5 Top Weekly TSXV Stocks: Tethys Petroleum Takes the Lead

As last week drew to a close, the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) ended the week on a high, reaching 627.03 points by Friday (March 15) with a gain of 3.96 points, or 0.64 percent.

World news was mostly Brexit noise, while Venezuela continues to maintain a rocky course.

In commodities, goldrallied after the greenback softened over the week, while over in base metals land, zinc is finally heading upwards as the reality of supply shortages starts to bite.

Looking at how the juniors were faring on the Toronto Venture Exchange, here are the top five gainers on the TSXV from last week.

• Tethys Petroleum (TSXV:TPL.H)
• Novo Resources (TSXV:NVO)
• Rusoro Mining (TSXV:RML)
• Alvopetro Energy (TSXV:ALV)
• Neo Lithium (TSXV:NLC)

Tethys Petroleum

As the name suggests, Tethys Petroleum is an oil and gas-focused explorer and producer, with interests in the former Soviet nations of Kazakhstan and Georgia. In Kazakhstan it has four contracts with existing production and exploration upside, while in Georgia it has an 18-percent interest in a local oil and gas operator.

While Tethys has not released any news in 2019, at the end of 2018 the company revealed it was in negotiations over control of the company, with new investors expressing interest in acquiring up to 70 percent of its shares.

Additionally, in the last month, oil has continued its march upwards from a low hit at the end of 2018, and is currently valued at US$58.53 a barrel.

On the TSXV last week, Tethys share price was up by 47.73 percent, reaching C$0.325 by Friday.

Novo Resources

A gold explorer, Novo Resources is focused on its Karratha gold project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, though it also maintains claims in Nevada.

The company hasn’t released any huge news in March, though increased market activity seems to imply it has. The company put out a short release on Wednesday (March 13) reporting no material change to its activities. The gold price has rallied this week however, which could explain investor interest.

Speaking of that increased activity, in Toronto Novo’s shares were up by 28.74 percent through last week, reaching C$3.36 as the week drew to a close.

Rusoro Mining

Rusoro is a Canadian gold producer and explorer that ran into a spot of trouble in 2012, after the Venezuelan government nationalized its assets in the Bolivarian republic, which included two operating mines and ten exploration projects. Last year, the company received good news when Caracas agreed to pay US$1.28 billion to access the miner’s data on its projects. It’s now looking to enter into a partnership with the government to restart production at the mines.

Developments in Venezuela over the past few months are making that project somewhat more complicated, but Rusoro’s share price was up by 26.32 percent last week anyway, at C$0.12 by the end of the week.

Alvopetro Energy

Alvopetro is focused on natural gas development in Brazil, where it operates its Caburé and Gomo projects in Bahia state.

Earlier this month, the company released numbers on its 2018 reserves as well as an operational update, saying that it has total proved plus probable reserves of 6.1 MMboe and a before tax value discounted at 10 percent of US$145.0 million, with the majority of those reserves in its Caburé project.

On the TSXV last week, Alvopetro was trading up by 24.71 percent at C$0.53.

Neo Lithium

Unsurprisingly, Neo Lithium is a lithium developer with its sights set firmly on the 3Q project, “right in the heart of the lithium triangle” in Argentina, according to the company.

The company’s most recent news was an update on parts arriving at its pilot plant attached to 3Q in mid-February, with the company saying then that it expected the plant to be fully operational by the end of the month.

On the TSXV last week, Neo Lithium was up by 20.55 percent, trading at C$0.88 by Friday.

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

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