Junior Gold Stocks List: The TSXV's Top Performers

The gold price is currently down about 9 percent year-to-date, and unsurprisingly some investors are having a hard time retaining optimism about the metal and companies looking to mine it.  
However, with a little digging it’s possible to find gold companies that have made substantial gains so far in 2015. With that in mind, the Investing News Network has put together a junior gold stocks list of the TSX Venture Exchange’s top performers year-to-date. The list was compiled using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and does not include companies with a market cap of less than $10 million.
Without further ado, here’s the list.

1. Golden Dawn Minerals (TSXV:GOM)

Current price: $0.12; year-to-date gain: 800 percent; 52-week high: $0.30.
Golden Dawn Minerals is looking at the economic potential of restarting operations at the British Columbia-based May Mac precious metals mine, which produced intermittently between 1903 and 1983. It also holds the adjacent Boundary Falls project.
The company has released a slew of news in 2015, and in October began a drill program focusing on targets at May Mac, as well as at the Glory Hole and Amigo No. 1 veins, both of which are located at Boundary Falls. The program is being completed ahead of “planned underground mine exploration that will be conducted with the purpose of locating resources for a bulk sample and trial mining in the May Mac and Amigo areas.”
Since the start of that program, Golden Dawn has released assay results and provided a general update.

2. Antioquia Gold (TSXV:AGD)

Current price: $0.10; year-to-date gain: 400 percent; 52-week high: $0.10.
Gold exploration and development company Antioquia Gold is developing an underground mine at its Colombia-based Cisneros project. The mine and processing plant will have an initial capacity of 500 tonnes per day, and will produce about 30,000 ounces of gold per year. Production start is set for July 2016.
Most recently, Antioquia announced the commencement of construction at Cisneros. The work is being completed by Consorcio Guaico under a contract valued at C$1.5 million, and should be complete on or before February 5, 2016. At the same time, the company finalized an agreement to acquire two key mining concessions from Gramalote Colombia, the operating company of a joint venture between B2Gold (TSX:BTO,NYSEMKT:BTG) and AngloGold Ashanti (JSE:ANG).

3. Gold Canyon Resources (TSXV:GCU)

Current price: $0.34; year-to-date gain: 204.35 percent; 52-week high: $0.41.
Gold Canyon Resources holds a 100-percent interest in the Springpole gold project in Ontario, as well as an option to acquire the Horseshoe Island project, also in that province. In addition, it’s part of joint ventures on two rare earths projects.
The company made headlines in September, when First Mining Finance (TSXV:FF) announced plans to acquire both Gold Canyon and PC Gold (TSX:PKL). Gold Canyon President and CEO Akiko Levinson said at the time, “[t]his transaction puts our Springpole gold deposit in the position of forming the foundation for this new, consolidated gold company and we are pleased this transaction reflects this value.”
Shareholders of both Gold Canyon and PC Gold have since approved the deals, and the companies are now seeking final court approval for them.

4. Eloro Resources (TSXV:ELO)

Current price: $0.15; year-to-date gain: 172.73 percent; 52-week high: $0.19.
Exploration and mine development company Eloro Resources is earning a 60-percent stake in the Peru-based Victoria gold-silver property, and also has a portfolio of gold, base metals and royalty properties in Quebec.
Most recently, Eloro announced assay results for 86 rock samples taken from the Rufina East and Rufina West mineralized zones at Victoria. Chip channel samples from Rufina West range from 1.33 g/t gold and 15 g/t silver to 16.6 g/t gold, 157.3 g/t silver and 14.1 percent copper. Meanwhile, saw channel samples from Rufina East range from 0.03 g/t gold, 26.4 g/t silver and 0.11 percent copper to 5.63 g/t gold, 12.1 g/t silver and 0.31 percent copper.

5. Nevada Exploration (TSXV:NGE)

Current price: $0.41; year-to-date gain: 105 percent; 52-week high: $0.94.
Nevada Exploration is focused on the discovery of gold through the application of groundwater chemistry. Essentially, using its proprietary technology it’s able to identify the unique “scent” of groundwater associated with gold mineralization, then follow the trail back to potentially gold-bearing bedrock source.
The company holds a number of properties in Nevada, and in October received new analytical results from eight drill holes at Grass Valley. They confirm the presence of a large, gold-bearing hydrothermal system that’s consistent with the geologic setting of a Carlin-style gold deposit. CEO Wade Hodges said at the time, “these results provide another concrete example of how we are using our groundwater chemistry technology to lead the industry to identify and advance new covered gold projects in Nevada.”

More top TSXV performers

Many other gold-focused companies have also fared well on the TSXV this year. Here are a few more: Merrex Gold (TSXV:MXI), Majestic Gold (TSXV:MJS) and Sunridge Gold (TSXV:SGC).
That said, with a month and a half left in 2015, there’s still plenty of time for this list to change — especially considering the US Federal Reserve may raise interest rates at its upcoming December meeting. Investors will no doubt be watching these companies and others in the gold space for developments.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.