5 Top Weekly TSXV Stocks: Mkango Soars on Rare Earths Deal

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) had a bumpy ride last week, opening at 929.52, hitting a high point of 933.92 midway through the week and closing at 925.59.

News landed on Friday (August 6) that the Canadian economy added 94,000 jobs in July, with gains concentrated in the service sector. According to Statistics Canada, the country’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest since March of this year, coming in at 7.5 percent for the month.

Canada is now about 246,400 jobs, or 1.3 percent, below its pre-pandemic employment level.

Last week’s five TSX-listed mining stocks that saw the biggest gains are as follows:

• Western Magnesium (TSXV:WMG)
• Mkango Resources (TSXV:MKA)
• Stelmine Canada (TSXV:STH)
• Power Metals (TSXV:PWM)
• Trench Metals (TSXV:TMC)

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

1. Western Magnesium

Western Magnesium is focused on becoming a low-cost producer of eco-friendly and high-quality magnesium. The company intends to use a continuous silicothermic process to produce the metal.

There was no fresh news from Western Magnesium last week, but its share price increased 113.11 percent to close the five day period at C$0.65.

2. Mkango Resources

Mkango Resources’ goal is to develop new sustainable primary and secondary sources of the rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, which are needed in electric vehicles, wind turbines and other clean technology. Its main asset is Songwe Hill in Africa.

Last Thursday (August 5), the company announced an agreement with Talaxis under which it will acquire Talaxis’ 49 percent stake in Lancaster Exploration, the owner of the Malawi-based Songwe Hill rare earths project. The deal will also see Mkango acquire Talaxis’ 24.5 percent interest in Maginito, which owns 25 percent of rare earths magnet recycler HyProMag. According to Mkango, the 13 million pound agreement will give it 100 percent ownership of both Songwe Hill and Maginito. The company’s share price rose 46.67 percent on the news to end at C$0.55.

3. Stelmine Canada

Quebec-focused Stelmine Canada is aiming to open a new gold-mining camp in the eastern part of the Opinaca metasedimentary basin. It wholly owns 1,574 claims covering 815 square kilometers in the area, highlighted by the Courcy and Mercator projects.

Last Tuesday (August 3), Stelmine announced the discovery of a potentially large gold system at Mercator. Currently a Phase 1 summer exploration program is taking place, including geophysics and extensive sampling, with maiden drilling possibly in the cards during the second half of the year. The company’s share price jumped 37.5 percent last week to finish at C$0.22.

4. Power Metals

Power Metals is looking to explore and develop its Canadian cesium, lithium and tantalum assets. The company wants to supply the lithium-ion battery and cleantech industries.

There was no fresh news from Power Metals last week, but shares rose 37.14 percent to close at C$0.24.

5. Trench Metals

Exploration and development company Trench Metals has the right to acquire a 100 percent stake in the Gorilla Lake uranium project, located in the Cluff Lake area of Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin.

Trench Metals didn’t release any news last week, but its share price rose 31.87 percent to hit C$0.60.

Data for 5 Top Weekly TSX Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 10:30 a.m. PST using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies with market capitalizations greater than C$50 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals are considered.

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