5 Top Weekly TSX Stocks: Cobalt-focused Fortune Minerals Takes the Lead

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) closed down 28.51 points on Friday (December 1) to end the week at 16,038.97 points. 
Energy stocks were buoyed by a rise in oil prices, which saw some momentum after OPEC and other major oil-producing countries announced plans to extend production cuts until the end of 2018. The gold price also rose on Friday, although major gold miners experienced losses.
Against that backdrop, a number of TSX-listed mining companies enjoyed share price gains last week. Three of the five top gainers are focused on cobalt, with two gold companies rounding out the list:

• Fortune Minerals (TSX:FT)
• Nighthawk Gold (TSX:NHK)
• Katanga Mining (TSX:KAT)
• Avesoro Resources (TSX:ASO,LSE:ASO)
• eCobalt Solutions (TSX:ECS)

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

Fortune Minerals

Development-stage mining company Fortune Minerals is focused on its NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project, which is comprised of a proposed mine and mill in the Northwest Territories and a Saskatchewan-based refinery. The company hopes to become a reliable North America-based source of products such as cobalt chemicals, gold and bismuth metals and chemicals.
The company’s latest news came last Wednesday (November 29), when it announced a $5-million non-brokered private placement of units of securities of the company. Up to 29,411,766 units will be issued at a subscription price of $0.17 per unit, and the proceeds will be used for general working capital purposes. Last week, Fortune’s share price rose 38.46 percent to close at $0.27.

Nighthawk Gold

Nighthawk Gold has a district-scale position within the Northwest Territories-based Indin Lake Greenstone Belt. In total, its Indin Lake gold property covers 222,203 acres, and includes the Colomac gold project, as well as other additional gold deposits.
Last week, the company released its latest drill results from Colomac, announcing the completion of 12 holes totaling 4,759 meters. Highlights include hole C17-28, which intersected 152 meters of 2.47 g/t gold, including 34.7 meters of 4.27 g/t gold and 9.65 meters of 6.9 g/t gold. On the back of the news, the company’s share price rocketed up 18.64 percent to close the week at $0.68.

Katanga Mining

Katanga Mining operates a large-scale copper-cobalt mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo through two joint ventures. The joint ventures are called Kamoto Copper Company and DRC Copper and Cobalt Project. The company did not release any news last week, but its share price nevertheless spiked 18.63 percent to close at $1.17.

Avesoro Resources

Avesoro Resources is a new West African gold producer, developer and explorer. The company’s main asset is its New Liberty mine, which it says it Liberia’s first and largest commercial gold mine. It did not release any news last week, but its share price jumped 16.67 percent to end at $0.03. Avesoro’s latest news came on November 22, when it filed an updated NI 43-101 technical report for New Liberty.

eCobalt Solutions

Last on the list is eCobalt Solutions, which gained 14.29 percent last week to close at $1.25; it did not release any news during the period. The company is committed to providing ethically produced and environmentally sound battery-grade cobalt salts, and its flagship asset is the Idaho cobalt project. eCobalt says the project is the only advanced-stage, near-term, environmentally permitted primary cobalt deposit in the US.
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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, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Fortune Minerals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.