Top Nickel Stocks on the TSX and TSXV

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Nickel has had an interesting year so far, with prices performing in a choppy fashion, but remaining above the US$16,000 per tonne mark for most of Q1.

Despite the market volatility, some nickel companies have done exceptionally well, with their share prices seeing major increases over the course of the year so far.

Below the Investing News Network profiles the five top nickel stocks with year-to-date gains on the TSX and TSXV. All year-to-date and share price information was obtained on April 5, 2021, from TradingView, and all companies listed had market caps above C$10 million at that time.

1. Canada Nickel Company (TSXV:CNC)

Current share price: C$3.39; year-to-date gain: 74.74 percent 

Canada Nickel Company is advancing its 100 percent owned Crawford nickel-cobalt sulfide discovery. It has large-scale potential and is located in the Timmins mining camp, adjacent to major infrastructure.

It’s been a busy year for Canada Nickel, which kicked off 2021 by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Glencore Canada to examine the use of Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF) Kidd concentrator and metallurgical site in Timmins, Ontario, to treat and process material mined from Crawford. The company also released drilling results throughout the quarter.

On April 7, Canada Nickel inked another MOU, this time with Taykwa Tagamou Nation, regarding the financing of the company’s expected mine fleet for its project. The next day, Canada Nickel initiated its environmental and social impact assessment for Crawford.

2. North American Nickel (TSX:NAN)

Current share price: C$0.26; year-to-date gain: 70.97 percent 

North American Nickel is a mineral exploration company with 100 percent owned properties in Maniitsoq, Greenland, and Ontario, Canada. In 2019, the company became a founding shareholder in Premium Nickel Resources (PNR), a private Canadian company that provides direct exposure to nickel-copper-cobalt opportunities in Southern Africa.

During Q1, North American Nickel announced that PNR was selected as the preferred bidder for nickel-copper-cobalt assets in Botswana that are currently in liquidation and were formerly operated by BCL. PNR submitted an indicative offer to the BCL liquidator in June 2020 to acquire the former-producing Selebi-Phikwe, Tati Phoenix and Selkirk mines, as well as regional exploration joint ventures on highly prospective nickel-copper-cobalt projects located in Botswana.

In March, the company announced that PNR completed the exclusivity MOU with the liquidator, which will govern a six month exclusivity period to complete additional due diligence and related purchase agreements on the Botswana nickel-copper-cobalt assets formerly operated by BCL.

3. Noble Mineral Exploration (TSX:NOB)

Current share price: C$0.14; year-to-date gain: 64.71 percent 

Noble Mineral Exploration has interests in Canada Nickel Company, Spruce Ridge Resources (TSXV:SHL) and MacDonald Mines Exploration (TSXV:BMK,OTC Pink:MCDMF), and in the Holdsworth gold exploration property in the area of Wawa, Ontario. In addition to that, the company holds approximately 72,000 hectares of mineral rights in the Timmins-Cochrane areas of Northern Ontario.

In January, the company entered into a letter of intent with International Explorers and Prospectors to acquire an additional 39 mining claims in MacDiarmid and Loveland townships; the claims are contiguous to its existing claims that have been optioned to Canada Nickel Company.

In February, Noble and Canada Nickel entered into a binding letter of intent to consolidate ownership of a recently identified high-priority nickel target in MacDiarmid Township. Later in the quarter, the company received conditional approval from the TSXV and said it continues to work with Canada Nickel to close the transaction.

4. Talon Metals (TSX:TLO)

Current share price: C$0.73; year-to-date gain: 43.14 percent

Talon Metals is focused on producing nickel responsibly for the electric vehicle industry. The high-grade Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project is located in Minnesota, US, and is comprised of the Tamarack North project and the Tamarack South project.

Right at the start of 2021, Talon Metals released results from its drilling program at Tamarack. In February, the company published an updated preliminary economic assessment, showing a 96 percent increase in after-tax net present value, from US$291 million to US$569 million; the report excludes drilling results announced since September 2020.

For 2020, Talon Metals reported a net loss for the year of C$2.7 million, or C$0.01 per share (basic and diluted), which was primarily the result of administration expenses. Since the start of Q2, the company has been releasing more drilling results at Tamarack.

5. Sherritt International (TSX:S)

Current price: C$0.52; year-to-date gain: 26.83 percent

Sherritt International mines and refines nickel and cobalt from lateritic ores with projects, operations and investments in Canada and Cuba. Nickel and cobalt are refined in Canada from mixed sulfide intermediate prepared at the company’s mine and processing plant in Cuba. The 50/50 Moa joint venture can produce up to 35,000 tonnes of nickel and 3,800 tonnes of cobalt per year on a 100 percent basis.

The company is also the largest independent energy producer in Cuba, with extensive oil and power operations across the island.

In 2020, finished nickel production at Moa on a 100 percent basis was 31,506 tonnes, largely in line with guidance of 32,000 to 33,000 tonnes for the year. Production in 2021 is expected to be 32,000 to 34,000 tonnes on a 100 percent basis. Sherritt ended 2020 with cash and cash equivalents of $167.4 million ($75 million held by Energas in Cuba), up from $166.1 million last year ($79.8 million held by Energas in Cuba).

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

Editorial Disclosure: Canada Nickel Company, Noble Mineral Exploration, MacDonald Mines Exploration and Spruce Ridge Resources are clients of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.