5 Top Weekly TSX Stocks: Atalaya Mining Rises After Copper Acquisition

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) saw its biggest fall in five months on Friday (February 24), closing down 1.57 percent at 15,533.47 points. 
According to The Globe and Mail, the index was pressured by “a broad-based retreat led by sharp falls in its heavily-weighted energy and financial sectors.” In particular, some investors are concerned that a border adjustment tax being pushed by Republicans in US Congress could make Canada’s oil exports less competitive.
Even so, a number of TSX-listed mining stocks gained throughout the week. The five listed below saw the biggest share price increases:

• Avesoro Resources (TSX:ASO,LSE:ASO)
• Atalaya Mining (TSX:AYM,LSE:ATYM)
• Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS)
• Amerigo Resources (TSX:ARG)
• eCobalt Solutions (TSX:ECS)

Read on to learn more about those companies and what moved their share prices last week.

Avesoro Resources

Avesoro Resources operates the New Liberty gold mine, which it says is Liberia’s first and largest commercial gold mine. It hasn’t released any news this month, but last week its share price jumped 33.33 percent to end at $0.04.
That said, the company has definitely been busy in the last few months. Formerly known as Aureus Mining, Avesoro changed its name at the end of last year. At the same time, it completed an equity fundraise for aggregate gross proceeds of about US$76 million; the money will be used to fund the company’s transition to an owner-operator mining model, strengthen its balance sheet and repay debts.

Atalaya Mining

Atalaya Mining’s main asset is the Riotinto copper mine in Spain’s Iberian Pyrite Belt. Riotinto is a past producer that was put on care and maintenance in 2001; Atalaya has brought it back to life, and declared commercial production at the mine in February 2016. Last year, the mine produced 26,179 tonnes of the red metal, in line with the high end of guidance.
Last week, Atalaya exercised an option to acquire an interest in the Touro copper project, also in Spain. It sees the acquisition as the first step in creating a growth profile to complement Riotinto. The news sent the company’s share price up 15.56 percent to close at $2.60.

Nautilus Minerals

Nautilus Minerals describes itself as the first company to commercially explore the seafloor for massive sulfide systems, which are a potential source of high-grade copper, gold, zinc and silver. Its Solwara 1 copper-gold project is currently under development in the territorial waters of Papua New Guinea.
The company’s share price saw a 12.5-percent jump last week to end at $0.18. During the period, the company delivered a financing notice to two investors in respect of a private placement for aggregate proceeds of US$2 million. The private placement is part of an up to US$20-million financing approved by shareholders in October 2016.

Amerigo Resources

Amerigo Resources produces copper concentrates at its MVC operation in Chile by processing fresh and historic tailings from Codelco’s El Teniente mine. MVC has been operating since 1992, and in December 2015 Amerigo completed the first phase of development of the higher-grade Cauquenes historic tailings deposit, extending the operation’s life to at least 2037.
Last week, Amerigo executed a mandate agreement to arrange financing for Phase 2 of the Cauquenes expansion and also announced its financial results for Q4 2016 and the full 2016 year. The news sent the company’s share price up 12.41 percent to end at $0.56.

eCobalt Solutions

Finally, eCobalt Solutions’ share price rose 6.84 percent last week to end at $1.25. The company’s goal is to provide “ethically produced and environmentally sound” battery-grade cobalt salts, and its main asset is the Idaho cobalt project. The company has not released any news since mid-February when it announced and then increased a bought-deal financing.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates.
Data for 5 Top Weekly TSX Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday after market close 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.

This article is updated each week. Please scroll to the top for the most recent information.

This article was originally published by the Investing News Network on February 19, 2017. 
It was another strong week for the S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX), which closed at 15,838.63 points on Friday (February 17).
The index closed at a record high on Thursday after rising for the fifth consecutive day, the Toronto Star said. On Friday it dropped slightly, but still recorded a weekly gain of 0.47 percent.
A number of TSX-listed mining stocks also saw gains last week, with the biggest gainers including:

• Katanga Mining (TSX:KAT)
• eCobalt Solutions (TSX:ECS)
• Corvus Gold (TSX:KOR)
• General Moly (TSX:GMO)
• UEX (TSX:UEX)

Here’s a closer look at those companies and what moved their share prices last week.

Katanga Mining

Last week, Katanga Mining was the top-gaining mining stock on the TSX for the second week in a row. The company operates a large-scale copper-cobalt mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo through its joint ventures, Kamoto Copper Company and DRC Copper and Cobalt Project.
The company has not released any news since it put out its financial results for Q4 2016 on February 8. However, like other cobalt companies its share price has been bolstered recently by the rapidly rising cobalt price. Its share price rose 71.43 percent last week to close at $0.48.

eCobalt Solutions

eCobalt Solutions’ share price rose 50 percent to close last week at $1.17. The company announced a $13-million bought-deal financing on February 15, and the next day increased it to $15 million. That news, along with the positive cobalt price outlook, no doubt contributed to its share price rise.
The company’s primary asset is its Idaho cobalt project, which is the only advanced-stage, near-term and environmentally permitted primary cobalt project in the US.

Corvus Gold

Middle of the pack on the list last week was Corvus Gold, whose main focus is advancing its North Bullfrog project in Nevada. The company’s share price was up 29.17 percent last week, and closed at $0.93. Despite its share price increase, the company did not have any related news.

General Moly

US-based General Moly owns the Liberty project and has an 80-percent interest in the Mount Hope project. Both are located in Nevada and are focused on molybdenum.
Last week, the company’s share price rose 25.37 percent to reach $0.84. While General Moly has not released any news that could explain the share price increase, investors were made aware of its higher-than-normal volume during trading on Friday.

UEX

Last but not least is UEX, a uranium exploration company with a focus on the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan.
On February 14, the company announced results from the first four holes completed as part of its 2017 exploration program at the Christie Lake project. UEX’s share price rose 20.31 percent over the course of the week to end at $0.38.
Data for 5 Top Weekly TSX Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday after market close 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, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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5 Top Weekly TSX Stocks: TSX Closes at All-time High