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Data for 5 Top TSX Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 10:30 a.m. PST using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than $50 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the mining and precious metals sectors are considered.

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