Top Nickel Stocks of 2018 on the TSX and TSXV

While the nickel price saw some growth near the mid-point of 2018, it has spent the second half of the year simmering back down to where it started.

Accordingly, some nickel explorers and producers have found their shares on the up, while others have cooled off as the year comes to a close.

Below we run through the three top nickel stocks of the year on the TSX and TSXV. All year-to-date and share price information was obtained on December 12, 2018 from TradingView, and all companies listed had market caps above C$10 million at that time.

1. RNC Minerals (TSX:RNX)

Year-to-date gain: 205.71 percent; current share price: C$0.54

RNC Minerals, founded in 2006, became a player on the scene when it acquired the Dumont property, a nickel-cobalt deposit in Quebec. Since then, the company has completed 90,000 meters of exploration drilling at the site, and is currently working on an updated feasibility study for the project.

While the company had a generally quiet year in 2018, RNC began to soar in September when it made a major gold discovery — later dubbed the Father’s Day Vein — at its Beta Hunt mine. The company’s share price continued to climb with additional updates, including a September 24 release regarding a significant extension to the vein. RNC hit its 2018 peak of C$1.15 at that time.

2. Talon Metals (TSX:TLO)

Year-to-date gain: 90.91 percent; current share price: C$0.105

With a strategy to produce class 1 nickel for both the electric vehicle and stationary battery markets, Talon Metals’ main asset is the Tamarack project in Minnesota. While the property is majority owned by Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,LSE:RIO,NYSE:RIO) subsidiary Kennecott Exploration Company, Talon holds a stake and has been helping to develop and explore the 31,000-acre land package.

Talon’s share price saw the most movement in 2018’s summer months, which saw drill results from Tamarack, a loan extension and the release of Q2 results. However, company also climbed in early November, when it entered an option agreement with Kennecott for the rights to acquire up to a 60-percent interest in Tamarack.

3. FPX Nickel (TSXV:FPX)

Year-to-date gain: 15.97 percent; current share price: C$0.11

FPX Nickel is focused on developing its Decar nickel project located in Central BC. While Decar is the company’s flagship asset, FPX has several other nickel properties under its belt, including its Orca property, Wale property and the Mich property in the Yukon.

Though FPX’s share price has cooled off over the last few months, things heated up for the company in late March when it closed a private placement for $1.47 million. It jumped following the announcement and rode a higher price point through to early July, when FPX’s share price tumbled from C$0.15 to C$0.11 in just over a week.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.