5 Top Weekly TSXV Stocks: US Cobalt Up on Assay Anticipation

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) rose 2.23 points on Friday (September 22) to end at 778.1 points.
Increasing tensions between the US and North Korea boosted gold miners and the gold price. The yellow metal rose from a four-week low after US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un exchanged harsh words earlier in the week. 
Meanwhile, the materials group, which includes precious metals, base metals and fertilizer companies, also experienced slight gains. Last week brought higher prices for oil as well; the fuel was bolstered by the news that OPEC and other major producers will continue to consider extending production cuts.

Against that backdrop, a number of TSXV-listed mining stocks experienced significant share price gains last week. The five top gainers are as follows:

• Altamira Gold (TSXV:ALTA)
• Minsud Resources (TSXV:MSR)
• Cipher Resources (TSXV:CIFR)
• American Lithium (TSXV:LI)
• US Cobalt (TSXV:USCO)

Read on for a brief overview of those companies and what moved their share prices last week.

Altamira Gold

Altamira Gold’s share price rose 58.54 percent to close at $0.30 last week. On Friday, Altamira’s management said it was “not aware of any corporate development or undisclosed material change as it relates to the Company or its operations that would account for the recent increase in market activity.”
Prior to that, the company’s latest news came on September 14, when it began drilling at its Crepori project in Brazil. The project has never been drilled, and this first-phase drill program will be comprised of six to seven holes for a maximum of 1,000 meters. In total, the firm has 12 projects that cover approximately 200,000 hectares in Brazil’s Juruena Gold Belt.

Minsud Resources

Minsud Resources’ most recent news came in July, when it closed a private placement for gross proceeds of $650,000. The company plans to used the funds to continue exploration work at a copper–molybdenum–silver-gold deposit at its Chita porphyry project in Argentina.
The firm also has other exploration projects in Argentina’s Santa Cruz and Chubut provinces. Minsud’s share price rose 55 percent to close at $0.16 last week.

Cipher Resources

Cipher Resources, formerly Dorex Minerals, said last Wednesday (September 20) that it has engaged RAMPartners to help with financing plans, including a private placement to raise $8.1 million. The proceeds of the offering will be used for working capital and ongoing project evaluation expenses. On the back of the news, Ciper’s share price jumped 51.22 percent to close at $0.31.
The Vancouver-based precious metals company is focused on exploring and developing its 2,400-hectare Carmelita property in Chile. The firm also has a 75-percent interest in the Podpolom property and the Klokoc exploration license area in Central Slovakia.

American Lithium

American Lithium holds the San Emidio project and the Fish Lake Valley properties, both of which are lithium brine exploration and development assets in Nevada. The Fish Lake Valley properties are located about 3.5 hours away from Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) lithium-ion battery gigafactory. They are also about 38 kilometers from Albemarle’s (NYSE:ALB) Silver Peak mine.
American Lithium’s share price rose 36.67 percent over the course of last week to close at $0.74. It did not release any news that would explain the gain.

US Cobalt

On September 14, US Cobalt completed 20 drill holes at its 1,800-acre Iron Creek cobalt property in Idaho. The firm said samples for 13 holes have been delivered to an assay lab, and final geochemical assays are pending. “We are excited to continue the rapid exploration of Iron Creek and to confirm the historical estimates and to expand these zones,” said Brian Kirwin, US Cobalt’s senior vice president, exploration.
The company’s two other projects are the Deep Valley lithium property in Alberta and the Paradox Basin lithium brine project in Utah. Its share price rose 29.63 percent last week to close at $0.71.
Data for 5 Top Weekly TSXV 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 $10 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the mining and precious metals sectors are considered.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Shaw, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.